NoWiser's 2013 DIY Wyoming Archery Elk Hunt

[PFUNK]

Corey is a really nice guy. Got a chance to speak with him for awhile after an elk calling seminar he gave in Montana. He can flat out call elk, and he is more than willing to share advice. I'm pretty sure he has videos on you tube, or maybe it's his dad, but they are great videos on how to call elk with a diaphragm call for beginners who might be interested in learning.

[frogtosser]

where did you get your satellite phone and how much do those cost? It sounds like you are pretty good at calling, how long did it take you to get good at it?

[NoWiser]

where did you get your satellite phone and how much do those cost? It sounds like you are pretty good at calling, how long did it take you to get good at it?

I rented the phone from GlobalCom Satellite Communications. I found them on the auction site and rental was $28.00/week. I think by the time I payed shipping and the other charges it was about $75.00 total for the trip.

I definitely would not say I am good at calling. I have plenty of room for improvement. I practiced enough so that I felt very comfortable making the majority of the cow and bull calls that I would need. Remember, I haven't called a bull into range yet in the story! I have a 1/2 hour drive to work and would call at least 5 of those per week, so 2-3 hours a week from about May-September.

[NoWiser]

Day 10

We started the morning by trying to call a bull close to camp. We knew there were plenty of animals in the area so figured it was worth a shot before we walked too far. We hiked east, through some sage brush meadows, firing off locator bugles to try to get a response. With the way the bulls had been acting the last few days, we figured if there were any within earshot, they would respond. The only response we got were our own calls echoing off of the mountainsides. We decided to hike back to the wallows where we had our close encounters the previous day. We'd try to find a bull to chase on the way.

About an hour and a half later we were back to our favorite area. Fresh tracks told us that a bunch of elk had moved through either overnight, or first thing that morning. It was an encouraging sign. I sat on the wallow for about 2 hours before I started getting impatient. Our time was getting short on the hunt and, although I knew my best bet was probably sitting the wallow, I wanted to do some more hiking. I walked up and got Dad and we climbed the rest of the way up to the ridge. We first headed east, past the old log cabin, and into the area we hunted days prior. Every couple hundred yards we'd bugle down the mountain, hoping for a response, but with no luck. After a couple miles we turned around and headed back, planning to explore the area west of the wallows, from the top of the ridge. It was a really cool area and was a place the elk definitely hung out at night. Tracks crossed over the ridge all over the place. It was an area a person needed to be when it was still pitch black in the morning. Not only would it give you a good shot at an elk crossing the ridge, but it offered access to lots of area to chase bugles. We decided it is where we'd start the morning tomorrow. We hiked some more, bugling as we went, but the bulls were silent. We knew they were around, but we just couldn't get a response. We decided to head back to our blinds for the remainder of the day.

I got back to my blind and sat a bit. Then something happened to me that has never, ever happened before. I wanted out. I don't know if it was the mountains or the slimy PB & Bacon sandwich, or what, but I couldn't take it anymore. I started to feel claustrophobic and had the feeling that I just needed to leave or something very bad was going to happen. I think a big part was that everything in the mountains was hard. Walking uphill was hard and sent shooting pains through my hip, walking downhill was hard and killing my knees, side hilling was hard, and the air was thin. I hadn't had a real meal in 1 1/2 weeks. I didn't realize it, but I went from 163lbs to 154 lbs, so maybe it had something to do with lack of calories. Now, I've done A LOT of hunting in remote areas before. I spend 10 days a year living in the middle of the woods in a tepee deer hunting and am never ready to leave. I've done two moose hunts in the middle of the BWCA never once did I have second thoughts on them. I just couldn't understand how I could want this hunt to end, and it killed me, but those were my true feelings at the time. I sat there trying to enjoy it, but my heart was racing the entire time. Like I said, I've never felt anything like it in my life.

A few distant bugles rang out here and there the remainder of the day, but nothing that was close enough where I thought it made sense to leave the wallow. I really felt it offered the best chance.

