2022 is a go...

elks96 · Aug 30, 2022

Well I will half-assed attempt to document our 2022 season here... We only drew one type 1 lope tag and a late season cow tag. So we are all general for all. That includes myself, son (age 12 and first year), wife and my 16 year old daughter.

We are mostly weekend warriors with a lot for school, football etc. it will be an interesting year.

To start off I am super proud of my son. He spent his entire summer playing baseball and shooting for 4H. As a result at age 12 he is pulling 50 pounds and shooting a killer group out to 30. 40 is just a bit too far...

I have had 2 weekends of lope hunting. Lopes are scattered and very wary... I have looked at 60+ bucks each weekend but only 2 that strike my fancy at all... Both have destroyed me and my attempts to stalk... That's ok I have a long time to find the right lope.

Last 2 weekends have been fun. Sleeping in the truck bed under the stars... Running into snakes, etc.

So my sons first year archery kicks off on Friday!!!

So the very first great life lesson for my son... When dad says to try on your new boots and make sure they are good... Try both boots on... On Saturday morning my son found his new boots ordered from Scheels were both right feet. As a result he was stuck in Walmart tennis shoes and dealing with lots of cactus.

The second lesson here and learned was when you fight super hard to close a tight gate, make sure you are on the right side of the gate... Lower smooth wire made it an easy fix, but notice the bright white tennis shoes...

https://photos.google.com/u/1/photo/AF1QipPGcC6R8_pw8Y2iI4p7gIDsO_YIzSntfwxw4jma
The best part about early archery seasons is getting to sleep under the stars. We have a system for sleeping out of the truck that works well. It also is nice because at first light you can start hunting right away.

Of course this weekend we will be adding deer, elk and bear to our target list... So finding sign and animals is awesome...

Of course we have found a few bucks to find as well... The large 2 point has my boy excited. It is an older buck for sure...

Bears were pretty low on my list, but one destroyed my trail camera so it is war...

We leave Thursday night... We have 4 days to hunt for elk, deer, bear, lope... More goodness to come...

twdjr · Aug 30, 2022

Good luck!

LIK2HNT · Aug 30, 2022

What attracts animals, especially bears, to trail cams. Is there some high pitch noise we can not hear? Do the batteries and electronics put off a smell they like. Sort of like rodents eating the rubber/plastic over electrical wire.

elks96 · Aug 30, 2022

LIK2HNT said:
What attracts animals, especially bears, to trail cams. Is there some high pitch noise we can not hear? Do the batteries and electronics put off a smell they like. Sort of like rodents eating the rubber/plastic over electrical wire.

I was eating a maple and bacon covered donut when I hung that one lol...

I have no idea but cow elk are horrible for jacking with my cameras... They always cover them in snot and mud...

This bear had been on the cameras 4 times and walked past it 3 different times. THe 4th time is was game over...

Rackmastr · Aug 31, 2022

Awesome stuff!! Good luck this season, and look forward to following along!!!

DanMan · Aug 31, 2022

Looks like your having a blast already!
Can't beat the quality time with your family.
Will be watching for your updates.

Gator · Aug 31, 2022

Like the one with the little guy catching ZZZZ

PleaseDear · Sep 1, 2022

Y'all always seem to do just fine Rob.

This will be a fun thread to keep an eye on.

Have fun, travel safe and enjoy such quality family times.

Robb

cgeminski · Sep 2, 2022

Awesome!!

Joe2Kool · Sep 4, 2022

Kool story Elks! Love reading this kind of stuff. Good luck and kill a big 'un!

Oh, we all have to learn those lessons!

Jgill19 · Sep 6, 2022

Great thread and even better post. The boot and gate situation has me dyin!!

Reminds me of hutning with my Dad and Grandpa when I was younger. A good one Dad used to pull on me was when we'd see a deer just going over the horizon he'd pull up the bin's and as he was looking through them, would say something along the lines of "Oh God he's a monster", or "that's the biggest deer I've ever seen". Still remember the heart sinking panic of knowing a big one was getting away. Then he'd laugh at the concern on my face.

Keep us posted, looking forward to following along.

elks96 · Sep 6, 2022

So opening weekend has came and went.... It was pretty epic weekend all around... I will try but fail to keep this short...

