Just 11 more days until elk hunt 2015!

We have been seeing grouse every time we check my game cams, so now that the season is open we walked our legs off hunting them and saw ZERO grouse. Of course, it was a bit rainy all day, so maybe they were hiding up in the trees. I did bag one big rabbit and took out a young coyote that just wasn't smart/fast enough for his own good. The cams are showing an increase in elk activity (and a few deer). Mostly cows and calves, but where the girls are, the boys will surely be nearby as the rut steps up.

 

And yeah, I'm ready! Did this the other day at 60 yards.

 

Jesus as hell. I believe 2016 will be the year I leave the east coast for a couple years and move out that way. Hunting has lost it's appeal over here, looking for something new...

 

I grew up in a hunting and fishing household, where opening day of duck season was more celebrated than the Super Bowl. The west is the place to be for those of us with that lifestyle burned into our being. And... duck season is just around the corner!!

2015_01_01_10658 by Douglas Wedman, on Flickr

 

Good luck on the hunt! keep taking those coyotes!

I kinda have to agree. It’s becoming harder to find places to hunt other than WMA’s and some of those are quota hunts so only so many people can hunt there. also a bunch of people just yell at you and call you names if you hunt for “murdering innocent animals” lost count how many times i have been called names for that and told i should be in prison for life and that i have something wrong with me mentally. I just laugh and walk away or try to.

 

It's not that the hunting is bad, I've just done enough of deer/bear/pig/grouse/duck/dove hunting I'd like some new scenery and a new challenge

 

oh yeah. that can get old sometimes. I’d love to go out west a little and get a change of scenery as well. Hunting around here is not bad just hard to find land to hunt on thats not WMA land. T.W.R.A. is still trying to grow the elk heard up here but no real season on it for probably several more years. They give like 5 permits out a year, One is actioned off on eBay to highest bidder that money then goes back to help protect what elk we have and help the heard grow. 4 permits they just draw a name for.

 

Update... Took a large cow on the third morning. Lots of bulls around and I am sure I could have taken one, but this was a freezer filling hunt and I really need to be back in the office Monday so I took the first opportunity. Of course, I hunt solo, and I took her about 2 miles and a good 600 feet lower elevation from the nearset access point to the wilderness, with lots of downed logs, muddy bogs, and streams to cross on the way. It was a long day. Still butchering, but feasted on grilled back strap steak with sautéed mushrooms and onions tonight. This is one fine eating elk!

 

Very cool! I'm still trying to get it together to do the same here in KY next month.

 

Good luck! Enjoy your hunt and fill the freezer with the best meat. A bit of duck and goose hunting for me, then Barbary Sheep in February.

 

Congrats on the elk! I just moved out west and am trying to convince a couple buddies from home to go out to CO for a DIY archery elk hunt. Easier said than done lol. Hopefully next year.