Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game solo elk report

Hello everyone. An elk report from UT-
I have been in the field solo since the 4th, with a one day break on the 10th, got back last night the 17th of Oct. Here are a few close calls, highlights and some ramblings and a bit of ranting thrown in for good measure.
The UT general season opened with the usual war zone atmosphere. After the chaos of the opener died down, one evening I was sitting a meadow and as it got late I decided to give a couple soft cow calls. I usually just stay quiet when they are pressured and spooky, but figured what the hell. I didn't even get finished with the second call when a bull blasts out a bugle directly across the meadow in the trees about 100 yards away. I reply with one soft call and he barks back and this goes on for a bit back and forth as he gets closer and closer then bugles again just out of sight- and then it got dark. Elk hunting. I had to creep out of there as quietly as possible and he never showed again. I bumped into several in the trees at different points, but no shot. Another evening a guy shot one in the next meadow over from me, I thought my meadow was the better choice, but apparently I was wrong. Then one morning I was going to sit a meadow that they had been coming through, fresh sign everywhere, thought I had it figured out. So...I got up a little late, cursed myself and...well...I bumped into them on my way in just as they were exiting the meadow- bull with them, no shot. I got there extra early the next morning, but they were, of course, gone. Elk hunting.
This is all fun and good, sometimes its easy and sometimes it's not, I love all of it. The milky way at 10,000 feet on a clear night with no moon is amazing, as is the full moon in the same conditions. If you've been there you know. All food tastes fantastic. The freezing mornings, the storms, being dirty and tired and getting up to do it again. Arborglyphs from all different points in time, from last year to unrecognizable old, I always like to picture the guy carving it in 1952 or whatever year and what the day was like, what he was hunting or herding... Sometimes you find an old one when you are way far back and realize just how much "farther back" that must have been when it was carved. Animals you see up close and personal (moose up close will keep your riveted attention). I had some muley does come by me one morning so close at one point they were directly in front of me no more than 15' away, all of them calling to some others a short distance away. I had some others bed down 25 yards in front of me one day as I sat a widely-spaced aspen grove and stay for an hour before getting up and wandering off. When you smell as bad as I do after a few day in the field, it lets you know at least you got the wind right! The smells, sights, sounds, etc., the loneliness. You have to be there and experience it to know what I mean.
Anyway, one mid-day I'm going in to check a meadow next to a steep, hellhole, jungle of a mountainside that I want to sit and as I get close I see birds, lots of birds. Ravens and crows, nutcrackers, jays and magpies and I know before I get there that I've showed up to the party a bit late. I walk into the meadow and in the exact corner I wanted to watch is a bull, head missing, but all else still there. The full rears were about 100 yards away. The only thing missing was the head. The F-ing lazy B-tards got the head out just fine, but the rest was left for the birds. I have found these before, and if you hunt much you will too. It makes me sick to think that someone would kill that animal and then disrespect it like that, not to mention disrespecting me and other ethical hunters in the process. Its especially troubling when you are out there, solo, giving it your all and you see someone has been lucky enough to kill a bull in a general unit and has decided to act this way. There is no excuse. I love elk meat, I would have gladly helped them pack it out to get some steaks as would so many other hunters in the area. No excuse.
No bull this year although I had multiple close calls. It was a great hunt, and even though I am obsessive and stress the whole time about killing one and after several days alone will start talking to myself out loud, I always have a great time. I spent the last evening in the meadow that the wasted elk was in, just on the far side of it, sat in the sunset, enjoyed the stunning view and left early hiking out in the light with the full moon rising and pink clouds all over the sky, a perfect ending really. I have a cow hunt next month, so hopefully the freezer will be full soon.
I would really like to hear comments on wasted animals you have found, or thoughts on the subject in general.

I can't believe someone would just cut the head off and leave an entire elk like that. Lazy SOBs!

It sounds like you were in a good area, and had fun with many close calls. Kudos for going out there solo like that. I'd love to try it. Were you hunting as a non-resident or resident?

