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Post by Reagan on Sept 25, 2020 16:48:50 GMT -6
We are headed back. No elk were harmed but we had a good trip. Got to work some bugling bulls. We had several moose encounters some of which were a little scary. Had a couple of bear encounters and we caught brook trout on a fly.
The only thing that could have made a better trip would have been a cooler of meat.
It is clear this is my dads last elk hunt. His lungs and mind have the willingness to climb. The knees and hips won’t allow it. If he makes a another trip it will be to keep camp and fish. Pics will follow. Driving thru Nebraska now.
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Post by Reagan on Sept 28, 2020 10:34:00 GMT -6
Here is Mr. bear. He visited camp and dad ran him off. I was headed back to camp that same evening and ran into him again. After running him off again, he left us alone. I will consider a bear tag if I ever elk hunt again.
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Post by Reagan on Sept 28, 2020 10:36:32 GMT -6
Fish were small but plentiful. I caught 20 in the last hour or so I fished. Biggest was about 8”.
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Post by Reagan on Sept 28, 2020 10:39:46 GMT -6
Our first run in with a moose was before daylight. Dad and I were climbing a mountain and ran into a grunting bull. He raked a tree and succeeded in intimidating us. He was about 30 yards away and in a bad mood. This one was spotted at a safer distance and with good light. If we had a tag, killing a bull would have been easy.
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Post by Freeborn on Sept 28, 2020 10:40:24 GMT -6
Fish were small but plentiful. I caught 20 in the last hour or so I fished. Biggest was about 8”. Did you have either sex tag or bull tags? A fun hunt is a cow elk hunt. No pressure hunt where access is typically easy to obtain and not much work for your dad. Was there much bugling going on?
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Post by Reagan on Sept 28, 2020 10:42:32 GMT -6
We had 2 mules and a horse. The mules were having a contest on this day.
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Post by Reagan on Sept 28, 2020 10:44:46 GMT -6
There were a lot of rubs. I suspect some were moose in addition to elk.
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Post by Reagan on Sept 28, 2020 10:47:08 GMT -6
We found a few old cabins. Based on what I read about the area, these could be from the 1880s
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Post by Reagan on Sept 28, 2020 10:51:20 GMT -6
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Post by daydreamer on Sept 28, 2020 12:28:25 GMT -6
Awesome pics Reagan. Great to spend some quality time in the mountains with your dad. My old man is 70 and I hope to have 10 more years of hunting in the mountains with him. He shot his largest elk this year.
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Post by Reagan on Sept 28, 2020 12:28:41 GMT -6
Fish were small but plentiful. I caught 20 in the last hour or so I fished. Biggest was about 8”. Did you have either sex tag or bull tags? A fun hunt is a cow elk hunt. No pressure hunt where access is typically easy to obtain and not much work for your dad. Was there much bugling going on? Tags were for any elk. Any of us would have shot anything. Bugling was good some days and non existent for others. We switched to a different area the second week and had better luck getting into elk. We saw elk in the evenings a few times but didn’t have evening bugles. It was hot and dry so cool mornings were best. There was a lot of pressure and I bumped into other hunters a few times. Calling lead to hung up elk who would not budge until the see an elk. Hung up could be 50-60 yards and sometimes 200 yards. On our last day we were within 100 yards of a bull. I challenged him and he bugles and busted brush which was a thrill for dad. Most of the time I tried to sneak in silent. I was busted more than once by an elk I didn’t see.
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Post by Freeborn on Sept 28, 2020 13:13:28 GMT -6
Did you have either sex tag or bull tags? A fun hunt is a cow elk hunt. No pressure hunt where access is typically easy to obtain and not much work for your dad. Was there much bugling going on? Tags were for any elk. Any of us would have shot anything. Bugling was good some days and non existent for others. We switched to a different area the second week and had better luck getting into elk. We saw elk in the evenings a few times but didn’t have evening bugles. It was hot and dry so cool mornings were best. There was a lot of pressure and I bumped into other hunters a few times. Calling lead to hung up elk who would not budge until the see an elk. Hung up could be 50-60 yards and sometimes 200 yards. On our last day we were within 100 yards of a bull. I challenged him and he bugles and busted brush which was a thrill for dad. Most of the time I tried to sneak in silent. I was busted more than once by an elk I didn’t see. That's one of the tough parts about trying to get close to a bull is all the cows around him. We have always tried to place the shooter between the bull and the caller and tried to get the bull to pass the shooter. Its very difficult to get that close without getting busted. I have never gotten it done but like you I have been close. Looks like a fun hunt, I'm sure your dad enjoyed the adventure. How old is your dad?
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Post by Reagan on Sept 28, 2020 13:26:47 GMT -6
He will be 74 next month. Most years he bike rides his age in miles around his birthday. Incredible shape. But mobility and speed for chasing elk has diminished. He tripped and fell a few times before he realized he needed to slow down to keep his feet under him. There was a lot of beetle killed down timber.
He stayed at camp some days to recuperate. He also made a deal with me. We would hunt together. If he decided a situation was more than he wanted, he would take a seat and I would take off after the herd. We still managed to set him up on 3 different bulls. Any spike or cow that would have come in range would have gotten shot even if there was a bull nearby.
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Post by Reagan on Sept 28, 2020 13:33:48 GMT -6
We hunted elk together in 2014 which was a year after his liver resection. He is a very tough man.
He called in a bull I killed when he was 60. Back then I couldn’t keep up with him. He also managed to kill a bull about 8 years ago unfortunately I was not on that hunt.
DIY elk tends to break me a little physically and mentally. But after we get home I’m already thinking about the next time. I can draw a very good tag in Colorado any time I apply. I will need to coordinate that trip with some non hunting partners and my work schedule. I’m not sure how I will get it done since I have always hunted with dad and his 66 year old buddy.
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Post by Freeborn on Sept 28, 2020 14:10:21 GMT -6
We hunted elk together in 2014 which was a year after his liver resection. He is a very tough man. He called in a bull I killed when he was 60. Back then I couldn’t keep up with him. He also managed to kill a bull about 8 years ago unfortunately I was not on that hunt. DIY elk tends to break me a little physically and mentally. But after we get home I’m already thinking about the next time. I can draw a very good tag in Colorado any time I apply. I will need to coordinate that trip with some non hunting partners and my work schedule. I’m not sure how I will get it done since I have always hunted with dad and his 66 year old buddy. Aging sucks, its not for wimps that's for sure. Bow hunting in particular is a challenge, maybe a rifle hunt with dad would work. Time off is one of the hardest things for me. I am envious of those who have 2-3 weeks to go west and hunt.
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