Monthly Archives: November 2010

 This years fall elk hunt was, as always, a tough one.  I hunted third rifle season which ran November 6th through November 14th.  Third season is always a chilly one, and this year was no different.  We had it pretty easy the first weekend.  It at least got above 40 degrees during the day. 

The first Saturday of the hunt we only saw three or four cow elk where we hunted.  We spent 9 hours hunting that day and never saw or heard a bull elk. so we decided to go to a different are the next day.  Hank and I rode the horses for about 12 hours. that day  We rode through the brush, the creeks and then up the steepest mountains.  We finally heard a bull!  We dismounted quickly and quietly and weren’t even 25 feet from the horses when not one but two bulls jumped us!  It was completely unexpected by them and us.  The second I saw them I raised my rifle but they were gone in a flash.  Hank & I continued on that day and saw three more bulls.  None that were in positions where I could get a shot.  They were all in the thick, thick timber and hard to spot.  We sat and listened as the bulls bugled and chuckled until dark.  No elk were answering to calls and none seemed to even be moving.  First weekend gave me nothing, but I was still pumped for the weekend to come.

I finished my work week and headed out for the second weekend of third rifle season. 

Second weekend of third rifle season we woke up at 2:30 in the morning!  We ate a light breakfast, drank our coffee and then saddled the horses.  We headed up to the trail head with two of our great friends who had been hunting and not gotten anything yet either.

As we rode, I took note that I had three layers and was still chilled.  We rode for three hours in the dark up to an area where Hank and I had seen elk the weekend before.  We stopped and waited at the edge of a meadow for daylight to come.  I stood there and shivered.  My toes were cold in my 1000 gram Thinsulate boots and my fingers were frozen in my gloves.  We remained quiet and watched and listened as full light came.  We saw nothing and we heard nothing.  Finally, one of the guys in our group who musta been more frozen than me started walking.  He walked over to an old camp from seasons before and grabbed some firewood.  We all smiled and were pretty excited when we saw the smoke.  We had to go over there too and get warmed!  Thank you to the hunters who didn’t burn all the wood!!!

It was 10 degrees but felt like 10 below! We finally had to stop and warm up.

We warmed our toes by the fire for a little while.  When it died down we headed on our way.  Our friends headed one way and Hank and I headed the other.  We jumped about five cows and then tried to quietly look for more.  The snow was frozen and crunchy.  We weren’t doing a good job of sneaking on the horses so we decided to tie them up and try to hike a little.  We crossed fresh elk tracks, coyote tracks and bear tracks but never did see a bull.   Finally, we stopped our search when we crossed someone else’s fresh elk tracks.  Apparently the elk were being hunted pretty hard in this area.  We headed back to our friends and our horses and hunted our way out.   Along the way, Hank and I found trails in the snow from nearly 100 elk on our way out.  We were pumped!  This could really pan out.  We studied the area and came up with a plan for tomorrow’s hunt.

We arrived back at the truck at 3:30 in the afternoon to see the temperature was barely 39 degrees.  Back to base we headed to warm up from the day, relax and get a good night sleep. because tomorrow would be the last day and another early one.

Last day of season, and I hadn’t even gotten to see a bull through my scope yet.  We woke up at three in the morning, saddled and headed to the trail head.  Today I had on an additional layer of everything.  I knew it would be a long day.  I was going to get something today, or at least stay out until shooting light was gone trying.  The extra layers did the trick.  It was still cold, but I wasn’t shivering!

Hank and I headed to the area we knew there was a large herd of elk.  We were set up before light and ready.  We saw four cows, and then later we saw six cows, crossing through the thick timber.  Never saw a bull and never heard a sound.  The elk still weren’t talking.  We waited there as long as we could and then started our hike, looking for a bull.  We found plenty of fresh sign, but in this snow, we could not stalk quiet enough.  We hiked further.  We were at least warm from the hike, but I knew it was frigid out because of the icicles that had formed on my eyelashes.  We pushed on and found another good spot to sit and wait.  We could hear the elk walking over the ridges and up the hills.  We stalked, moving in very short spurts, stopping and standing, moving again.  We crossed our tracks from the day before, and right across those tracks were the fresh tracks of a mountain lion.

Fresh mountain lion track.

Obviously we weren’t the only ones hunting today.  These elk were getting a lot of pressure.  We headed to a meadow we knew of to have lunch and make a plan for the rest of the day.  At the bottom of the meadow, we came across a fresh elk rub.  There were pine needles and elk urine everywhere.  This bull was mad.  Still, we did not hear a bugle or cow call the whole morning.

A bull was just here, and he was mad about something!

While we sat and ate lunch I consulted with my guide.  Hank, my husband has a second job I think, taking me hunting!  He asked my opinion we debated on what to do.  He gave me two choices of meadows to set and wait until dark.  The snow just wasn’t going to let us spot and stalk anything.  We were going to have to play the odds and go with LUCK.  I told him “You are the guide.  You decide and that is what I want to do.” 

I listened to my guide.

He decided on another area.  We packed it up, hiked for a couple hours back to the horses and rode out of there.   Despite the cold (it was 38 degrees today when we got to the truck) we were soaking wet by the time we got back to the truck.  We decided to stop at base and change into dry gear.  We didn’t want to get chilled waiting until dark in wet clothes.  After that, we headed up the trail to go get me my bull!

We rode up the trail to the area my guide had chosen.  We snuck up and stalked a bull through the trees.  There he was!  It was as though She had placed him there for us.  He was in the middle of the clearing waiting for me.  My guide suggested the spot and BAM!  There he was.  After hiking, riding, freezing and waking up before the roosters, we found him.  It was hard work, but it paid off!

Mia Anstine and her 6x6 bull elk.