Post by BlueNorther on Sept 7, 2006 14:59:47 GMT -5
Left for my elk hunt tuesday afternoon.We got down there at 5:30,set up camp and waited for two of Rons brothers to show up so we could do some scouting.Scouted all the known areas where we usually see elk,nothing,but it's early and hot as blazes,somewhere around 85 degrees.We head further south where we know there's an elk wallow and we can glass it from another ridge without having to walk into the wallow.First thing we see is a huge sow grizzly with two yearling cubs.They're above the wallow feeding in a huckleberry patch and we are quite content to leave hunting the wallow for another time.
From the same ridge we spot a monster black bear,way up above the grizzlies.I put my spotting scope on it and confirm it's a blackie and a shooter bear,it'll easily go six feet.All this time still no sign of elk.
We head back up north to another ridge we can spot from,hoping it's cool enough that maybe the elk will start to move.Right before dark a big bear appears on a sub alpine meadow.I figure it for another griz and was going to leave it as that.Ron says no it's a big blackie,so we hurry and get the scope on it.Sure as hell it's a freakin huge blackie,bigger than the first one.
We lose our light and call it a day without seeing an elk.Head back to camp to cook a meal,have a couple drinks and figure out what we'll do for the morning.
4:30 comes early,I don't think any one of us got more than a couple hours sleep.It's decided that me and Rons brother Bruce will take a trail up into a high meadow and be on top for first light and watch for elk heading for bed.Ron and Larry will come up a fence line on the forestry boundry and end up at the bottom of the ridge where I'm sitting,and Morgan will do an end runn all the way to the back of the basin.
Here comes the fun part of the morning.Bruce and I had just left the truck and were on a trail that cuts up thru the aspens and alders.The moon had already set and it was dark as the inside of a cow.We had probably gone a 100 yards when there is a growl off to our right.We stop and Bruce says"Did you hear that?".Just as he finishes those words there is another growl followed by popping teeth.I'd heard than sound enough times to know we have a bear just off the trail.Bruce unslings his rifle and I turn my headlamp from red lense to spot light.Now the bush is being thrashed and there's more teeth popping,but it's so thick in there we can't see the bear.Finally the bear appears and much to our fear it's a grizzly.It bluff charged us taking two fast jumps and slapping the ground with its front paws.Now I don't mind telling you I was scared,my knees turned to liquid and I could hear my heart beat,hell I think I could hear Bruces heartbeat too.
Just as quick as the griz appeared it dissappeared and we could hear it going down slope thru the alders,what a relief.We took a couple minutes to regain our composure and headed to the top of the ridge.We make the top and have an hour before there's enough light to start glassing the upper meadows.We were kinda worried about Ron and Larry as the griz was headed in their general direction.After talking later to them the bear had gone below them,they heard it going thru the alders.
Anyways as the sun is just barly beginning to show we hear a bull elk bugle below us.Bruce bugles back at him and follows with a few sexy cow mews.The bull bugles back and we figure him to be in the aspens a couple hundred yards below us.We set up an ambush with Bruce calling from behind me at about 35 yards.I set up infront of a bristlecone pine with good shooting avenues in front of me.The bull bugled twice more in five minutes and all the time Bruce is doing his best sleazy cow talk he could,and Bruce can call really good.Long story short,we worked that bull for two hours and he wouldn't budge.Hooked up with Ron and Larry and we tried to push the bull,but we never saw him.
End of part one.To be continued.
From the same ridge we spot a monster black bear,way up above the grizzlies.I put my spotting scope on it and confirm it's a blackie and a shooter bear,it'll easily go six feet.All this time still no sign of elk.
We head back up north to another ridge we can spot from,hoping it's cool enough that maybe the elk will start to move.Right before dark a big bear appears on a sub alpine meadow.I figure it for another griz and was going to leave it as that.Ron says no it's a big blackie,so we hurry and get the scope on it.Sure as hell it's a freakin huge blackie,bigger than the first one.
We lose our light and call it a day without seeing an elk.Head back to camp to cook a meal,have a couple drinks and figure out what we'll do for the morning.
4:30 comes early,I don't think any one of us got more than a couple hours sleep.It's decided that me and Rons brother Bruce will take a trail up into a high meadow and be on top for first light and watch for elk heading for bed.Ron and Larry will come up a fence line on the forestry boundry and end up at the bottom of the ridge where I'm sitting,and Morgan will do an end runn all the way to the back of the basin.
Here comes the fun part of the morning.Bruce and I had just left the truck and were on a trail that cuts up thru the aspens and alders.The moon had already set and it was dark as the inside of a cow.We had probably gone a 100 yards when there is a growl off to our right.We stop and Bruce says"Did you hear that?".Just as he finishes those words there is another growl followed by popping teeth.I'd heard than sound enough times to know we have a bear just off the trail.Bruce unslings his rifle and I turn my headlamp from red lense to spot light.Now the bush is being thrashed and there's more teeth popping,but it's so thick in there we can't see the bear.Finally the bear appears and much to our fear it's a grizzly.It bluff charged us taking two fast jumps and slapping the ground with its front paws.Now I don't mind telling you I was scared,my knees turned to liquid and I could hear my heart beat,hell I think I could hear Bruces heartbeat too.
Just as quick as the griz appeared it dissappeared and we could hear it going down slope thru the alders,what a relief.We took a couple minutes to regain our composure and headed to the top of the ridge.We make the top and have an hour before there's enough light to start glassing the upper meadows.We were kinda worried about Ron and Larry as the griz was headed in their general direction.After talking later to them the bear had gone below them,they heard it going thru the alders.
Anyways as the sun is just barly beginning to show we hear a bull elk bugle below us.Bruce bugles back at him and follows with a few sexy cow mews.The bull bugles back and we figure him to be in the aspens a couple hundred yards below us.We set up an ambush with Bruce calling from behind me at about 35 yards.I set up infront of a bristlecone pine with good shooting avenues in front of me.The bull bugled twice more in five minutes and all the time Bruce is doing his best sleazy cow talk he could,and Bruce can call really good.Long story short,we worked that bull for two hours and he wouldn't budge.Hooked up with Ron and Larry and we tried to push the bull,but we never saw him.
End of part one.To be continued.
.
No, I like the narrative, that was great! If it was me n the griz that close, I'd a called it a day and headed home!