I realize bow season hasn't opened yet but I've been gearing up and I'm more excited than ever for it and for those who hunt, you know the season doesn't start on opening weekend. There's a ton of prep from practicing shooting to rounding up gear and washing clothes to scouting...yes, I said scouting.
I went out the other day for the second time looking for elk but I feel like I might be jinxing myself. Ever since I started guiding fly fishing, I haven't really had the chance to get out and scout before season. It's been working out though. In the last six years I've shot two 5x5's, a 6x6 and a cow. I also missed a chance on another 6x6 that I had called to within 20 yards. I've only been able to get out a couple times each season so I've relied more on luck than anything else.
The first 5x5, I ran into while hiking up the trail 500 yards from the truck on my second day hunting that year. Two years later, the 6x6 was an hour and a half into my first day hunting; again, I was on the trail just scouting an area and he walked to me and stopped 7 yards away. Last year I shot a 5x5 that was standing on the trail on day four. I've been fortunate to say the least. (Most of my guide buddies would say, "Lucky as F....")
I would agree. I have been lucky and I know that luck will run out, (probably sooner than later.) But my luck didn't just begin with bumping into that first elk. The most important part of hunting is finding a place with game and little pressure. I found that spot by chance in 2009 and I've benefitted greatly ever since.
I was driving around one day looking for property that was for sale. I was feeling like I was getting to a place where I thought I might be able to afford something so I was just kind of checking things out. I saw a real estate sign at the juncture of a trail and county road so I turned up the trail to get a better look. I ran into a landowner from the adjacent property painting fence posts orange and I stopped to talk to her about the property.
One thing led to another and the conversation turned to her property and whether I could hunt there or not. She said I could and told me in the future it would be opened up as a Block Management Area. The area she was marking was a no-shooting zone.
I checked out that property a few times during rifle season. I ran into a couple old-timers who gave me a little info on the area. They said there were some deer in there and that's what they were hunting. They were really good dudes but I don't think they wanted to give me the whole skinny. The first day I hunted it, I didn't think they would get that far off the trail so I hiked in a ways and I ran into a few elk. I didn't hunt there much after that because I had other areas I wanted to check out but I definitely put that in my back pocket as something I would come back to.
The next year I hit a whole in my calendar with a day off in the first week of bow season. The day before that open date, I had a half-day so I figured I would go scouting that evening and hunt the next morning. Not really having a good idea of where I would find elk, I grabbed my gear and headed out. My initial plan was to go to an area I had hunted behind the ski hill at Marysville but I wasn't positive I could get in there and find that spot before it got too late so I opted for plan B and headed up to the BMA.
It was only an hour and a half into that first hike of the 2010 season that I ran into my 6x6. I've told the story before so I won't repeat it but it was stupid lucky. His net score was 306 1/2 and he was a huge old bull. I've spent quite a bit of time up there ever since and have gotten to know the area quite well. It's my little honey-hole and although it get's pounded during rifle season, early bow season and late rifle season can be good.
Typically, having options is a good thing for any hunter. However, if you only have a few days to seal the deal, options can spread you out too much and confuse things. I bow hunt in only two general areas and in those areas, I have maybe two or three options. Even that can be a little much because each morning you have to flip a coin to make a plan...unless you find the elk before season starts.
I put a little time into scouting this year, which again, I feel like I'm going against what has worked in the past. However, it makes me much more confident knowing the elk are where they're suppose to be. Finding water is key but with a year like this where water is plentiful, the elk have options too. Food and cover are also huge factors and because the grass is good all over, finding a safe place to bed down and get out of the heat is key. I'm pretty sure I found that place...
All that can change though in the next three weeks. Elk will start to rut. People will be heading out and animals will be getting pushed around. That can be bad but it can also bring animals to an area if they get pushed out of their safe zone.
Last year, we had planned to get into the same spot I found them the other day but on the way in, we heard them bugling in a different area and I spent three days chasing them down until I eventually shot my bull. I never made it to the wallows where I had initially planned to go.
One thing that can't be accounted for during the scouting phase is whether or not someone else has been making the same plan. That's where options are incredibly important, especially when hunting public lands. There is a chance--a good chance--someone else will stumble up on these elk and push them out. I really hope not but if it happens, I'll have to employ plan B or C or maybe this year is just my "off" year.
Keep 'em where they live...
P.S. Keep following The Montana Dream blog for updates on this elk season as well as getting the same fishing reports and fishing stories you've been getting. The blog depicts my life and why I moved back to Montana. I love guiding people but I also love to hunt and this is an exciting time of the year for all sportsmen and women out here.
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