Royal Outfitters Montana Elk Hunting

Well we have put the bow on the 2011 archery season at Royal Outfitters.  We hosted 7 archery hunters with all but one of them being new to R.O.  The warm weather that had plagued us during the bulk of September continued with low temps only in the 40s and highs in the 70s.  This seemed to keep the bugling activity confined to early morning hours and if we were lucky the last minutes of daylight in the evening.

However, most of the guys had several encounters with elk.  Guide Jeff was with Richard and they were hearing and chasing elk almost every day.  On one morning they found a herd of elk while hiking to their planned destination.  There were 3 bulls and several cows.  With a little calling, the largest bull, a nice 6 pt was well within bow range of Richard, however, the bull was facing directly toward him and did not present a good shot opportunity.  During the week they tangled almost daily with a herd bull that was able to elude them all week.

Todd was guiding Joel, and while they were not in the elk every day, they did watch a big six point with his harem lounging around a secluded high mountain lake.  They were watching from a very steep precipice overlooking the lake and were able to watch from a distance as a calf elk ran into the lake and swam a bit before swimming to shore to buck and kick up his heels.  The next morning they planned to sneak in on the herd and try to call the bull within range.  Although the elk had moved a bit, Todd and Joel were able to find them.  The bull was in the bugling mood, and there was some excitement, but in the end, the wind betrayed them and the bull disappeared with his harem to parts unknown.

I was guiding two brothers, John, and Dan.  John had hunted here with us last year during rifle season with his son.  With local connections, the guys chose to only hunt mornings and spend their evenings with family and friends.  With this in mind I planned for longer hikes into more remote country for extended morning hunts, (often stretching into afternoon).  The plan turned out to be a good one as we had close encounters with elk on all but one morning.  The first morning we walked into a small herd during the very first moments of daylight.  We spotted a cow grazing just 120 yards ahead.  With the assumption that there was a bull nearby, we set up and I did a little calling.  The bull responded below us and cautiously circled.  We spent about 30 minutes trying to coax him in.  I did get a good look at the mature 5 pt bull as he skirted our location, but in the end he moved off without giving us a really close encounter.

The next morning we hiked about 4 miles into an elk haven.  As we were pondering our next move, contemplating whether or not to turn back, a bull gave a lazy bugle as if from his bed.  He was close, so we found a couple of good setups and I began trying to coax him out of his bed.  It took some time, but eventually the bull got up and began to bugle more aggressively.  He apparently did not like a strange bull herding cows on his turf.  The bull had a distinct growl when he bugles and the hunters and I were very excited to get a look at him.  The timber was dense old growth fir with a lot of deadfall and undergrowth.  The bull was moving closer and John was able to get a glimpse of him at about 40 yards, but with the bull sticking to the dense cover, he did not get a shot.  The bull eventually moved off, although he continued to sound off.  We decided to back off and try him again another morning.

On the next trip to find him, we set up in a large area spotted with small meadows and many many wallows and scrapes.  I set the guys up along likely paths of travel and did some calling from a distance.  We heard no bugling, but after an hour or so when I met up with Dan, he asked if I had been moving around while calling since he had heard pawing and raking in the thick cover about 50 yards away.  I had not moved much from the area I had been calling in, and had never been within 150 yards of him.  Upon further investigation I found where a bull had been pawing a dry wallow and raking trees about 50 yards from Dan, but under cover.  It was a close encounter but with a quiet bull.

Another morning we hiked up a steep incline covered in lodge pole deadfall.  I remember thinking that we had better see elk, or the guys may shoot me in the leg for taking them on such a miserable hike.  Then as we approached an area that the elk travel between feeding and bedding I spotted a bull moving in our direction.  We quickly set up and I backed off about 50 yards to call.  I began raking a tree, and sprinkled in a few cow calls.  The bull was silent, but since I had encountered several silent bulls this season, we maintained the setup hoping that the bull would come in.  The forest floor was very dry and I could occasionally hear crunching as if something was moving in our direction.  This was a very good setup, with good open shooting lanes, standing lodge pole pine with a little undergrowth for cover.  Sure enough, the bull moved closer to check out the elk sounds.  As he did he walked within 20 yards of the brothers stopping as luck would have it with his chest behind a couple of trees.  He only needed to take a step or two and an easy shot would present itself, but once again whether he winded us, or sensed something amiss, he turned and trotted down the hill.

Anyway, the guys had and awesome time, and I did too.  It is a pleasure to hunt with great people and encounter what I think is the most majestic big game animal in North America.

