Back from ID elk W/pics

[steadman]

Well, Dad and I got back on Sun. What a trip, with all the highs and lows associated with elk hunting. We were hunting in eastern ID on a DIY hunt. I'd been to the place about five years ago and had a real good time.
A little explanation on my curse. I have been elk hunting with a bow for 18 years now, the last 12 with trad gear. I have never brought home an elk.I have had my chances, but something always seems to go wrong. Don't get me wrong I am not complaining, I know how lucky and blessed I am and I will keep hunting elk until I can't anymore, whether or not I ever bring one home. But DANG, those elk taste great!!
Back to the story, Dad and I left on the 12th for ID. Going north, we decided to stop in Evanston WY for lunch. As Dad put his truck into park, we heard a loud squeel followed by the truck dying.
Man what a way to start a trip, pulling a trailer and having a tranny freeze up!! Now, since this has happened to me this year, it shouldn't happen to anyone else   :rolleyes:    A few phjone calls later we were being towed to Woodruff UT. Now for the truly amazing part... we got a new transmission, the next day installed and were on the road 24 hrs after the truck broke down!!! That was unreal. We still lost a day of hunting, but it could have been way worse.
   
Here is dad glassing the goat(antelope) herd across the road from our first camp.
 
Here is a sunset from the first camp.
 
Here is apic of the goats. Not elk, but at least something to look at. There was a nice buck in the group as well.
I've got to go for a while this will be an ongoing thing, we were there for ten days, so thanks for tagging along.

[steadman]

Oh the blue ford is not dad's, his was in the shop at the time of the pic.

[Talondale]

Bring on the pics and stories!

[steadman]

Ok we got there thurs safe and got camp put together. It was still early enough so we went up a trail I had never been on, up about 2 miles. While waiting to catch our breath, from the timber comes the first bugle of the season. Next to my sons laugh, the bugle of a bull elk is the most magical and moving sound I hear.
 
I move down into the valley below where the bull bugled from. My Dad starts cow calling, another bull responds! This one sounds bigger. My dad then continues his chorus of cow calls. The bull is enraged that the "cows" won't come to him, and he continues to make it known to anything within ear shot. I look up and Dad is signaling that a cow was coming. She comes out at 50 yards, way too far to shoot, but a great sight. She moves up toward the bull. I was hoping to see a bull following her, but to no avail. The wind was not right to move in on the bugling bull so we eased out ready to come back in the morning.
 

[MW]

Come on Steadman!  I've got to jump a plane shortly and can't wait to hear if you got one!

[Nate Fikkert]

Steadman,

I have been looking forward to this one.  Keep it coming.

Nathan

[steadman]

Ok I'm back. Sat the 15th went back up to where we heard the bulls the night before. I split up from Dad and went up towards the middle of the pines. On the way up I heard a weak bugle about 300 yards away. I slowly eased towards the bull to see him feeding on the adlacent hillside. He was a small 6 but plenty big enough for me. He was alone, so I thought mabey a cow call would bring him in.  I gave a soft call, he looked at where he thought he heard a cow. He then turned and walked away. That was kind of weird, you would think he'd be more interested in cows then his gut. I waited for him to move out and as he crossed the ridge a thunderous bugle came from in front of him. That's why he didn't want a cow, he didn't want to mess with the man. I hustled up to the ridge and slowly crept over the top behind a small pine. I couldn't see any elk, I looked down in the bottom of the draw, and there it was, The Wallow! Sweet, I thought. I'd just gotten over a cold, and a weak cough escaped. As that happened the man turned toward me. He was there on the ridge across the valley the whole time. He was a stud, about a 320-330 class bull. And he walked away right out of my life. I never saw him again.
 
The wallow is kind of hard to see, but it was good and was being used. There are a lot of moose in the area and on the way out I ran into this guy.
 
 I decide later to hike back in with a treestand and try my old buddy Bill's method. I hung and sat the stand that evening. At about 4 I heard a noise behind me and turned just in time to wave off a hawk that thought I was the world's biggest squirrel! He flared then landed in a tree next to me.
 
Sorry for the quality of this one, I think I was still shaking a little. I heard a couple more bugles and had a calf elk come down and feed in the valley. I think she was lost because she would mew after every bite.

