elk seasonn 2013... lots of big bulls!

[huntnmuleys]

ok, this might not be the smoothest thread at first, me trying to remember how to post pics, but here goes...

I take the whole month of September off.  this year had lots of hunting planned, and it was pretty much all elk.  I had a buddy from texas that drew up by me I was going to be helping.  he is on here but rarely posts, think his handle is "ballgame".  then, I had a week for my hunt in Wyoming. id picked up a tag in a leftover area that im familiar with.  after that off to Montana for my dads big guided hunt.  he shoots one of those other bows so that wont be in this story.  then finishing up the month, me and a buddy had drawn Montana breaks tags.  what a month!!!!

[4dogs]

[huntnmuleys]

we set camp up a full day before season.  Bobby made the trip from texas, and my usual elk hunting cronies were all present and accounted for.  couldn't wait for the opener.

[huntingarcher]

[huntnmuleys]

dang the camp pics get me all wound up again.  kinda feels like im there, know what I mean?


so Bobby had actually made a quick scouting trip the week before and had found a spot that had some dandy bulls.  opening morning we gave it a whirl.  it was a spot I wasn't familiar with at all, so driving I had to rely on Bobby's inner compass, as well as his gps to get us to the spot.  well apparently that inner compass wasn't quite on, but our parking spot that was a "half mile" away was more like three miles. unbeknownst to us, we set off for the holy grail from just a mite farther away then wed have liked.  

and it almost paid off.  we walked right into a lone bull, a solid 5 point.  me might have had the sixth on one side, I couldn't tell. we we weren't in the best spot, but a quick set up and some calling brought the bull to about 25 yards.  unfortunately, as so often happens the bull never gave an angle to shoot and finally drifted away.

[coaster500]

[huntnmuleys]

the rest of the morning was spent figuring out how not close to our spot we were, dodging grouse hunters (they were everywhere), checking a couple trail cams Bobby had set on some water holes, and not seeing any elk close by.  the only positive was that original spot Bobby wanted to hunt was a small pond, that had dried into a wallow.  and bulls were using it!  we decided to leave the area for the evening and spot some other places, with thoughts of returning in the morning.  

 

[huntnmuleys]

to make this a tad shorter, I can fill in the next couple days in one post easily.  we kept going back to "the spot" and not seeing much.  bobbys camera said the elk were there but other than a spike that he passed on our timing wasn't.  we just kept having grouse hunters walk in and ruin us at the worst times.  ive never seen so many gunners in September!  about the biggest bit of excitement we had was running a sow and couple cubs off of a road killed cow elk.  the treed sow did pose for a pic or two...

 

[huntnmuleys]

minus a couple herds in the distance, we were struggling...

 

the most action we had was during one of our waterhole sits, I got up to use the bathroom and turned around to see Bobby at full draw.  trying to see what he was shooting at while holding still wasn't easy, and as it turned out he was just practice drawing.  I coulda killed him....

 

[huntnmuleys]

then we caught a break..

one morning, driving to this spot which was over an hour drive from camp we about hit a nice 6 point on the highway.  he was crossing into this nice basin. one would think that after some slow hunting wed have been in hot pursuit, but no we were still on a mission. that morning sitting at that dang waterhole we both realized we blew it.  after another morning of nothing we left for greener pastures. that evening we hunted the newly found basin. it was quite close to camp, and quite frankly, full of elk and no hunters!

 

we were into elk from the time we got out of the truck until after dark.  they seemed to be everywhere.  Bobby about got a shot at a dandy 5 point, then close again on another 5 and a 5x6.  bugles in multiple directions made it seem surreal after a few days of what I call elk hunting misery.  we were on to something here...

 

[Hopewell Tom]

Looks like you're getting the pic thing OK, from here at least!
Great story and pics so far. Thanks for taking the time.

[Tater]

Great story so far........  

[TJK68]

Great pics and story!
Tom

[huntnmuleys]

now I lose track of days sometimes.  maybe its my age? anyway, somewhere in here I was supposed to leave for my Wyoming hunt, and a mutual friend of ours was going to come assist Bobby on his hunt. but, the friend didn't show so I never stepped foot in my elk area.  I was, however, having fun!  

 

after numerous close encounters with these bulls, we found a wallow. well let me backtrack.  wed found a small wallow days before, but rechecking it, it was the size of two small cars!!!!

 

an easy decision to sit there for an evening almost paid off.  that same big five from our first night in this basin came in with a handful of cows, and gave a perfect broadside shot. well almost perfect.  Bobby thought he was about 5 yards closer and shot under the dandy bull.  a dejected walk out of the woods that night...

[Cyclic-Rivers]

   

[huntnmuleys]

now I have left out a ton of stuff trying not to make a novel out of this. but I was starting to worry.  my time with bobby was about done, as it was almost time for dads trip.  and the friend who was supposed to be there was apparently going to show up and take over for me. but the bulls were talking.  other hunters were non existent. it was time to make it happen.

that last evening it almost did too. we got into the basin from the high side, and were going to sit the wallow but bulls were just going nuts everywhere. we decided to make a move and chase one of them, but that was the wrong idea. after a while we ended up making a big circle and coming right back to the bull running cows by the wallow wed just left.

 

in his running and our sneaking, we actually got quite close.  we could see a shot was imminant and I whispered if Bobby wanted me to stop the bull.  he said no, and this one cost us.  the 6 point stopped to bugle and Bobby shot, but the bull was only pausing for a second and was completely out of the way by the time the arrow got there.  so close! this was too much for the bull and he took off with the cows, in a hurry.  no time to stress it, off to chase the bull bugling behind us.

[huntnmuleys]

and after a quiet approach we were very close to a much bigger bull.  although only a 6x5, he was quite old and mature.  if I had to guess, if he had his sixth (I don't know if it was broke right at the fifth or if he hadn't grown it)id have guessed his score at 330. at about 25 yards Bobby started his draw, but a spike ran up behind us and jumped the big bull.  although they didn't really leave, the shot never happened. a sad evening walk out of the woods...

 

my hunt with Bobby was done. two shots, another near shot, lots of big bulls chased, but no dice.  we saw some amazing country and moose along the way as well as a ton of elk.

 

 

 

[stykbow67]

Awesome story! Thanks for taking us along!!

Steve

[trad_bowhunter1965]

Awesome!!!!!

[huntnmuleys]

so now we lose a week of September to dads hunt.  like I said, he shoots a compound so we wont discuss it.  but I will say, seeing all of the big bulls on his hunt had me so anxious to get to Montana for myself that I could barely contain it.  

and get there we did. I was hunting with a friend named Cory.  never having stepped foot in this region, I was ready to give it a go.  hunting elk for three weeks and not carrying a bow was weighing on me bigtime!..

 

our first morning in Montana was basically spent spotting and checking the place out, since we had rolled in well after dark. beautiful country, these breaks!

 

and in the distance here is the first big breaks bull I saw.  an enormous 6 by 6, he had a small group of cows. we watched him and made plans for the afternoon/evening hunt.