Eric

I always read about these elk that hang out in meadows, but have yet to see one.

PS, perhaps that bull was a shoot and release, and by the time they found it the meat was bad?

Any indication as to why the rear quarters were 100 yards away? Did it look like maybe they would be returning for them? Taking the head out first is kinda odd, but who knows???

I have found one whitetail buck dead next to a road with the antlers cut off and one mulie doe dead maybe 10 yards uphill from a road too. The mulie was obviously a thrill kill, nothing else. The whitetail was poached for the antlers. All else was left. That's all I have ever found that was obviously poached. I've found plenty of old dead animals, but there was no way to tell if it had been hit and lost, winter kill, predator kill, poached or anything else.

Glad you had fun! You sound like a no shooting SOB

I found a couple elk carcasses in one of the famed NW corner elk units when hunting it archery a couple years back. One was missing the front shoulders and head, the other was missing a front shoulder, and one hind quarter and the head. Meat was spoiled. I am guessing they were shot early in the hunt, and didn't get it all out before the meat went bad. No excuse, but that is probably the reason.

Hunters need to be honest with themselves with regards of getting an animal back to the truck, when hunting too far out.

I was hunting with an outfitter in Unit 13 in Colorado (third season)and I came upon a 6x6 elk missing both hindquarters and a really nice 4x4 mulie, heavy and about 25" wide that was gutted and stacked next to the elk, looked like they were shot in the second season. This was on BLM, outfitter told me this happened all the time, guys hike in a couple of miles, shoot an animal and then realize how far they have to hump it out and leave them. What a shame.

I'm a resident. Been hunting Utah for decades, but elk for only 6.

the elk in meadows I have mostly seen during the general season tend to just creep to the edge and take a look although we killed a nice 5x5 a couple years back that just walked right in and started feeding. This year both the bull that was wasted and the one that was shot in the meadow by me were standing right on the edge when they were killed.
The elk was definitely not shoot and release- they cut the whole rear off in one piece and dragged it 100 yards, then obviously gave up. It was still there when I left days later.

[quote=Dog_Hunter]Any indication as to why the rear quarters were 100 yards away? Did it look like maybe they would be returning for them? Taking the head out first is kinda odd, but who knows???

The rears were still together, they just cut the whole ass end off at the mid-section and dragged it over there. Gave up I guess.

This time I sure was. No shot offered, no shot taken...

That's a felony here, report it

I did report it with coordinates.

I found one almost the same about 4 years ago, headless with just the back straps and a small chunk of the rear taken (like 5 lbs on each side) whole animal intact. Reported that one too.

Watched the only other tagholder in this unit shoot this ram, headed that way on our way back to see it and help pack meat out if needed.

This is what was left.


We called it in, he was cited when he checked in the head.

I'd heard about a bull being left several years ago, had no clue where, but I walked right in on it.



A friend watched this bull get wacked, there was 1 shooter with 2 friends, they cut the quarters & backstraps off on one side and left the meat on the rocks. They never went back for any of it. Several parties reported it, never heard if a citiaion was issued.

They probably went and had a burger after that. I don't get it at all. Ethical issues aside, elk kabobs on the grill will make me pack some weight!
I wear a 7500 cc Kifaru EMR at all times when big game hunting.

That ram is crazy. wow.

That's quite disappointing to see. If you can't recover the meat, you shouldn't be hunting in my opinion.

I posted this pic in my elk hunting story.




We take everything out except the spine and ribcage (trimmed, of course). Killing a bull is a rare and wonderful thing so we make the most of it.

Those who don't are lower than dogmeat.


P

I found this whitetail a few weeks ago during our muzzy season. They had dumped it over a drainage culvert and nobody would have ever probably seen it except for the dozen buzzards sitting on the guard rail by it.

You can see they had it hung on by a gambrel and gutted and caped it and then just dumped it. The missing meat is all due to buzzards at work.

I called it in but don't have much hope for them being caught.