'Midwest' visits the West
Elk
Had a great visit with Midwest, Jaquomo, Paul at the Fort and Native Oakie and myself. Plans for the fall elk hunts were the topic!
Did ya run out there Nick, or drive! Not sure if I would take a drink from Lou if he offered you one either, considering his giardia thread.
Looks like a pile of elk hunting knowledge sitting at that table!
Glad Lou was feeling up to it! Looks like a good time.
Screwdrivers from a fruit jar ? Good times !
Those are homemade margaritas :)
I'm still down and could've used one of those homemade margs but can't drink on the antibiotics.
Great to finally meet Nick and his S.O.! Good times despite me being Debbie Downer..
What a great bunch of guys and elk killing knowledge. Thanks for putting it together, Brad. Going to be an epic September!
Wow, looks like fun. That is a lot of elk knowledge sitting there! Hope I can assemble that same crew and just sit back and listen next summer.
Coming soon to a USFS road near you ... looks like a good time, and probably more to come.
Reminds me of that 80s hair band: Motley Crue! Lol
MP - hell yeah! I was wearing a Tommy Lee thong but they made me put on shorts for the photo!
I just threw up in my mouf a bit........
Nick, this is your year! (grin) Good luck to all you guys this year!
ElkNut/Paul
Along with some New Belgium and margaritas. When I was at the liquor store I didnt stop and think "what would Ike drink" :^)
Well, you should by golly.
Drink Bud Light. Shoot more elk.
I'm with Ike on this one. BTW Bud Light is banned in ND Nick! Lol!
Brad had my favorite kind....free!
Those homemade margs were mighty tasty, too, but I had to drive. Crystal, however, enjoyed them immensely!
Lou is back from the dead! Issa mirrorcle! Well, sorta..... must be the margaritas..... =D
Looks like a fun time. Now you guys have to go kill somethin'..... heheheheh....
Looks like another great Bowsite get together!
Is Pat picking up your beer tab?:)
Mark
TTT
We finished up a week of elk hunting yesterday. What a great time we had chasing elk!
Midwest is now headed to Wyoming for another week of elk hunting and Im headed to Wyoming for a week tomorrow with Deertick
The story and pics will be posted sometime.. probably starting in October
Stay tuned
View post on imgur.com
Looking forward to it!
I hope Nick got in shape before he headed west!
Looks and sounds like a great time,,friends,drinks and hunting talk\ planning! Couldn't be better,...get um fellas
Good luck, Midwest. Looks like we'll be getting some weather where Cnelk and I are going ... but it'll clear, eventually, and we'll be there ... waiting for the elk to resume the rut.
I'm sure you guys had a hoot! Good luck on your upcoming Wyo adventures! It snowed in Saratoga on Tuesday, we had 5"at camp, and 8" on top. The older I get, the more I hate cold and snow! lol!
Good luck and cant wait to hear the outcome!
cnelk, me, and Native Okie.
cnelk, me, and Native Okie.
Father and son.
Father and son.
Would share a camp with these guys anywhere....we had a blast!
Been thinking about you guys and how you've been doing. Looking forward to any recap. Best of luck for the rest of the season. Have fun. Be safe. Short bloodtrails.
Had a great time guys! Definitely a must do again sooner rather than later. (hopefully Kodiak!)
You've been awfully quiet Brad. Let's hear it!!!
Ucsdryder
Man I been bowhunting 6 weeks already. Maybe thats why Im quiet? :)
Im taking today and tomorrow to do a lil catch up and rest up before we hit the mtns again Saturday morning.
I will say is that an elk took an arrow & I think Nick learned the 'system' :)
Good luck on the wyoming hunts.
Well, Wyoming was another good time, but no elk died. We were into bugling bull each day, but the terrain just didnt allow for us to maneuver like we wanted...
Damn blowdown was horrendous to get thru! Prob wont be going back as the risk is greater than the reward
Now, back to the Colorado hunt with Midwest, Native Oakie and DerbyHunter
Nick arrived at camp Wednesday eve, Sept 13. Native Oakie and DerbyHunter would arrive the following eve
We set up his tent and if I remember correctly had an adult beverage or two
Cook tent
The next morning before daylight, we left camp, crossed a river and headed up to make a 6 mile 'circuit'
In the pre-dawn, we sat down and took a breather. I told Nick to let a bugle rip out...
As soon as the bugle ended, a bull answered him not very far away! Ill never forget the look on his face! Grinning ear to ear!
First bugle of the year and its ON!
Would love to visit all you guys! Nick, run to Cody next. Ron
What better way to start off an elk hunt than firing off your first locator and getting an answer? I was STOKED!
Ron, sure thing....you fight off the grizz, I'll break down the elk. :-)
Native OKIE... geezzz (roll eyes). :)
We chased this bull for a ways, he hung up on the other side of some re-growth, then he bugled a ways off so we continued on our way
Over the next few days, we called in three 6x6s, a 5x5, a raghorn and a spike. Not a cow elk elk was seen.
One of the 6x6xs that we called in I shot at 18yds, facing me. We lost the blood trail after 3/8 mi and looked for 2 days with no closure.
One day we were up where Nick is pointing to, above an old regrowth clearcut. The next day we were down here looking up
We even dropped into steep, remote valleys looking for elk
One evening we were listening /glassing this valley and a bull bugled on the ridge. We made a move to go after him only to come upon another hunter. It ended up I knew him so we all went after him but squirrely winds didnt help the situation
It was a great time over a course of a week, meeting new friends and sharing stories and laughs.
But, in the end... the elk had the last laugh :)
Tough breaks north of the border. I gotta say though, I don't recall seeing any fish fry pictures... ;)
Lark. One night we had deep fried catfish & french fries. Sorry no pics taken of that awesome meal.
Fried fish, steaks, pork chops, moose burgers, beer....it's been a long time since I've shared an elk camp with a group and I'd forgotten how much fun it is. We hunted hard every day and it was great coming back to camp in the evening to share stories, share food, and have a couple cold ones around the fire.
I was amazed at the size of the bulls we had encounters with in these highly pressured, heavily roaded, otc areas. Brad has a great system for sucking in the elk in these areas. It involves a cold calling technique with a partner or two and these elk come in silent every time. Super cautious and usually only one of the guys in the set up will see the elk even though we were rarely much more than 50 yards apart.
I don't know him but, it sure appears that cnelk knows his stuff Nick!
can I come hunt elk with you guys some time :)
Better go back next year since you know the system now. Sounds like you had a ball anyway!
There were a couple openings in elk camp this year due to a couple usual buddies had poor pregnancy planning. :) so i invited Nick and Aaron invited his friends.
Nick and the others are already invited back if it fits their other hunting schedules.
Several times over the years we have taken 2 elk in one day, three times we have taken 3 elk in one day. This year the goal was 4 :)
Since that didn't happen, that goal will continue for next year. And of course more fun will be had too.
Looks like a great time with friends and a great post about the camaraderie that is formed through the Bowsite! Can't wait to hear about next years hunt!
