Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New Trophy's
New trophy room comments
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Classifieds
Trophy Room
New items
New comments
Latest content
Latest updates
Latest reviews
Author list
Series list
Search showcase
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles and first posts only
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
Tennessee Hunting Forums
Hunting - other than deer
The next best thing...WY Elk
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="wjohnson1983" data-source="post: 5202423" data-attributes="member: 12435"><p>So I'll take a break from cutting meat while drinking coffee and type up my day by day version. I'll go ahead and get one thing out of the way and this is definitely not a gripe though it may sound like it. This unit from all the hunting websites, magazines, etc. was supposed to be elite. Look over multiple bulls to find one 320 or bigger, multiple call ins during archery, elk everywhere. That definitely wasn't the case. Not sure we saw a bull over 300 the entire trip. Know we didn't see anything in the 320+ caliber. With that said, I couldn't be happier with my first elk and a 270 euro mount is still going to look good. Hopefully one of these days I will have another elk tag in my possession.</p><p></p><p>There's also a spot on the map that I'm just going to refer to as the honey hole for this story instead of using names. I will say I also marked this as the #1 spot for e-scouting as well. This unit has 2 tracks everywhere, so there really isn't a large "roadless" area. Especially when the locals don't abide by the 2 tracks on BLM anyways <img class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" alt="😕" title="Confused face :confused:" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f615.png" data-shortname=":confused:" /></p><p></p><p>We also did not see an elk on their feet between 1000 and 1700 except for the day it was cloudy and cool. The wind was also crazy on this trip with all of the terrain features. We had the wind checker go 3 different directions within 10 seconds of each other some days.</p><p></p><p>Day 1: Arrived ~0800 after driving straight through from TN. Get camp set up and start making a breakfast/lunch. ~1000 a local drives into camp and asks what we're hunting for. Elk. "There's 200 elk in honey hole having a rut fest, bugling their heads off. A 6x7, a 340 class 6x6, and multiple other 6x6 elk" We load up and head to honey hole. No elk, no bugling. Drive the unit to learn the areas and passable roads. See a cow bedded in some junipers ~1700, get everything ready, and set up for a calling session. No responses or elk show. Return to honey hole about 1800. ~40 elk come out into honey hole that evening, but no "large" bulls.</p><p></p><p>Day 2: Arrive at honey hole before first light and start glassing elk as daylight approaches. Check the wind up top and start to make a play. As we descend, wind changes directions and we hang back ~800 yards while waiting on constant wind hoping to put the elk to bed close. Something spooks them from a different direction and we watch them run about a mile up the drainage and up into the junipers. Again drive the unit to learn more. See a nice bull and some cows from a county road ~1.5 miles away in the wide open. No play with the bow. Keep moving and glassing. Drive back by with about 10 minutes of shooting time left and elk are close to the road in some folds. I will shamelessly say that I jumped out of the truck with my bow and crawled on a stalk. 101 yards from the bull, but the cows fed up on a rise 125 yards away. No way to move and get closer. Wait until dark and crawl back out.</p><p></p><p>Day 3: Driving out from camp on a 2 track and ~2 miles away a 6x6 and some cows cross in front of us before shooting light. We drive to a different area than the honey hole just trying to find elk in more than 1 spot consistently. No elk glassed from this area. For the midday play, we started going to possible bedding areas and glassing into those. ~1300 we glass into some aspens and there's an elk 100 yards away laying down. We're trying to get a better view of him, wind swirls and there goes a decent 6x6. That evening we see elk in honey hole, but too late to drop off in there and make a play. Start driving roads just to hope and catch some elk at last light. See another decent 6x6 on a knob. Wrong side of unit boundary heading away ~1900.</p><p></p><p>Day 4: We watch multiple elk bed in the honey hole that morning. Check the wind and can't drop off after them. Have to make a stalk to come in from a different direction that is ~2.5 miles. The last ~100 yards are steep, but once up top it's a 30 yard shot down to the elk. We get to within 200 yards of the group we're stalking and downwind of them. Elk start busting everywhere, but running "towards" us. 3 cows go out the bottom and cows, 6x6, and a spike go out the top. Was that the elk we were stalking? What spooked them? In case it wasn't the same group of elk, we finish the stalk. Nothing home. Did the elk move from the original bed and get down wind of us or something else? We'll never know. From this stalk location, we can see multiple elk bedded ~3/4 mile away, but we have to circle about 2 miles to get the wind right and come in from the top. There's one decent 6x6 up top by itself, ~100 yards from the crest. Let's make a play. We start making this loop to come in and an elk starts bugling in a different area. (~1200). Put binos up and it's a decent 6x6 and a smaller branch antlered bull. He's fired up, so change of plans for stalk. Check the wind and make a loop to come in and call this elk. At the end of the loop and ready to enter the trees. Check the wind and it's the complete opposite direction from when we start the stalk. 