Into the High Desert

This year I was forced to become a rifle hunter because of a rodeo injury that severed my tricep from my elbow which left me unable to shoot a bow. This was specially difficult because I also was working at an archery shop at the time and need to be able to shoot a bow to tune them. Therefore, my fall plans had completely changed. I started to focus on my rifle elk hunt. I was able to tag along to film a couple of my friends hunts during archery season, but most of September I spent fly fishing.

When October rolled around, I was excited to finally be able to pack a rifle and hunt.

I headed down a couple days early to my elk unit to scout and met up with my good friend Tanner. The first morning of scouting we hiked up in the dark to a master vantage point to glass from that had been a good area for us in prior years. The morning light rose to surprise us with a mountain that was burned to the ground with no feed or cover left. This is high desert country where everything is dry already so when a big fire comes through like we had this year it completely changes the landscape. In a desert environment it also takes longer for an area to recover from fire. It is not the typical high alpine elk country that sprouts with new growth timber and bright green grass. Because of this we spent the next couple of days searching for water and places that weren’t recently burned from the wildfires. We had found water but had not spotted any elk in our scouting efforts so the game plan for opening morning was to try an area that looked like other productive elk spots during this time of the year.

Opening morning my other good buddy John met us at camp to help with the hunt. We hiked up into this new area but were following behind boot tracks. It was too late to turnback and try somewhere else, so we didn’t let the boot tracks discourage us. We hiked until we started running into elk sign then began looking for a spot to glass from. This area is dense with pinon junipers so visibility through them was not very good. We needed to gain some elevation in order to look down into the country. Right as we started to gain elevation we heard a faint bugle, then another. At first, we assumed it was the other hunters in the area, but after hearing the third bugle I knew it was an elk. The race was on as we rushed down the mountain towards the sound of the bugle. Once we reached a small canyon we stopped to listen and glass for the elk. We noticed that one bugle and cow call was distinctly a hunter and the other a bull elk headed their way.

We did not want to ruin the other hunters hunt, so we stayed back and watched and listened to the encounter. Finally, a rifle shot cut through the sound of a bugle as we watched a heard of elk spook off through the PJ country. We saw at about six cows, a spike, and one six-point bull about 800 yards away on the edge of public and private. We watched the hunters recover their bull and ended walking down and congratulating them on their success. I wanted the other hunters to know that we were going to continue hunting the area because I knew they would be making trips packing out meat and wanted to be courteous.

After talking with the hunters, we planned to look for a good ambush location for the evening hunt. They elk seemed to be right on the edge of private land so we wanted to be sure we were in a good spot where we could shoot a bull on public land. I figured the elk were bedded somewhere and would feed up the mountain in the evening. As we searched for a good location to sit for the day and wait on the elk a bugle broke the silence of the mid-day heat. We couldn’t believe it! There were elk bugling in the middle of October in 80-degree heat. It was starting to feel like and archery elk hunt in September, but I had a rifle in my hand. We quickly gathered our gear and set out after the bugling bulls. I had John drop back behind me about 50 yards and set up for a calling sequence to see if we could pull a bull into an open enough spot for a shot. After trying three or four sets calling and no success at pulling a bull off his cows we decided to go in after them! This proved difficult too because with a scoped rifle a close-range shot would be difficult, and the brush and trees were so thick I could not get set up prone with the rifle. I crept to edge of a small ridge that looked down into a few openings in the pinons. The elk were being very vocal, so we had a good idea where they were at and figured that this maybe the best spot to be able to catch glimpse of the elk in the open.

I spotted a cow moving through the brush and tried to find a good spot to shoot from where she was visible. I ranged the cow at 150 yards as she moved off into the trees. A few minutes went by and more cows started to filter through the same opening so we were hoping one of the bugling bulls would not be far behind these cows. The shot would have to be freehanded as there was no way to set the bipod up or find any support for the rifle. I then spotted antler tips through a pinon tree and asked Tanner if that was the bull we had glassed up earlier in the day. He didn’t hesitate and said that it was in fact the bull we were after. I did not have much of a shot because he was following a hot cow. But once she cleared, I shot and the bull dropped in his tracks. After having some experience with elk, I quickly put another shot in him to make sure he wasn’t going anywhere because we were close to the edge of private land and the last thing I wanted was this bull to die on private land. When we got the bull, I realized that it was not the bull we had glassed up and it was a different bull that was broke up from fighting but still a good bull an awesome experience to share with my good friends that I grew up hunting with!

We broke down the bull, deboned the meat, and loaded our packs heavy for the first trip out. It took us the better part of the night to reach camp, but we made it and only had one lighter load to pack out in the morning. The next morning, we slept in and made a big breakfast for the last of the pack out. I was super grateful that my friends had come up to hunt with me because packing out a bull solo is not a fun time and I was just glad to share the whole experience with them! I think it was super special that I got be in a rut fest in October because I was disappointed I had not been able to hunt during the archery season.

Got some fishing in on the way home!