This year might be a process

I absolutely love this time of the year. Things start to cool down...well, typically. Football get's rolling and the bow season gives me something to be grateful for when I have days off. I'm not going to lie; I've been pretty damn lucky the past several years so I know I'm in for a couple off years on the elk. With the weather and the dry conditions, this year is either going to be that dry year or at least, it will be a process.

It's week two and I've actually spent a little time in the mountains already. I usually see elk on the way in, coming out of ranchers hay fields but nothing in the hills. It's dry and crunchy and the elk want to be where the good food is. They also need water and with a limited supply in the high country, it seems that the cattle have taken over those drainages so the elk are down on private property. It's kind of ironic really. (BTW, Scott Hirschi and I discuss the cattle situation on The Montana Dream Cast along with our taste-test of Hoot wine and the most effective means for pissing out of a boat. You should really check it out. https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-4brka-727587 )

Anyway, the elk hunting is going to remain a little tough until two things happen. One is that the weather changes drastically and the second is that the cows start feeling the need to pro-create if you know what I mean. We do have a shift in weather that is suppose to come this week. I really hope it amounts to what they are predicting. We need the moisture and we definitely need the help to suppress the fires out here. (Over a million acres have burned in MT alone.)

I did run into a few elk the other night. I was actually surprised to see them out in the parks a good two hours before sunset. I was hiking around, checking out wallows and watering holes when heading back to the truck, I spotted them. Where they were, I thought it would be an easy sneak. Something about how lucky I've been over the years, sometimes gets me a little too confident on these encounters.

I didn't take much time to make a good plan and my execution on a bad plan was horrible. The wind swirled. I made a little too much noise and all I heard was one giant growling bugle as the bull called to his harem to say, "Let's get the hell out of here, ladies." He also may have been telling me to F'off but either way, one bugle and they were gone.

A couple days later, I saw that little heard coming out of a hay field and going up a drainage where I have access to. Again, I hiked in and called a few times only to hear one growling bugle echo throughout the canyon and again, the old bull was probably just letting me know where to stick it. With persistence he will make a mistake and you will hear about it on this blog.

Keep 'em where they live...