2016 Missed Opportunity

[WapitiTalk1]

Did you have an opportunity to bring an elk home for dinner last year that went south at the moment of truth? What happened and how could you have done something at that moment that could have changed the outcome from almost to loins on the fire that day?

[Swede]

This is probably not what you had in mind, but it was my experience.
It was a warm afternoon and I was tired. I had to make a decision on which one of two stands to sit in. One was close to camp and a very easy walk in and out of. I had been there all morning and was about to return, but I felt guilty for being lazy. I felt I needed to buck up and go to the more difficult area farther away. The drive was a little longer and the hike would be tougher too, but elk season is no time to be lazy. Still I thought about the prospects of getting one while out alone and was about to return to my morning place.
I jumped in the pickup and went for the tougher place. I saw nothing at all the afternoon and evening. The next morning I went to the easy location and saw where a bull had wallowed there the evening before. Rats!

[Roosiebull]

I don't have one for myself, but one day hunting with a buddy, there was a pretty big missed opportunity

we were hunting this big low land flat, with a mix of dense trees, a patch of fir, and a patch of alder separated by a big meadow, then to the north was a big swamp, with mud, water, willow, cut grass and skunk cabbage....every form of vegetation was very tall.

we had a bull going all morning, but he was in the swamp, and there was no realistic approach for sneaking in, everything tall and very loud...early afternoon I suggested a brazen move...."lets run in there like we own the place and see what happens"

we beat our way through the swamp, often stopping to argue where the elk were, I finally won the argument and we broke into the cut grass, mostly over head high...after a short bit we bump an elk, then we get up on a high spot and have 2 spikes looking at us close...all you could see was their heads and backs, though they were only 20 yds, no shot...they finally got sick of us and trotted off. I started to bugle, and the bull was answering, then things started looking good, we were out of the head high grass, and on the edge of some skunk cabbage and grass, and the bull was close.

I bugled and started raking a tree and I heard the bull coming, he chuckled and was trotting our way, my buddy was kind of caught in the open, so I started really going to town on this willow, sound and movement to keep the bulls attention on me, I was hidden....it worked, the bull (dark horned 5x5) came into 10 yds, and turned broadside with all of his attention on me, I couldn't see him, but heard he was point blank.

I watch my buddy slowly lift his bow and start to draw, got to about 1/4 draw and bumped his trigger, and sent an arrow about 5ft in front of him

now here I am, trying to keep the bulls attention, but now I only have one free hand, the other was covering my mouth to silence my laughter I could not control...my buddy managed to get another arrow nocked, but the gig was up.

we stayed on that bull, and got close a couple more times, apparently, the bull never looked at my buddy, just got nervous and walked off....finally after that bull pushed his cows, staying very vocal for about a 1/4 mile with us close the whole time, finally got the wind in his favor and that ended that hunt....pretty funny....so close....

[js80138]

After suffering a very hot September for the majority of archery season we were reminded that Colorado weather can change in an instant. As we awoke on Saturday morning of the final weekend we were greeted with tempatures in the 30's and snow. The picture below is the actual photo I took that morning. The fog was moving across the meadow and the snow/sleet/wind made it difficult to see more than a couple hundred yards. Having practiced my calling all season I was anticipating the moment I could show my hunting buddy my improvement from the year before. We entered the dark timber with full view of the meadow. I let out a locator bugle that swelled my chest with pride. My buddy even asked if I had been practicing. We continued to the right of the small pine in the picture. As soon as we rounded the corner the wind was directly in our face. Great for hunting but with the snow/sleet increasing intensity we had a difficult time seeing anything. We glassed the area but even that had limited visibility. We continued slowly on the edge of the timber and found a few large boulders. We used these boulders for cover and glassed once more. Approximately 500 yards in front of us we could see a dark figure moving slowly near the stream running in the middle of the meadow. The snow/sleet and fog seemed to increase once more. My buddy is glassing the figure for several minutes but we could not make out the species. He asked once more for me to bugle and I was glad to once again show off my skills. As I prepared my buddy Dennis excitedly whispers its a bull, and hes heading this way. Already convinced that my call would bring him within 30 or 20 or even 10 yards I placed the tube to my lips and let out an incredible high pitch squeal. What I was thinking at the time I couldn't tell you but since I started I just could seem to stop and this squeal just kept going higher and higher. As I finally stopped Dennis says, "and thats how to frighten a beast" The bull did an about face and faded at full speed into the fog. We did have a good laugh but the excitement of the moment over took my composure.