Thursday after football practice ended for Will we were loaded and heading to set up camp for the weekend. We got set up and in bed by 10:30ish... The next morning the alarm went off at 4:30. I was already up and getting dressed.

We decide to head out into the Desert and look for deer. Unfortunately the one buck we wanted to target (the big old fork) is bedding on private and catching him on public will be hard. I tried getting access but was unsuccessful. We went looking anyways. As the sun rose we glassed, then we glassed more, moved glassed, moved glassed and kept it up in the desert. At 10:30 we had exactly 0 deer. Given the heat and the lack of action I was ready to pack it in and head back to camp… My son convinced me to try one last place. So we kept glassing and working our way through the desert. We went to the one last spot, and just 50 yards from our turn around spot I finally spot a buck in while off the side of the road. It was a small 2 point and hanging with a spike in velvet… My son instantly says that he would shoot that buck. Holding out for a good buck went bye bye first day…

since the bucks were already alert and the wind was horribly wrong we pulled into the well pad where we intended to turn around… out of sight of the bucks we acted like well workers, got out and decided to make a hunt into a couple areas close by. While watching to see if the bucks spooked out. 45 minutes later we had make a big loop, got the wind right and tried sneaking into position. I left my bow in the truck knowing that my goal was to let my son shoot and then my wife… Sneaking through the wide open desert we struggled to be quite on the hard sun baked soils and rock. We used a cut bank to get close then we had about 100 yards left to sneak up. Luckily the 100 yards was sand dune. We sneak up and I spot the antler tips of a small 4x4 just over the dune in the hole. I drop down and have my son and wife stay back while I get a good look.

The 4x4 velvet buck was 40 yards out feeding towards our left. Under me in taller sage the fork was rubbing and the spike was bedded facing away at 50 yards. I wave my son up and take some ranges. My son is moving up as the 4x4 does a 180 and heads out way. I tell my son to knock and arrow and get ready. He mocks an arrow and then get caught we moving his bow vertical. The buck gets nervous and moves out to 45 yards. Too for for William to shoot. So we freeze and wait. The buck move into 49 ish then back out. Eventually the fork joins him and they both make each other nervous. Eventually all 3 bolt.

My wife slides up to join us, we are sitting there talking about the situation when my wife and son freeze up and say don’t move there a bigger buck. I freeze facing them and the buck behind me. He has us pegged but is not sure what we are. He decides to circle us and try to get our wind we sit still. He gets to about 49 yards and my wife knocks and arrow. She tries to draw but he spooks. Gone running away. Both wife and son put away their arrows and we get ready to leave when another even bigger buck came around the corner and into the same little hole. As he came out the first bigger buck comes back. To our right trying to get our wind. He gets closer as does the bigger 2nd buck on our left. The first bigger buck makes it to 36 yards but takes off before the shot. The other buck circles towards us and stops at 40 yards. He looks away at the buck leaving providing a split second for my wife to draw. She draws and the buck snaps his head back… snorts and right as my wife releases the arrow he ducks and spins!!! Arrow was perfect in flight but the buck was a split second fast and the arrow missed.

What a great start. 5 bucks total in range, 3 knocked arrows one shot…

The final approach and getting pegged down…

On the way back to camp the damn desert roads ate a tire… A large rock left a good sized hole. We changed the tire then ran into the closest town asap. The hole was not repairable, but the shop has a different used tire, we mounted it and it became the spare…

The picture does not do the rock justice… it was almost the diameter of a quarter and about 3” long.

elks96 · Sep 6, 2022

So since we were in town it was already late we ate at the cafe and then headed to a different spot for the evening… There was already one person heading in and it was obvious he was heading to the spot we wanted to hit. So we decided on a different direction and going in as far as we can to get away. We hauled butt and ended up 3 miles in… We ran into another guy who was leaving and he was pretty grumpy said he had been in there all day and nothing. We made sloop by the water and checked the main trails. No elk sign, nothing. We found the guys ground blind and realized he was in this spot since before daylight… As the sun set we decided to work the edge of the trees back to the truck. About 1/2 and hour before dark we finally spotted elk on a west facing slope in the hot sun. There were 18 cows, and a large bull. We tried calling and got back bugles but he had o interest in anything. The wind was wrong and the sun was going. Down. We opted to sit and call hoping someone else might show up. After about 19 minutes we had a cow come out at 30 yards. She was followed by 2 spikes. Unfortunately the cow was hauling butt and caiught out wind before the spikes made it to 50 yards. She caught our wind and blew out…

We ended up back at the truck at 9:30 after a little over a 6 mile hike… oh and on this trek we jumped a couple grouse. Will got a shot but missed a little right at 33 yards. Really close..

