This hunt started at 4:15 am Friday morning when I took the lead rope and flashlight to the corral, caught my horse and took her to the trailer. We picked up Leif Condie and his horse and gear and headed for South Creek Canyon on the south end of Beaver, Utah. The stars were shining and the weather was cold but we were dressed for it. When we got up the canyon, we saddled the horses and headed up the trail in the dark. It was just beginning to get light and the air was fresh and crisp. As it got lighter, the mountains were beautiful, with yellow and orange leaves on the aspen trees, mixed with the green pine trees.
Leif began to bugle for elk with his elk bugle and his cow call. After about an hour of riding up the canyon, we had a bull elk bugle back to us. We got off the horses and with the gun ready, bugled back. In about 30 seconds a majestic five point bull elk walked out between the trees, its head high. He was about 80 yards away and stood and looked at us for about 45 seconds. I have a spike elk permit so this was much too big of elk for me to shoot at, but what a great experience just watching him. He turned and walked back into the trees and we continued up the canyon. About 10 minutes later, we again had a bull bugle back to us. We stopped and bugled to him. He bugled back and was coming closer. He bugled again and Leif saw him. He was about 120 yards away and looking at us just over the top of a big rock. He was a four point and calmly watched us for about 5 minutes. I watched through the rifle scope and, after a while, he stepped out and watched us for a while, then turned and went back into the trees. We hiked up the mountain side to see if we could see any spike elks with him. There were none – my luck. We came to a summit and looked over several mountain valleys.
The rest of the day we hunted in mountain valleys and meadows in what turned out to be a beautiful afternoon.
3 comments:
Does Leif know your hunting record?
It sounds like a really good time though. I'm jealous of the mountains. It really is beautiful here too, but I just love driving up the mountain in the fall.
Love you!
Wow! Dad, that sounds so fun. I'm glad you actually saw something:) Not only something but two somethings that would have been incredible if you could have shot at. But alas, I'm glad your record is still clean. Love you.
So apparently your problem is you keep getting the wrong tag. But I did enjoy hearing the elk call on the video. It brought back memories of a kid in high school who was obsessed with elk, regularly bugled like them and actually started to look like an elk after a while. Maybe it is better that you are not obsessive with hunting.
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