Nice surprise this morning

[RAMMONT]

I'm retired and live pretty rural on the edge of a national forest so my schedule is pretty random and today I slept in late. I woke up at 10AM and went to do the wash and tooth brush thing. While staring at the old guy in the mirror I was shocked in to awareness by the crystal clear scream of a bull elk just outside my window. I ran outside (still in my shorts and T-shirt, I like living in the sticks ) and looked up the hillside behind my house and there was the nicest little 3x3 less than 100 yards from me up the hill. I watched as he calmly walked toward the south along the western aspect of the hill at about 5800 feet, I suspect he was working his way toward a nice little pond in a saddle that's surrounded by lodge pole pines and grass. He called once more about 10 minutes after the fist call and then he slipped in to the trees. A couple of minutes later I heard a cow's locator call and sure enough I saw several more elk moving along the same trail as the bull had followed. After watching for a few minutes I counted 6 more elk: 2 cows, 2 calves, and two spikes following the last cow in the column. The rut is in full swing and that closest spike had his nose right on the last cow's tail. I didn't get a chance to follow them but I'd bet that the 3x3 eventually pushes those satellite bulls away.

Nice way to start my day, I can't wait for the rifle season to begin. I know what I'll be doing today.

[currie]

i hope to have your lifestyle in a few.

[RAMMONT]

This is only my second fall here and I'm still a bit goofy about the place, I've dreamed of a place like this all my life and toward the end of my working career things went south pretty badly - lost my retirement, lost my job, etc. so I never expected to be able to get this place. My wife and I drive each other nuts telling one another how we love it here.

I spent the afternoon tracking those elk and ran in to them only about a half mile from the house up on a bench where they were grazing. I watched them for about a half an hour and then did a little scouting until sunset. I found a couple of new bedding spots and I was able to identify a major trail system from another valley, over a saddle, across our creek, and up the ridge line behind my house over a second saddle and in to some large ponds behind the house.

[Lefty]

Gotta love where you live
!!!!



When I first got married I let my wife know that something had to give me mental room. I lived in a mid sized college town,..5 minutes to river fishing and trapping 6-10 minutes to lake fishing and waterfowl, And I was home to sleep and do laundry.
Our house in Clack County Washington was surrounded by timber, a coyote dozen less than 110 yards from the back door,.
Our northern Utah city home I could glass the mountain side, our trips 2 miles to a real town we would see hundreds of wintering deer, Waterfowl and big game were an ATV ride from the house.
Current house most evening I listen to the coyotes, and from grain harvest to March morning hours are interrupted by geese. While it not what I completely want its closer than most ever get

[RAMMONT]

The rut is going strong right now and every day I'm hearing elk. I'm even finding scat and tracks just a feet from my back door. It's obvious that the elk are working up a small drainage behind the house, the drainage is covered in grass and on the western aspect of our mountain. My guess is that I've got a few cows and calves that are working their way up from the creek below us (about 75 yards away) and then bedding in the early morning in the ravine. As the sun comes up they are going up the mountain behind us and working south along the western aspect toward a grass filled bench that's about 2/3 of the way up the mountain.

I spent quite a few months patterning deer in Flagstaff, AZ many years ago but I've never had the opportunity to do that with elk. They just travel more and are so much more secretive than deer that it takes more time to see a pattern, well it's taken me almost two years to see a pattern here but I've found at least one major trail system that covers about 5 miles through three valleys and two ridge lines. We'll see just how smart I really am when rifle season starts. I'm finding that there are several similarities that seem to be key to finding elk around here; saddles, running water, and grass. What has surprised me is how little grass it takes to attract elk. As long as the grass is in a fairly secure area (surrounded with blow downs and steep approaches) I've seen small groups of elk in openings as small as 30 yards across.

[Lefty]

The added sound effects are always nice. I think it would be easy to sit on the back deck and listen.
Have you considered making food plots or fruit tree plantings.

A good friend build his house on a conservation easment His whole 40 acres is nothing but wildlife .

[RAMMONT]

Actually I do have salt and deer blocks in our corral.