First Elk Hunt as written for The Great Canadian Sportsman 'Canadian Deer Hunting Annual 2008'

Well we finally did it - my hunting partner and I got into a herd of about 30 elk first thing Saturday morning!

We just arrived into our area on private land and did a quick drive along the western boundary and saw this herd on the side of the ridge but as soon as we stopped to truck to count them and see if there were any bulls they all got up and started heading for the top.

The sky was overcast but there was no rain, stormy clouds were rolling in over from the west but it didn't dampen our expectations for the day. The ground was soft and full of last nights rain so walking was ultra-quiet... perfect! To make this even better - there was hardly a breeze even blowing!

We drove a couple of hundred yards past to the next road allowance and turned the truck around - the elk were already out of sight! We raced around the ridge and parked the truck in the ditch, got all our stuff ready and headed up the southern side of the ridge before where the elk were - anticipating that we would either see them relocating or bedded down near the top of the next ridge.

When we got to the top of the first ridge we surveyed the valley but there was no sign of the herd but we did see obvious game trails in the tall grass that headed to the draw in the middle and bottom of the valley. When we started to glass we noticed 4 elk feeding along the closest fence line towards the ridge top across from us. The sun just came over the morning cloud cover and it was hard to see where they were so we headed straight down to the draw to keep out of sight on the elk until we were on the far side of the fence.

When we got mid-way up the next ridge, along the fence we tried to find the 4 elk but they had already crested the hill. Then out of the blue we noticed the large herd at the far end of the valley about to head up a large draw into heavily timbered ridge about 1km from where we were.

We decided to stay where we were (since we were unnoticed) and wait out the last of the herd to disappear around the base of the furthest ridge. As soon as the last elk passed out of visible range we put the boots to the test and made tracks along the valley floor, crossed another fence and started edging our way up towards the middle of the opening ridge where the elk entered.

Almost immediately we had stopped dead in our tracks - there were stray elk along the bottom of the bowl and a few, including a spiker walking aimlessly in the tree line opposite us. We sat still for a while and listened to the soft chirps of a few cows when suddenly we noticed the topside of the ridge had a number of cows grazing and a couple of bulls walking like sentries on the ridge top.

I can't even remember if one of the bulls bugled first or my partner - but we both forgot our tubes and had to do all our calling with mouth reeds and the ever-favorite hoochie mama! Immediately the bulls were responding favorably to the bugles and could not discern the source since we camouflaged ourselves in the shade of different trees.

We continued to cow call and bugle back and forth for about 30 minutes until the elk hopped over the ridge fence line and NE out of sight. We discussed our options trying to determine where they were headed as it was our first time on this property and we were unfamiliar ourselves. As we started down and across to the final ridge crossing over the fence line we were caught by some stray cows that hadn't gone over the fence yet and we didn't see them until it was too late! They quickly ran out of sight towards the West and we could only hope that they don't push the herd out in a hurry.

When we got close to the top we could smell urine everywhere and lots of fresh sign - FINALLY! Up until now we had elk sightings and tried pursuing them blindly but never saw any fresh sign! We got to the top and thankfully the bulls started carrying on again with their bugles... not sure if they saw us or were just exercising their vocals but it sure made a great morning even better! We surveyed the landscape - it was actually a large meadow with poplars and thick pine to the north and rolling meadows to neighboring ridges in the East. We noticed through the plot of poplar in front of us that there was an open meadow beyond and that was likely where they were. The bugling was so loud we thought they were right in the trees just 50 yards in front of us be they weren't there They were close!

We chose to head east to the ridgeline and skirt around the poplars and try to get a view of the meadow we could see in behind. We made a steadfast walk inside of the tree line behind us since the elk, even if not pressured, typically move swiftly and silently disappearing like ghosts in the forest. Making it to the ridge we noticed dark spots all over the meadow hillside and sure enough it was the elk! They were watching us with ears wide open! The distance between us was at least 200 yards ridge to ridge, maybe more.

We eased back and bit and made a more undercover approach to the closest fence line to evaluate our approach and how many elk were there. The whole herd had bedded down but the first few glances I made I only saw about a half dozen elk... there were other dark spots there but the light wasn't very good it was starting to drizzle rain a little and I thought there were a bunch of bushes next to the elk. Sure enough my partner convinced me to look a lot harder because those were all elk!