[mountaindog]

wow... those are some great pics....     i love idaho....  

[steadman]

I made a decision a few years back not ot hunt on Sundays, it gives me time to recoup, and now time to take pictures. Dad and I went down to a wallow we had heard about and saw that it was being used. We set his stand, then I hiked back up the ridge to see what was around. As i was standing by a pine, this little feller came up a proceeded to ruin an otherwise quiet evening.
 
Now I hate squirrels when I am elk hunting. They are noisey. It never ceases to amaze me that an animal that only ways a few ounces can make as much noise as a 900 lb. bull elk.
 
This wallow is so low, I took a picture of Star Valley.(Which is the MOST Beautiful plavce on earth) After the tree rat left, i looked down the ridge where the cattle were feeding and saw a cow that looked out of plce. I threw up my binos to see it was a cow, elk. I figured where there was a cow, there'd be a bull, sure enough, out popped another 6 pt. They went down over the hill towards Dad, but he never saw them. It was a great evening and I was anxiously waiting for the morning.
 

[bohuntr]

Nice pics Steadman keep um coming!!!

[Panzer II]

Where in Idaho were you hunting, Beautiful country.

[steadman]

Mon the 17th, we took a trail just outside of samp where we gained 1500 feet of elevation inabout 3/4 mile. It was a hike. We reaches a knoll and started to glass the oppisite hillside. It was an old burn, and now had 6-10 spruce growing in patches. First we saw a cow and calf moose. Then we heard the bull moose grunts and he popped out 10 minutes later. He was a toad, we were 600 yards away so I didn't get any pics of him, but he was around 45-50". Big Shiras. As we were watching him, a cow elk emerged followed by four other cows and calves. Then another nice 6 pt came out following and bugling. The winds were terrible and the country was too open to make a move, so we watched them bed and headed back down. we figure if they remain unpressured we can work on them later.
 
Can you see the elk? it's pretty easy to see.
That afternoon I headed back to my stand and met some guys from Indiana. They were real nice, and I got to know them pretty well. As I headed up to my stand I decided to stay low to make it easier. As I was headed up through a little valley, I rounded a big pine and came face to face with a bull moose! He jumped up letting out a displeasing grunt, while I stared back peddaling and looking for the nearest climbing tree. I was no more than a longbow length from this bull. What a rush.
 
 I circled him and noticed he kept his head down and was drooling. There was something wrong with this moose. He stood there for a moment, staggered, then went down like he'd been shot. I studied him from about 30 yrds with my binos to see if I could see any blood. Nothing.
 
I headed up to my stand for the rest of the night. I didn't see or hear anything. I left before dark to see if the moose was still there, he was,  but he didn't get up. I figured if I went in the next day he would be dead, and I would notify the F&G. The good news is I never saw him again.
 
Here is a cool red bird I saw at the wallow that night. Does anyone know what kind of bird this is?

[steadman]

Tues the 18th. Dad and I hiked up a trail to a canyon that I know holds elk. This canyon is about 2 -3 miles back in. Getting an elk out would be tough. But the guys from IN had horses and told us they would pack anything out if we got one. That opened a lot of possibilities. We split up and I went high and Dad stayed low. When I got to the top, I saw Dad about half mile away on same ridge. I also could hera bugling across the canyon. I headed down to tell Dad of my plan to go chase the bulls that were bugling. When I c augh tup to him, he was crouched down. I glassed him from 100 yrds. He saw me and motioned for me to join him. He told me he had gotten frustrated, so he decide to cow call. When he did, a 5 pt bull came out right towards him. The problem was that my Dad was out in the open and not ready. The bull saw him, spun and headed back into the timber. A lesson to anyone who elk hunts or is thinking about going. If you blow a call you better be ready. You never know where a responsive elk might be. This blunder cost Dad his only opportunity at a bull on the hunt.
 
I headed ver to where the bull was bugling adn played cat and mouse with him for about an hour. I had him coming to my cow call at one time, he was about 100 yards away when the wind swirled. He didn't blow out of there but he headed out with his cows. I went up to my stand again, nothing. And nothing has been hitting it. There has been a lot of guys going up that canyon and I think it pushed the elk out.
 
