Elk hunt to Livingston Mt

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Graps
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Re: Elk hunt to Livingston Mt

#51 Post by Graps »

We're still with you. 8-)
"Maybe the truly handicapped people are the ones that don't need God as much." ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

stumper
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Re: Elk hunt to Livingston Mt

#52 Post by stumper »

What an experience.
Nothing clears a troubled mind like shooting a bow.

Captainkirk
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Re: Elk hunt to Livingston Mt

#53 Post by Captainkirk »

The folks on the biscuits and gravy package appear to be enjoying their dinner...did you?
Aim small, miss small!

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Greg Felty
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Re: Elk hunt to Livingston Mt

#54 Post by Greg Felty »

I'm loving this.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

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Elkman
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Re: Elk hunt to Livingston Mt

#55 Post by Elkman »

The hunt - Day 3 the final day😔.

I will start out by saying that this hunt to Livingston was supposed to be a better part of a week, but I had to cut it short because of a Doctors appointment I had forgotten about. What a disappointment. So my 3rd day was only going to be a half day. :( I can't complain though, the first 2 days were great. There are many elk hunters far and wide that may not have seen or heard elk on even longer elk hunts.

Since we had camped near by we were able to sleep in a bit longer. Our plan was to go up the ridge that we had heard a Bull on the previous morning. Perfect for a half day since it was only about 1 mile vs the 3 miles up to that high meadow. The problem is finding the Bull again, if he even stayed in the area.
We get to the trail head again just as light started to break. The weather was much cooler and cloudy and threatening rain. Great! I don't like hunting in the rain. After about a half mile we start moving up another trail to our left. There are domestic cattle in the area and they had some pretty good trails cut all over the place. As we move up towards the ridge top it begins to open up to sparse timber, meadow and park type terrain. I wasn't expecting that. Good feeding area. We could run into elk anywhere in here. Problem is there wasn't much cover.
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We slowed our pace some and started easing our way further up along the ridge top. We went over to the left edge of the ridge and saw that there is a nice little pocket of timber down the other side. This looks like a good place to setup and do some calling. We get all setup and my friend started cow calling. After about 15 minutes there is a bugle behind us coming from where we had just come from. Darn!😕 We may have slipped by them and didn't realize it. We reverse our setup and start calling again. After maybe 5 minutes the Bull calls out again. He has moved up the ridge and isn't coming our way. We decided that we should move up and towards him and hope they don't see us.

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We kinda follow the tree line. After awhile we get to the top of the open meadows and setup again. This time nothing. We are now wondering if we got busted. It is now about 9 am and the morning is slipping away.
We decided to go further up and around the ridge to the left. There ends up being a well used trail, so we follow it around. We come to a little draw to the left and it looks like great place for Elk to hang out. We setup again. This time after about 5 minutes of sparse cow calls I bugle a couple times myself. I'm trying to locate the Bull we had heard earlier. After 30 minutes of a few cow calls here and there, nothing. Where did he go?🤔 We pack up and follow the trail around to get a look at the drainage on the other side. WHAT? it's a dead end. How could such a trail come around to a dead end?
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Apparently it is a site seeing spot or a well used hunting spot for the rifle hunters. The trail ends at these cliffs and it offered up a pretty view.

What next? We look at the time and it's about 11 am. We decided to start heading back and look for a place to eat lunch. At about 11:30 we get around to the lower part of the draw we where way up high in yesterday. There are fresh Elk tracks heading up in there. Looks like we should have went right instead left back at the top of the large meadow. That's the way in goes sometimes. If they won't talk back you will have a hard time keeping track of where they are going.
I hated to say it, but at this point I told my friend that we better just go on down to the truck and head back to his house so I can get loaded up and head home. So we head on down the ridge to catch the trail in the bottom that will take us out.
About 300 yards from the main trail we catch scent of something bad. Wow! That is bad. My friend says he recognized it and he immediately starts yelling, WHOA BEAR! WHOA BEAR! Get out of here bear. He repeated that 4 or 5 times. He was looking pretty concerned. I didn't know what to think. We each grabbed the bear spray from our belts. He also got his pistol ready to pull if it comes down to it. We ease our way down a little further. Since my friend had the training on the bear spray and the gun, he went first. Whoa bear, Whoa bear. Get out of here bear. We move down more and then the scent kinda fades so we turn down towards the trail. It is now just 75 yards below us. Then over to the left we see a dead domestic cow. There was bear scat everywhere. 4 piles of it looked like what I see pretty often. But there where 2 piles that was darn near the size of a pile of horse droppings. Wow! That's from a big bear :shock:. We see no other signs of the bears, so we quickly jump on the trail and head for the truck. No telling if there was a Grizzly or even a Black Bear at the kill or not when we got close.
We get back to the truck about 1 and off we go. Heading to my friends house.
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I load up my stuff. My friend fixes me a large cup of coffee and we say our good buys. I am already looking forward to going back next year. I hit the highway for my long drive home.
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Thanks for following this post. It is always great to share good memories.
Calling Elk - Awesome! !€

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Graps
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Re: Elk hunt to Livingston Mt

#56 Post by Graps »

That's why it's called hunting and not just harvesting.
Thank you for taking us along. 👍😉
"Maybe the truly handicapped people are the ones that don't need God as much." ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Captainkirk
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Re: Elk hunt to Livingston Mt

#57 Post by Captainkirk »

It was not a wasted effort. Every experience, every choice we make teaches us something new for the next round. Not harvesting an elk did not make this hunt unsuccessful by any means; beautiful country, a good friend, and three days of education in the school of hard knocks make this a hunt you will always remember, and sharing with us make it one we will also remember. Thank you, Tom!
Aim small, miss small!

stumper
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Re: Elk hunt to Livingston Mt

#58 Post by stumper »

WONDERFUL HUNT!
Nothing clears a troubled mind like shooting a bow.

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Dan
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Re: Elk hunt to Livingston Mt

#59 Post by Dan »

Great hunt in beautiful country. I’d like to make it out there on an elk hunt one of these days. Thanks for taking us along.

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Elkman
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Re: Elk hunt to Livingston Mt

#60 Post by Elkman »

Captainkirk wrote: Fri Oct 05, 2018 4:25 pm The folks on the biscuits and gravy package appear to be enjoying their dinner...did you?
I did indeed enjoy my dinner that evening. I had the chicken and rice. Mountain house does a very good job. I was really surprised that it tasted so good. I have only ate them a few times in my life.
Calling Elk - Awesome! !€

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