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Here's the spike elk I shot looking for me or at least looking for the cow elk that were calling.
Here's the goofy looking bull with caribou like antlers that was mew-bugling 50 yards away from me. This photo from a Browning Strike Force trail camera, was taken few hours before I got into the area and started hunting.
This is the spike I shot with my bow a few hours before I got into the area.
I would think it is a little late in the year for young but I found these two cute little fuzzy Poorwills while out archery hunting.
Following the blood trail of the spike.
The finishing arrow after I caught up with him.
Galaxy Tab S 10.5 previewing trail cameras in the field. Using the same USB adapter I use on my Galaxy S4 phone I can preview photos and video in the field from my trail cameras.
After going through two seasons of watching the patterns of the elk, with my Browning trail cameras, in the area I like to hunt, I have a pretty good idea where and when the elk will be in the area.
Using the trail cameras has greatly helped me know when and where the elk will most likely be. I had narrowed down where I felt the highest probability to get close to elk would be last year when I shot a spike during the bow season. Again this year this was the "hot" spot for the area so a couple of weeks before the hunt I hauled in a tree stand to hunt from.
The day of the opener I was tied up with other commitments. However, I wasn't too concerned about missing the opener because of the lack of elk in the area on my trail cameras. From July 23 or so to August 8th when I checked the cameras last there had only been two cow elk show up on any of the cameras. This was much the same pattern last year. The cattle get into the area really thick during the end of July and the first of August. I'm pretty sure this just pushes the elk out of the area until the cattle leave.
On Wednesday I could see a small window in the unseasonable rain we have been having and decided to take off work early for an evening hunt on Thursday. Surprisingly we have had a lot of rain storms moving through during the month of August this year. Anyhow, midday Thursday I took off up the mountain. Right at the beginning of my hike into my hunting area I slipped and fell into a creek. What a klutz I am! I will admit my week knees seem to make be a lot more clumsy. In the process I soaked my Galaxy S4 phone and it was dead... at least for the evening.
On the way in I decided to follow my trail camera route and pull the cards to see what was in the area. unfortunately I wasn't able to see what was on them right then because my phone was dead.
After I swapped out SD cards in all but one camera I was near my tree stand. I decided to pull the last card on my way out that evening.
After being in the tree for an hour or so I decided to give some cow calls and see if anything was in the area and might come in to investigate.
Not long after a spike came out and looked down into the area for the "cows" he could hear. Soon after that I heard something on the other side of me and noticed a goofy looking four point bull desperately trying to locate the cows that he was hearing.
I continued from time to time to throw out some cow calls attempting to get him to come in closer. He was pretty much hung up at 50 yards. After a while the bull couldn't stand it and he started making 2 second mew like bugles, he would just start to bugle kind of like a really, really deep sounding mew. I'm not sure what you would call the sound.
For well over a half hour I messed with this bull and somewhere during this time the spike noticed this other bull and decided. "Hey there's really some other elk down there. I better go down and check them out." So down off the hill the spike came trotting. After crossing around 100 yards above me to meet up with the other bull the spike then turned and wanted to visit with the cows (aka me with my Primos cow calls) and he started working his way towards me coming through the trees.
I could see on his current path that he would pass through an opening at around 20 yards so I waited until he was close to the opening then I carefully drew back and as he paused in the opening I anchored on a shot low and just behind the heart/shoulder.
I let the arrow fly... and it zipped through the elk. Unfortunately it was a little further back than where I was aiming and would have liked but still a solid liver shot. I watched the bull run off and stop about 50 yards away. I could see his head sticking up above some oak brush. I figured it wouldn't take him to long to tip over. After several minutes I heard a noise behind me so I turned to look. When I turned back the spike was gone. I figured that he must have laid down so I slowing started sneaking over to find him. When I got to where the elk had been he was gone and there was a pretty substantial amount of real dark red blood.
It was getting dark so I started following the blood and soon found the bull walking about 100 yards in front of me. I tried to close the gap to get another arrow in him but I ended up bumping him.
Thinking that he would die in the night had me a little worried about the meat spoiling but there wasn't much else I could do so I packed it up and headed off the mountain.
The next morning I crept in below where I last saw him the night before. I then circled the area looking to see if I could find tracks and or blood leaving the area. With nothing found I then swung back around and picked up the blood trail where I had last saw him. It wasn't long before I found where he was bedded for the night but no elk. I then heard limbs breaking in front of me and knew I had just bumped him out.
With him sitting all night there wasn't anymore blood trail to follow so I had to follow his tracks. After three hours or so of doubling back and around to find the elk, I finally came around a bend and there he was bedded down with his head up looking away from me. I quickly launched another arrow into his back angling up into the lung area and down went his head.
What a relief. I was getting a little worried that I might not get this bull. After looking over the entrance and exit wound I can see why he lived so long. Even though I was shooting down at him from a tree stand the arrow kicked real hard and angled back and upward. The exit wound was a good eight inches higher than the entrance and it was about a foot further back. so the shot just barely clipped the edge of the liver and went through the stomach. If it had been a solid liver shot like it appeared to be I just couldn't figure out why he didn't go down.
The more I think about it there must have been a small branch or something I hadn't noticed right in front of the bull. I'm betting that the arrow deflected off this branch thus hitting him further back than I was aiming and also angling the arrow upward.
