I'll start.
My brother and I were in Wyoming for 10 days on a DIY, public land, pack it in and out on your back-type archery hunt.
We saw quite a few elk, including some really nice bulls, but initially, they were pretty quiet, and seemed to disappear altogether when 3 idiots riding around on horses, cow calling and bugling the whole time showed up. -- Seriously, what kind of tactic is that?
We found a good drainage with no trails (and no f-ing horse buglers) and got into a good batch of bulls. We slipped into their bedding area, and it was insane. 5 or 6 bulls bugling their guts out every 30 seconds or so. I was able to call this dandy within 20 yards of my brother. I wasn't quite able to see, as I kept backing up while cow-calling to keep him coming, but the last bugle sounded like he was right on top of me. My brother made a great shot, and he was down within a minute or so.
Then the work began. 2 miles back to camp, and another 5 to the truck. We did it in 2 trips. Neither was pleasant.
All told, the GPS says we put 107 miles on our boots, all between 9,000 and 10,000 feet elevation. Every year I say it's the hardest thing I've ever done, and this year was no different.
My brother and I were in Wyoming for 10 days on a DIY, public land, pack it in and out on your back-type archery hunt.
We saw quite a few elk, including some really nice bulls, but initially, they were pretty quiet, and seemed to disappear altogether when 3 idiots riding around on horses, cow calling and bugling the whole time showed up. -- Seriously, what kind of tactic is that?
We found a good drainage with no trails (and no f-ing horse buglers) and got into a good batch of bulls. We slipped into their bedding area, and it was insane. 5 or 6 bulls bugling their guts out every 30 seconds or so. I was able to call this dandy within 20 yards of my brother. I wasn't quite able to see, as I kept backing up while cow-calling to keep him coming, but the last bugle sounded like he was right on top of me. My brother made a great shot, and he was down within a minute or so.
Then the work began. 2 miles back to camp, and another 5 to the truck. We did it in 2 trips. Neither was pleasant.
All told, the GPS says we put 107 miles on our boots, all between 9,000 and 10,000 feet elevation. Every year I say it's the hardest thing I've ever done, and this year was no different.
