Never even heard of this mistake before I made it.

[Elkduds]

Last weekend, end of CO archery season, hunting in a new area. Drove up to the base of the trailhead after dark, parked on a level spot @ the foot of a wilderness area. Plan was to sleep in the Pathfinder, which is barely long enough. Hunt the next day, and be prepared to move to another spot if this one isn't happening. As soon as I parked, bulls were bugling to my left and right, within 100 yds, 8 pm. So I unrolled my sleeping gear and sacked out in the truck, still listening to bugles.

Sunrise, elk in the dark timber

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Up and dressed by 6:15, and the bugling starts as soon as I leave the truck. Solo bull on my left @ maybe 50 yds, bull w cows on my right @ a couple hundred yards. Enough moonlight that I don't need a headlamp. I can hear the solo bull walking in the trees! Went toward the herd, listened to them climb a north-facing slope in dark timber and bed down about 10 am, still responding to my cow calls, less than half a mile from the truck. Made a plan to ambush them near food and water come evening, and went to check out some nearby country.

Best fall colors in a decade

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Evening comes, I'm going to my ambush spot but the wind is wrong. So I back out and climb to the vantage spot from that morning. I get some half-hearted responses from cow calling, sounds like the elk are staying bedded. By 7:15 I'm walking down, too dark to shoot. I returned to the truck, still where I parked it the night before. As I climbed in the truck and locked myself in, the elk were starting the same talk as the night before, still close to the truck. I made a better plan to get on them in the am, they both were bugling when I went to sleep @ 9 pm.

Sunset, exquisite

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Between then and the next morning something went wildly wrong. The result was dead silence then I got up the next morning. I did not hear or see the elk again. Any guesses RE my mistake that drove the elk away in the night?

[Fullabull]

May not have been you at all, it may have been another bull moving into the area that pushed the others out.they are very active at night so hard to tell what could have happened.

[Elkduds]

I'm fully confident I caused the elk to leave. Need a hint? The 1st night my car doors were unlocked, and all was well.

[Fullabull]

Ah I see,a trick question. Did you hit your remote to lock the doors and the horn blew?

[Elkduds]

Close. I'm sleeping in the back of the locked Pathfinder, w the alarm armed. The car alarm went off THREE TIMES that night. Headlights flashing, horn honking for 2 minutes each time, though it seemed a lot longer. I could not figure out how to cancel it, tried the remote, ignition, lock handles. It felt like every time I made a big move like rolling over, off it went

Should have pitched the Dome sweet home

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[elkaholic]

Ouch.. Double the pain. 1 not getting enough sleep, and 2, knowing that you are ruining you elky area...
Bummer

[Trumkin the Dwarf]

Oh man... that's painful.

[Rangerz]

Interesting story, thanks.


Why did you lock your doors? Bigfoot:) ?

[Lefty]

I have all my gear ready at bedtime. In 7 years I have maybe opened truck doors 3-4 times in the morning.
If I have a cap on the truck I slept with the tailgate down and left it I dont even open doors at night if possible

[Fullabull]

that is a real bummer! Need to pull that fuse before the next hunting trip

[Fridaythe13th]

I did that same thing deer hunting. I finely opened the hood and unhooked the battery to shut the d@mn alam off.

[Gypsumreaper]

That sucks, that's about like the year my dad stepped outa the truck loaded a round, pointed the gun up to check his safety by lightly pulling the trigger an realizing he didn't even put the safety on an firing a round off. My mom said his face was classic and being the wise crack he is just turned to her and says warning shot, giving them a little more advantage

[ElkNut1]

Your biggest mistake was not using the bugle as your dominant sounds & not putting that cow call away! (grin) The breeding sequence could have worked wonders in your encounters!

ElkNut1

[elkmtngear]

Ugh, that sux. Technology is killing us!

[WapitiTalk1]

I was gonna guess a wolf pack had moved into the area you were hunting (if you were in another state). They can sure shut up the elk in a drainage in MT and ID when they move in .. Dang the bad luck on the alarm going off.

[poisonarrow]

I had the same experiance, bulls bugling all night.

The next morning they were there but they moved out after that. I did not bump them and I did not have a car horn go off, I was in a tent two miles from my truck.

I wonder if bulls do not like the stress of being close together. After the night of bugling the one herd went west and the other east. It felt like they were giving each other room.