HuntingNet.com Forums - 2008 Elk trip summary & pix

Here’s a summarized literary account of my 2008 North Idaho Elk hunt. I’ll post a pictorial of my adventures later in this thread.

First off, I have to thank my friend Troy, and his whole family for having me out. They are truly good hearted people.

The really short version is that we had an incredible time, got into elk and whitetails very often and on several occasions I came as close to killing an elk as can be done without actually killing one.

The more exciting version:
The 1st full day of hunting produced a spike bull and young cow we called across a wide open clear cut from over 500 yards to a mere 74 yards. They got a little nervous and moved off, but still continued to feed down in the bottoms.

The next time we were heavy into elk, we walked up on a spike cruising a logging road. We were right in amongst these elk at times yet they would refuse to speak up. He moved off and I followed up the road, catching movement to the side, a cow was headed right for the road. With no cover, I came to full draw and she stopped 2 steps short of stepping on to the road at 40 yds. With only the base of her neck up clear, I had no shot as she eventually turned and ran. The ensuing 30 minutes had me right in among more cows and in a bugling battle with a herd bull. The ruckus pulled in a second herd bull. Eventually things played out with no shot opps, the elk were within 50-60 yds, but the heavy brush made it impossible. As I played my elk, Troy had a spike in to 15 yds, but again the heavy brush squashed any chance for a clean shot.

Later that evening were found our way to an isolated clear cut & spotted 4 bucks feeding that went between 120-145”. They were too far off to make any chance for a shot. Despite our cow calling, the herd of elk that were present, didn’t make a sound and spotted us about the same time we spotted them. Game over. There was a real nice bull, a spike and about a dozen cows. After snapping some pix of the bucks, we circled around to try and head off the elk. They made it too the meadow first and despite our best attempts as stealth, they again picked us out the moment we spotted them. All the while we had this action, we heard a very vocal bull across a canyon and we filed this away for later.

The next morning we headed off to some very remote country. Not 20 minutes into our hunt(after an hour hike in) the unmistakable footsteps of elk came thru the timber. Getting into place it was a short time before a spike bull stepped into an opening broadside. Calm, relaxed and at full draw I held my 45 yd pin on his vitals and touched off the trigger. A dull thunk left us a little hesitant that the shot found its mark. Investigation showed my arrow buried deep in a large sapling and well off the flight path, a victim of an unseen branch and deflection. The elk tracks to where I stood ranged at 48 yds. Failing to find any more sign of elk in the area, we left to target the vocal bull from the previous evening.

The plan was for Troy to fire up the bull from across the canyon, while I would make my way to him. And it started out right on cue. But in the half mile I had to close, I found elk of my own. 1st a few cows that got very close to me in the heavy brush, and eventually spooked out. Moving on, I quickly & quietly made my way towards the bugling bull. Glimpses of elk here and there let me know I was in the thick of it. They figured me for another cow and although not spooking, they paid me no mind to investigate and give me a shot. As I cut the distance to the main bull, just seconds after having cow called, in rushed a nice 5x5. He was on me in a heartbeat. Drawing as he angled away he started to quicken his step. A cow call stopped him at 14 yds, but again some thin brush separated us. Spotting an opening I shifted my weight to lean and make a shot thru a small opening. As I did so a dry branch under foot cracked with the sound of a gunshot and off went the bull and my hopes.

Staying diligent I pressed on trying to find the now silent herd bull. Finally shortly before dark the bull fired up and started making his way to an accessible area. I hiked out to cut him off. Fearing he would not make it to me before dark, I moved in towards him. Heading into the dark, thick timber, I was worried about finding a shooting lane but the elk were on top of me, and I had to play the hand I was dealt. The first elk to show was a large cow winding her way to me. Her trail took her passed me at a mere 10 yds, maybe less. When she hit an opening, I called to stop her, but an extra step left the main opening on her guts. But I was able to find a path to sneak and arrow in and just as pressure built on my release trigger, she moved off. Hearing more elk coming thru the woods, I figured more cows would file by and this time I knew where the open window was. Glancing down the trail the next sight to appear was an enormous rack. A bull going well into the 320” range. If he takes the same path as the cow, he’s dead. I would shoot him walking, not taking any chances. As he crests the small knob, and his snout just reaches my opening, he quickly dashes thru my opening in a spurt to catch up with the cow. A desperate call to stop him falls way short as he stops behind a large pine tree, barely to see any of the huge beast at all. He moves off and I let down, slump over to the ground and stare at the sky, trying to grasp what had just unfolded before me. More elk are still coming so I get back up and prepare. The rest of the herd moves thru well below me and out of sight in this cursed north Idaho brush.

The rest of the trip we were in areas of heavy elk sign, but produced no more close encounters.
I am fortunate to have the experience I did, but bad breaks at the most critical moments kept me from putting a tag on an elk this year. That’s how it goes sometimes. I’ve been on a good streak with whitetails and those little breaks going my way, I guess this was my even up trip.