idgaf

I get up to him and he tries mightily to stand and get away and I quickly put another arrow in him. My nephew just got back into town from guiding in NM to pack out and my brother rushed over with cold beer. Pretty fun hunt. #4B4EVR!!

I sneak out of their line of site and Inch closer. I'm in range and draw. My arrow falls off at the knock. The bull or the other bills for that matter have no clue I'm there. I pick the arrow off the ground tighten the knock and try again. I pull, relax and settle the pin. Bull takes off in bad shape and barely peaks the crest of the ridge. I see this when I get to where I last seen him. PXL_20201110_175621554.mp4

The conclusion: Skipped posting yesterday. Weather was horrible and the elk were even worse. Cows were literally running from me at 700 yards. (I hate long range taking of animals. I won't call it hunting. it's changed how animals react to people Just my .02, now back to the show) saw about 10 bulls and even had one bugling at last light. You would think as I advance in age that common sense would get the advantage over desire. It didnt. I was three miles from my truck at 9500' in a snowstorm without a flashlight. Today rolls around after not going to bulltopia yesterday I decide to go back expecting spectacular sights. I see absolutely nothing. Not a squirrel, elk or anything. I sit for a second (it's below 10 degrees so only a second) and figure out where did they go?! Obviously the answer was in the sunlight. I climb the hill I'm on and peak over, I'm right next to some snowy elk tracks. I follow them for a few minutes and jump a small herd of three small broken bulls. I follow the tracks for a bit and then change course to the south facing slope. As I sit there glassing far and low and look a couple hundred yards below and catch an elk body going through the trees. I slide down at angle to intercept after a few seconds I glass 10 bulls 140 yards away. PXL_20201110_171638577.mp4

Spoiler alert

Shh he's asleep

Lack of moisture

I track them in the trace of snow at bump them at 60 yards or so or they just wanted a better spot from the wind. Losing them and catching up about an hour later say around 1000. Feeding 125 yards away. I watched till they went out of sight (pics won't download file to large) I sneak in and get within an 40 yards of where I last see them and boom stampede. With a giant bull. I catch up one more time and cause another stampede. 3 bulls cross in front of me with being two being shooters. I sneak In look in the wrong place and they bolt. I almost got a couple of shots pulling back once. On the way back I see this, less than a mile from where I shot the cat last year. My track was from an hour previous. Tomorrow I have to decide if I go to the same place or try something different. Forecast calls for snow.

Today was a lot of fun despite no shots fired and tornado force winds. With the wind the way it is the pattern has changed and they are leaving the field at daylight if not before. Video from a couple of post ago shows the minimal bulls I'm seeing. I watched take the wrong point back to their bedding area I start following them and get caught by a couple of dink stragglers. I actually follow them to close to the bedding area before they break off. Got within 35 yards a few times when I was tailing them PXL_20201108_142509512.mp4

Whale, Don't you know a 4b tag is good a week before it's start date and in surrounding units🤣. I just screwed the pooch having brunch then starting the next round. Consolation prize

While defrost my hands for a minute. Beenn a fun morning. Elk are a couple hundred yards away as I type this PXL_20201108_140307806.mp4

Okay. Not to much yesterday. Wind and rain made it miserable. Didn't see an elk until about noon and then I saw about 150 of them. Two decent bulls but they were broken. At very last light I got on four bulls In the wide open and did this wicked stalk 400 yards across the opening. Bulls were too small and the wind was to fierce to shoot. Open field stalk PXL_20201108_003508024.mp4

Weather sucks today. Woke up to sheets of rain heavy wind. Haven't seen an elk today, I've had no desire to leave the truck. Hoping for a break this pm. Checked a couple of easy access trail cams apparently the elk know something is about to happen. A lot of sparring.

While I sit her watching naruto and freezing my wind blasted tail off. Here is a pic of the bull I just missed. His main beams And mass are deceptive at this angle.

While I sit here. I'll update the morning hunt. You know what they say about best laid plans of mice and men. I didn't take into account the tornado force winds that blew in last night. That being said we did see about 20 bulls and one met my requirements enough for me to shoot. Shot was perfect but the bull was about a few yards away from where it was standing from when I released the arrow. Oh and my nephew recorded it for future insults about my shooting ability. You can actually see the trajectory of the arrow. I will download and post it when I get some wifi. Here are a couple of trailcam photos until then. 2020 year of the broken horn.

He has the money after the last few years of introductions.

Final Walk through was this morning. I'm torn where I will be first thing tomorrow morning. Saw more branch antler bulls in a few minutes than many will see in their entire lives. I'll break the pics into two post. FYI you can only download upto 6mb pics so I had to crop them to fit and not wait two hours for the down load. Officially Im working from home today.

If we did that I imagine we could pay for a couple of Marco Polo sheep hunts in Mongolia

Thanks shelving. I just saw 60+ branch antler bulls in one place.

Just a sample of what I just saw

Good luck my lame late archery tag starts tomorrow

Remember big elk do not slip into a vortex to disappear on October 1 they're still around

Some more pics from thus afternoon. The theme for 2020 bull elk is broken.

Quick question. Is this a shooter?

This morning scouting in my daughter's words would be MEHH. Checking a couple cameras this evening and doing a final walk through Thursday morning.

This morning s scouting was productive. Found a bull that I would shoot with 4 other branches bulls. My camera battery died at the wrong time so no decent pictures of him. Got a few smaller bulls on one cam, nothing on the other one I checked today.