Veteran Guide Pat Foster hunted with Charles, they worked very hard and Charles was feeling his old football injuries as they came back to haunt them.  One morning they worked their way into an area that Pat knew held a bull.  As they approached the wind was swirling and they began to have doubts about their plan.  Pat however was determined and swirling wind or not, he was going to press on.

Sometimes that is just what you have to do.  The mountain winds are often fickle and even though they often are our undoing, sometimes things fall into place.

The bull responded immediately to Pats bugle and with the bulls second bugle it was obvious that he was closing in on them.  Charles got set up just in the nick of time and with the bull closing in he drew and held his bow.  The bull closed the gap to less than 30 yards and stopped while presenting a good shot.  Charles aim was true and he made a great double lung shot that quickly put the bull down.  It was a nice 6 point bull.

Although the weather was unseasonably warm, and the elk were not as active as we are used to, there were plenty of elk to be hunted and considering the conditions, we did pretty well.  As guides we appreciate and share the determination of our clients to get close to the elk, and we are thankful for the good folks that we had the opportunity to hunt with this archery season.  I know that I am looking forward to taking some rifle hunters out next weekend to see if we can bring in a few of the very good bulls that we saw during the archery season.  Who knows, maybe they will even bugle for us.

Well time flew by this week we had a very full camp with many old friends and a few new ones.  The week began with cooler weather and on my first morning out we had an excited bull run in to greet us after only one bugle from me.  Unfortunately it was fifteen minutes before first light and even at 25 yards the bull was unseen until he spooked.  I cow called a bit to try to settle him down and hopefully keep him in the vicinity until it got light.  But even after winding us he was excited enough to come back in close.  It was still before legal shooting time, and not enough light for a shot.  We heard him bugle in the distance a little later but with winds swirling and not in our favor we decided to leave him for later.

Sonney and his hunters were into bulls on Monday Tuesday and Wednesday with several encounters with bulls as close as 28 yards.  But in all their encounters, they could not get a clear shot at any of the bulls and none were taken.  One bull was a big mature 6 point.  It was exciting for  the week.

Jeff  Dave played with several bulls on Monday morning.  Dave is looking for a big bull and passed on a couple of rag horns.  They later headed to a camp location and hunted for a couple of days with some good action.  Bulls were wary however and were not really in the heat of the rut.  Several bulls would only answer a couple of times before going silent.

Michael and Greg from Indiana were continuing the quest to gather Michaels first bull.  They got into a couple of setups during the week but were betrayed by swirling winds.

On one outing this week Tim, Russ and I were skirting the bottom side of a meadow.  I had been bugling occasionally trying to locate a bull with no reply.  We were crossing a narrow finger of the meadow and had just stepped into the open when we spotted a couple of mule deer.  While Russ and I were glassing the deer, Tim exclaimed, “ELK!” .  Above us on the meadow, a nice 6 pt bull broke into a gallop and disappeared into the timber.  He had apparently heard my calls and come in to check us out.

On Wednesday morning Tom, Bob and I worked our way up a cool damp creek bottom.  We encountered a lone cow elk and although she spotted us, she did not wind us and hung around for a half hour barking repeatedly moved to and fro trying to figure us out.  It was the first time Bob and Tom had heard an elk vocalize and we had a lot of fun watching and listening to her.  After she moved on, we continued our slow sneak up the bottom.  After being busted by the bull the previous day, I was trying hard not to let that happen again.  Once again we encountered the same cow and listened to her bark for another 20 minutes, this time I tried to keep her attention on me by barking back at her and trying to sound like several elk moving around in the thick timber while Bob attempted to sneak up on her.  With her senses tuned for danger, she proved too wary for us.  We progressed another half mile or so, and I stopped to put out a couple of soft locator bugles, as we come near a mossy little bog that provided an opening to the heavy timber, I spotted an elk moving in our direction with its head lowered not 50 yards ahead.  Although I could not see antlers through the trees I was sure it was a bull.  I whispered “BULL”! as I lied down to the side of the trail.  Tom, immediately behind me and Bob next knelt down in the trail.  I told Tom to knock an arrow as the bull gave antler attention to a small fir tree about 40 yards ahead.  We could see him now through the timber, a young 5 point, but no shot was available.  The bull then moved toward a gap directly ahead of us, as I was about to tell Tom to draw his bow, I heard him pull back.  The bull put his head into the opening, and stopped.  He seemed to see us, but we were perfectly still.  The bull then turned back to rake another small tree for a moment, then, forgetting about us completely he moved toward the opening again.  Tom had been holding his draw for the better part of two minutes now and I wondered how he was doing.  The bull very slowly walked broadside into the opening, as he did, Tom released the arrow which disappeared just behind the elks shoulder.  The bull trotted about 30 yards away then stopped.  Tom knocked a second arrow, then the bull bolted out of sight.  As we sat silently listening for the crash, we heard none.  Then a few moments later we heard what were the bulls last gasps of breath.  We waited for fifteen minutes or so and then after marking the bulls location when hit, we stepped into the opening in which he had stood.  There not 50 yards away lay Toms first bull.  A well placed arrow had passed through both lungs and made a quick clean kill.