As daylight began to fade Dad came down the mountain to get me. We'd call our way back to camp, as doing exactly that had given us encounters with bulls a couple of days now. We caught the trail that angled down the mountain, and bugled our way down. Before dropping the last few hundred feet to the creek, I let out a bugle

A bull responded, but in an area where shooting light would have been long gone by the time we reached him. We descended the rest of the way to the creek, crossed the beaver dam like we had done the days before, and began the steep climb back to camp. Walking uphill was becoming extremely painful by this time. My hip was shot and my leg was numb. Tiny steps were the name of the game. Slowly but surely we gained elevation, but we still couldn't buy a response from an elk. Coming to the top of a draw I saw something that caught my attention.......

I should note that by this time in the hunt I missing my girlfriend, the rest of my family, and my friends. This included my two year old Godson. I spent a lot of time wondering what he was up to and how he was doing. He is a super cool little dude, and smart too. By the time he was 21 months old between my dad and I we had taught him to name every major fish species from Minnesota. Northern, Muskie, Walleye, Perch, Bass, Crappie, Sunfish......He could tell them all apart. He knew the difference between a Moose, Elk, and Deer. From going over pictures in magazines with him, he could tell the difference between squirrels, otters, badgers, foxes, bears, and wolves. But, his favorite animal of all time was an ELEPHANT!!! The day his little sister (and my niece) was born, he had me drawing pictures of elephants for him on the marker board in the hospital. He would make me chase him around the house pretending to be an elephant (but a nice elephant, he would say).

Coming over the draw I saw two dead limbs that looked EXACTLY like elephant tusks to me. I just had to stop and get a picture of me pretending to be an elephant for him. It looked a lot better in my head than in real life, though.

By the end of the hike I was tired and hurting, but my spirits had been restored. I felt much better and was ready to give it my all one last day. When the trip is over I could second guess many of the decisions I made and live with it. It was a learning experience and mistakes were expected to be made. One thing I was absolutely not ok with was giving up. It never really was an option, even when sitting over the wallow earlier. We had a day to hunt, and I had to believe our chances were only going to increase with each day in the mountains........

[NoWiser]

Day 11

We already knew our plan for the last day. We would be up on the ridge we found the day before, covering likely places where the elk would cross. From here we could chase bugles, go sit on the wallows, or explore even more new country. It was a great plan and we were ready to put it into motion.

Unfortunately, a few hours before daylight, we heard an all too familiar sound. Rain was hitting the tent. Other than a bear ripping a hole in the tent, this was about the last thing we wanted to hear. For one we were just plain sick and tired of being wet and after a few dry days we weren't looking forward to it. Another, even more important reason the rain gave us a sick feeling was leaving camp we had a couple miles of steep road (more like an atv path) to negotiate. First was a moderate dowhnill, but then a steep and windy ascent to the main gravel road. Without chains we had no idea if it was possible to get out if the rain turned the road to mud. Coming down into camp was scary enough. Not being able to get out would be bad, but even worse would be if we'd slip off the side of the road and roll the truck down to the bottom of the hill. We had a tough decision to make and decided that we would let it get light and then make the call.

The sun was slow to break through the heavy clouds that morning, and as it did things weren't looking very good. The sky was dark and lightening was flashing off in the distance. My GPS unit was flashing "Weather Warning" on the screen. If we hit a rainy spell like the that of the beginning our trip, who knows when we'd make it out. It could be a couple of days or, with the cool weather if it changed to snow, it could be next June! As tough as it was, because it felt like we gave up early, we made the decision to pack up camp and head home. It was a hard decision to make. We threw our gear into the back of the truck, put it in 4 low, and slowly crawled our way up to the main road. On our way down to the foothills we started seeing these

We couldn't believe the numbers of antelope in Wyoming. They were thick! We have been building preference points for antelope in Wyoming for a couple of years, and seeing them everywhere really made us look forward to returning eventually to chase some speedgoats.

As the mountain range slowly grew smaller over my left shoulder on the way home, the torrential rain started. Nonstop lightening was flashing over the area we were sleeping just a few hours before. When I got cell service the forecast called for rain the next 5 days. As hard as it was, we had made the smart decision to leave.

Something else happened on the way home. Similar to the day before, I had this gut feeling in my stomach. Instead of needing to leave the mountains, the feeling told me I needed to go back. I wasn't ready to be done. 24 hours earlier I had been planning my exit. Our entire drive home was devoted to figuring out exactly how and when we could return. We were hooked. Not a day has gone by since where I don't hear the piercing sound of a bugle in my head, imagine the sweety, tangy smell of elk, or see the sun setting below the rugged peaks of a mountain range.

