A Minnesota Elk Hunting Story - Conclusion

[Gissert]

Friday, September 23 found me back in Grygla. I was healed up and ready to hunt. This time I was flying light and solo. I left the quad at home, as I had multiple offers of help from locals and the DNR in getting an animal out should I score. I cannot say enough good things about all the support I received from these fine folks.

I left the camper at home, opting for a room at Motel 89. Nice, clean rooms with great rates. I just might have to come back for muzzloading!

I first checked for fresh sign on the roads in the area, finding none.

It was rather windy, coming out of the southeast. I was very pleased to see that most of the soybeans in the area were now harvested. I decided to set up on the edge of a harvested field near the boundary road. I wanted to be able to move quickly and quietly should I hear a bugle I could pursue. I had packed in a folding chair which made for more comfort and visibility.

As the sun began to sink in the western sky, the winds began to drop. I caught some motion moving towards me along the woods to my left. A brown shape was approaching rather quickly. Pine marten! Very cool, indeed. I had only ever seen one in the wild once before, and that was in Colorado. It kept coming, stopping about 10 feet from my chair before it figured out that the orange blob was not supposed to be there. It scurried off into the tree line behind me.

Shortly thereafter, a nice doe and fawn came out onto the field. I had seen them on numerous occasions prior to the field being harvested. I decided to play with my new range finder. The doe came to 33 yards, and then took a trail into the woods followed by her fawn. I was not seeing or hearing any elk, but I was having a great time.

About 7 pm. I heard the herd bull fire up a bugle in his usual spot. Shortly thereafter, I heard a bugle to the northwest, it seemed. It caught me by surprise. I strained get the direction, and shortly I heard it again more to the west in some state land. Game on! It was getting too late to chase or call, so I decided to set up closer to that side of the field very early the next morning.

As I walked back to the truck, my friendly doe and fawn had returned. They seemed mildly annoyed with my presence again and pranced into the woods. As I hit the road, a car pulled up, and the landowner told me he thought he had seen some elk on the west edge of the field I had been on. This confirmed my decision to set up there in the morning.

Since I did not have the camper to cook meals in, I had a great fish dinner at Yo-Hawns in Grygla. A couple of cold ones and a great dinner were great medicine for sleep.

I was feeling good when I got out of bed at 4:30 am. I drove out to the area where I had been the prior evening, and parked on a gravel road and just listened. I heard the herd bull right away, right in his usual spot. The elk were already in the trees by the sound of it.

I turned around and came into my spot from the north. I grabbed my chair and gun and was set up on the west end of the bean stubble by 5:45. The herd bull was still bugling, much more so than he had been in the last week. This was a good sign. About 6:15, there was enough light to start to glass the area. There were four big lumps on the west edge of the field. It was too dark to discern the white rumps of elk, but these were much bigger than deer and they were moving. ELK! Unfortunately, they were moving into the tall grass and timber to the west. No matter, these critters were fair game. As soon as legal shooting light arrived, I began to do some cow mews and chirps with my Primes Hot Lips call. This is an excellent cow call. It has two reeds so you can do single calls, or mimic two cows at once. After fifteen minutes, I began to bugle. I got one response from the herd bull, now over a mile away. At 8:30, I packed up and headed to the truck, again dancing with the now familiar doe and fawn as I neared the boundary road.

Since those elk I had seen in the semi darkness were moving west, I headed over to the area west of CR#54 by the S curves again. I walked the Kvilhaug plot, and found plenty of deer sign, and one elk track that was a few days old. I ventured north and west into the private lands, checking for sign and bugling as I went. I found no further sign and got no responses to my calling. It had been raining intermittently all morning, and I was cold and hungry.