Heat late in the week made for quiet elk.  Temperatures climbed into the upper 80s.  We hunted wallows and dark wet timber, but with no success.

It was a difficult weather week, but we had a great time with all of our guests and look forward to seeing them on another hunting adventure.

I need to run, today is switch over day and new guests will be arriving soon.  Cooler weather is forecast after today so it should be a good week.

We have our first group of  elk hunters in for the year.  So far the weather has been uncomfortably hot with temps over 80.  The elk are beginning to bugle but I think they are not enjoying the weather either.  Even so, we have had one bull killed, one cow killed, and unfortunately had a bull missed last night.  We are looking forward to cooler weather and no smoke in the air.  There are a few fires in the area and it has been smoky.

Kicked off our spring bear hunting season this week.  Actually season has been open for a month, but spring has been slow in arriving.  Just a pair of hunters in camp this week, but in 4 days of hunting we have seen 5 bears.  We got a nice young cinnamon colored bear last night, and then tonight just before dark we got a nice big chocolate colored boar.  Great week to hunt bears.

Winter killed bull

Bob and I went snowmobiling yesterday.  We were trying to locate some elk and possibly some shed antlers.  In the end we did not find any sheds, but Bob did find this nice 5×5 bull that had unfortunately died this winter.

Sunday afternoon I took Dexter and Andrew out for a little ride on the snowmobile.  We were cruising along a little logging road in 40 degree temps.  The snow was melting, but still plenty deep for riding the sled.  Anyway, as we cruised along a sudden movement in the aspens along the downhill side of the road caught our attention.  As we came to a stop a very nice 6 pt bull elk trotted out of the trees and stopped on the road about 30 yards in front of us.  For size reference, he was probably about a 280 Boone and Crockett score.  However, he only had one antler, the other had been dropped.

As we watched this bull we realized there were several others further back in the timber.  I saw at least three other bulls of similar size as the first.  One was significantly bigger.  All of the other bulls that we saw had not dropped any antlers yet.  I guess we will have to keep an eye on the area and see if we can find some of these sheds in a few weeks.

We sped away on the snowmobile and left the bulls alone.  We stopped back later and tried to back track the bull that had dropped the antler.  He was leaving a blood trail from the recently lost antler so i would guess it is fairly close.  We were not able to find it though and will return to search more later.

After 4 days of fruitless elk hunting Marvin Sloper and I had developed a pretty good rapport despite the fact that he was a big Green Bay Packer fan, and I am a forever Minnesota Viking fan.  Marvin and I were able to put aside our differences and focus on our shared desire to send an elk to Wisconsin in the back of Marvin’s pickup.  With only 2 days left in his hunt, we had seen a few elk, but no shot opportunities had emerged.

I decided to have some fun with Marvin.  I confessed to him on Wednesday evening that I only take Viking fans to the really good hunting spots.  Marvin pondered his predicament, but the next morning with giddy enthusiasm he informed me that after further review, he had decided to become a Viking fan.

Although skeptical of his apparent conversion, I told him that we would surely be into the elk very soon.  That morning, though we did not get “into” elk, we did spot elk on a distant mountain top.  20 elk do be more specific, including a big 6×6 that followed the herd over the far side of the mountain.  Our decision was made, we went after the herd, well we at least headed to the high meadow that they were feeding on, in hopes that they would return to the same area that evening to feed.

It took us 3 hours of hiking to climb the 1400 vertical feet that lay between us and our destination.  We arrived early and scouted a sniper hide for Marvin to take his shot.  All went as planned, and at dusk we were waiting for the elk to arrive.  Sure enough we spotted them….on a meadow that was a half mile down the remote valley.  We did not have time to get to the elk before dark, so we had to retreat and plan the hunt for Marvin’s last day.

Friday morning over coffee, Marvin gleefully announced that he had scraped a scab off of his hand and discovered that his blood was Viking Purple.  After spotting elk on Thursday he may have thought that it actually did help to be a Viking fan.  Convincing me that his blood was purple may help improve his odds.  Only time would tell.

As the soft light began to glow in the eastern sky, Marvin the Viking Fan and I slowly crept toward the meadow.   Warm weather had melted much of the early season snow, but scattered patches of crunchy snow made sneaking difficult.