Just after the hunt I acquired a Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 with a cool bluetooth keyboard and case. One of the cool things about this setup is that I can take it with me in the field and view my trail camera videos using the same USB adapter that I use on my Samsung S4 phone. Also the Play Store is allowing VLC Beta to be downloaded and installed. This is the best software I have found to be able to play the AVI format that the Browning trail cameras produce. I can now check my cameras with either my phone or tablet and use the tablet to write content for my blogs from up on the mountain. Combine these with my Goal Zero 41022 Guide 10 Plus Solar Recharging Kit and I can stay on the mountain with plenty of battery life to keep using my electronics for as long as I want, that is if the sun comes out to charge them.
Next up is my muzzleloader mule deer hunt. I'll now have more time (vacation time from work) to scout and hunt for muleys. :)
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My new Thompson Center Encore Pro Hunter is shooting great ready for the Utah muzzleloader mule deer season.
This little buck would have made an easy shot for me with my new TC Encore muzzleloader.
Trying to locate a coyote with a Promos Alpha Dog caller for my A-Bolt 243 WSSM to send a 105 A-Max to greet. Unfortunately, I didn't see any coyotes this time out.
With my location for archery elk scouted fairly well from using my Browning trail cameras I decided before the archery elk season started and I got wrapped up in it that I needed to hike into the area I wanted to muzzleloader mule deer hunt. The area is really a two-day trip to go in and back out, however, being crazy as I am I started hiking at 9 am and didn't get back until almost 11 pm. It was a long day but I learned a few things about the area.
I watched one decent four-point that would probably tempt me if the opportunity arose during the season. He wasn't huge just a nice four-point. I might keep an eye on him for Dallen and the rifle season if the buck makes it tell then and stays in that same area.
To help make the trip in more than just a hike I took my A-Bolt Stainless Varmint 243 WSSM rifle and a Primos electronic caller to see if I could find some coyotes. I set up a couple of times but wasn't able to find any coyotes.
On the way out climbing over a boulder field, I almost put my hand next to two rattlesnakes. Eeks! That will get the heart pumping. The one snake was pretty good-sized for a Utah rattler.
I took in three Browning Recon Force Trail cameras to watch for big muleys. I'm excited to see what they find in the area.
All in all, it was a pretty good day. I learned a few things about the area and am getting excited to hunt the area. I also have a new TC Encore muzzleloader that is shooting great so I'm hoping I can find a big one. Big for me would be 26 inches or wider and I would like it to score 160 plus. I haven't seen very many bucks that meet this criteria in my life so your average 140-inch four-point can be a real temptation for me. :)
Related Articles:
2014 Utah Muzzleloader Season - Large 3x4 Buck Out Smarts Me
A Browning Recon Force Trail Camera setup ready to find a good buck for me.
This was the best buck I found while hiking in this day to set up the trail cameras. You can get a better look at him in the video player above.
This large two-point might tempt me also. I would like him a little wider though.
Here's the two rattlesnake that scared the crap out of me.
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With a week before the archery elk opener, I needed to take another trip up the mountain for some final preparation.
After studying the trail cameras from this year and last I have found that the elk can be in the area but they aren't there all the time. I have learned some general areas that would have a higher probability of finding elk.
One area that I like, I have found a tree that I would like to put a tree stand in. I think my chances will be much greater at getting an elk if I can get up in a tree.
On this trip in I hauled in a metal tree stand and a Tree Saddle. I wasn't sure which would be the best to use out of the tree I wanted to hunt out of. With a Tree Saddle I can hunt from just about any tree. With my metal stand I need a good straight tree to strap it to. The tree I wanted to place a tree stand in is more of cluster of trees so I wasn't sure if a traditional tree stand would work.
I also like using the Tree saddle as a harness system when hanging my tree stand to free up my hands to hang the tree stand.
The last time I went in to check my trail cameras the camera watching the spring had been messed up again. This time I decided to take the camera off the Browning Tree Mount and strap the camera directly to the bundled brush. I like the Browning Tree Mounts because to can easily point the camera in the direction you need but it also makes the camera a lot more vulnerable to having critters (bears and elk in my case) bump and pull the camera off or out of position. This appeared like it would work except the strap I placed around the camera angled up in the back and an elk bumped the camera and the strap slipped up and over the lens. Dang it! Well and least the camera wasn't on the ground this time. :)
I like wrapping the camera with the strap so this time I placed the strap around the tree with the strap angling downward so if it does gets bumped the strap would likely slide downward in the front and not over the lens. We'll see how this goes.
Being about a week away from the opener and reviewing the trail camera footage it is showing that the elk have pretty much vacated the area by the end of August. They did the same thing last year.
Through July the two largest bulls (4x5 and 5x5) I have seen have been pretty regulars to the area. Incidentally, both of these bulls have matching down turned G1 brow tines. for the past few weeks, they have been gone. Hopefully, they return during the archery season. I would love to get one of them but I'm not picky when it comes to elk. I like the meat so if I do get a chance at any bull I'm going to take it.
The two 5x6 bulls that were in the area last year have never showed up this year. I wonder if they made it through the hunting seasons last year.
There is a good amount of elk activity during the first of July in the area. Hopefully, they start coming back in the end of August and into September. The video on the page shows some of the elk in the area.
This is how I found my bear and elk attacking camera this time out with the strap covering the lens. The bears and elk have really raised havoc on this camera location moving it out of position and tearing it down, so a few weeks prior I moved the trail camera off the Tree Mount and ran an extra loop of the strap around the front of the camera. I did this to the camera to really secure it to the brush. It was secure but an elk bumped the camera and the strap slid up over the lens.
This time I placed the extra strap around the camera but did it with the strap angling lower in the back of the brush so that it wouldn't slide up and over the lens if a critter messed with the camera.
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