tough archery season for elk

[SilentButDeadly]

The first two poll questions are multiple entry.

 

We had a heck of a time on my elk hunt, and it seemed that way for just about everyone else I talked with...

 

I've been thinking though, if the rut was delayed, the early muzzleloaders should be cleaning up about now...

 

Just wondering what the peanut gallery thinks.

 

Tyson

[Snapshot]

According to what alot of people have said, it sounds as if the elk didn't start turning on until the end of the hunt. You are probably right about the muzzleloader hunters having a very good hunt.

[cramerhunts]

I was helping a buddy and the first couple of days were pretty good but then it really slowed down but on the 11th day it started picking up and then it really got going. I left on the 13th day but my buddy stayed until two days after it ended just to take pictures and video and he said they were going nuts. We never saw a broke point until the seventh or eighth day but towards the end we were seeing broke bulls everywhere.

 

Phil

[IHunt2live]

Tell you what, it was sure a tuff hunt for me. Stuck in classes the whole time in a concret and brick forest.

[Lookin4amonster]

I stayed for the entire length of my 7E hunt and they were barely bugling the first 5-6 days and then shut up completely.

 

We would hear about 2-3 bugles a hunt and that's if we were lucky. The funny thing though is they were bugling like crazy at night around camp, but as soon as the sun would start to rise they would cut off.

 

Its almost like they've evolved as a species and know that they're giving themselves up .. hmmmmm

[ultramag]

I stayed for the entire length of my 7E hunt and they were barely bugling the first 5-6 days and then shut up completely.

 

We would hear about 2-3 bugles a hunt and that's if we were lucky. The funny thing though is they were bugling like crazy at night around camp, but as soon as the sun would start to rise they would cut off.

 

Its almost like they've evolved as a species and know that they're giving themselves up .. hmmmmm

there could be some real truth to that statment. I spent a weekend in 7E and witness the same exact thing kinda.

[cbryant11]

I stayed for the entire length of my 7E hunt and they were barely bugling the first 5-6 days and then shut up completely.

 

We would hear about 2-3 bugles a hunt and that's if we were lucky. The funny thing though is they were bugling like crazy at night around camp, but as soon as the sun would start to rise they would cut off.

 

Its almost like they've evolved as a species and know that they're giving themselves up .. hmmmmm

there could be some real truth to that statment. I spent a weekend in 7E and witness the same exact thing kinda.

 

I have been finding the opposite , that they dont start screaming till the sun is up. it makes it hard for me now because i have to leave em screamin so i can go to work......cbryant

[fatfootdoc]

Well I hope they are getting into it now!! My son has an ES elk tag in NM in one of the 16's I hope they are bugling, he can hardly stand himself he wants to go so bad. He turns 12 on the 9th, I told him he may be able to give himself a nice present this year!!! ag

[willhunt4coues]

I stayed for the entire length of my 7E hunt and they were barely bugling the first 5-6 days and then shut up completely.

 

We would hear about 2-3 bugles a hunt and that's if we were lucky. The funny thing though is they were bugling like crazy at night around camp, but as soon as the sun would start to rise they would cut off.

 

Its almost like they've evolved as a species and know that they're giving themselves up .. hmmmmm

 

It was the same way in 4b also.

 

[CouesWhitetail]

Seems to me the rut was weak and late. But then again, I think the season was a week earlier this year than when I had the tag three years ago. The rut was a world of difference this year. They bugled a little in the morning and then that was practically it for the rest of the day and night. Only a few nights did we hear much bugling. I figure they would peak a week or two after the archery season, but I haven't been out there so I don't know how it is now.

 

Amanda

 

[COOSEFAN]

I spent the whole hunt and the early rifle hunt in 3 different units and it was tough but it depended alot on where you hunted....elevation seemed to be the key! We noticed the higher elevations had better rutting activity probably due to the cooler temps. The full moon made it hard but it seemed to get harder once the moon went away which was different than we predicted, but it got hotter mid-day too at that time! One crazy problem we had was that the biggest sounding bulls were the smaller bulls for some reason, I saw a small 4 point raghorn with the deepest growl you've ever heard, I wasted an entire evening set up on that dude! I believe the rut is late, the bulls are spread out and you needed to find the pockets of bugles which could be anywhere and everywhere at times, but once we found a pocket of bulls the rut was intense and more so in the AM as usual. This past week definitely was better than the 2 weeks prior and I'm sure they are hittin' it hard in most areas right now! Best of luck to all who still have tags to use!

[audsley]

I just spent Sunday evening through Tuesday evening at Big Lake, Reservation Lake, Drift Fence and North Fork of the White River near Hawley. The bulls were starting to bugle at 2 in the afternoon and it just got stronger as the afternoon wore on. Both nights I had to get up in the middle of the night (the curse of middle age) and heard them carrying on all around me. The rut was ON.

 

Timing is everything.

[AZ RANGER]

I hunted at about 8500' in unit 1. The rut seemed very strong to me. Maybe I was in one of those pockets but every morning until about 0830 and every afternoon from about 3:00pm on through the night the bugles were everywhere. They did not seem to be fighting and I did not see any broken tines until the second weekend of the hunt though.

They were bugling throughout the night as well. We were awaken by them nearly every night around 1 am when they would come through camp. With the moon so bright you could see them clearly at night, my dad had a bull and his herd walk right by his tent screamin the whole way. Everyday I would go out wondering if I wasn't going to find them screaming but I always managed to get right in the middle of them.

In the 14 days I spent there the only day I did not have a ton of screaming elk all around me was the day I shot my bull. It was unusually quiet to the point that I was leaving to try another spot, and then they started. They were just as strong as every other afternoon they just stated later this time. I stayed in the same 2 mile radius for the whole hunt. I don't know what the rest of the unit was like but it was good where I was.

[Redman]

The rut was strong and I seen action two weeks before the archery hunt started.

 

Redman