Although we didn't come home with an elk, this hunt is far from over. It has, in fact, just started. As long as I can climb up and down the mountains, I don't expect this hunt for the mighty wapiti to ever be over. I do know that it will be resumed this September. Thank you for following along on my story, and stay tuned for the sequal......

[Scoot]

Another great post, Jim! The highs and lows of hunting like this in the mountains are pretty powerful for sure. With a lot of down time (like sitting on a wallow) it's easy for your mind to wander and for the kinds of feelings you had to creep up and get ahold of you. It makes it tough sometimes! ...and, just wait until you have your own kids...

For me, that's the toughest part of these kinds of trips- missing my kids. My kids miss me and it's not easy for my wife when I'm gone (certainly not because she misses me- she misses my help at home). The last thing I always do is to take a few pics of my kids before I leave on my camera, so I have them to look at when I have some down time. I'm not sure if it makes me feel better or worse, but it's what I do. It's funny- you spend over 350 days in a row waiting to get in the mountains to chase elk, then when you get there, your brain turns a 180 and misses what's at home. Kinda helps put things in perspective sometimes.

[Scoot]

My last post was started before I saw the final post...

What a GREAT story and thread! Thanks so much for taking us along on your hunt. What a hunt it was! You did a great job of telling the story and painting a picture of what it was like to be there- you're an excellent writer and your pics really helped get a feel for what you were doing and where you were at. Plus, now that you've done a story like this you'll get even better at it. It's definitely a learned skill- I'm still learning lots about how to do it and I'm sure you'll find that you pick up a few things every time you do it too.

Last thing-- I'm so incredibly jealous of you being able to do a trip like this with your dad! I'm lucky to have my dad around still (he's 67), but there's no chance he'd be able to do an elk hunt with me. Even if we did a truck-based hunt I don't think he'd do it at this point, so my window has passed for this. You're very, very lucky indeed. I hope you got a pic or two of the two of you together on this trip. I realize how difficult that might have been to get given that you didn't have a third person to take the picture, but it'd be worth it's weight in gold to you someday, I imagine. I know it would be to me.

Congrats on a great hunt and thanks again for taking us along for the ride.

[NoWiser]

Last thing-- I'm so incredibly jealous of you being able to do a trip like this with your dad! I'm lucky to have my dad around still (he's 67), but there's no chance he'd be able to do an elk hunt with me. Even if we did a truck-based hunt I don't think he'd do it at this point, so my window has passed for this. You're very, very lucky indeed. I hope you got a pic or two of the two of you together on this trip. I realize how difficult that might have been to get given that you didn't have a third person to take the picture, but it'd be worth it's weight in gold to you someday, I imagine. I know it would be to me.

I agree, Scoot. I'm very lucky that not only is he able to do these trips, but he is willing to do them.

My only concern is that I need to start hitting the gym now so that I don't slow him down again this coming September!

[jerkin'm]

Great story NoWiser!!! I wish it would have ended with a giant dead bull but that's elk hunting...I went to Colorado on a rifle elk hunt with my dad 5 years ago and it was the best hunt I have ever done. He was 72 at the time and we did a drop camp hunt where we rode horses in and stayed in a heated wall tent. He didn't get real far from camp every day but loved every second of it. We played cards well into the night and ate like kings. Our chances of killing an elk weren't great but we had several opportunities. I am saving up points for a muzzle loader hunt next year. Again, great story and lots of great equipment info! I don't see any mention of busch light cans anywhere???

[NoWiser]

Great story NoWiser!!! I wish it would have ended with a giant dead bull but that's elk hunting...I went to Colorado on a rifle elk hunt with my dad 5 years ago and it was the best hunt I have ever done. He was 72 at the time and we did a drop camp hunt where we rode horses in and stayed in a heated wall tent. He didn't get real far from camp every day but loved every second of it. We played cards well into the night and ate like kings. Our chances of killing an elk weren't great but we had several opportunities. I am saving up points for a muzzle loader hunt next year. Again, great story and lots of great equipment info! I don't see any mention of busch light cans anywhere???

