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2012 Elk Hunt

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Gordon:
Here are some pictures from my 2012 elk hunt in the mountains of NE Oregon. My son Max came with me and since this was his first hunt and he is about to enter dental school I wanted to do it up right. I hired an outfitter to pack us into the wilderness area and we hunted for two weeks.  My regular hunting partner Chuck was the third member of our group.

We arrived at the pack station the night before and were treated to a wonderful home cooked meal at the lodge. Sleep did not come easily that night as we waited anxiously for morning to arrive – we were told that we were the first group of hunters to go into our chosen area this year.

Here is our gear in the staging area in preparation for being loaded onto the mules.



The mules after being loaded with our gear and ready to go.



This was Max’s first time on a horse. Needless to say after a few hours on the trail he was beginning to get a little saddle sore.

Gordon:
After a grueling six hour ride we finally arrive at the site of our base camp. The camp is situated at 7,000 feet at the site of an old glacial moraine. The scenery is breath taking and we can hardly believe that this spot will be our home for the next two weeks!



See you in two weeks!



That evening we take a hike around our camp and encounter a herd of elk at a watering hole near our camp. This is good karma!

Gordon:
The next day we hunt on our side of the canyon, but we are unable to find the elk that we encountered the night before. We see lots of fresh sign, but no elk so we decide to hunt the other side on day three.

This is a picture from the other side. Our camp is situated across the canyon at timberline to the right of the picture.



We make the 3 mile hike to the other side in the dark on the morning of day three. As it gets light we are greeted with the sounds of three bulls bugling. We make several setups but despite the expert calling of my partner Chuck, none of the bulls shows interest and by mid-morning all is quiet. We break for an early lunch and I suggest to Chuck that we trek over to “Coral” basin to see if anything is happening over there.

Coral is probably my favorite spot to hunt elk in the world. It is one of the most beautiful places on earth and is some of the best elk habitat anywhere. Coral is a basin that is situated near the top of a mountain. It is impossible to see unless you are there or viewing if from the air. At the base lies a sub-alpine meadow that gives way to dark timber that climbs up the sides of the basin. The basin is rich with grass, water, wallows, timber and escape routes. It is nothing short of an elk paradise.

Gordon:
I’ve encountered many animals in this basin in past hunts so my expectations were high. When we arrived, we did not see or hear any direct activity but noticed that some of the wallows at the upper end of the meadow had been recently used. We did a few setups in and around the wallows hoping to draw something out of the timber, but nothing responded. After that we dropped back to the lower end of the meadow to quietly wait and see if something might reveal itself.  After about an hour of waiting and listening we heard a faint bugle in the timber to the right of us. We climbed into the timber about 50 yards and then setup to see if we could coax the bull to be a little more vocal. The bull obliged by bugling back at our cow calls imploring what he no doubt thought were lonely cows to come up and join his little party. After about 30 minutes of this back and forth, it became evident that this bull was not going to chance leaving the charms of his harem to come to us – we were going to have to go in after him.

And so we did. We closed in and then stumbled upon a group of cows which bolted in a panic. I figured that the gig was over but Chuck cow called and the bull responded with a bugle. He sounded close, probably no more than 40 yards. Chuck wanted to move in more but I convinced him that we should setup where we were otherwise we would likely blow him out. Max and I spread out and Chuck moved back 20 yards into a caller position. Chuck started with cow calls which elicited bugles from the bull, but no commitment to come our way. Finally Chuck bugled back at the bull which elicited a serious of hard thumping grunts from the bull. Clearly now Chuck had the bull’s attention.  Soon the void between us and the bull was filled with the high pitched sounds of the bull and Chuck screaming back at each other. Neither Chuck nor the bull was going to back down – something had to give.

You are never quite prepared when it happens. Usually you spot antlers first and then where a moment ago there was just timber the body of a mature bull elk materializes out of nowhere. You’ve visualized this moment so many times in your mind and now that it here in front of you, you can hardly believe it is really happening.

To be continued...

portlandfire:
   Fantastic Pictures!    OK    You've had your break, get back to the story........ ;)

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