For those who don't like reading long winded write ups: We hunted elk for the first time ever in rut and bagged this guy (see below) on opening morning before we even had a chance to settle into a blind.... Thanks for viewing
For the others who enjoy the details, here goes:
Hugenuge (Paul) and I decided to hunt the Elk rut this year for the first time. I've hunted and patterned these ghosts for the previous four years, tagging out only on a mid November cow 2 years ago. With many sightings sprinkled into those years, knowledge was increasing, as was my anticipation to harvest a bull out of the area. Heading into this year my elk batting average was just above the Mendoza line at .250 or 25% for those who don't like baseball.
The title states this is OUR bull. I was just the bloke that got to squeeze the trigger. Paul unselfishly conceded that privilege when this bull showed himself after serenading us with his last ever bugle at 106 yards. I'll get there.......
We headed up to northern AB for three days archery and to catch the rifle opener lest we didn't connect via Sharpstick. As mentioned, I started hunting elk 4 years prior to this season so had a pretty good idea of pattern and strategy (I've hunted deer up there for the last 6-7 years).
We arrived late Wed PM and immediately Thurs am met with the landowners to get the edge on the loose pattern the elk followed. I've gone to great lengths over the years to establish relationships with these people. I now call them my friends. Just an aside thought for those wanting to gain private land permission- trust is built sitting for hours at kitchen tables and taking a genuine interest in the people that give us this incredible PRIVILEGE of hunting on their land. They are only assuming liability for damage to their property and livelihoods by allowing access. There really is no benefits to them whatsoever. To all the unselfish landowners that open their gates to hunters- I salute you.
Permission secured and intel briefing attended, we checked the previously placed trail cams to again put more pieces of the elk puzzle together. They can travel like crazy from day to day and every scrap of info is carefully considered while pouring over maps to hash out a plan. We narrowed it down to a couple travel corridors between food and bed and proceeded to hunt them hard for the 3 archery days we had. Paul, who had worked night shift by himself earlier in the year, had ample opportunity to serenade the office cleaning staff to some love sick Bull elk and their feminine chirping counterparts. That practice time paid off. He had his first ever wild elk responses and we came very close to sealing the deal on our first night via Maxima Red 250 grain arrows tipped with mechanical of his choice. It wasn't to be. The bull hung up on a portion we had no permission on. Shucks!
Encouraged by opening night action, we had a steep learning curve. We fought hard for the next two days to close the gap but the herd must have read our playbook and didn't cooperate. Enter opening rifle morning....
This trip also marked the first ever year a certain rancher allowed us permission. We again had a wonderful kitchen sit down with him and his family, watched his son ride a bull on a Facebook live feed, and picked his brain. He gave us the last piece we needed. Fresh intel in the memory banks and more pouring over maps, we pegged a spot that just made too much sense.
If given the choice, we figured the pre dawn darkness is absolutely the cats meow when it comes to locating bull elk. They readily scream out their locations and a guy can really narrow it down when that occurs. Opening rifle morning (Sunday) was no exception. Our best laid plans were solidified by an answering bull off Paul's awesome bugling. We knew we were on the right track. We arrived to the gate, ditched the truck and slung our rifles- or wait, I didn't have a stinking sling on me! My bipod and sling were in my closet, 450 km's away! I felt somewhat naked as I love my extendable bipods. Thankfully Paul had brought his trigger sticks as this open country with tall grass was going to be hard to achieve a proper rest. We walked excitedly into our spot only to be greeted by two guns shots- the first of which was 21 mins before legal light. The second one ten mins before. We later found out that guy missed his elk. It was frustrating walking into a stand after hearing those shots, not knowing if it would scatter the herd around. Undaunted, we hiked in and were greeted by a bull bugling on our north at around 200 yards, and one to our south about a half mile away- game on! We knew that north bull would be heading our direction and quickly discussed where to sit and wait for him. Paul let out a bugle of his own and immediately we were challenged by a bull somewhere close to our west (in front of us) and not far away. We scooted across the 30 yard wide cutline and I caught him standing there, proud as can be, staring in our direction. I nudged Paul- there he is! Right beside that bale! Paul glassed him and confirmed. That's when my hunting partner did an incredibly noble act- although never having shot an elk of any kind, he gave me the honor of taking it. It was a moment I'll never forget. I jumped at it, humbled by his unselfishness as he outlined his plan, "I will go left, when I drop the trigger sticks, rest your gun and take him." We executed those orders and celebrated like school girls when he finally went down some 80-100 yards onto a neighboring property. Permission granted to retrieve, (we met another awesome landowner in the process), we quadded into OUR prize- a beautiful 6x6 first elk.
To some he will be a raghorn. To others the trophy of a lifetime. Myself, I am just very happy to have my first one down. he will be beatable down the line but a great first bull. We couldn't be happier. Thanks to a great partner, Paul who I will be sharing the meat with when we butcher on Saturday. I know that was difficult for you to concede this bull. You have first dibs next year when we hunt again this magical time called rut.
A side note, Nuge came super close that same night with 3 cows popping out but no bull when legal light wiped out the rest of our elk season. Our knowledge of hunting these noble creatures increased about ten fold this trip although we have only scratched the surface.
Congrats to all the other folks who have folded tags on some great elk this fall. There's been some dandy's for sure. If you haven't yet tagged one, Godspeed for the rest of the season. Stay persistent and have fun!
Tyler