[BrentLaBere]

Ill try to give a quick synopsis of a missed opportunity. First day I put myself in a situation where there was a bull answering my calls consistently but the emotion wasnt there. The bull wasnt fired up at all and wasnt leaving or coming closer. Quite a few smaller bulls were chasing cows all around. That evening there wasnt much chatter on the ridge and decided to still hunt a transition area. Moving on to the next morning, I still hunted the same ridge and glassed where I had spotted the bull. There was now a group of 10 cows or so, milling around. A location bugle from me after the hunt was over set this bull off. He had more aggression in his bugle. It was the tone I was looking for and now expected a reaction from him. That evening a rain storm came and now snow was starting making my hunting partner nervous about the area we were about to drop into. Cold and wet from sitting patiently throughout the day was growing doubts of staying out in this type of weather. It was getting close to the time the elk were moving and thermals should be switching. Moving closer to where the bull was last spotted he sounded off on his own. And continued to do so in the timber. This was the perfect opportunity to get in close and challenge this bull or do a series of ELK NUT threats to pull this bull in for a shot. My partner was adamant about not going after him with the weather being what it was. This is a missed opportunity I wont soon forget. I dont hold it against my hunting partner. If I was solo I would have gone in after him and had the worst pack out (if successful). I have learned to be patient over the last few hunts. This was a time I should have been really aggressive. I knew where the bull was heading and had been in the area a couple of times. I dream up this situation for future hunts, hoping I get another opportunity.

Another quick one. Hunting really close to the road after the rain and snow storms had set in. We were drying clothes out in the truck all day to hunt the short windows in the morning and evening. Pulling up to a trailhead we wanted to hunt, only to find it was filled with vehicles. We moved on and tried to find a soft spot in between trails on the map. Patiently waiting for the thermals we heard distant bugles. Running to cut the distance, light fading fast, I cow called a couple of times to get him to sound off again. Sure enough he answered and sounded a little closer. We decided we needed to cut the distance again so we beat feet and ran through deadfall. Catching my breath and smelling elk, I slowed down cresting a small knoll. Thats when I catch a glimpse of antlers and see him bolting down the hill. Now, patients should have been put in place playing on this bulls curiosity, could have resulted in a shot. When I thought I didn't have time, I could have set up with at least 20 minutes of light left to hunt. Just a couple missed opportunities I have and the learning curve continues.

[Lefty]

I made a lot of adjustments so my daughter and grand daughter could attend elk camp. Our last Saturday evening we called in a herd that had been feeding 500 yards away. I think we may have spook them when we started to leave the calling site.
A cow was just hanging out 120 yards feeding. I tried a few calve, cow calls, she didn’t care. No amount of noise mattered.
We were elevated and had a perfect view of the area. I told my daughter how to stalk the cow. At 37 yards she tried to shoot. The cow still mostly feeding often standing on her hind legs to feed. My daughter stood to shoot, with branches in the way, nd the cow facing her direction, the cow saw her moving/standing and moved off.

Woulda, shoulda coulda.
She should have only moved when the cow would not have seen her. She could have easily closed in 15 more yards and waited for the shot. I taught he a bit about stalking, Most when to be aggressive and how, and when to be as still as a rock
But that mistake taught her: her dad is always right!,…

That learning experience is also is the reason she was able to get her moose at 18 yards, So it was a great trade off and learning experience.

[Tigger]

Geez, I could write a lot on this topic. 6 of them last year. 3-4 the year before. But I will pick one that illustrates a good point.

A bull answers a location bugle. It is off 250 yards. The bull is straight north of us and the wind is blowing from the SE. It is way too close for comfort, so we hustle straight west to keep him from smelling us if he swings downwind. We go about 100 yards and I paused to say something to my buddy. When we started again, the bull saw us. He swung just like we swung and we were actually pretty close to each other then. Point is, if the wind is bad, get on your horse and MOVE quickly cuz elk cover a lot more ground than we do.

[BrentLaBere]

Geez, I could write a lot on this topic. 6 of them last year. 3-4 the year before. But I will pick one that illustrates a good point.

A bull answers a location bugle. It is off 250 yards. The bull is straight north of us and the wind is blowing from the SE. It is way too close for comfort, so we hustle straight west to keep him from smelling us if he swings downwind. We go about 100 yards and I paused to say something to my buddy. When we started again, the bull saw us. He swung just like we swung and we were actually pretty close to each other then. Point is, if the wind is bad, get on your horse and MOVE quickly cuz elk cover a lot more ground than we do.

This one reminds me of another opportunity....similar to this but it was early morning and I was above him. When they are moving, you better move quick. This is where the physical aspect of hunting comes in for me. I have actually ran to spots in tough areas before. Its funny....im not sure im getting better at elk hunting because of the more missed opportunities I have every year?

[Trumkin the Dwarf]

I missed my shot. Plain and simple. Day one of a week long hunt. Cow at 25 yards in thick timber, rifle season. She saw me as I saw her, the rifle was up and bullet away (3-4 seconds?) as she turned to run. There were a bunch of thumb sized saplings in front of her and I'm pretty sure one deflected the bullet, cause I was on her in the scope, and everything felt right, but no dead elk. Never saw another elk the rest of the week!

[Wahpeton]

Colorado Archery season.

I was walking into a stand I had set up on a wallow in the early afternoon 2pm? Wind was perfect, and as I'm approaching the stand I get super strong elk scent coming from the wallow, I'm probably 150 yards away at that point and I get the feeling that I'm a day late and a dollar short. As I get closer I can hear a bunch of thrashing around from the wallow and then commotion.

Long story short, I got to the stand and heard elk heading out away from where I should have sat my butt down and stayed.

The psychological challenge of maximizing all legal shooting light and being on top of my game is something I really need to improve upon.