Elk season opens next weekend, so my hunting buddy David and I went out and did some scouting yesterday. It was a banner day! We saw at least nine, possibly as many as 12 bull elk, all in one valley, and all before 8 a.m. (a few of them might have been repeat sightings) Considering that I sometimes go an entire hunting season without getting eyes on a single elk, that's a pretty amazing start! Outside winter tours of the National Elk Refuge, I have never seen that many bull elk in one day. I LOVE looking at elk, especially bulls. What a great day.
So, this is where we plan to be on opening day. It's a challenging place to hunt. This valley is almost entirely surrounded by private land. There is really only one legal route in and out, and it is directly upwind. That means it's hard to get in without the elk catching our scent. But we scouted all that and came up with a good plan.
If the bulls are still in the area next weekend, and
if the wind holds steady, and
if no other hunters come into the valley and spook them out? I'm pretty optimistic about our odds.
Just before we left, a pickup drove into the upper end of the valley, and I think it must have spooked this group. It is also possible that a lion or bear came along and jumped them off their beds--hard to say. I was sitting on a hill at the bottom of the draw, glassing some timber, when these three guys came blitzing over the hill about a hundred yards away. They never saw me, but something really had them moving! Look at the way that lead elk runs with his head up. So proud. So Magnificent.
Some further pics of the area. It's a big valley with a little creek running down the bottom, right where the desert and the mountains meet. Such a pretty spot.
A Tuka Dika (Sheepeater, Mountain Shoshone) teepee. Most likely a modern replica, given the location. But a very well-done replica! I've found a couple of real ones, and they look exactly like this.
OK, that's enough for now. I should have some stories--and maybe some steaks!--next weekend.