In all my excitement I didn't notice than many of the elk there were sitting headfirst facing us directly so I saw no bodies, just all the dark heads of these cows - I sure felt foolish afterwards and learned a hard lesson before it was too late not to underestimate what you see with binoculars.

We could walk the next ridge to the east which had a trail heading towards the meadow and figured the elk likely went through there and would spot us easily. In front of us there was an exceptionally well-used trail following the fence line down to the valley bottom just inside of a cluster of trees that followed the fence all the way down. As we headed down this trail we had to stop suddenly and carefully ease back again because every 25 or so yards the tree tops would open up enough for the elk to be able to see us directly. We staggered our bodies and walking in line to appear more natural like a four legged animal from the angle they could see us. This worked out well because they never got up or alarmed of our presence.  When we finally go to the valley bottom we setup behind two trees on opposite sides of the trail. We hoped to do some more calling and get some elk (bull or cow) down there and one or both of us may get a clear shot at one.

From where we were standing in the trees we both could get a line of sight to the ridge top and saw there were cows up on their feet and walking around nervously.  They knew we were down there but they didn't know what we were. 

A larger bull than we had seen yet was sitting just close enough to the ridge that he had a constant view of the valley below where we were and we could watch him watching us in the shadows trying to figure out what we were.

We casually did some more calling and bugling to their responses, waiting out the elk that would eventually come down to us... boy were we wrong!  Not only were these elk staying in the open top-side meadow (I thought they always chose to hide in the gallows of the thickest forest they can find) but they would not budge!  I have to admit though that the Rocky Mountain Music was awesome to listen to and our adrenaline was flowing!

Then the snow started to fall.  At first it was wet, then it would change to drizzle then start snowing again.  Within 30 minutes it was only snowing, the clouds were getting lower and the ground was getting covered.  After about an hour or so we decided that we had to change tactics since they wouldn't come to us.

My partner double-backed up the fence line about 100 yards and moved into the trees to keep concealed.  We decided to start calling and doing some bugles from two distinct areas hoping that would at least trigger the bulls to feel a little more challenged by us.  Without a warning, one of the spike bulls approached from behind us in the poplars and came out in the bottom of this draw about 60 -70 yards from me.  I didn't even know he was there and I was facing him directly and fidgeting with a coat pocket trying to get one of my calls when I noticed the elk walking out in front of me.  My jaw just dropped!  He obviously was in the neighborhood checking out the bugles and since he was a spiker I was really hoping he wouldn’t come up to me and put me in a situation that may compromise our location.  He came unannounced and somehow he miraculously never noticed me and there was nothing but open air and snow-covered grass between us!  He saw the 5x5 bull up on top and slid away beyond the trees about 100 yards up the fence line towards the north.

We continued to call casually but this worked to no avail.  By this time it was already past noon and we had realized we forgot to bring any food or water - not even a single snack bar to share between the two of us!  It didn't matter; we were so enthralled with amazing day with the elk that nothing else mattered.

By now there was at least 2 inches of snow on the ground and I had noticed that the bull was no longer on his perch and there were no visible back-sides of elk feeding in the meadow.  Stretching up as high as I could get I still couldn't see any elk anywhere so we decided to ease up to the very bottom of the valley and see if there were any elk watching.  We moved very slowly and cautiously without seeing any elk so we crossed underneath the fence this time so that there would be no sounds (thankfully there was a low spot along one of the sections to be able to do this!)

We proceeded very slowly and cautiously up the hill face of the meadow towards some large, sporadic evergreens in hopes that the elk were either up top or slowly moving further in towards the timber but not out of sight.  We got up to the trees closest to the crest of the meadow-top with no event.  Then in my next step forward there was a big dark head staring at me and antlers pointing to the sky!  YIKES!  Jon thankfully was already setting up underneath a large tree about 20 yards away however I was hoping to get only a glimpse of some ears or backs as I approached the top.  I tried to drop very slowly back into the darkness of the tree cover and get comfy with the closest tree behind me.

