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3 months until a duodecennialā€¦.

bowhunterfanatic said:
I think he's already found it. He's keeping us 3-4 days behind with his accounts. I'm hoping we get the first kill pictures today!
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I wondered when he was saying Friday morning and it was Thursday. Thought maybe he'd just lost track of time. šŸ˜†
 
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So after a sleepless night we get up and head back to the mountain. We arrive at sunrise and slowly make our way up. Not hearing any bugles or seeing elk we go to the shot sight. Briefly look for arrow, no luck.
Pick up the blood trail and try to guess the direction he went. We gridded the easy part first with no luck.

Screen shot of my tracks a 1.5 hr into the search. OldFussnFeathers is filling in the gaps.
IMG_6545.webp


Once we finish up the easy part we dive into the big timber. This is the Tim er we had 3-4 bulls bugling in their bed. We knew it would be thick but we weren't prepared for how thick it was.
The plan was to flank each other, track our trail and try to cover as much as possible. 5 mins into the search we loose each other. It's thick, trails everywhere and the blow downs could hide an elephant.

If you blink you'd miss it. If you looked left and took a step, you'd miss what was laying on your right.
IMG_6474.webp


I did find something dead, although he had been dead for a long while.
IMG_6487.webp
 
I tell ya what, if you ever get the chance to share huntin camp with Tellico, you'll be spoiled. Fantastic food, cold beers and plenty of elk hunting wisdom.

6 days without a shower so I broke down and took advantage of his portable outdoor shower, I feel like a brand new woman!
IMG_6547.webp



Back to the tracking job.

I get to the end of the timber and as I'm circling back around I think to myself "there is no way we are going to find this elk". It is just so thick and waiting for Tellico and his pup might be the best thing, assuming the bull is even dead and in here. Temps are going to heat up today and what optimism I had was waning fast. I was also afraid of stomping around too much in case we threw the pup off trail.

I turn around and start making my way back in. After a few minutes of ducking limbs and climbing deadfall, OldFussnFeathers (Travis) apparently had the same thought as me. So, he turns up the ridge to find me. He is a solid dude, but this wasn't his tag and I had already had a sense of guilt dragging him up into this mess.


I remember stopping in the timber to just look around at how thick it was, the feeling of defeat overwhelming me. I take a couple more steps then I hear "who hoo!!!". That nervous exciting feeling hit me, I yell out "no freaking way man, you better not be f'n with me". I bust butt to his voice, running through the blow down like a bull chasing a cow.

Laying there in a spot surrounded by thick pines and a blow down was my bull! Travis was dang near invisible as I walked up. "How the hel did you find him dude?!?!"




Talk about a whirlwind, we all know the feeling. We all know the saying of "highest of highs and lowest of lows" when it comes to hunting, too. Well, this one was no different.

Travis said the pup would have found him but I'm deeply grateful Travis did. We beat the heat and flies, we beat the coyotes and bears.

My first bull.
IMG_6480.webp
 
AT may not be able to hold his composure on an elk but he sure can tell a story. šŸ˜‚ The suspense has been killing me and I knew the outcome. Thanks for letting me tag along via text. People thought I was crazy when I yelled out "heck yeah" at my son's swim meet Saturday morning. I had been waiting for that text.
 
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Speaking of pup, Scout is loving elk camp and all the attention she is getting. At home she has to share with another dog.
She has learned how to unzip tents, so the other night she gets out of mine. FussnFeathers has a tent in bed of his truck and Scout is doing her best to get in with him. After that she heads to the wall tent, unzips it enough to get in & give Buzzard & AT a kiss on the face. I wake up at 2:00am with everyone hollering at my dog šŸ¤£.

This is by far her favorite spot in camp and crashes by it when lit.
 

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AT Hiker said:
I tell ya what, if you ever get the chance to share huntin camp with Tellico, you'll be spoiled. Fantastic food, cold beers and plenty of elk hunting wisdom.

6 days without a shower so I broke down and took advantage of his portable outdoor shower, I feel like a brand new woman!
View attachment 244667


Back to the tracking job.

I get to the end of the timber and as I'm circling back around I think to myself "there is no way we are going to find this elk". It is just so thick and waiting for Tellico and his pup might be the best thing, assuming the bull is even dead and in here. Temps are going to heat up today and what optimism I had was waning fast. I was also afraid of stomping around too much in case we threw the pup off trail.

I turn around and start making my way back in. After a few minutes of ducking limbs and climbing deadfall, OldFussnFeathers (Travis) apparently had the same thought as me. So, he turns up the ridge to find me. He is a solid dude, but this wasn't his tag and I had already had a sense of guilt dragging him up into this mess.


I remember stopping in the timber to just look around at how thick it was, the feeling of defeat overwhelming me. I take a couple more steps then I hear "who hoo!!!". That nervous exciting feeling hit me, I yell out "no freaking way man, you better not be f'n with me". I bust butt to his voice, running through the blow down like a bull chasing a cow.

Laying there in a spot surrounded by thick pines and a blow down was my bull! Travis was dang near invisible as I walked up. "How the hel did you find him dude?!?!"




Talk about a whirlwind, we all know the feeling. We all know the saying of "highest of highs and lowest of lows" when it comes to hunting, too. Well, this one was no different.

Travis said the pup would have found him but I'm deeply grateful Travis did. We beat the heat and flies, we beat the coyotes and bears.

My first bull.
View attachment 244670
Click to expand...
Sheer damn luck! I zigzagged through gnarly deadfall. Had about enough of that and headed back to AT. So bad in there I lost him within a couple of steps! Stopped while looking for AT and just happened to look to the right. There he was! Had some hard tracking in the past but that was by far the hardest. Pretty sure I was as happy as he was. My first elk hunt was last year and couldn't even confirm I heard one bugle. My goal was to hear one for the first time. This hunt blew all expectations out of the water and will be hard pressed to have a better elk hunt than this! I've never seen or heard anything like it. I appreciate these degenerates for allowing me to hunt with them! Couldn't ask for a better crew!! I'm adding my tall/ugly ass mug to the threadā€¦
IMG_2900.webp
 

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