Thanks Jerkin,

I left any mention of Busch Light out of the story. I know it's kind of a sore subject among the members here who don't have such a sophisticated taste in fine beverages as I do. I hope you can forgive me

Also, there were mushrooms growing literally everywhere out there with all the rain. Unfortunately I could not identify any of them and Mushrooms Demystified is a little too heavy to lug around in my pack.

[DonBo]

Great read. Too bad you had to turn back a day early, but that was probably the best decision you made all week, not that you made any bad ones. Anyway, thanks again for taking us with.

[sticknstring]

What a great recap! I'd certainly call that a successful hunt. Can't wait to read round 2 next year where you'll get to bloody up some game bags!

[certified jumbo]

Solid stuff nowiser. Thanks for doing this and taking the time out of your day. Looking forward to next years....

[HooknHorns]

Great thread with highs and lows. I hope I can return the favor in the fall. I feel I should've been keeping a hunting journal with photos years ago. I guess better late than never.

I can see a dyi speed goat hunt with you and your dad in the future. Hopefully you'll have a little better luck. Thanks again.

[walleye18]

Outstanding Nowiser!

Great Read. Thank you for sharing.

[jerkin'm]

Yes, I don't know if my palate is quite ready for a complicated beer like that.. Bummer about the mushroom ID issue, would have probably been good to throw a few of them in with the dehydrated stuff...Good call on the Meindl boots, I just added my third pair to the arsenal..

[Scoot]

Great job again, Jim. You mentioned some dos and don'ts from this trip that you would have to stew over for until next Sep. I'm curious, where do you think you screwed up, where did you do things right, what would you do different, and what won't you change for next year? Your answers could be related to a ton of different things here: equipment, hunting areas, calling strategy, physical conditioning, food, e-scouting, and a bunch of other things...

[NoWiser]

Great job again, Jim. You mentioned some dos and don'ts from this trip that you would have to stew over for until next Sep. I'm curious, where do you think you screwed up, where did you do things right, what would you do different, and what won't you change for next year? Your answers could be related to a ton of different things here: equipment, hunting areas, calling strategy, physical conditioning, food, e-scouting, and a bunch of other things...

Scoot,

One thing I would do differently is try to find someone who is a successful elk hunter that could give me good, solid advice

Honestly, the very biggest mistake we made was diving headfirst into an area that we weren't physically capable of hunting. It cost us 3 days of our trip and took a toll on our bodies early on. I truly believe that 3 more days in the last area we hunted would have given us a very good chance at an elk. I should have listened to the locals out there who told me the only way to affectively hunt that area was with horses. I don't regret the decision, necessarily, because the only way we could have found out for ourselves was a scouting trip, which was not a possibility. The kicker was water. Had we been able to find water up high, it would have been challenging but possible. Having to drop 1,000 feet for water was more than us flatlanders could handle. The next time I plan a trip like this, my research will definitely include questions about the availability of water. It never crossed my mind with all of the "creeks" that were shown on the map.

I was very happy with the general area that I selected to hunt. There were a ton of elk there. I should have just concentrated a few miles south where it wasn't so steep.

Physical conditioning is something I could definitely improve on, too. I hit the gym almost every day before work all summer but I should have put on a pack and climbed hills more all summer. I only did this the last few weeks before the trip. I felt like I was in very good shape, but you can never be in good enough shape for a trip like this. The steep country coupled with the elevation made it extremely hard to cover ground fast when you needed to, especially uphill.

Another big change we would make is something you already hit on. We honestly could have woken up 1 1/2 hours earlier almost every day. Our thoughts were that there could be an elk 100 yards from the tent at any time, so we were really hunting as soon as we crawled out. Realistically we should have been done eating breakfast when it was still pitch black, and heading towards the first close bugle. The thermals were so messed up that the only time you could really predict them was very early and late in the day. It was dumb to not take advantage of this time period a little more. There is no doubt it is the #1 thing we will change regarding our hunting strategy come this September.

I also think our communication should have been better when we were working an elk. We always had a plan when we went after a bull, but as you know seldom does Plan A actually work out perfect. I think that we will have to find a way to communicate a little using cow calls. Too many times we worked a bull only to get separated and out of sight from each other. It left the caller only guessing what the shooter was doing, which is not very conducive to a successful set up. We either need to learn to stay within eyesight of each other or find a way to let one another know exactly what we want each other to do. I would be interested to hear how you, Scoot, go about getting set up on a bull and staying on the same page as your partner.