Saturday morning. Was a bust. My wife was not feeling well the night before so she stayed in the truck and slept. On Sat morning my son would not get up and my wife was not moving. I made a loop by camp and saw nothing.

Saturday night we decided to try back where we went the night before… There were 2 people already there but we had a spot way in we wanted to try and see if the same bull and cows wuld repeat. 6 miles and several hours late only 1 elk, a cow came out and never gave a shot..

Good thing being a trophy husband does not require good headgear…

elks96 · Sep 6, 2022

Sunday morning we get up and head to a new spot. Not a great elk spot but decent deer area. We get out of the truck and set up a plan. Wind was not great but workable. We work the first 2 pockets and bump a couple deer but not elk. We have to cross a flat to the next hole. The sun is just breaking over as we see 3 spike elk about 80 yards away in the flat. How they have not seen us yet I have no idea. I dump my son in a spot, move my wife incase they circle around, then I drop back and call… the bulls instantly turn and head our way. William pulls an arrow and knocks it.

The bulls are circling to the right and right towards my wife. This is perfect. They bulls end up at 23 yards from my son he raises his bow several times to draw then hesitates he totally was trying to wait for them all 3 to be looking away… Soon the bulls are only 18 from my wife. I am telling her to get ready. She was not even getting her bow sling off. I get excited tell her to get ready. She tells me she left her quiver and arrows at the truck… The elk hit Williams wind and bust without a shot fired… Si close and super cool.

Wish we had some cover for William on this setup…

After the elk William and Melissa both tried some still hunting in the brush. They got close a couple times on a couple different bucks.

As we headed back to camp I noticed some weird noise/drag on my rear tire… luckily my dad was heading up from Colorado to have lunch. When he pulled in I had the tire off and was starting diagnose the issue.

The inner pad was metal on metal. The pad was uneven… I looked and found that the retaining clip had broke and allowed the pad to shift. This caused the Caliper pin to bend and the caliper was not releasing. A call to Orielly to confirm they had the parts I needed, we ate lunch and headed to get parts… 2 hours of drive time, about 20 minutes to repair and we were back on the road…

That evening we hunted another new spot. Saw lots of bucks but no real stalk opportunities. We bumped a group of cow elk and watched a spike and rag horn who had absolutely no interest in our calls…

Monday we went it a massive spotting location. Saw several groups of cows with out a bull. A couple bulls with no rut interest at all… it got hot early and all animals were in the trees and bedding by the time the sun was actually up. So we spent the morning sight seeing and looking at new spots and locations…

This lake happens to be a spot where a Thomas Edison would fly fish…

Zeke · Sep 7, 2022

Wonderful adventures bro!
Keep up the good work!

Zeke

Joe2Kool · Sep 7, 2022

Read every bit of it Elks!! You're making awesome memories that you and the family will have forever. Regardless of a kill or not, it's the hunt we always remember.

Good luck. Kill a big 'un. And kill or not, post some more pics!

elks96 · Sep 12, 2022

So this weekend went by fast…

Friday night we took off after school trying to hunt here by the house. The local general unit is a zoo and proving to be a very challenging place to figure out.

Friday we had the cold front and the temps dropped 39 degrees. We did a 3 mile loop in new country. Only found a couple mule deer doe… it was awesome to be out in the cool foggy weather and we enjoyed the rain that was trying to be snow… There are some really crazy cool snags in the winds… They look really awesome in the fog…

Snoopdogg · Sep 12, 2022

Glad you tried to keep short!

Thanks for the write-ups!

elks96 · Sep 12, 2022

On Saturday morning we had a middle school football game… luckily it was early but still was lunch time before we got loaded up. I gave my son 2 choices…

Hunt above the house in the local general unit or drive 3 hours to our preferred stomping grounds. My wallet and my body was hoping for the local option.

