4 guys met to elk hunt in Idaho. All of us first time elk hunters. 3 from Iowa and my college buddy from Iowa that lives in Oregon. None of us filled a tag, but all of us had some close encounters with bulls. One friend passed on a spike earlier in the week. We hunted in pairs. First day I got very close to a bugling bull, but didn't realize how thick the timber was where I was going. I cow called in and never saw him. Easily 20 yards plus or minus. Next day was slow, but we saw a cow. Following two days we didn't see anything. Our last two days there we came real close to getting a bull, but didn't have enough light. My friend called in a small 5 x 5 from 90 yards to 20 yards for me. We were chasing the bull and my oregon friend was calling behind me. This time we had some openings, but the bull came in close behind trees. It was about a 20 minute vocal battle with the bull rubbing a tree like crazy and making all kinds of noise. My friend was getting the bull to bugle. He then started cow calling and mixing up calls. I kept motioning at him like crazy to bugle and not cow call, but he couldn't see me. He seemed to be responding to the bugles better. I also thought it didn't make sense for a bull and cow to be chasing another bull? Any thoughts on this... I would appreciate. Want to make sure I was thinking that through correctly. I drew back when he got near, but I think he saw me draw and spooked back a few yards in trees. He hung around, but it was too dark to continue hunting him. Next night my friend saw some cows and a spike across other mountain. It was late and the wind was behind us. We tried hustling around the mountain where we thought they might be. Climbed up mountain guessing and hoping we were close. *I should note that my friend and I were going to shoot the first shot we got on anything after the prior two days.* I set up behind him this time and did some cow calling. My friend couldn't resist calling himself and starting cow calling/bugling. We believe it was the spike who responded, but never saw it. My friend said he could feel and hear the elk footsteps, but couldn't see him because of dark. My friend called and messed around with him for awhile. Got the bull really fired up. Did a great job of calling. I told him he sounded exactly like the bull from the prior night. Raking, half bugles/growls, full bugles. We decided to leave after messing with him for awhile. We had a 1.5 mile hike back to camp. Turned our lights on and he kept following us. Doing a sound that sounded like a short bark. I'm guessing it was an alert noise, but wasn't sure. He followed us for awhile. I was hoping not to come back with two spike holes in my body so we got out of there quickly. Really fun trip. We got out there on a Friday and left the following Saturday. Backpacked in about 3 miles from road. I would say we learned a lot. The other two in our group didn't see much the first couple days. They ran into a real nice guy from Twin Falls, ID that hunted with them for a day and taught them a lot. Which in turn, taught us some things. Told us to sit on wallows. He had killed bulls the past 6 out of 7 years. Was only going for a 6 x 6 or bigger this year. Half of those kills were from sitting on wallows silently. The guy from Idaho said the bulls weren't acting normal with bugling. Only bugling a few times mid day and quiet the rest of the day. I believe he left to come back later in season. The other two did see a giant bull about 120 yards away. With limited knowledge one guy guessed at 330. Both of them had bulls come close, but the wind changed on them twice. They were sitting on wallows all day long. Something I couldn't handle. Trip was awesome. Gives me a deeper appreciation for the easy Iowa whitetail hunting that we have access to. I thought it would be something I would have to do every year after experiencing. I would like to do again, but I don't feel like I need to do every year. Might have changed my mind if one of us got one. I guess we are a little spoiled in our area for deer. Used to seeing deer everytime I go out. Physically, my body handled everything fine. Mentally, the long days of hunting and not seeing anything was challenging for me. I truly feel like we were lucky to have the encounters we did and feel very thankful for them. Tried to break this ramble up, but I'm sure it doesn't flow the best as I'm just adding thoughts from trip to the post. Good luck to everyone else chasing the wapati. They are smart creatures. I have a much greater respect for them.
Thanks scarps for sharing. I am one of those bow hunting elk fools. I love it. When you do shoot one the work begins. Depending on the size of the elk, when you shoot one its like putting 3 to 4 deer in your freezer. I love the rush of a bugling elk coming in. The swirling wind is what messes it up for us most the time. My experience has been the first couple weeks in September bugling seems more affective then cow calling. At least here it is.
Bugling seemed to work pretty well when they were bugling. The wind is an always changing opponent. Fun times.
Sounds like a great time! Hopefully next time you go back one of you can cut a tag! I'm already ready for next year. There's nothing like it.
Actually filled my tag 15 minutes after daylight on opening day. First ever Elk. On public land to boot. Every year I've passed up shots at cows an calfs. This year I wasn't going to. This little guy ran out at 35 yards an stopped quartered away. Needless to say he didn't go much further. My bow was strapped to pack pack an out of commission by 645 am. Ended seeing 16 shooter bulls opening day an prob 100 cows/calfs. Was an awesome trip. I've already started next years count down.
I forgot about that. I did see the picture earlier. Couldn't remember who shot it. How's the meat tasting?
I didn't get a chance to add photos. Probably more important to look at than my write-up. Here are some of them I took.
quote "Trip was awesome. Gives me a deeper appreciation for the easy Iowa whitetail hunting that we have access to. I thought it would be something I would have to do every year after experiencing. I would like to do again, but I don't feel like I need to do every year. Might have changed my mind if one of us got one. I guess we are a little spoiled in our area for deer. Used to seeing deer everytime I go out." Glad you had a good time. I'm a native Idahoan and hunt Iowa whitetails I would have to agree! did you run into any big bucks in that elk country.. You guy up North.. I live and hunt in the Panhandle zone
Other couple guys we hunted with saw a really big bull. The biggest I saw was a smaller 5 x 5. He was huge to me though. Won't be coming out next year due to getting married. I think the following year I'm going to try to elk hunt again. It has started creeping into my mind again. It also makes me work out which I have been very relaxed on workouts since I got back. We hunted diamond creek. Pretty thick area in parts. Mainly hunted this area because of shorter drive and easy tags. Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk 2
forgive me for bringing this thread back from the dead, but I'm hoping the followers of this thread could help out with getting started on Idaho elk. I want to DIY elk hunt (prefer bow only) next year. Idaho is #1 on my list. I'd settle for other states, but point blank; Colorado is not on that list due to their Commiefornia-esque gun laws. That being said, so far it seems to me that navigating Idaho's fish and game website and trying to figure out how to get NR licenses and tags feels like I need a PH D. Sometimes it looks to me like there are first come/first served tags available, others it appears only drawings. One major issue is they still have 2013 information on much of the website. On the application, it asks for hunter's ed certification info (DOB post '75), but on the website it says not needed if you have a valid hunting license from another state from the previous year. Anyone have any tips for cutting through all this nonsense- c'mon Idaho- I got some money, I want to spend it on Idaho elk!!!
I agree, call em and if you have a license you should not need to go through the hunters education. I can not really say. You most likely have a better grasp on their prerequisites and the formalities. I would just call em and get the ball rolling from there. Good Luck!!! PM scarps..maybe..
