What a great year!  I headed up to the high country again to hunt "my" mountain again and I lost count of the number of fine, healthy, mature 6x6 or better bulls elk I had within 25 yards of me.  Certainly more than eight as I hunted for four days and had at least one in the morning and one in the evening.  Total number of elk within 50 yards was astounding to me as I quickly lost count of those too as they seemed to stream past me at times.  I feel I am finally learning my mountains secrets somewhat.  At any rate, I do have some photos to share, so come along with me.  I can't seem to get my videos uploaded to photobucket, but if you wasnt to see some of my video journal snippets head over to my blog.  

Without further ado!

The view from my campsite, the end of the road... where adventure begins!

 

The second rule of successful hunting (next to hunt where the animals are!) is hunt the wind.  In the big, beautiful, steep wild county, that means getting up and heading high in the morning while the thermals are sliding downhill.  This picture is looking back down at the 7000 foot valley floor from about 8000 feet (in less than a mile), and the head of rock in the hogback I call "observation rock."  I spend a bit of time there glassing above me and resting, but more than anything it is a landmark.

This is actually it as far as pictures go for the first day.  I saw a smallish 6x6 that I called in, sat on a secluded spring at 8500 feet and called in another 6x6 bull (the way he acted I suppose he was the herd bull) to 28 paces where he proceed to rake a small sapling and show me who's boss while conveniently not offering a shot what-so-ever.  He came in after two cows and a fat calf came in to the spring.

The herd bull having whetted my appetite the next morning found me at the same spring which is the highest I have found on the mountain.  It's a bit washed out, but this is me looking through the main shooting window of the ground blind.  The setup could not be better for a natural ground blind.. a small circle of spruce, relatively flat, large enough for me to lay down and take a nap, thick enough to screen my movements somewhat, bare trimminig needed to open op the shooting lanes...
try as I might though, it does not want to be photographed, and the pics I have snapped, such as this one, give only a glimmer of the idea.

Wow .....

Thanks guys...

This is the view just out of the blind at "seclusion spring," looking across the mountain at a small seep about 200 feet away from the spring.  Last year there was more water in all the springs and I saw an absolute BEAST of a bull here.  Unfortunately the wind was headed uphill and I was downhill from him and his cows.  I now call this "bear seep" in honor of the bear I caught a glimpse of this year at the small clearing just above the spring, the first bear I have ever seen on this mountain.

Keep it coming  

I thought for sure God was going to shine upon me.  This is a common photo for me to take, looking down from the mountain and across the valley floor, but the character always seems to be changing.  

What bow were you using on your hunt Mike?  

I didn't have any day time visitors to the high spring, but I did hear a number of bugles off to my left and at a lower elevation, so I headed out.  

One of about 15 mulie does I saw on the hunt.  In the years I have hunted this mountain I have never seen a buck... then again, I am not hunting mule deer (though I do have a tag in my pocket), and my tactics would be a bit different if I was hunting the deer.  

This is another view out of the blind at seclusion spring... if you get the weekly tip from Traditional bowhunter magazine, you might see this picture again in the future.  Custom single bevel 160 grain Stos broadheads on 125 grain steel adapters and 100 grain brass inserts being pushed by gold tip 55-75s...

It was a terrific winter last year and there must have been some awesome avalanches.  It is hard to understand the scale but these spruce and lodgepole pines were from several hundred feet up the mountain, lined up like toothpicks and almost completely stripped of branches... and can you spot the deer?

 
 
 

No, thats not the the whole Earth tilting off it's axis because I shot an elk, just a crooked shot, again looking off across the valley...

Catching my breath, trying too cool off so I am not such a sweaty hog... enjoying a cool uphill breeze and the glorious September elk woods.

When out in the woods, be sure to take time to notice and enjoy the small things as well.

Dirty.  Happy.  Just put the sneak on a 6x6.  If you want to see more of this ugly mug, this is the view you get most often in my video journaling...

As far as my bow, I used my trusty Centaur, 60# @ 26", juniper limbs and cocobolo riser.  Eagles flight quiver... combined with the above mentioned arrows, just the right package for elk country.

 Looking forward to more!