I went back into Grygla and had an excellent late breakfast at the cafe and took a catnap in the hotel room. I got on some dry clothes and headed back out. Things were still looking great, and I went back to the bean stubble and set up right where I had been that morning. Nothing much moved until about 6pm, when group of six does and fawns hit the field. Out came my range finder, and one fawn came to 11 yards before it froze, sensing something wrong. It stamped its feet, and then wheezed, causing me to jump. It spooked a bit, and pretty soon the whole dang bunch was stamping, wheezing and snorting at me. I had to stifle laughter. This was great fun! They nervously moved back into the grass from where they came, never really figuring out what I was. By this time, light was fading, so I bugled a few times, with no response. The herd bull began to fire up from his usual area, and I still hunted my way back to the truck in the fading light. I heard an additional bugle far south of the herd bull, even farther out of the hunt zone. My friendly doe and fawn simply hopped into the trees, and then came back out as I passed. It was almost like were co-workers passing in the hallway.

I had a burger at Diamonds, and washed it down with a couple of beers. Returning to my room, I set the alarm for 4:30, and planned to go back to the bean field in the morning again. This was to be my last chance, as I had some family obligations in the afternoon on the last day of the hunt.

I never even bothered listening for bugling; I went directly to my parking spot. As soon as I got out, the main bull was screaming loudly, moving back into the timber in the darkness to the east again. I really had that fellow patterned, but he might as well have been on Mars as long as he was outside the zone. It was cool, with frost in the clover along the field edge, and very still. I sat down, and awaited shooting light. In the darkness, I could pinpoint four bulls to the east, all outside the zone. They were very vocal, making more noise than any other bugling I had heard. At 6:45, there was a bugle from a fifth bull, to the north east, and he was very close to the line! I grabbed my stuff and went after him. I dropped my chair and pack at the truck, and snuck down the boundary road, heading north. I came across three sets of elk tracks that I did recall seeing when I had driven in that morning. I wanted to get to the corner of the section lines and call from a drainage ditch that would provide good cover. About 300 yards from my destination, there was a loud bugle about 400 yards into the timber on the wrong side of the road. This was the closest I had heard a bugle in the whole hunt when I had a rifle in my hands. He was to the east, and I needed him to get across the road to the west side for him to be fair game. There was an open spot immediately to the west, and I set up in it, about 40 yards into the hunt zone.

I let loose with a double estrus mew, and he thundered a response immediately. Yes! I could hear his antlers rake some trees, and the sound of brush popping as he made his way toward me. It was finally happening! I cow called again, and he bellowed instantly, but then hung up in a clear cut that had heavy re-growth in it. Next, he moved back to the older growth, bugling as he went.

NO! NO! NO! I screamed my meanest challenge bugle, and then cow called as seductively as I could. Again, he thrashed the brush and started moving my way again, only to stop a ways into the clear cut. I could hear him plainly, but the growth was just too thick to see him at that distance. He moved back into the timber once again.

I repeated my sequence of bugles and cow calls again, and he started for me one more time, but quickly moved back into the timber again, moving farther and farther away. He would still bugle back, but would no longer advance in my direction. It seemed like he had some cows and was not willing to leave them entirely.

All the while, there were thee other bulls bugling, plus the herd bull. It almost seemed like some of his harem had been cut away, and the fight was on to get them back. By 9:00 am the bugling slowly died out. I was emotionally drained from the great adrenaline rush that that calling sequence had provided. This was like no other hunting experience I had had before, and was grateful to have had the opportunity to call him out.

My hunt was over.

I made my rounds and thanked all the landowners I could find at home. Without them, much of my experiences would not have been possible. I hope I have made some new friends as a result of this hunt.

Big thanks are also in order to the Joe and Marshall at the Thief Lake DNR station. They patiently answered my questions, and prepared me well for this hunt.

Sure, I would have liked to have killed a nice bull, but I have no regrets. How could I? I had a chance to hunt rutting elk in my home state. Not many people will get that chance. If these elk had been rutting inside the zone, I would probably be telling you a success story. Hey, that how hunting goes, even more so with elk.

The management goal has been to get these elk into the Wapiti management unit, and that is where these elk were during my hunt. This is a great success story for the DNR, as the elk are much farther east and do less agricultural damage in this area. If the cows start calving in the Wapiti unit, it may just solidify this eastward movement. Next year may tell the tale on how this progresses, as there will probably be a lot less soybeans in that vicinity.

