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Day 5

Steven and I went to the same place we hunted last evening. It's an area near a lake that is covered with short, cedar trees. It's a great place to stalk and call elk. It was hot again today but hopefully that ends tonight. Thank goodness! We heard a few bugles and moved on them but they quit talking early and headed to bed down. We did stalk up on a bull that was rubbing a cedar but he was not big enough. We moved quietly through the cedars and bumped a few elk along the way. We headed back to the lodge early rather than blowing out more elk.

Once back at the lodge we had lunch and rested up for the afternoon hunt. Big weather change comes in tonight so I'm recharging the batteries for a big push for the last half of the hunt.

For those of you who think we're roughing it back at camp - think again...

The lodge we are staying at during our elk hunt

Inside of the lodge

While having lunch we heard that Shane Farolino, a bowhunter from Ohio, took a nice 6x6 this morning with a perfect 31 yard shot. Shane is the first hunter in camp to break the ice

Shane took this nice bull today with a perfect, 31 yard shot

It was 85 degrees this afternoon and we didn't expect a lot of talking. We opted to go back to the area where I had my 15 foot encounter on that nice 6x6. We moved from area to area, bugling, but nothing was talking until the very last hour of the day. We got an immediate response from a bull on a distant hill, a half mile away. We took off after him.

The bull was just starting fire up. We bugled once and he immediately responded - giving away his location. It took us 30 minutes to get the wind in our favor, then we closed the distance. The closest we could get was 65 yards from the bull, and his 8 cows. Too far, and too much brush in the way even if it was closer. The herd was moving away so we decided to call at him. As soon as we did that, the herd became nervous and left. The bull was decent, likely over 300, but not much more than that. So I don't know if I would have shot if he came in. But it was a lot of fun nonetheless.

The elk are just beyond those trees and the bull is 65 yards away at this point.

We tried bugling and the bull bugled back, but the cows didn't like it and the herd left in a hurry. It was a fun way to end an otherwise tough day.

Weather change hits tomorrow. We have heard and found bulls every day, but they are not responding as well as they should be. Hopefully, that will change!