As we crept within 150 yards of the meadow I decided to give a couple of soft cow calls to assure any elk in the area that the crunching in the snow was caused by one of their own kind.  Then when we were within 100 yards, and could begin to see the grassy opening, movement caught my eye.  An elk had spotted us and as it spun to escape I gave a couple of louder cow calls to try to calm it down.  All was quiet for a moment, and then another elk stepped into an opening only 75 yard away.  I quickly looked through my binoculars to determine if the elk had brow tines but was unable to tell for sure since the elk walked through the small opening without stopping.  Disgusted I thought that the precious opportunity at a bull may have just passed, I was instantly encouraged when another elk slowly stepped into the same opening and stopped broadside.  Instantly seeing his brow tines, I whispered urgently to Marvin the Viking Fan to “take him, take him, take him!!!”

Marvin the Viking Fan was quick to act and within seconds his .338 roared,  putting the elk in his final bed.

As we approached the elk and it became obvious that he had come to his demise, the smile on Marvin’s face grew and after enthusiastically shaking my hand he proudly proclaimed, “Go Packers!!!!”

Shocked and appalled at his sudden relapse, I then informed Marvin the Packer Fan that I only pack out elk for Viking fans.  We had a good laugh and by early afternoon we had the elk packed back to the Land Cruiser.

One of my favorite parts of Outfitting is meeting people like Marvin who enjoy the outdoors and approach their hunt with great enthusiasm.

Thanks again Marvin

During week four we had four new clients in camp.  Two of them saw elk within minutes of dawn on the first day of their hunt.  Kevin and Ron hunted with Sonney the first day and had a close encounter with a spike as light arrived.  Stephen hunted with me the first few days and we covered a lot of country with little action until day three.  We had hiked about four miles in search of bulls we had heard bugling the night before.  It was about nine o’clock and we were contemplating turning back when a bull bugled above us.  We set up and began calling.  Within minutes the bull was in his lap.  He stood facing Stephen at about 25 yards bugling in response to my call.  When the bull turned broadside Stephen drew his bow and calmly released the shot.  We waited impatiently for about 20 minutes and then went in to investigate.  We found the bulls tracks and I was able to track him up the hill for about 75 yards.  I found no blood.  Stephen focused his attention on finding the arrow.  Unfortunately he found it embedded in the ground without a spot of blood or any sign of a hit.  The arrow we deduced, had glanced off of some small branches that hung into the shooting lane and deflected down below the elk.  I guess we educated that one. 

Isaac and his father David hunted together all week and did have a close encounter with a large bull.  Unfortunately Isaacs shot missed the mark and although David connected with his, we were unable to retrieve the bull.  We searched the rest of the week and into the next and never did find the bull.  We hope that he is still roaming out there and recovers so we can chase him again next year.  Isaac did get a second chance later in the week and made good with a super shot on a young bull.  It was his first elk and he made a super shot.  Note:  Guide Lee Skaw found the bull, a nice 5×6 during the first week of rifle hunting.  He was over a mile from where the shot was taken.  David will have him on the wall in no time. 

Week three brought more consistent bugling.  Dave N. was here for his third archery hunt.  After harvesting a nice 6 point last year he was looking for a bigger bull.  Consequently he passed up more than one young bull during his hunt.  Michael and Greg were here for their first archery hunt together and were in the midst of a bugling frenzy as dawn arrived on the first day of their hunt.  There were several close encounters for them during the week, but unfortunately the shot that they needed did not present itself.  Michael had to watch a nice five point standing at 42 yards broadside or several minutes hoping that he would close the distance a bit more.  It was a tough decision I am sure but I very much appreciate the high regard Michael has for elk and respect his decision to hunt within his limits.  The bull eventually walked off.  Michael had cows within 30 yards with obstructed views and no shot.  Their hunt ended as it began.  As the light waned on Friday night we were in the midst of several screaming bulls.  One that would only chuckle came within about 60 yards of Greg in the twilight, but never presented a shot opportunity.

Week two was marked by more inconsistent weather.  Bulls were on and off of the bugling.  On the first day out Dave, Jim, and I walked in on a bull that was using a wallow.  We could see him throwing grass into the air with his antlers as he slopped around.  Having no clear shot at the bull we set up and I tried to bugle.  The bull did not respond and slowly walked out of the wallow and left us there alone.  During the week we did harvest one 6 pt bull and had several other close encounters.  John D. from PA continued his streak with his third elk in a row.  We are always happy when he gets a bull because it gives him more time for baking cookies.  Doug and Nate, hunted with Bob and had several good close encounters but did not get the shot opportunity they were looking for.  Bryan and Paul also got close with several elk but again no arrows were released.  Jack was able to break in his brand new knee with some vigorous hiking.