After a 3 hour trek across the state we arrived at our evening hunting location around 4… it was a new spot for us to explore… There were a couple camps already set up, we had no idea where the others went so our goal was up and hopefully we could get above them if they went up.

So we headed up. We started out in the flat then climbed. The trail we headed eventually had a bear track in the dust. It was heading our same direction. Exciting as both William and I have bear tags… We follow the trail and tracks into a patch of willows. It was pretty tight quarters… Suddenly a grouse busted out and hard both William and I fleeing… There were also tons of caterpillars on this hike…

As we climbed we started seeing more and more sigh. Just as we reached our goal height on the mountain we ran into our first elk. It was a steep hill, the elk were above us, timber to our right, we saw a cow in the open at about 30 yards. We set up and call. Get the bull to bugle 2 times. Hear 4-5 cow calls. The bull was just in the timber making a ruckus. Then the wind swirled and they were gone. It was cool, a close encounter and a great reward for such a hike… After that group we stayed high on the mountain and as the sunset we had 2 bugles. One was a bull the other not sure. Since we were in a new place and not sure we left a little early and headed straight down. We got onto another cow elk before dark but she was alone without a bull. We ended up with our lights on for about an hour.

It was a good hike especially for a 12 year old kids packing his own bow, water, pack and survival kit…

Saturday night we slept in the back of the truck. Both of us were chilled as we were still wet from the hike sweat. We slept good and got up early Sunday to glass a huge canyon… We sat for the 1st hour. Found a couple lone bulls without cows. Found some cows without bulls. No rut activity observed at all.

The highlight was finding a group of mule deer bucks. In it was a decent 4x4 and a great 3 point. We watched them feed and bed in an impossible spot to stalk… but we know where they are and will be keeping tabs on for future hunts…

After we glassed we explored some roads and do a big loop in new country on foot. A 3 mile trek produced one cow elk and a dozen mule deer (doe and fawns)… This area was very frustrating as it was covered in arrow leaf dry and loud as all get out

We ate lunch on the tailgate, Peak Chicken Penne and salad….

Then headed towards an evening spot that was closer to home… For the evening hunt we were going to run and gun a long ridge. We would start at one end and work towards the other. Getting out and calling into every hole where there might be elk.

As we got on the ridge I spot a decent 5 point bull across the canyon. A canyon I have called bulls across before. We sneak out to a point get a good cross wind and the bull who had been feeding the whole time has no clue we are there… I let off a couple cow calls. He picks his head up looks our way then back to eating. Try again, same result. I hit a bugle the bull turns and looks our way… Takes 3 steps and beds… Ugghhh….

Our next spot we get out call, no elk seen, but more deer and a decent large 2x2 that would have been great if we had a chance…

Then another spot. This spot we literally see a bull a about 300 yards from the last spot. We call again and he is busy feeding all alone and has no cows… So we jump over the ridge call and nothing. Back into the truck… As the sun was setting we found a corner in the truck and about 200 yards to our left there is a decent 6x6 bull, 3 rag horns and 5 cows looking at us… we drive past hoping they would not spook. Then we attempt to hunt back to them without luck…

We get home late…

Joe2Kool · Sep 13, 2022

Kool hunt! Now if you'd killed something the first day, you'd miss all the fun!

Enjoy the time with your boys!

hossblur · Sep 13, 2022

Who amongst us hasn't lost a day to be a bush mechanic.

Parenting done right here

elks96 · Sep 13, 2022

hossblur said:
Who amongst us hasn't lost a day to be a bush mechanic.

Parenting done right here

I have had my fair share and still have more to come I assume…

elks96 · Sep 19, 2022

As time passes the unit near my house is proving harder and harder to hunt. I have been in some incredible places and have hiked miles and miles without any success. Wednesday night after work I went into a little hell hole, down and back up into a spot that looked promising. A 4 mile loop produced one elk track, no other sign and 2 mule deer doe. Good looking country's, the weather great. Cool overcast light rain etc.

At least the views were good...

I did find fresh bear sign in the creek bottom and spend some time looking for the bear...

That was Wednesday Thursday had a football game and honey do list...