Here's a view from my stand
 

[steadman]

Wed 19th we hiked back up to where the 6pt was. We were a half hour late. This cost us. When we got up to the knoll, the hills came alive with elk. We watched as two seperate herd bulls screamed at each other from 100 yards apart. I heard countless bugles that morning. We headed up to try to cut off the one bull as we knew where he would be going. We got a couple hundred yards from where we wanted to be when we heard elk, and they were close. I set up and Dad went up the hill. I could hear them no more than 30 yards away, but could not see them. At this time the bugling stopped. This is some of the thickest country I have ever hunted. After the elk went by we heard voices. We continued to hike to the top. I looked back and there were 2 guys gutting an elk. We found out later they had shot a small 4 pt that was with one of the herds. We stayed on top all day then circled around to try to hear anything. We didn't hear or see anything. I did shoot a blue grouse but forgot to take picture    
Here are a couple pics from the top
 
Dad glassing
 
Dad and I on top according to hid GPS we were at 7686 feet.

[tradtusker]

awesome looking forward to the rest      

[steadman]

Thurs 20th an incredible morning!! I went to the same canyon I did a couple days ago. I committed myself to be below the bull at first light. The elk here were not bugling until later in the morning. I arrived, caught my breath just in time to hear the scream of the bull I was chasing a couple of days earlier. He was only 2-300 yards up the slope. I gace a soft cow call to see if I could get a response. Nothing, I thought I'd blown it. Until a bugle came from up the canyon, the herd bull screamed his displeasure at the intruder. The bull up the canyon bugled back. What a place to be!! In between an irrate herd bull and a sattelite bull that does not back down. I moved in closer toward the sounds of the bull above while listening to the two combatants exchange threats. This time I kept the wind in my face and continued to work in on the bull. He was furious. He would scream, chuckle, glunk, everything he could do to intimidate the sat. bull. The other bull woould not back down and must have encouraged another to chime in.I worked into the bull for about 45 min. I was about 40 yards from the screamer and moving closer when I snapped a coule branches. An immediate scream came from the thick willos 30 yards in front of me. He thinks I am another bull sneaking in to steal one of his cows.  I nocked an arrow, as the satelite bulls continued their threats. The herd bull then starts to thrash a willow, I can see the top of the shrub waving violently. I take this moment to sneak a couple yards closer to find a shooting lane or two. I grab a willow and shake it imitating a bull in response. i hear crashing and a scream that I could almost feel! He is only 20 yards away, and I still can't see him! I wait and listen knowing that he is going to come any minute. The satelites are still sounding off and closing. I wait for 5 min. then hear elk sounds about 60 yards off, I figure the bull has moved off with his cows. I take one step, crack a branch, and thought the world was coming to an end. The bull rushes in another 5 yards and screams. I jumped thinking I was about to get run over.  It felt like I was in the turbine of a jet enjine. Here is a bull no more than 15 yards away, and I still couldn't see him! I can see the willow tops where he is pushing through, but no piece of the bull. I waited, he was close enough, he just had to show himself. The satelite bull bugles from behind me about 150 yards. The next sound I hear from the herd bull is another challege about 60 yards away. Dang!! So close.

[steadman]

Those big bulls don't get big by being careless. I think his cows got a little too far away from him for his comfort and he just slipped back. I started up the mountain toward where I thought the satelite might come out. As I'm heading up I look up just in time to see a 6pt look down at me. Dang again. 1 minute earlier I would have been in place for this bull to walk by me at 15-20 yards. As he spooked, another 5pt above him took off as well. I sat there listening to them bugle back and forth for another 15 minutes before all went quiet. What a morning!! This was one of the most memorable and exciting mornings of elk hunting I've had in 18 years. It was Incredible. I sat my stand that afternoon and heard a couple bugles, but nothing came in.
 
 

[Charlie Lamb]

Enjoying this a lot Ryan!!  

[JC]

Great story telling Ryan. Beautiful pics too, curious what camera were you using.

[knife river]

Exciting stuff, Steadman!  Very enjoyable read.        The red bird you asked about is a pine grosbeak.