HuntingNet.com Forums - 43- Official Team Chaos Thread

checking in guys..

Hia headed out yesterday with no elk tag filled. I am not very happy.

We hunted are butts off for 4.5 days.

Evening 1- Called in a 2x2 bull 70 yards downwind..Hia wasnt interested in him. We move on, set up and call.. nothing else till dark..

Morning 1 (wed)- Daylight, Hiked up onto a big ridge.. cow called got 3 bulls fired up right away. One committed and came in hard to 60-80 yards.. in the brush.. hung tight and bugled like a beast until the wind changed..busted..out....later that morning after relocating..we worked on a huge herd bull on private property below. We couldnt move him but he screamed at us all morning. One satellite came up the mountain at us until he got downwind and shut up.

Evening 2- Hia had a cow and two calfs walk under his stand, he passed. The big bulls popped out below my whitetail stand and I bailed out of the stand and put the sneak on the biggest. A 300 plus inch bull 6x6..He wouldnt come to a cow call because he had at least a dozen cows but he held his ground and let me move to him while cow talking. He was demolishing a tamarack sapling. I snuck to 20 yards in head high brush cow calling. Found the ONLY shooting lain I could behind a big tall stump, peaked up over it at full draw and had him broadside. He looked at me and froze.. A christmas tree like sapling saved his life. It was pefectly positioned infront of his vital area. The standstill lasted about 30 seconds, I knelt back down to try to slide over a few feet and he moved behind the tree he had been raking and faced me...I stood up full draw...I thought about the straight on shot since the tree was pretty much clean of limbs from his thrashing..I just couldnt pull the trigger at that angle..He lasted about 20 seconds at that angle then whirled and went down the mountains.. Biggest archery bull of my life.. No shot.. It sucked!

The elk moved downt he mountain between Hia and I...

Morning 2. (thurs)Three bulls fired up at daylight.. we move in on what we feel is the herd bull and out steps a nice 5x5 ...he came in silent.. BUSTED.. CHIT.. so we move around the ridge and set up on the herd bull, big 5x6 or 6x6.. elk are bugling and screaming..hia head straight at the herd bull cow calling his way in as I stay back and talk up a storm.. Little rag horn bull comes right at hia and BUSTS him.. CHIT@!!!!! Big bull hangs for about 4-5 more minutes then gathers his cows and halls arse out...

Evening 2. Back to the stands... nothing but whitetails..

Morning 3. (friday) We head to the high country.. bad news as soon as I pull up to my spot,I can see where some jack ass on a quad has ridden down the POSTED road. Posted no vehicles... We head in anyway.. We get to my normally great spots and nothing answers..so we trudge on..temps about 35-37... HVY HVY fog...we hike for a couple miles.. Then we finally light up a big bull but hes across the canyon.. A huge canyon..to big to traverse for now but an option if we dont get anything else to answer.. we move on... stop and call off of a big point.. NOTHING>>>>> NOTHING>>finally i get real aggressive with the cow calling and hia too..then I let out a challenge bugle and the big boy down in the bottom wakes up... Big ole bellar of a bugle.. then a little bull up on a ridge (Ryan where your bull was) squeals... thick fog, we can glass nothing or see nothing but 50 yards in front of our face.. Hia gets set up on the littler soundingbull.. hoping we can call him down.. Both the little bull and the beast in the bottom sound off again but have moved away! CHIT ..they want nothing to do with coming in...they most likely both had cows.. Hike out 3-4 miles... go home.. flipping beat and frustrated..

Evening 3 ... We hike up into a spot I felt there would be elk bedded.. We hike in too close without calling first (MY FAULT< I KNEW BETTER) bust up two spikes.. we get them to come down wind and check us and hang in there..we do everything on Gods green earth to get these two young bulls to give us a shot.. they won't. Its about dark and I see the two again down the mountain. Hia had gotten seperated from me and was set up above me now cow talking. I bail off the ridge cow calling and then chuckling the bulls stop and stare..its getting close to dark..THEY WONT talk just watch.... I get to a small patch of timber and get set up and call... They stand broadside at about 60... yards.. I decide, I get two elk tags I am gonna kill one for the freezer if I get a chance....I call and the apple tree about 60 yards but off at a 45 degree angle shakes madly and out pops a big ole black bear racing at me.. Huffing and puffing and smacking its teeth..I say ok you ole beach...you want some ...I look at her and let a big ole bugle like a big bull and she turns tail and runs... I then throw my bow on top of my head and sway out in the open...low light ...walking right at those bulls.. I wanted to see how dumb they were..I get to 50 yards.. go to full draw and they jog off... End of the evening.. I holler at HIA.. hey bud..theres a bear coming your way! :D

Sat Morning... We hike at least 10 miles.. get on 3 different bulls have the giant herd bull screaming all morning but cant approach him due to the property lines! [:@]He actually moved his herd our way.. ALL we did is cow talked..no bugles..

We get on a really good bull we spot 2 miles away that bugling at us...we go to him and get set up within 200 yards... get in his grill and he wont have anything to do with us..just bails and shuts up..

Sat Evening...back to try the elky stands... NOTHING>>> not to elkly that evening.. chit..

Sunday morning last chance.. we go to were hia had snuck in pretty close to the herd bull a few days back.. ANY elk will die..if it shows itself... NOTHING we had 2 hours to hunt is all ..hia has to get on the road by 8 am.. Hes off ... I feel terrible for him.. he didnt get a shot at a big bull.. Honestly I am really pissed right now.. I'll get over it.. I dont like to let guys down.. No excuses here... we just didnt get it done..

Hia says I take my hunting too seriously.. maybe he's right.. Maybe I need to chill..

Hia is a great guy, one of my best friends..always will be, I really hate that I let him down..we hunted very hard and as smart as we possibly could..He told me he really loved what he got to experience out here with all the calling and action...I believe him..but know he drove home feeling a little empty handed.. it aint cheap driving down here..buying those tags..etc..

talk to you later tonight guys, I am going whitetail hunting....I want tokill something..