Also regarding strategy I could see us working on being more aggressive. We knew going into this hunt that we weren't after whitetails. Elk are a completely different animal. We did go after bulls in, what we thought, was an aggressive manner but if we did it again I think we'd be less concerned with blowing the elk out of the area. We played it too safe too many times and, as a result, probably missed out on some good opportunities.

Our e-scouting was pretty good. I had really nice maps printed off of the areas we hunted, and had most of the areas almost memorized by the time we got there. Somehow, related to our first mistake of hunting too steep of county, we made some mathematical errors. Being carpenters we are familiar with walking roofs. So, using the map scale and contours we calculated that the average steepness of terrain would be comparable to a 4:12 roof pitch with some of the steeper grades more like a 7:12. We were wrong. The mountains we initially tried to hunt were much steeper than this.

As for equipment we were very happy with most everything we took with. The only upgrade I made so far was the sleeping bag and raingear. I could easily see myself heading out with the mostly the same gear. As mentioned I will definitely be bringing a watch with an altimeter next time, too. We also had the food planned out very well, but will probably not be bringing the PBB&H tortillas next time.

Some good investments we made before the trip were instructional DVDs and CDs. I know I mentioned ELK101's University of Elk Hunting DVD. This 2-DVD set was a great investment that didn't set the pocket book back too bad. It is geared towards someone who is a complete novice, like we were. I also really liked Elknut's stuff. All summer I kept one of his 4 CDs in my truck and practiced imitating his sounds. Even if I didn't feel like calling, I just listened to them. It really helped me know what was going on in the mountains. All of the calling practice did pay off, though. I felt very comfortable with the calling. I know practicing more was going to be my dad's #1 thing on the list to do differently this year.

Something else I should mention is that I really wish I would have known that I'd be doing this kind of hunting 10 years ago. For a fairly minimal investment I could have been building preference and bonus points in a couple of states each year and I'd be sitting pretty right now as far as being able to do some top notch hunts. Better late than never, though!

I've have to run now and get some more work done, but I'll try to think of a few more things to add.

[HooknHorns]

When you spoke of how aggressive you were when calling. Do you think that being too aggressive on the call cost you shot opportunity. Like a smaller bull leaving cause he didn't want his butt kicked or a bull with cows, pushing away the harem. Him not wanting to deal with the nuisance of other bulls. Myself I have a tendency to over call on ever thing from turkey's to deer. It's easy to do.

What was the percentage of cow calling versus bugling and what's the importance of an altimeter when trying to find elk? Are elk easier to pattern with it or just knowing where you're at?

[NoWiser]

When you spoke of how aggressive you were when calling. Do you think that being too aggressive on the call cost you shot opportunity. Like a smaller bull leaving cause he didn't want his butt kicked or a bull with cows, pushing away the harem. Him not wanting to deal with the nuisance of other bulls. Myself I have a tendency to over call on ever thing from turkey's to deer. It's easy to do.

What was the percentage of cow calling versus bugling and what's the importance of an altimeter when trying to find elk? Are elk easier to pattern with it or just knowing where you're at?

I don't think that the aggressive calling cost us opportunities, but I could be wrong. The elk were so vocal at times that I don't really think that overcalling was an issue for us. If anything, I feel that we should have been closer to a couple of bulls when we called.......in other words, get so close that their first reaction is to fight rather than leave. It was hard at times to judge exactly how far away they were. Also I mentioned the couple of times that we got separated from each other while setting up on a bull. Those bulls were so vocal that I know we could have gotten right in on them had we stuck together. Once separated we were kind of out of luck because I didn't want to blow an opportunity for my dad if he was trying to get in for a shot. In those instances if we would have stuck together, snuck to within 50 or 60 yards of him, and screamed our brains out I think good things would have happened.

The altimeter wouldn't necessarily be for finding elk. I just found that looking at a map it was hard to know where you were unless you knew your elevation. For example maybe there was a nice bench on a north slope at 8,800 feet that we wanted to sneak up to an make some calls. If the valley floor was at 8,000 feet it was hard to know at what point to stop climbing and start side hilling towards the bench. It would have been nice to just be able to quickly glance at a watch rather than dig out a gps and wait for it to lock in.

