That was my next reply...shouldn’t you be in New Mexico right now? Lol
Formerly “teen”bowhunter’s 2019 season
- Thread starter teenbowhunter
- Start date
tracker 6
Junior Member
Day 2 afternoon:
Terry had to run back to grab his jacket he’d left at the old spot. I took a nap because we’d already logged 9 miles and 3000 feet of vertical gain in some very loose rock and dirt.
He got back and had seen bucks just off the trail so I snuck back down the trail to see if I could get a shot. I never saw anything.
...note...
At this point, I’m not going to shoot an elk on this trip. My buddy is going to be hunting this area August 31-September 7 so he will see if there are buzzards in the area and will likely hunt through it. Losing the meat is heart breaking, but if I can get the head back at least I have some sort of closure. If he does not find it, hopefully the bull is alive and he shoots it. I will return to Oregon September 9 and will be prepared to go after elk again if he does not find the bull. That being said, I have a deer, bear, and cougar tag so those are fair game.
Terry had to run back to grab his jacket he’d left at the old spot. I took a nap because we’d already logged 9 miles and 3000 feet of vertical gain in some very loose rock and dirt.
He got back and had seen bucks just off the trail so I snuck back down the trail to see if I could get a shot. I never saw anything.
...note...
At this point, I’m not going to shoot an elk on this trip. My buddy is going to be hunting this area August 31-September 7 so he will see if there are buzzards in the area and will likely hunt through it. Losing the meat is heart breaking, but if I can get the head back at least I have some sort of closure. If he does not find it, hopefully the bull is alive and he shoots it. I will return to Oregon September 9 and will be prepared to go after elk again if he does not find the bull. That being said, I have a deer, bear, and cougar tag so those are fair game.
Morning 3:
One last morning hunt then headed back to Portland for the work week.
Terry and I decided the night before to head back up to the basin and give it one last shot. We got started late and headed out after first light. The trail winds through a small, west facing basin that has strong downward thermals in the morning before it arrives at the major basin.
As we passed through Terry grabbed me to stop. There were 2 bucks 150 yards up the basin feeding. We decided to do a soft push where I would circle around down the tree line from them and he would come in from the front.
I worked my way around to where I had shooting lanes 80 yards downhill and 60 yards uphill. After 10 minutes I heard hooves coming towards me. They passed by 100 yards uphill and I never saw them.
Mule deer typically flee uphill instinctively and I should’ve set up higher above them, I won’t make that mistake next time.
We headed to the major basin to glass for an hour.
One last morning hunt then headed back to Portland for the work week.
Terry and I decided the night before to head back up to the basin and give it one last shot. We got started late and headed out after first light. The trail winds through a small, west facing basin that has strong downward thermals in the morning before it arrives at the major basin.
As we passed through Terry grabbed me to stop. There were 2 bucks 150 yards up the basin feeding. We decided to do a soft push where I would circle around down the tree line from them and he would come in from the front.
I worked my way around to where I had shooting lanes 80 yards downhill and 60 yards uphill. After 10 minutes I heard hooves coming towards me. They passed by 100 yards uphill and I never saw them.
Mule deer typically flee uphill instinctively and I should’ve set up higher above them, I won’t make that mistake next time.
We headed to the major basin to glass for an hour.
Thank you, I’m just hoping I get a chance to fill the tag. It will sting a lot more if I don’t get enough meat for the year.
Great read! Sorry on the non recovery though. Sounds like you’re living the dream, so keep on keeping.
Wow
great write up
sorry you did no recover the bull, but it happens they are tough animals
I will be following this thread that is for sure
great write up
sorry you did no recover the bull, but it happens they are tough animals
I will be following this thread that is for sure
Great stuff buddy! Thanks for sharing with us and letting is tag along on the journey!
Big_Holla
Senior Member
Morning 3 continued:
We reached my initial glassing knob. Terry sat down with his spotting scope and I looked around with my dads binoculars he lent me.
We were glassing everything inside the green from the red arrow. Any stalk would be 0.75-1.5 miles.
After 20 minutes we were starting to think it was too late in the morning. Terry yelled “Holy shit that’s a lot of elk!”
A herd of 80 had popped out in the highest meadow you can see in the last picture. They were shrouded in a cloud of dust from calves chasing each other around. There was no way we could go after them because it would be a 4.5 mile pack out and I had to be headed home in four hours.
They slowly slid down into the trees and we started to look for deer again. After a few minutes, Terry found a huge 4x4 just beneath where the elk were. He was moving and was too far to reasonably try and stalk.
He watched him continuously, but I committed to not looking at animals I couldn’t chase. I panned back over to the right side of the basin to look for something I could stalk.
After 20 minutes of nothing I saw a huge buck pop out of a group of trees. Within two seconds he vanished beneath a black fir, never to reappear.
Terry looked with his spotter and was fairly confident that he’d laid down.
We reached my initial glassing knob. Terry sat down with his spotting scope and I looked around with my dads binoculars he lent me.
We were glassing everything inside the green from the red arrow. Any stalk would be 0.75-1.5 miles.
After 20 minutes we were starting to think it was too late in the morning. Terry yelled “Holy shit that’s a lot of elk!”
A herd of 80 had popped out in the highest meadow you can see in the last picture. They were shrouded in a cloud of dust from calves chasing each other around. There was no way we could go after them because it would be a 4.5 mile pack out and I had to be headed home in four hours.
They slowly slid down into the trees and we started to look for deer again. After a few minutes, Terry found a huge 4x4 just beneath where the elk were. He was moving and was too far to reasonably try and stalk.
