Close, but no cigar!

[Andrewmtnman]

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.

BADGERS!! Forgot about those devils. They look nasty. Are they protected or open season?

 

[Andrewmtnman]

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.

BADGERS!! Forgot about those devils. They look nasty

 

[chorizo]

There are seasons on them

 

[springfield art]

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.

Interesting report, and nice photos! Thanks! Did you have a modern unmentionable along? Like something small and concealable; if there's wolves, etc., around, I'd be wanting to be prepped!

 

[Nuthatch]

Beautiful country!

 

[ElkStalker]

Interesting report, and nice photos! Thanks! Did you have a modern unmentionable along? Like something small and concealable; if there's wolves, etc., around, I'd be wanting to be prepped!

No, just my muzzleloader. I’m sure some game wardens would understand why, but I expect to run across the guy who’s itching to give a citation. It may not be anything to be concerned about, but then again, it may. In my experience, so far, wolves don’t want anything to do with humans. The cats and bears are a bigger threat, in my opinion.

 

[ElkStalker]

Went back out and hiked the hill today after church. I learned a lot about this country today and now I’m ready for a nap. Lol. The wind was unreal. We had snow last night and this morning, then the winds came in behind and blew the storm out. I didn’t see anything out in that wind and I suspected they were probably on the leeward side of the hill. I was right. I spotted 12 cow elk on the opposite side of the drainage. I watched them for about 30 minutes, but never saw any antlers. 2 bucks ran off the same hill after dark on my way out in the car.
I did get some nice pictures while I was hunkered down glassing. I also found a Ponderosa Pine. Don’t see many of those in these parts. Sadly the top half had broken off.

 

[rusticbob]

That looks like my Renegade?
Beautiful country, you are blessed
Good Luck

 

[Andrewmtnman]

Thanks for sharing those pics. Absolutely beautiful creation!

 

[ElkStalker]

That looks like my Renegade?
Beautiful country, you are blessed
Good Luck

Sorry, I didn’t notice the question mark. Yes, it’s a Renegade in 50cal. I put this one together from a kit last fall. Browned the hardware and barrel.

 

[1ticklicker]

Hey deerstalkert, I read your post and seen the picture of the white wolf. Good job there, just throwing this out there to anyone in wolf country to kill a wolf with their muzzleloader this winter. I have killed a lot of wolves with high powered rifles, but this winter My goal is to take one with my muzzleloader. Gonna be hard to do, just wondering if anyone else is up for the challenge. We'll see what happens when the smoke clears. Good luck to all

 

[ElkStalker]

Hey deerstalkert, I read your post and seen the picture of the white wolf. Good job there, just throwing this out there to anyone in wolf country to kill a wolf with their muzzleloader this winter. I have killed a lot of wolves with high powered rifles, but this winter My goal is to take one with my muzzleloader. Gonna be hard to do, just wondering if anyone else is up for the challenge. We'll see what happens when the smoke clears. Good luck to all

I have yet to take a wolf, but when I was hiking the other day, I was thinking how awesome it would be to get one with a muzzleloader.

 

[1ticklicker]

Glad to hear right back from you. Don't know if you got more time to hunt elk but I could send a picture of mine that I killed with my hawken this September if you would like

 

[ElkStalker]

Glad to hear right back from you. Don't know if you got more time to hunt elk but I could send a picture of mine that I killed with my hawken this September if you would like

I’d love to see it. Congratulations!!!
I have until dark on Dec 1st for a bull. Then there is a cow season for 7 days in the next unit over. I went out today for a few hours but it was dumping snow and didn’t want to get too committed. It was a mess out there. Didn’t see anything moving, except for a flock of turkeys. I stupidly left the shotgun at home. If I went Turkey hunting and left the rifle home, I’d see a flock of elk.

 

[1ticklicker]

Here he is quite a story with this old boy. I hunted 3 years before I got him, a lot of history with this old warrior. 8 points to a side

 

[chorizo]

Holy crap. That is one fine animal. Well done. I would love to read the whole story. Cough it up, you old bull slayer.

 

[ElkStalker]

Here he is quite a story with this old boy. I hunted 3 years before I got him, a lot of history with this old warrior. 8 points to a side

That is a dandy!!!! It has a lot of character! Congratulations!!! That one will be really hard to beat!

 

[Andrewmtnman]

Here he is quite a story with this old boy. I hunted 3 years before I got him, a lot of history with this old warrior. 8 points to a side

That is a fantastic picture. Well done!

 

[Flintlock Whiskey]

Ouch, I hate when that happens. I had it happen a few years ago, hunted all day leaving long before dawn and I was beat and hungry and it was getting dusky. I was insight of camp, so I put my head down and powered through the last little climb and not 20 yards from camp a HERD of elk exploded around me.

I would have been better off sitting in camp all day.

Exactly what happened on my last elk hunt. Next time I'm dragging the
Lay-z-boy up and put it down 50yds outside of camp. I don't know about the rest of the country, but in northern AZ, they stay in a given area but walk around randomly. Chasing them around the country side doesn't seem to do it. The deer around here are predictable and seem to have their own highway system.

 

[Flintlock Whiskey]

Here he is quite a story with this old boy. I hunted 3 years before I got him, a lot of history with this old warrior. 8 points to a side

What was the range?