The elk never spooked and never left.  Some even moved closer to us and we watched the elk for hours - heads, ears and antlers bobbing about, sometimes thrashing or disappearing and occasional antler crashing.  They were somehow comfortable with our presence despite the awareness they had about us.  They were grazing, bedding down, sparring (cows and bulls) and we even watched the 5x5 repeatedly chase around some of the cows as well as intimidate the spikers when they got to close to his gals.  Cow chirps were heard and we continued to call and bugle with the elk but the game got a little different - we were a lot closer than ever before and the elk knew it.

In no time we had the spikers taking turns coming in to our bugles, at times within 30 yards and once they even came in together on either side of us trying to find these crazed elk that kept teasing them!  Fortunately for the substantial breadth of the evergreens we had really good shade there was no snow on us or around us and they couldn't tell us apart from the trees - it wasn't easy to keep motionless every time they came down but we wanted to at least get some cows to come in on the cow calls, if not a legal 3pt. bull.

The afternoon was passing by quickly and the air was getting colder and colder - the snow was relentless and wasn't giving up falling from the sky.  We decided it was time to take a different action again because we were just too close for too long with these elk not to make something happen.

Jon began bugling a little more aggressively using chuckling as well and mimicking their responses to the best of his ability.  I started hitting some of the nearby trees with some fallen limbs and eventually got the bull's attention when I started raking a large fallen down branch with many smaller branches on it.  My partner threw a rock and told me the elk were coming in - I scooped up my bow and slid my hand thru the wrist sling and wrapped my index finger over the arrow shaft so that it wouldn't be out of place if I had a chance to make a shot.  He indicated the spikers were coming in so I got a little disappointed and then looked up to the horizon to see where they were but the 5x5 was coming down nearly directly towards me!  All I could say under my breath was UH-OH!  My first direct animal contact with a bow and it had to be the herd bull!  I thought for sure he was going to scent me and send them all running, or see me and charge or hang-up just out of my range of shooting.

While these thought are racing through my head I'm trying to nock my first arrow and it falls to the ground.  I go to grab my second arrow and it falls out of the quiver!  I quickly grabbed the third (and last) arrow tightly and managed to nock it before the elk was entering the trees next to me.  Alas, he didn't scent me and he didn't charge me - he casually walked confidently right into the trees (where I had been thrashing the tree) and was pacing quietly broadside from me at about 20 yards!  When his head was behind the first tree I tried to draw back the bow and failed - I WAS COMPLETELY WEAK!  I was mad and couldn't believe I was going to ruin this!  Kneeling at home practicing drawing your bow and sitting in the field for 6+ hours certainly make for different situations but the adventure didn't stop there...

As he walked past the next tree, almost passing me I straightened my back and pulled my bow with all my might - this time it came back effortlessly.  With my confidence quickly being rebuilt I looked thru the peep sight to lineup my optic pin and there was nothing but black darkness!  In a frantic panic I started wiggling my head around trying to get the blasted face mask out of my eye - never had I ever had a problem like this with a rifle shot!  My big mistake was to never practice shooting with this mask on.

I managed to get the mask off-center and saw his massive chest across all three pins - oh my gosh was he ever close!  I released the arrow expecting him to bolt and heard a solid hit but he just trotted about 10 yards and stopped again between trees.  I heard Jon in the background cow calling while I was fervently trying to nock another arrow and let it fly.  By the time it was nocked and I was about ready to draw the huge bull did a prompt 180 and ran back up to the top of the meadow.  He let out one bugle and then there was deafening silence.  My shoulders dropped assuming that I must have missed the bull and they're already heading for the next county.  Jon confirmed he too heard the hit but admitted he too couldn't see an arrow.  I searched for it in the immediate area afterwards and found nothing, nor any sign of blood.  We decided to keep quiet and wait a half hour before trying to peer our heads over to see if the elk moved out or not.  It was about 2:30 in the afternoon and these elk had still been bugling away at us up until I shot the 5x5.  After he ran up top it was like they were never there.

After we had silently exchanged some words about what had just happened we asserted ourselves and I snuck yet again towards the top to try and get a glimpse and there was an cow staring at me ears wide open like a radar.  My all too familiar backing up approach worked well once again and we were once again giving each other hand signals about what calls we were going to make and see if we can still get some cows to get close.  It was getting colder as the afternoon began to grow late and at times I was even shivering from the cold setting in on my now damp clothes.

