Close, but no cigar!

[deerstalkert]

I blunder into Elk more than find them anymore. I can't hear, i can't see, and even though i smell, i can't smell them anymore. it is tough sneaking into a herd when you walk like a drunk. could swear the last time i blew a stalk i could hear them laughing as they headed for Montana.

 

[SDSmlf]

I went out for an evening hunt tonight. It was about 3:00 when I left my vehicle at the gate. I had about a 1.5 mile walk to where I’ve been seeing a lot of elk and deer sign. Walking down the old logging road which was covered in about 3” of crunchy snow, there were Wolf tracks everywhere. I was feeling a bit deflated as what I’ve seen in the past is, when a pack moves in like this, they pretty much run every living thing out of the area. But I pressed on. I had given up on trying to be quiet. The snow was just too crunchy, so my focus was on getting into my spot. I knew that if I got there and hiked up the mountain, the sun had melted the snow enough that the grass would allow me to sneak up there in silence. About a 1 1/4 miles in, the logging road makes a sharp dogleg with a small pine on the inside edge (1st photo). This tree was blocking my view from anything around the corner. I took one more step to peer around the tree and was face to face to a bull elk, who also saw me at the same time. Mind you, I wasn’t trying to be stealth at this point, but it sure wouldn’t have hurt, darn it. As I was raising my rifle, he was whirling around, and by the time I had the hammer back, he was out of sight. He ran straight down the hillside in the thick, overgrown timber. Sounded like he curled up in a ball and rolled down the mountain. . I sat and waited for any sound of his footsteps and didn’t hear anything. Tried to find a way to get down the mountain after him, but it was way to wet for how steep it was. I went back and paced off the distance from where he was to where I was when we spotted each other. 20 paces. Closest I’ve ever been to a bull elk with a muzzleloader in my hand. That was exciting and a great reminder of why I go out there in first place. That encounter made the last 5 days of hiking worth it. It was also a good lesson as the reason this didn’t work out was that I was ultra focused on getting to the “perfect” spot and not expecting what I should always be expecting- Elk, right around the corner.
I got up to my spot and sat for about an hour. I saw a good flock of wild turkeys, elk and deer sign, an old wooden cross and one heck of a view. I walked out in the twilight and almost got back to the gate before dark.

Best part of hunting. Once you pull the trigger it becomes work.

 

[Colonial Boy]

i always have a tag or two just for those coincidental sightings.
everybody is a bit south of me it seems!

I’m WAY south

 

[deerstalkert]

I’m WAY south

and just a bit west! bet you don't have snow either! got a spare caravan?

 

[deerstalkert]

I’m a bit south of ya, based on a post from you that I saw last night. I’d love to get up your way one of these days.
I think that this year, after elk and deer season close, I’m going to get out and try to hunt these wolves.

here is an alpha from a few years ago. he was replaced by a coal black one. the new one is on my hit list.

 

[ElkStalker]

here is an alpha from a few years ago. he was replaced by a coal black one. the new one is on my hit list.

Good work!

 

[rusticbob]

This bull elk will live forever in your dreams! You are the lucky one. Thanks for your great photos

 

[Andrewmtnman]

I have a tag, but never see them when I’m hunting. Go figure! One of these days I’ll figure out what I’m doing. I’d really like to get in to a trappers course and get serious about trapping them. Would be a lot of fun, another excuse to be in the woods, and might earn a little money in the process. I think I’m pretty close to ya. I’m in the silver valley, east of Couer D’Alene.

Ever try calling them in with an electronic caller?

 

[SciAggie]

I’ve had similar happen while elk hunting. I finally learned they like using logging roads as much as we do - for the same reasons of easy travel.
I remember one year when 2 of my friends and I were riding our horses up the mountain on a logging road (this was WAY before daylight). We rounded a bend and our horses froze in the dark. Then we noticed a group of maybe 10-15 elk frozen and staring at us. After a brief staring contest they also dove off the mountain in a blast of crashing limbs and brush. It was actually a pretty cool experience.

 

[chorizo]

Yes, a herd of elk don't simply wander off into the woods when encountered at close range.

It EXPLODES.

The first time I heard that description, I knew that I would never be able to describe it better.

 

[Trapper Scott]

I blunder into Elk more than find them anymore. I can't hear, i can't see, and even though i smell, i can't smell them anymore. it is tough sneaking into a herd when you walk like a drunk. could swear the last time i blew a stalk i could hear them laughing as they headed for Montana.

