Opening Day - Bull Elk Archery
Uneventful opening day!
I got into the blind around 330PM MDT and sat until just after 830PM MDT. During my sit I saw:
- 1 (beef) cow bull came into the wallow for water
- 1 (deer) doe came into the wallow for water
- 3 cow elk came into the meadow, and one of them (a calf) tried twice to come into the wallow but stopped and ran back into the meadow
I heard a bull bugle one time at around 7ish but the herd obviously never came in. About 30 minutes after that bugle is when those three cows came into the meadow.
Doe and calf (almost) in the wallow
It was interesting watching the doe at the water and the calf try to come in multiple times. The doe looked a little timid and kept looking over her shoulder back up the hill. She was acting as if she was 1) expecting the rest of her group to come down with her (which they never did) or 2) that there were some other animals up there she wanted to keep an eye on. I was concerned she could sense my presence, but she came into the wallow three separate times. Also, she seemed focused on the hill more than the blind so I think that was bugging her.
The calf elk was different. She came in from the meadow (not the hill) but stopped probably 15 yards away, would quietly bark for 2-3 minutes, and then run back to the meadow. This happened twice and then all those cows moved out the side of the meadow. Once again, I was worried it could sense my presence, but the adult cows didn’t blow out of the meadow after the calf ran back to them. There is a chance that the calf could smell the Ozonics machine, especially since there seemed to be little-to-no wind in the meadow which would move that slight smell out (ironic how the Ozonics scent, which is supposed to kill my scent, could possibly deter game).
Where was the herd?
When I heard that bull bugle around 7PM it seemed to have come from the far end of the meadow. Unfortunately my father-in-law’s blind was closed at the time and so he didn’t notice it. It turns out that the bull bugled from on top of the hill (where the doe came off of) but the sound traveled into the far end of the meadow where the opening to my blind was facing.
The heard moved from the top of the hill along the backside of that hill towards the front of the property. At 830PM when my father-in-law came down from his spotting blind to get me in the ranger he noticed the whole heard out in the front field. He said there were about 20 cows and the small 5x5 out there.
Why didn’t they come into the meadow?
The blind I was operating out of was situated over the water source (the wallow). Typically this time of September is in the 80s or even low 90s and those elk get dehydrated and need to come in for water before they go down for the night.
Well today’s weather influenced exactly the opposite behavior. First, the high was in the upper 50s, meaning the elk wouldn’t get nearly as hot during the day, requiring less water. On top of that it rained off and on for about three hours in the afternoon, meaning the elk could pick up water from the plants they were eating as they moved along. Both these conditions led to a drastically reduced need for a concentrated water source, and thus they could graze pretty much anywhere on the property.
Was there something else about the meadow that pushed them to the front field? I’m not sure. That (beef) cow bull hung around in the meadow after he drank, but we have photos of elk on the trail cams where the bull and other cattle are right there in the middle of them. I also think our scent is unlikely due to the doe’s behavior (as described above). Most likely they just didn’t need a ton of water and ended up in a different field.
This is the issue with still hunting - if the animals decide to go somewhere else then you are stuck with a long sit!
Plan for the rest of the week
We are basing the rest of this week’s hunt off the weather. We are seeing the following projected conditions:
| Day | Low Temp | High Temp | Condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday (today) | 40 | 58 | Raining |
| Tuesday | 32 | 68 | Sunny |
| Wednesday | 40 | 80 | Sunny |
| Thursday | 44 | 83 | Sunny |
| Friday | 47 | 84 | Sunny |
| Saturday | 49 | 91 | Sunny |
As you can see, our sit was wet and cold, and that cold drifted into Tuesday. If we want to play the sit-over-water game then our best bet is to wait for it to heat up and dry out. Thus, we punted on hunting Tuesday, giving the elk a day off to warm up, get active, and get confident being back in the meadow.
We’ll head back up a little later on Wednesday. With a high of 80 hopefully they’ll work up a need for water before nightfall and Wednesday evening will be a busy night in the meadow.
On top of the heat increase, we are hoping an extra day will give some time for a herd bull to catch up with this herd. The current herd bull is a small 5x5 and will easily be pushed out or aside by a bigger bull once the rut gets going. We are hoping that this cold dip is going to get the cows going and hopefully get those big bulls moving out of the mountains and towards the herds.
If Wednesday doesn’t work out, we’ll let it sit again on Thursday and then hunting Friday evening and all day Saturday. Hopefully this on-and-off strategy will keep the herd around and there will be enough time in between to keep them confident about coming into drink.
Tuesday will be another work day! Work and anxiously waiting for Wednesday.