2 options, Back out and circle about a mile to change the wind or try and skirt the bottom with a marginal crosswind. We decided to try and skirt with a marginal crosswind. Almost in position and the smaller bull sees me walk across a gap in tress ~100 yards away. Wind swirls again and I see what I thought was the 6x6 running back and forth in the junipers ~200 yards away looking my direction every time he stopped. Then ~30 elk rush out of the trees and up over the hill. That evening we see the same bull from Day 2 about ~ 2 miles away. He takes himself and his ladies back into a canyon on private land.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="wjohnson1983, post: 5202423, member: 12435"] So I'll take a break from cutting meat while drinking coffee and type up my day by day version. I'll go ahead and get one thing out of the way and this is definitely not a gripe though it may sound like it. This unit from all the hunting websites, magazines, etc. was supposed to be elite. Look over multiple bulls to find one 320 or bigger, multiple call ins during archery, elk everywhere. That definitely wasn't the case. Not sure we saw a bull over 300 the entire trip. Know we didn't see anything in the 320+ caliber. With that said, I couldn't be happier with my first elk and a 270 euro mount is still going to look good. Hopefully one of these days I will have another elk tag in my possession. There's also a spot on the map that I'm just going to refer to as the honey hole for this story instead of using names. I will say I also marked this as the #1 spot for e-scouting as well. This unit has 2 tracks everywhere, so there really isn't a large "roadless" area. Especially when the locals don't abide by the 2 tracks on BLM anyways 😕 We also did not see an elk on their feet between 1000 and 1700 except for the day it was cloudy and cool. The wind was also crazy on this trip with all of the terrain features. We had the wind checker go 3 different directions within 10 seconds of each other some days. Day 1: Arrived ~0800 after driving straight through from TN. Get camp set up and start making a breakfast/lunch. ~1000 a local drives into camp and asks what we're hunting for. Elk. "There's 200 elk in honey hole having a rut fest, bugling their heads off. A 6x7, a 340 class 6x6, and multiple other 6x6 elk" We load up and head to honey hole. No elk, no bugling. Drive the unit to learn the areas and passable roads. See a cow bedded in some junipers ~1700, get everything ready, and set up for a calling session. No responses or elk show. Return to honey hole about 1800. ~40 elk come out into honey hole that evening, but no "large" bulls. Day 2: Arrive at honey hole before first light and start glassing elk as daylight approaches. Check the wind up top and start to make a play. As we descend, wind changes directions and we hang back ~800 yards while waiting on constant wind hoping to put the elk to bed close. Something spooks them from a different direction and we watch them run about a mile up the drainage and up into the junipers. Again drive the unit to learn more. See a nice bull and some cows from a county road ~1.5 miles away in the wide open. No play with the bow. Keep moving and glassing. Drive back by with about 10 minutes of shooting time left and elk are close to the road in some folds. I will shamelessly say that I jumped out of the truck with my bow and crawled on a stalk. 101 yards from the bull, but the cows fed up on a rise 125 yards away. No way to move and get closer. Wait until dark and crawl back out. Day 3: Driving out from camp on a 2 track and ~2 miles away a 6x6 and some cows cross in front of us before shooting light. We drive to a different area than the honey hole just trying to find elk in more than 1 spot consistently. No elk glassed from this area. For the midday play, we started going to possible bedding areas and glassing into those. ~1300 we glass into some aspens and there's an elk 100 yards away laying down. We're trying to get a better view of him, wind swirls and there goes a decent 6x6. That evening we see elk in honey hole, but too late to drop off in there and make a play. Start driving roads just to hope and catch some elk at last light. See another decent 6x6 on a knob. Wrong side of unit boundary heading away ~1900. Day 4: We watch multiple elk bed in the honey hole that morning. Check the wind and can't drop off after them. Have to make a stalk to come in from a different direction that is ~2.5 miles. The last ~100 yards are steep, but once up top it's a 30 yard shot down to the elk. We get to within 200 yards of the group we're stalking and downwind of them. Elk start busting everywhere, but running "towards" us. 3 cows go out the bottom and cows, 6x6, and a spike go out the top. Was that the elk we were stalking? What spooked them? In case it wasn't the same group of elk, we finish the stalk. Nothing home. Did the elk move from the original bed and get down wind of us or something else? We'll never know. From this stalk location, we can see multiple elk bedded ~3/4 mile away, but we have to circle about 2 miles to get the wind right and come in from the top. There's one decent 6x6 up top by itself, ~100 yards from the crest. Let's make a play. We start making this loop to come in and an elk starts bugling in a different area. (~1200). Put binos up and it's a decent 6x6 and a smaller branch antlered bull. He's fired up, so change of plans for stalk. Check the wind and make a loop to come in and call this elk. At the end of the loop and ready to enter the trees. Check the wind and it's the complete opposite direction from when we start the stalk. 2 options, Back out and circle about a mile to change the wind or try and skirt the bottom with a marginal crosswind. We decided to try and skirt with a marginal crosswind. Almost in position and the smaller bull sees me walk across a gap in tress ~100 yards away. Wind swirls again and I see what I thought was the 6x6 running back and forth in the junipers ~200 yards away looking my direction every time he stopped. Then ~30 elk rush out of the trees and up over the hill. That evening we see the same bull from Day 2 about ~ 2 miles away. He takes himself and his ladies back into a canyon on private land. [/QUOTE]
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Tennessee Hunting Forums
Hunting - other than deer
The next best thing...WY Elk
Top