If you kind readers wish to learn more of the Minnesota elk herds, just punch elk, elk hunting, or RMEF into the DNR HSOforum search engine. There is a lot of great information on these animals, and their management.

Better yet, attend a local RMEF banquet. Your dollars will help continue the development of Minnesota elk and other wildlife. You’ll have a great meal, fun with fellow conservationists, and maybe win some nice prizes.

Elk hunting is not over for Minnesota in 2005. The five cow tag holders that were drawn will be out hunting in December.

If you are interested in hunting elk should there be a season next year, by all means apply. Your odds are better than you may think. Less than 600 people applied this year for the six tags. Those are better odds than a pull tab jar!

Thanks for all the great comments, and it was fun to share my hunt with you all.

Good Hunting,

Chuck Worum, aka Gissert

[FL SNIPER]

Gissert,

Thank you very much for sharing your experience with us all. Your writing is fantastic...it was like I was right there with you the whole time. That was great.

Thanks again.

FL Sniper

[NELS-BELLS]

Ditto!

Thats why its called hunting and not shooting.

Thanks, I enjoyed it.

[Wayne Sieber]

Chuck - Thanks so much for the story - Awesome!! I have never been elk hunting before in my life (until now!) and hopefully someday I too will enjoy the real thing! Lastly - I would say that based on your experience, that was truly a success and a hunt that you won't ever forget and isn't that what it is really all about anyway? Thanks again sir!!

[captkev]

Gissert, I'm with the rest, Great story. Will that story be printed in any other publication??? A friend of mine owns a hunting and fishing weekly news paper company. If you would allow them to print it and share it with 1000's of others, I think they would.

Also, I have never hunted Elk anywhere, Is this something that you would be interested in doing each fall as a guide? I'd like to apply for the drawing, and if lucky enough to get a tag, I don't have the first clue as to how to call for them.

Give me a call or p/m me if you are interested in the paper thing I'll give you more details 320-760-3815

[Gissert]

Hi Kev,

I may be interested in publishing this story, but I am going to present it to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation First.

I have always enjoyed writing, but have never tried to get anything published before.

Guiding is a tough business. Those western guides have my utmost respect for their hard work.

I am just a neophyte at calling elk myself, although I did do a lot of research and that certainly helped. I talked to some people that had hunted rutting elk before, and used a lot of their suggestions also. Commercial elk calls are very easy to use. All of my previous elk hunting has been post-rut.

I would be interested in helping someone on a future Minnesota hunt just to go through the experience again. The rules here are rather tough regarding assistance. Only people who actually hold the elk tags can do any calling, driving or glassing. Any one else is pretty much limited to running a camera and moral support. It was nice to have someone pick me up after still hunting through some of the bigger parcels. That saved a lot of walking.

[captkev]

I had called Jim at the paper yesterday and left him a message, I'm shure he'll be looking at it on here. I respect your loyalty to the RMEF. and I'm shure he does too. once again great story.

[Gissert]

Thanks kev,

I'b be interested in hearing his thoughts. The writing in Bugle is very very good, and I am not sure if my story will be what they are looking for.

[captkev]

Gissert, If you would like to talk to him call me on my cell 320-760-3815 I'll be out duck hunting on Saturday till 4p.m. then probably out grouse hunting till dark, then back out duck hunting at sunrise then back out grouse hunting, monday I'll probably try and shoot a duck or two in the a.m. then try my luck at grouse, I'll have my cell with most of the time, leave a message or give me your info and I'll pass it on to him. I'd give you his number on here but I don't think he'd be to pleased if the phone started ringing a million times a day, I think you put some time into your story and it should be enjoyed to all as it was for me. Not to mention I'm not suposed to addvertise on here.

[Hemlock]

Gissert, I am by no means an elk hunter, but that was awesome, and I'm somewhat familiar with that area. You are a darn good writer. I don't know where the last 25 minutes went, but you had me "out there" with you. Thanks for sharing a great, great hunt.

