OK, if Lee wants this moved or removed that's fine. I showed the photo of the 2 bears coming into one of my most favorite waterholes about a week before archery season started & said one of my son's or grandson's would nail something there, either a bear, deer or elk. I also said we would have something down before Monday, Labor Day. I said all that because for the last 25 years we've pretty much done with during archery season.
Many of my old water holes are out of reach for me now with my back surgery so the boys are hunting most of my good ones, that's fine, I would much rather my son's or their son's be successful than me, I've been there.
We hunt areas were there aren't a lot of elk at the start of the season, I've always hated hunting around lots of people, I like it quiet & I like it lonely, if there's people I leave. Over 50 years of doing it this way has paid off but it takes patience & knowing how the game is played & how animals react.
Every week of archery gets better where we hunt, the elk feel the pressure & come into our area, we have about a dozen water holes & the elk know where they are so they leave the areas that have small streams & rivers & head our way. There's no way to hunt elk when they can water anywhere on a stream, too many choices. Also, when hunting elk you have to hunt them when they are feeding, if they are bedded you have no hunt, period!
OK, lets hunt! The first 3-4 days the boys see some elk & deer but no shots, there are a few grouse hunters around & firing off a shotgun scares the Hillary out of an elk! Evening of day 4 2 of the grandson's are sitting in makeshift ground blinds next to a small waterhole when a different bear walks right past them, they had just set down & didn't even have an arrow nocked, distance was 15 yds. They did get a small amount of video on the trail cam but a distant 4 wheeler (grouse hunter) spooked the bear before they could shoot it. Its open for guns for bears but they would have used the bows.
Monday, Labor Day rolls around & grandson Brock (sophmore) is sitting alone on that same waterhole & a nice 4X4 (western count) muley buck comes in & Brock busts him at 35 yds just at dusk, the buck runs down the hill & goes down. Brock waits a few minutes then walks down & the buck jumps & runs into some brush & falls again, he can't see it but its down. Now its dark & he's alone so he heads back to camp to get his brother Ridge, they are camped alone.
This is young Brock with his nice muley buck, I'm very proud of my grandson's & how hard they hunt & do it the right way.
We do wear camo but in many ways its over rated, what we wear it for is to hide from other hunters, wearing colors that blend is what's important, flannel or cotton shirts, or wool if it turns cold. We always put them in garbage bags along with pine needles & leave them over night. Don't wear polyester shirts, some of them give off a certain shine, cost me an elk once & I know it was something they noticed even though I was several feet up a tall pine tree. That lead cow looked right at me & took off.
When the boys got back the next morning right at daylight they found the buck right where it had fell, problem was a bear had found it first & had eaten all the rib cage & part of one hand quarter in just a few hours. Brock was pretty bummed but they did salvage part of it & he had a very nice buck down the first week.
This was most likely the same bear the boys seen a few days earlier but was a different bear than the two seen 2 weeks ago, it was a different color & 5 miles away from the other 2 bears.
The next morning the boys are on a different waterhole, one where one of my older son's has taken 5 bulls with the bow. They are now in tree stands & Brock starts pointing towards Ridge, 2 bulls are coming in right behind him. Ridge gets ready as the bulls come closer & then a sheep herder comes down the trail & spooks the elk, he's looking for some lost sheep, busted!! They leave, take off the camo, put it in their bags with the pine limbs & wait for evening.
That evening they split up & Ridge goes back to the same place, Brock goes 3-4 miles to another spot elk are now coming to. At 7:30 Ridge see's a bull coming down a rocky ridge line coming into the waterhole, they always come from the same direction, I found this water hole in 1987 & its been amazing how many elk we've taken here.
When the bull settles down & turns broadside Ridge ranges him at 40 yds & hits him double lung, the bull runs back the way he came about 35 yds, starts to wobble & rears over backwards, he's finished. Here's something to remember, if a deer or elk gets hit with an arrow & it EXITS, no matter which way they start, they will circle AWAY from the EXIT. It might take a few yards but it never fails, remember that. If the arrow stays in, they will circle WITH the HIT.
His Ridge (Senior) with his nice spike bull, he could hear other elk coming down the mountain side but wasn't taking any chances.
Ridge climbs to a mountain top where he can call his dad & Shane calls me & we start getting ready for a long night. Second son Marty, elk hunter supreme is coming along, he's killed many, many elk & also one of the most unusual finishes you will ever hear in your life one time on this same water hole. Anway we take off, 5 of us with pack frames, knives, saws, rope, etc. all the fun stuff to retrieve an elk in the dark. Here's son Shane (gunsmith) with Ridge & Brock.
OK, I'm going to share a little secret on locating elk for those of you who are rookie elk hunters or maybe even vets but are hunting new country for the first time. First, this is starting the second week & the elk are bugling pretty good, next week will be great, the bulls will be going crazy, the 3 week is always best, the bulls are chasing cows almost around the clock, so here's what you do. After dark take a "slow" & "quiet" drive on the back roads with the windows down, no damn satellite radio, no smoking & don't throw out your beer cans or trash! My grand kids know if they throw even a gum wrapper out I'll kick their Hillary all the way back to town, period! And if I catch someone else doing it they might end up with 4 flat tires, I hate it, period! OK, I threw my fit. Listen for elk bugling, move half a mile & listen, move again, they are very vocal that second & third week & will sing all night, even if they hear your truck. I've had them follow me many times on horse back & they are mad. You can't see them because its pitch black but you can hear them walking & they are screaming their brains out, they are pi4=ed off big time! Once you've located elk you can look on your maps & see the heavy cover, the meadows, the water, it will all come together
We climb the mountain, 5 of us & get to the top right at midnight, now we have to go down the other side, quarter the elk (gutless) remove the back straps, bag everything & get it on the pack frames & climb back out, we get home at 4 am. My 71 year old body had a great time & I feel like a road kill.......
Dick