On more than one occasion Jon spotted the 5x5 in his binoculars walking around without any visible limp and no blood but on his right shoulder was a large tuft of messed up hair that looks a lot like something sharp had hit  it and twisted up the hair... guess what that was!  ARRRGH!

I decided that since the elk did stay around but only the odd time a spiker would show himself I knew that I had nothing to lose if I took the bugles to the next step.  Up until now I was using an ivory plate for soft chirps and squeaky bugles but the only time the big-guy came in was when we beat up the trees.  I pulled out my triple reed mouth call and belted out a couple of raspy bugles that immediately filled the air with responses. 

The antlers were all that were visible from our spot below the crest of the meadow but we saw them pacing around banging their antlers together and vigorously shaking their heads.  This call seemed to tick them off, which is what I was hoping for... then my partner waved at me and motioned that a large antler was coming up again.  I was hoping that it was the 5x5 but it was another bull... a bigger bull - he was a 6x6 with much darker fur but smaller body than the 5x5 and his points were curving off into all sorts of directions - he was truly a magnificent looking animal!

He hung up on the crest at about 50 yards from us and presented no shot facing us head on and looking around in the trees.  He let out some challenging bugles to which we responded but he still couldn't see us and wouldn't come into the woods.  Eventually he too turned around and went back to the safety of the herd up top.

For another hour or more we tried all the same calls, had silent breaks and backed down the hill to discuss our options.  Eventually they started feeding again and for whatever reason compelled them - they just ignored the cow calls and odd bugle and moved closer towards us but down the hillside to the SE from us which was at least a 60 yard shot through the trees to the closest cow.  We couldn’t get them to get any closer.  Eventually the spikers got annoyed with us again and moved into the area where the cows were and started sparring as if to warn us that they will come after us if we dare show ourselves.  This carried on for a long while and the two large bulls were staying back high on the meadow but close enough to be able to watch the trees where the sounds had been coming from all afternoon.

It still amazes now as I write this that those elk didn't let up with the bugles and continued bugling and talking all afternoon.  It was now after 4pm and we had to do something because we were running out of time, the snow was falling hard and light was fading.  We tried to ease back down the hill from where we came hoping to skirt around the bottom and get directly below the trees where they were all feeding - they were headed towards the same channel they had walked in from in the morning and we were prepared to shoot or follow them until we could shoot regardless of where they went.  This plan backfired.  Every time we moved a step down or across there was an elk watching us.  We belly crawled but we could still see them watching us and they were not scared!  We said the heck with it and started dragging ourselves visibly to the nearest trees hoping to camouflage ourselves again while the relax and start feeding again but instead they finally got nervous and ran back up to the top of the meadow.  We hoped to go further around the base from a different position to watch them but the spikers were hanging out until we got a little closer and then the 5x5 was standing there like a monarch just waiting for us to approach him in the clear.  Eventually he left to in haste and by the time we got up to the top of the meadow they were out of sight.

We started walking towards the far side of the meadow to see if there was  any blood or pieces of my arrow when we heard bugles again - and they were close, we hadn't push them off after all!  We started walking towards the tree line on our right hoping to walk around them and then noticed them all standing within some more poplars.  The cows were all chirping, some of the young bulls were again sparring and all were visibly making it known that they knew we were there.  The snow wasn't letting up and it was after 5pm and we knew it was going to just end up a showdown that pushes them out of the area if we pressure them so we turned around and started heading out over the ridges to make the few miles walk back to the truck in time for darkness to fall and feed our weary, cold bodies.

As we distanced ourselves from the herd, every few minutes the bulls would bugle at us as if to ask us in desperation why we were leaving them!  This continued until we vanished over the ridge into the far side of the tree-line.  After we made it down, up and over the next ridge at least 20 minutes had passed and the elk were bugling again but this time the sounds were coming from further into the hills inviting us once again to visit them, which we shall.

This day will forever be marked in my mind as the most incredible hunting experience I've ever had and may never be able to duplicate.  It is almost unexplainable to relate how incredible it is to sit with 75 -100 yards of a herd of 30+ elk with a total of 6 bulls for almost 10 hours.  We learned a lot that day not only about how to hunt and track elk in the foothills but how they behave and interact.  They are exceptionally interactive animals that behave at least during the rut and post-rut as a family unit rather than individual animals all trying to independently survive against all odds.  I have the utmost respect for these animals which until now I had unduly neglected.