Friday my son decided not to hunt, so I ran up the mountain to another new spot... The access to this spot was rough. The goal was an an area 3 miles in that was 3 miles from a road. The access to the spot was rough. Cliffs along the edge left only one place to go up. It was steep and straight up, but as soon as I got up it was really nice older growth forest with good undergrowth etc. It was again another good feeling area. A 3 mile loop in this area resulted in no elk sign, no deer, and one pile of bear poo...

Frustration with the local general unit is growing....

Saturday we had to travel to Jackson for football. 3.5 hours to watch a 7th grade football game... By the time we got back it was after 5:00 so we loaded up and went to sight in rifles for the gun opener...

elks96 · Sep 19, 2022

Sunday my son and I get up and out of the house by 5 am. We are heading up a very rough rocky road in an attempt to get away from the crowds. We head up and bounce around in my 1985 CJ7. I bought the jeep my Junior year in High School. It has been on a lot of adventures over the years... At first light I had bounced enough to need a bathroom break. We stop just before leaving a chunk of state... As I do my business, I hear a bugle down below us. We gather our stuff and give chase. The bull never bugles again, we get on a group of mule deer but they end up being doe and fawns..

We get back to the jeep and head up the road to the next spot I wanted to check out. We get up and listen from way up on this cliff. We hear a bugle faint but a bugle from way down below. So we make a plan and head down. We found a place to drop off the rim. The west facing slope we headed down was steep, real steep.

We get into the trees and start working. We find some fresh tracks and sign, but can not hear any elk, did not bump and elk... We call a little with no response. By 10:00 we have made it over 2 miles and nothing. So we start the long hike back up the ridge. We get about 1/2 way and hear a bugle. We work the bugle and things seem like they might work as the bugle was getting closer. No luck, we finally just shut up and listened. We are about 90% certain the bugle was a hunter who was heading back to camp along the bottom...

By 11:00 we are back up and hiking to the opposite of the jeep into an area without roads. This pasture had not been grazed, the grass was good, parks were nice.

We checked to see if yogi was home, but no luck. IT was a neat little cave to explore went back 10 yards or so...

We never found a single elk track and fresh sign. We hiked in a couple miles... Finally about wore out we rest and have a snack... Take a mini nap.

After our snack we head to the most likely bedding area in the area and get the wind right and get right up to the edge of the bedding area and let out a cow call. We get a bugle back. Excitement and set up quickly... Wind was good the setup spot was picture perfect. we work the call a few times and get a couple more bugles. After the 3rd bugle I was convinced we had a hunter. My son and I worked it for a bit only to see the hunter... He totally would have been hosed by the wind if he was trying to hunt us.

After the hunter call in we hauled butt back to the jeep and made some lunch...

After lunch we decide to take the worst part of the road in and see what it was like. This was our first trip up... It was a little rocky... 4 low and idle up. It was not a difficult climb but rough and slow... When we hit the top we were rewarded with some of the coolest views around...

ON top the wind was raging... We drop off the back side as it is getting to be 5ish and need to find a place to hunt. We make a loop out and run into boulder fields and a mess. We get back to jeep and decide to start heading down the horrible steep nasty road for home. From the road we see a doe and fawn then spot grouse.

My gets out and hammers a grouse with the bow. The arrow stick in the grouse as it flops around. I tell him to hurry and grab it.... He hesitates to grab is and the grouse takes flight.... I mean real flight with the arrow stuck in it... We watch it clear the trees and fly out of sight. Crap. We walk in the direction it flew for a couple hundred yards, cant find the bird or the arrow... Crap. When it was in the air who know which direction it would go... I know my son was super bummed. He has been trying to kill a grouse for years... So we hit the jeep and head down the road. We are chatting hoping to find another grouse etc. Pretty soon my son yell dad stop there is my arrow. Since I was going like 2 mph not even sure I needed to stop he jumps out and arrow takes off in the brush. He grabs his bow and takes another shot killing the grouse. The grouse flew over a 1/2 mile with that arrow and when it landed landed less than 10 yards from the road... Needless to say his first grouse is a great story he will tell for years...

We bounced all the way back to town with out any further excitement. We have just a few days of archery left. hopefully our luck will change...

Joe2Kool · Sep 19, 2022

Kool! Naps, lunch, Jeeping, great views, and first grouse!!

