Day 6 - Fourth Day of Hunting

One of the postulates of hunting is to "Hunt where the game is." It is with this truism in mind that we started day four of hunting.  Hayden and I had seen 5 cows in the high meadows below the peak of Sheep Mountain the night before, so we were heading back there.  Hayden also had a great stand directly across from us for Dad to setup...where the elk could be grazing first thing in the morning or pass through at any point during the day.

Once Dad was setup, Hayden and I hiked up to the meadow where we saw the two cows the night before. We found a spot with a good vantage point to watch the meadow and the adjacent pond. The sun began to peek over Sheep Mountain, and soon we were showered with its warmth...a welcome feeling in the morning's 22 degrees temps. After about an hour, Hayden had an idea to head further up the mountain (of-course, further UP the mountain...I like DOWN better!), cut through a big stand of aspen, and come out in a stand of young growth oak and aspen. We cautiously entered the area, and noted that the further we hiked, the more elk sign we saw. It led down the mountain and into a small mounded meadow that still had green grass in it. The whole area had good sign. Fresh sign!

We found a place to sit for a while, and did not see any action. About 11:30 we headed for the truck and discussed the plan for the balance of the day, and agreed that it would be worthwhile to sit this meadow later this afternoon for the last few hours of daylight. Dad met us at the truck, and we went in for lunch and a nap. He did not see anything during his morning either.

We headed back out to the mountain at about 2:30. Dad went back to his spot looking over the big meadow, and Hayden and I went back up to the small mounded, grassy meadow. My stand was perfect...I was standing behind a dead tree with the trunk broke at about 4 feet from the ground, leaning slightly upward of  horizontal. It had just a couple branches extending from its trunk. The height of the horizontal section made a perfect gun rest, and the view provided an untainted vantage point from which to watch the elk trails leading into the small meadow. 

About a 4:00 a cow came out of the woods, initially headed to the meadow, then did a 90 degree turn to walk behind us. She caught our wind, and instantly bolted back up the steep ridge. Its amazing how agile these big ungulates are! Then, at 5:20 when I was about to take a bio break, Hayden got my attention to say he heard footsteps. Shortly after, we saw a number of cow elk appear in the thick cover along the edge of the meadow...about 170 yards away. 

Over the next hour and fifteen minutes, 11 elk entered the small meadow. The first one came in as a sentinel, extremely cautious, scanning the surroundings looking for any hint of danger. When it felt comfortable, it began grazing, and one by one the others followed...each 1-5 minutes apart. As the seventh one came through the thick cover, Hayden and I both noted antlers...a bull!  But as he broke out of the cover and into the open we saw that it was a spike...not a legal bull. So we patiently sat and continued to wait to see if a legal bull would enter the meadow. At times there were elk within 25 yards of us. Very cool to see it all unfold, but a legal bull never did materialize. We headed out at 6:40 and met Dad at the truck. He did not see any in his afternoon sit.