Rancho Lobo Elk Hunt
Day 2
Sunday broke clear, calm and cold. I decided to try a hunt that I like to make every year which begins at the top of the ranch and ends two thousand feet lower, back at camp. The idea of this hunt is to work down the ridge staying right on its back. In the morning the wild is always going downhill, but by staying on the spine of the ridge you can work down below any bull you hear, then come in on him from the side. Usually the hunt starts off slow as the elk are still working their way up the mountain from their favorite feeding locations. This morning was no different, but we could hear one bull not too far below us. We quickly propped down to get the wind and began our approach. He was bugling frequently so it was not necessary to call. I always stay as quiet as I can, saving any bugles or cow calls for the moment when I will really need them. Many elk are so educated, especially cow elk, that they will move away from any calls they cannot identify.
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Soon we were less than 100 yards from the bull with only the small ridge between us. As I eased over the lip I could see the bull bugling in the first light. He was magnificent as he tilted back his head and emitted his clear crisp call with steam streaming out of his mouth. One or two cow calls was all it took to get him moving our way. He passed up the hill at about 35 yards as I waited with an arrow knocked on my Bowtech Tech 29.
I could have taken him easily if I had wanted, but he was not yet mature scoring somewhere around 260. He gave us a wonderful show as he paraded back and forth in his search for the invisible cow he had heard.
Without disturbing him we slipped out below his line of sight. The next several hundred yards proved to be unproductive as we encountered an area without much activity.
Today I was hunting with Aaron, our ranch biologist, and both of us knew good things were in store by the sound of the elk heading our way. We began closing the distance on these animals and experienced several incidents where it seemed impossible to get the wind in our favor. Although we saw three different bulls at a distance, we were unable to get close to them before they caught our scent.
I knew as we continued down the ridge the terrain became slightly steeper which would make it easier to play the wind. Our timing ended up being perfect as we arrived in the favorable area at the same time as a group of elk with some extremely enraged bulls!
We literally had animals on all sides of us, some as close as ten yards, all the bulls were screaming and mooing around the herd bull as he attempted to guard a hot cow. I have been fortunate to penetrate this type of activity only five or six times in my life. Once on the inside, it’s almost as if they pay no attention to you, so great is their concentration on pursuing the cow and each other. Many animals were feeding inside twenty yards of us but were unaware of our presence.
The herd bull was a definite shooter with heavy beams, dark antlers with ivory tips, and six well developed and unbroken points on a side. He really had his hands full as their were no less than seven other bulls vying for this cow. I was certain it was just a matter of time before he passed through one of several shooting lanes I had identified. Several times he stopped inside 35 yards but was always blocked by trees, brush, or other animals. For more than fifteen minutes we were in the eye of the “cyclone”, I call it. Although a shot opportunity never presented itself, it was one of the most exciting times I have experienced while hunting elk, and is a memory I will not soon forget the video we taped of this event will definitely appear in the new “Big Game” tape!