[Hotspotter]

Kudos to you on a great hunt, and a great story. Keep up the good writing!

Reading the conclusion, especially the part where you were really "in the game" and calling back and forth. Man.....sounds like waaayyy too much fun. It's the same experience I thoroughly enjoy with turkeys, except with the chance to take a MUCH larger animal. I would concede that trying to fool an animal with a brain the size of a football would probably be much more difficult than fooling one with the brain a size of a ping-pong ball (generous).

One question.....why the boundaries? Having that kind of patience when you KNOW where they are would be too much for many hunters to take. Frustrating to say the least.

Joel

[Gissert]

Boundaries? That is a good question for the DNR. They did expand the boundary another mile south a year or two ago, I am told. Perhaps they will change it eastward next year? It would be difficult to do in a neat fashion, however. The eastern boundary is a gravel road, Beltrami #701. To move it east would be very hard to delinate a new boundary, as there are no other north/south running roads for a LONG ways to the east.

Here are my thoughts on why the boundary is laid out like it is: The hunt zone has a lot of ag land in it, and the DNR has paid out damage claims in the past. I can only imagine what a herd of elk could do to a field of sunflowers. Through food plots and habitat management, it seems like they are slowly moving eastward. It seems to me that the boundary is set up to have elk shot in areas where the potential for ag damage is higher.

Where the elk were rutting this year is almost completely comprised of state lands. Specifically, this is the Wapiti Management Unit. The goal has been to try and get the elk into this area for a long time, as less damage to crops will result. In my orientation session, it was made very clear that this was not a cull type hunt. If the elk are going to start using the Wapiti Management Unit for their home range, the herd may be allowed to grow to larger numbers.

It will be VERY interesting to see where the herd sets up next year. There may not be soybeans in close proximity to where they are now, and that may or may not change their pattern.

Sure, I was frustrated at times. Then again, I have been frustrated every other time I have hunted elk. That is just how elk hunting is, and should be.

[TeamNSO]

Gissert- So you are the man: I live just west of Underwood, after living in Grygla the past 6 years. I saw that an Underwood hunter had drew the tag and I visited with a lot of people trying to figure out who you were: Glad to hear you had a great experience. I would love to share that story with others in MN as well! Awesome writing.....If you wouldn't mind sharing it in a public forum again...email me [email protected] I would love to hear who the "college aged son" was...most likely an old student of mine :-) I know the area well...ol' motel 89! I am sure Roy treated you well! There are some monster elk up that way for sure! Great story and i would love to visit with you!

[Nova]

Gissert, great story, it was well worth the wait to get to the conclusion.

[1tofish]

Hey Gissert!

I have a cabin NE of Grygla. During opening week of Grouse season I was walking a trail not far from where you were hunting. As I was walking I heard something, at first I thought it was a cow, then after I heard it again and realized it was an elk bugle. I thought it was kindof a neat deal, since I had never heard one in person before. Well, a couple of weeks later my buudy and I were working the same trail and I was telling him this story about hearing an elk bugle. It was five minutes later when he stopped the truck and said "there's an elk shed!". I didn't believe him at first but he said look close. It had snowed that night, but it looked to be an antler. I had my knee boots on, so I walked across the ditch. Sure enough, it was an elk shed! We couldn't believe it. We were so pumped to find this. The 2 longer points were stuck in the ground so the main beam was off the ground, parallel to it. It is in great condition considering how long it must have been there. After reading your story, I had to share a photo with you.

After finding this we didn't care if we seen a grouse the rest of the day. Thanks for the story!

[Gissert]

Nice shed! Thanks for sharing your photo. I wish I could have seen the critter that it came from on the west side of 701!

[B. Amish]

i know two fellas that found elk sheds in east otter tail county. i seen one in person, and though it wasn't a huge trophy, it was fairly impressive. he said he tripped over something in the swamp and happened to turn around to see what it was, it looked like and antler tip, he dug it up out of the muck and it was an elk shed.