Elk in Montana kicked in yesterday...

[muley69]

On the last day of my 8 day hunt, yesterday evening it finally broke. Cows chirping, bulls bugleing it was awsome. The rut seemed slow until yesterday. I had a few opportunities but for one reason or another, couldn't close the deal.

[Wolf killer]

Sorry you did not fill your tag. You still have some archery season left. I will hunt elk with a bow for the last time this year wednesday & thursday morning.
I had as good of a hunt you can have without killing anything last week. I got into elk everyday. During our 4-day hunt, I had a total of 11-elk inside of 40-yards. I was at full draw seven times without taking a shot. Only one bull offered a clear shot. My wife shot at but missed that 5x5 bull @ 39-yards.[] I got as much enjoyment out of watching her as I would have shooting the bull myself. Later she told me she wished I would have shot? I was at full draw, the shot felt good & I wanted to shoot. I thought I should watch her this time. ( I would have never done that 10-years ago.) I kind of kicked myself under my breath for not shooting after she missed.
We found her arrow without any blood or hair on it & she was bummed out. I told her missing that bull was not the worst thing that could happen. Making a bad shot & not finding the bull is the worst thing that can happen. My wife & that bull came away from the encounter both a little wiser.

[jroot]

i was out in MT all last week. last sunday through tuesday it was freezing during the night and we had some rain and sleet but the remainder of the week it got really warm and nothing seemed to be calling.

called in one 6x6 who was only about 200 yrds away in the timber when he answered my call. ran ahead of my brother about 100 yards toward the elk and the darn bull crossed broadside in front of me at about 80 yards and circled around me toward my brother. i cow called and he chuckled but never did come in close enough. also managed to stalk 3 other bulls through the timber getting to within 80 to 100 yards of them, none would respond to any calls bull or cow. got to within 30 yards of one but couldn't get a clear shot and in the end all ended up spooking. that deadfall timber in steep country is some hard hunting, hopefully i'll have better luck in november.

all in all it was a great hunt even though i couldn't close the deal. in total saw 4 bulls and 2 black bears all within 100 yards. and still can't figure out why none of the 4 bulls had any cows with them?

[muley69]

I saw a few cow herds without bulls, and a few bulls w/o herds. In my area a satelite bull can be a nice 5 or 6 point. In other areas a raghorn may run a herd. I'm going to pull my camper back up on Saturnday or Sunday and put in a few more days. It will happen, but hunting solo and closing the deal are hard.

[muley69]

Hey, best of luck wolf.