He watched him continuously, but I committed to not looking at animals I couldn’t chase. I panned back over to the right side of the basin to look for something I could stalk.
After 20 minutes of nothing I saw a huge buck pop out of a group of trees. Within two seconds he vanished beneath a black fir, never to reappear.
Terry looked with his spotter and was fairly confident that he’d laid down.
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Thanks for taking us along on your adventure... Sorry about the bull.... Next trip out you'll redeem yourself...
I grabbed my bow and headed off. Would be about a mile to where he was up and down a few hills. I knew a bush I could sneak up behind to get a better look at his position from 200 yards away. I’d taken note of the bush on my previous stalk as a good glassing waypoint.
In this picture my approach to the bush is in green, and the location of the deer is in red.
Looking over the bush I could see a grey face with a golden halo looking out from under the tree. I pulled up my binos and watched him scan everything in the 180 degrees in my direction. Satisfied that nothing was moving out there, he tucked himself into the shade and laid down out of sight.
With the current wind, I could try to walk straight at him. The wind was blowing right to left in the picture. However, if he stood up, I would be on a wide open hill side. I decided to get risky with the wind because the thermals should switch soon. I turned around and walked straight away from him, back down the hill to loop all the way around to the right.
In this picture my approach to the bush is in green, and the location of the deer is in red.
Looking over the bush I could see a grey face with a golden halo looking out from under the tree. I pulled up my binos and watched him scan everything in the 180 degrees in my direction. Satisfied that nothing was moving out there, he tucked himself into the shade and laid down out of sight.
With the current wind, I could try to walk straight at him. The wind was blowing right to left in the picture. However, if he stood up, I would be on a wide open hill side. I decided to get risky with the wind because the thermals should switch soon. I turned around and walked straight away from him, back down the hill to loop all the way around to the right.
I hiked way around along the cliff edge and looped back towards a big tree 100 yards uphill of him. Once I got up there, I was very disoriented and almost walked into clear view of his tree before relocating it. I would’ve pinned it on OnX before the stalk but my phone had died.
The wind was dead calm and I was 200 yards out in dry grass, with one tree between his tree and myself. I took off my boots, dropped my pack and quickly covered the first 100 yards with the tree as cover.
Getting to that big tree, I saw that there was only one path I could take and avoid walking through manzanita.
I took one step every few seconds, avoiding brushing up against any leaf or grass. It was dead silent, no breeze, no movement. I worked into the dip 70 yards from the tree and edged my head up as slow as possible until I had a full view. I was fairly confident that there were no deer looking out from beneath the tree, at least not in my line of sight.
I slowly worked my way up until I was standing in the wide open. Looking down three times between each step, I made my way into 60, 50, 40, 30 yards from the black fir I’d seen him beneath.
Just as I brushed my first piece of grass in the last 70 yards, I saw four glorious, golden, fuzzy antler tips peaking over the closest bush to the tree. They curled in my direction, so I knew he had heard. I could see nothing besides that.
I ranged the tree behind him, 27 yards. I visualized every angle he could stand up and where I would place my pins. For what felt like 20 minutes, and may have just been five, I watched his antlers disappear and reappear as he looked around, listening for another sound.
Suddenly there was movement to my right. I saw a three point side sticking out from the bush. A small buck had been asleep. He quickly looked left, right, left. I could tell he was going to stand up. Based on the terrain, I guessed 30 yards. The big buck watched him.
The little buck started to stand and I drew back. He rose to completely broadside, looking to the right. He immediately looked my way towards the movement of me drawing. Leaves covered the lower third of his chest, and I’d put on a swhacker after the shot at the elk. I couldn’t put a mechanical through leaves, so I pulled just above them and let the arrow fly. I saw him drop and twist away from me and heard a loud THWACK.
The wind was dead calm and I was 200 yards out in dry grass, with one tree between his tree and myself. I took off my boots, dropped my pack and quickly covered the first 100 yards with the tree as cover.
Getting to that big tree, I saw that there was only one path I could take and avoid walking through manzanita.
I took one step every few seconds, avoiding brushing up against any leaf or grass. It was dead silent, no breeze, no movement. I worked into the dip 70 yards from the tree and edged my head up as slow as possible until I had a full view. I was fairly confident that there were no deer looking out from beneath the tree, at least not in my line of sight.
I slowly worked my way up until I was standing in the wide open. Looking down three times between each step, I made my way into 60, 50, 40, 30 yards from the black fir I’d seen him beneath.
Just as I brushed my first piece of grass in the last 70 yards, I saw four glorious, golden, fuzzy antler tips peaking over the closest bush to the tree. They curled in my direction, so I knew he had heard. I could see nothing besides that.
I ranged the tree behind him, 27 yards. I visualized every angle he could stand up and where I would place my pins. For what felt like 20 minutes, and may have just been five, I watched his antlers disappear and reappear as he looked around, listening for another sound.
Suddenly there was movement to my right. I saw a three point side sticking out from the bush. A small buck had been asleep. He quickly looked left, right, left. I could tell he was going to stand up. Based on the terrain, I guessed 30 yards. The big buck watched him.
The little buck started to stand and I drew back. He rose to completely broadside, looking to the right. He immediately looked my way towards the movement of me drawing. Leaves covered the lower third of his chest, and I’d put on a swhacker after the shot at the elk. I couldn’t put a mechanical through leaves, so I pulled just above them and let the arrow fly. I saw him drop and twist away from me and heard a loud THWACK.