I quit hunting for the same reasons. I have to use a cane now and my gait is way off, my arms don't swing anymore when I walk and the upper body tremors are constant, so I look like I'm in an uncontrollable fall when I walk.

 

[ElkStalker]

Ever try calling them in with an electronic caller?

Not yet, but that is the plan.

 

[chorizo]

Not yet, but that is the plan.

Works best in spring time using wolf puppy cries and dog puppy cries. They KNOW when another pack is in the area so adult calling doesn't work so well as they are hard to fool.

Adult wolf howls are great coyote locator calls. They will immediately give out challenge and warning bark/howl and you can switch over to a distressed coyote call.

Using a calf elk and fawn call works well, so I have been told, and will bring in bears, wolves and coyotes so you best have two of you and be prepared....one looking each direction! I hunt alone, so I don't use it.

I have yet been able to get a wolf into shooting distance and still long enough to get a shot and not for lack of trying and I have many, many years of calling coyotes in very successfully.

Smart devils.

 

[Andrewmtnman]

Works best in spring time using wolf puppy cries and dog puppy cries. They KNOW when another pack is in the area so adult calling doesn't work so well as they are hard to fool.

Adult wolf howls are great coyote locator calls. They will immediately give out challenge and warning bark/howl and you can switch over to a distressed coyote call.

Using a calf elk and fawn call works well, so I have been told, and will bring in bears, wolves and coyotes so you best have two of you and be prepared....one looking each direction! I hunt alone, so I don't use it.

I have yet been able to get a wolf into shooting distance and still long enough to get a shot and not for lack of trying and I have many, many years of calling coyotes in very successfully.

Smart devils.

Ya I guess the down side of deer distress is ya don’t know what may come in. I find coyotes to be hard to call in here in the northeast. Those wolves must be hard to fool. Can you bait them?

 

[chorizo]

Ya I guess the down side of deer distress is ya don’t know what may come in. I find coyotes to be hard to call in here in the northeast. Those wolves must be hard to fool. Can you bait them?

No baiting allowed for wolves....yet. Incidental take around gut piles from hunting allowed, but the bears and coyotes usually have that consumed in very short time and is not really a draw.

The State was even using helos up in Northern Idaho to get them and were having a hard time using that.

Very smart creatures

 

[t_carlyle]

I always appreciate a great hunting story like this, and the countryside is beautiful. Cheers to getting an exciting close encounter

 

[deerstalkert]

Works best in spring time using wolf puppy cries and dog puppy cries. They KNOW when another pack is in the area so adult calling doesn't work so well as they are hard to fool.

Adult wolf howls are great coyote locator calls. They will immediately give out challenge and warning bark/howl and you can switch over to a distressed coyote call.

Using a calf elk and fawn call works well, so I have been told, and will bring in bears, wolves and coyotes so you best have two of you and be prepared....one looking each direction! I hunt alone, so I don't use it.

I have yet been able to get a wolf into shooting distance and still long enough to get a shot and not for lack of trying and I have many, many years of calling coyotes in very successfully.

Smart devils.

here we have to be very vigilant when using calls because of the cats. have had very hair raising encounters with the puddy cats.
a couple years ago i had a trail cam set on an elk trail. at 5:30 am i got pictures of a momma with 3 stumble over branches sized kittens.
at 4:00 pm i got a couple pictures of another momma with 4 almost grown kittens. changed my mind about hunting that trail. fish and feathers were shocked to see two cats sharing the same turf. figured one was the offspring of the other. sure made me use a light wandering about at night.

 

[Andrewmtnman]

The hair on my neck stands up when I call until dark and then have to walk out to the truck. The mind does wander

 

[chorizo]

Bears and badgers....both of them are hard to convince that you aren't prey or competition for that prey if you call them in, even when they see and smell you.

They worry me much more than anything else. I have had too many negative experiences with both.

 

[SOLANCO]

Ya I guess the down side of deer distress is ya don’t know what may come in. I find coyotes to be hard to call in here in the northeast. Those wolves must be hard to fool. Can you bait them?

I have read that the coyote has flourished and can be found in all of the lower 48. When I worked nights in Philadelphia I would see them along the Delaware River waterfront near our plant. Retired and live in a rural area of Lancaster county. They are here too, but not as brazen as the "city" coyotes were.