grndhntr

You can kinda see the can in the middle of the fire there. After lunch I continued on the track and found that it was the same tracks that I had come across earlier in the morning, about 3 hours earlier. I also noticed that they looked about as fresh as my tracks so now I was encouraged that maybe they were left there this morning. It was reallydifficult to read tracks with the wind blowing so hard. Now the tracks went straight up hill and it was another steep climb. I was sure I would either find the elk or their daytime beds up on that hillside but they just kept going. At times I waspositive I had gotten off the elk tracks and was now following mountain goat tracks. I would think that when they have to deal with deep snow they would want to conserve energy and take the easiest route, but I could think of several easier ways to get where they ended up going. Oh, BTW, I could tell that there were 3 or 4 elk moving together. The tracks would be together sometimes and almost look like one track. They would move single file and step in the other tracks. Then they would split up for a while and then move back together in 100 yds. or so. I tried to get a picture of my wanderings today. I put a thread ona map. Hopefully it will be clear here. The dark line on the left is the road and then the dark thread is my path.

grndhntr

Just as I was ready to give up and start back down toward the road, the tracks topped out at a saddle and went onto private land. I attempted unsuccessfully to gain permission to hunt on this land so that was the end of that hunt. I was out of time anyway, but it was disappointing not to find the elk after trackingthem for about 5 hours. It was kind of funny that the tracks went right through the gate. After taking the hardest route they could find around and up the mountain, they couldn't even jump the fence.

grndhntr

I just reread my last post. It sounded like I tried to gain permission today to hunt there on the private land, but it was several months ago. Anyway, I trudged slowlyback through the snow to my car. Man, am I tired. I think I'm going to have to find a less ambitious elk to shoot. I figured I went about 6 miles today. I'm used to covering about 10-15 miles a day while chasing elk, but this is tougher. I may try some private land tomorrow that I have permission to hunt on. Maybe the elk will be there. It's 80 acres and not really ideal for elk, but I've seen them there on occasion. As I was making my way back down to the car today, this tree caught my eye. I really do live in a beautiful place.

grndhntr

OK, I'm going to get some sleep...Goodnight.

smokepolehall

Man we had us a fer sure rough day hunting. Good one tho and elk just just got the upper trail on us. I'm worn out thanks fer taking me on the hunt with you again today. I enjoyed it, thanks. Nice pic's of the country were hunting!

grndhntr

Thurs. Jan. 11 AM

I'm going to split up my hunt today. The property that I went to this morning is just a few minutes from my house so I came home for lunch. This 80 acres backs up to some national forest so if tracks lead me off to the southI can continue following for a while before it's private property again. It took me a while to find a place to park. The dirt road up there is plowed but only wide enough for one vehicle. I found a driveway that had enough room for one car. It looked like the house there is just a summer residence (no footprints going from the house to the parking spot) so I parked there and walked into the 80 acres. The driveway to my hunting property has not been plowed. No wind today so my walking is very noisy. I decidedto make a loop around the property andcheck for tracks. I did find some elk droppings on top of the snow but couldn't even see tracks. They were blown in from yesterday's wind. I did find a casualty of our recent big snows.

grndhntr

I think this deer is one I passed up earlier when I was deer hunting. Actually, I never really had a clear shot at him so I didn't "pass him up" but I saw him several times near where I found this carcass. I was looking for something bigger so I'm glad he didn't offer me a shot- I just mighta taken it. I wondered if he just died from the cold and hunger or if the coyotes got him in the deep snow. Either way they got a few meals off him. There were freshcoyote tracks all around him from last night even though there's not much meat left.
One thing that I've been surprised about on this hunt is thenumber of fresh deer rubs I've seen everywhere I've been. Usually the deer rut is in Nov. and Dec.so I didn't think they would be making rubs now. Does anyone know why?

grndhntr

Anyway, I continued my loop and found lots of deer tracks on the SW side of the property. I was expecting to find some live deer but never saw any. I did find a bunny under a spruce tree. I took a shot. It ran a little ways off. I took 2 more. I thought I was hitting it but it didn't look too bad off. I circled around and took one more shot that did it in. It took a while to dig out my bolts. Judging from them and looking at the rabbit, it looks like one of my shots split one ear totally in two right down the middle and the last shot hit it right in the chest and exited the hind leg. I'm cooking him for lunch right now. I'm going to have to do some bolt repair (lost a fletch) and BH sharpening before I go back out this evening.

grndhntr

I don't have anything of interest to report about this evenings hunt. I picked a likely spot to sit and wait in case elk decided to move through. A storm is moving in and we're supposed to get more snow tonight. I got very cold but I think I'll thaw out. I don't yet have a plan for tomorrow. Guess I'll wait to see what this storm brings.

smokepolehall

Bad about the Buck not making it, good about us getting a rabbit lunch. We had another good exercise today. Good pic's again. We can rest up and then i will be ready when you are.