[pumper317]

No wiser,

Awesome story and awesome advise. Thank you for taking the time to share it. You are very lucky in deed, as most of us could not do this with our dads. Enjoyed this tremendously, as I do with Scoot's and others that share like this. Sorry you didn't punch the tag, but it sounds like you did everything but that. Sounds like a great trip!

[bela0023]

Great story NoWiser, thanks for sharing! You really captured the feeling of all the highs and lows encountered on a DIY archery elk hunt. I'm not sure what it was with the weather this year, I had t-storms most afternoons when I was in CO hunting too. The only time I had a close encounter with a herd of elk it started hailing hard!

You have some great tips for people planning their hunt and I would like to add one more for everyone. When driving long distances to an out of state hunt be sure to take measures to reduce your likelihood of developing a blood clot in your legs. Frequent stops to stretch your legs and even taking a baby aspirin may not be a bad idea. I got a clot in my leg this year and it seriously kicked my butt. It's not something I'd like anyone else to experience.

[frogtosser]

Cool story, makes me want to go now. Where did you buy your pack at? Did u get it online or locally?

[Scoot]

I also think our communication should have been better when we were working an elk. We always had a plan when we went after a bull, but as you know seldom does Plan A actually work out perfect. I think that we will have to find a way to communicate a little using cow calls. Too many times we worked a bull only to get separated and out of sight from each other. It left the caller only guessing what the shooter was doing, which is not very conducive to a successful set up. We either need to learn to stay within eyesight of each other or find a way to let one another know exactly what we want each other to do. I would be interested to hear how you, Scoot, go about getting set up on a bull and staying on the same page as your partner.

This is a tough one and different people have different philosophies about it. Personally, I think that if you want to shoot an elk via calling you're best off being within sight of each other. The caller and shooter should be far enough apart so they can just barely still see each other, but definitely can still see each other. That way the bulls that want to hang up will do so within range of the shooter (much of the time). It can work with the caller and shooter not being in sight of each other, but there's a ton of guessing involved and to do it consistently you need to know everything the other guy is thinking, or a great guesser.

For me, if I'm calling for a buddy and he moves in on a bull, I also move in on the bull. If the country is pretty open, I'll stay about 80 yards or more behind my buddy. If it's thick, I might only be 30 yards or less behind him. I'm generally aggressive in my calling and calling set ups, so it's often the case that I run up to my buddy and push him ahead, trying to close the distance to the bull.

[Scoot]

When you spoke of how aggressive you were when calling. Do you think that being too aggressive on the call cost you shot opportunity. Like a smaller bull leaving cause he didn't want his butt kicked or a bull with cows, pushing away the harem. Him not wanting to deal with the nuisance of other bulls.

There's no doubt this can happen. ...and, when people move in and call aggressively and the bull retreats, they seem really concerned and blame aggressive calling. When they are passive and gently try to cow call a bull in and he doesn't come in, for some reason they don't seem upset that they didn't get a shot and they don't blame the calling. Truth is, if you don't get a bull in range because of overly aggressive or overly passive calling, it's a failure. So, calling one way or another can and will fail some percentage of the time.

I am 100% sure that more elk opportunities are blown by passive cow calling than by aggressive bugling. However, there are times and situations where one or the other are best suited for the opportunity.

More importantly, the details of the setup will determine whether or not a hunter gets a chance. For example, trying to aggressively bugle a bull in from 300 yards away will result in failure almost every time. Get in the bull's comfort zone and set up. If it's thick, you might need to be inside of 50 yards. If it's open you might not be able to get closer than 100 yards. However, don't even bother calling, other than to locate a bull, outside of 100 yards. Also, don't call your way to a bull- sneak in close silently, get in his living room, and put him in a position to have to respond. This is definitely the case for aggressive bugling, but often is the case for cow calling too.

I'm sure somebody will follow this post with a story of how they called in a bull from 1/4 mile, but that's the exception far more than the norm. We've called in bulls from a long ways away, but it's not a strategy to bank on working. Get in close and make it happen.

Think of it this way, if I yell at you from a long ways away and call you mean names, you might be likely to blow me off and walk away. However, if I approach you and call your mother bad names while "in your face", you're much more likely to respond aggressively.

That's my take and my bias. Your mileage may vary...