Tuesday
Decided to check out the bugle Drew had heard the evening before. Drew hung back to call while I worked up toward where he’d heard the bull bugle last. After several locate/contact bugles and chuckles the bull finally answered, still several hundred yards ahead. We never could locate him. We did find an abandoned horse camp that we were going to relocate to later in the day. Pretty excited to have some creature comforts, stumps/benches, toilet seat, peeled pine poles, fire circle. Will try to climb to a peak this afternoon for cell service to update Big Ron and Hall who should be joining us shortly.
Big change of plans – BR couldn’t get to the now closer trailhead, as it was closed to ATV access and was still an 8-mile hike. So he had to go to our original trailhead, about 6-miles back, as the crow flies, in the direction we had come. Drew and I just started back to meet him and topped our first ridge when were greeted by a bugling bonanza! At least three different bulls were sounding off in the bowl below us and from the sounds of the bugles they were having a heated discussion! One was close, 150-200 yards. We were pointing to an opening in the timber saying, “that’s where it sounds like he’s coming from” and 30-seconds later he’s standing in the exact spot. We made the bad decision to chase down after him with the afternoon winds still swirling. 20-minutes into the stalk our scent must have drifted down into the bowl because the entire thing absolutely exploded. We heard trees snapping and I’d bet there were 100 head of elk holed up down there. We saw at least 20 elk stampede out of the bowl but knew at least three bulls were still down there bugling, with who knows how many cows? Everyone we’d talked to so far hadn’t seen anything; I think we just found out why.
Drew "grazing" during an afternoon break
We wisened up and spent the rest of the afternoon eating an early dinner of dehydrated Mountain House on the upper ridge waiting for the evening thermals to settle in.
When the valley was two-thirds covered by shadows we dropped down in, making our way towards the bugles. We pushed hard but couldn’t get into the elk. We spent the night with bulls bugling within 100 yards or our bivy’s. And hearing hooves stomping and branches breaking throughout the night, it seemed every time I rolled over I’d scare something that was way too close! I don’t mind saying that night was a little un-nerving, not sure if I’d call it terrifying or exhilarating, exhilarfying? I felt like we were sleeping in the middle of a corral.