It's not always about the kill. Glad you guys are having fun!

elks96 · Sep 19, 2022

Joe2Kool said:
Kool! Naps, lunch, Jeeping, great views, and first grouse!!

It's not always about the kill. Glad you guys are having fun!

We have had the slowest elk season in all the last 20 years, but we are having a blast.

Jgill19 · Sep 19, 2022

That grouse story is awesome. I'll bet that's one of the best for what I'm sure is a long long line of stories that CJ7 could tell

elks96 · Oct 3, 2022

WOW the season has been passing fast. Lots of action and fun to be had…

I had the last week of archery off and the first week of October… I show up Friday night to my usual camp location to find a water tank and cows all over… So I move to a different spot (big mess) more on that later…

So the last week of archery I was joined by a buddy from Iowa and we hunted general. We had 2 shots for him neither panned out. We were on elk every day and had many close encounters.

I started lower and found some cool country.
Then we went high…

As the deer season approached the chance for rain increased. We got wet a few times while still archery hunting…

elks96 · Oct 3, 2022

In the middle of the week archery hunting we were heading back to camp for
Lunch. About 400 yards from camp we spotted a solid lope buck in a stalk-able location. I decided to try the shot.

My first shot was at 43 yards and the lope spun resulting in a less than desirable shot. Miles later a second shot from the bow at 63 sealed the deal. My best lope with a bow and the 3rd one spot and stalk. Had to wear orange since it was during the rifle season…

elks96 · Oct 3, 2022

So now for the mess… Thursday night it starts raining. My wife drove the little car to camp which is fine because it is a good gravel road. Well Friday the masses showed up and with them chaos.

The roads went to crap. Big trucks, hauling mansion sized campers with high way tires. Trupe towing ATVs etc. many slid off the ditch, several blocking the road and more. Friday we drove around looking for deer and trying to stay dry in the rain.

On Saturday the 1st we get up early.
Try to get out. On the way out several were stuck, chaining up and more… We get past the masses and the rain still hammers. Luckily I bought new mud tires before season but it was a mess. We try to get out to our spot but the road was washed and the creek was running super deep. So we head back, on the way back my truck flashes a error code and service 4wd. Crap. It gets worse by lunch time can’t engage 4wd and a 2500 ram Cummins is a turd off road without 4wd. So we make a plan. We dodge all the stuck vehicles in 2wd and drive 3 hours home to load the jeep on the trailer. At 11 pm Saturday night we get back to camp and unload the jeep. In the rain still and things still a mess…

When a person could get out boots weighed a couple pounds each in a few steps…

The sky would clear and things were pretty. But it was always wet and ready to rain. This was a scary reminder walking in the thunder storms… This tree has chunks blown in an 80 yards radius…

elks96 · Oct 3, 2022

finally Sunday morning, armed with my jeep we were not going to be stopped.

The wife even managed to find a way to get comfy in the back seat and slept well while I fought to keep us on the road.

We made it out to our spot. I will create a separate thread for the story… But the end results are this… My wife fell a sleep on the stalk, but we eventually got into a good position.

We got set up in a good position and waited…

After a bit my son had downed a great WY general deer…

Today we slept in and ate a good breakfast. The wife and son head back to the really world and I have until Sunday night to find a good buck. Honestly I am pretty content and will likely just enjoy hikes with my gun. Maybe I will find a good buck as well…

Ranger1 · Oct 3, 2022

elks96 said:
finally Sunday morning, armed with my jeep we were not going to be stopped.

The wife even managed to find a way to get comfy in the back seat and slept well while I fought to keep us on the road.
View attachment 88885

We made it out to our spot. I will create a separate thread for the story… But the end results are this… My wife fell a sleep on the stalk, but we eventually got into a good position.

View attachment 88886
We got set up in a good position and waited…
View attachment 88889
View attachment 88890
After a bit my son had downed a great WY general deer…View attachment 88891 View attachment 88892
View attachment 88894 View attachment 88893

Today we slept in and ate a good breakfast. The wife and son head back to the really world and I have until Sunday night to find a good buck. Honestly I am pretty content and will likely just enjoy hikes with my gun. Maybe I will find a good buck as well…

Awesome journey and great reward of a nice buck, congrats on the great memories!