Utah Elk Hunt - Christmas 2018

Started by gitano, January 11, 2019, 12:27:03 PM

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gitano

As mentioned here: http://www.thehunterslife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20021, I got drawn for a cow elk in eastern Utah with the hunt dates (Dec 19 - Dec 31) coinciding with a Christmas visit already in the works.

In a stroke of extraordinary luck, I connected with a very nice fellow in Utah that offered not only to help me out with information, but offered to drive me around as he hunted with his two sons and another youngster he was mentoring. A truly nice/generous fellow that is real THL 'material'. I'm trying to get him to consider becoming a member of THL.

The hunt area surrounds the Utah part of the Dinosaur National Monument - https://www.nps.gov/dino/index.htm, and I rented a hotel room in Vernal, UT on Wednesday, December 19th. Mark couldn't make it over to Vernal from Ogden until Thursday evening, so I did a little sightseeing on Thursday, and we met up that evening when he drove into town. He was staying with relatives, and after we had the 'meet-and-greet', we agreed to meet at 0630 the following morning and commence looking for elk.

We hadn't gone too far when I spotted a herd of about 50 getting ready to cross the road about 100+ yards in front of us. They ran off to our right and stood and looked at us at about 100 to 125 yd. There were three bulls in the bunch: a spiker, a little "3-pointer", and a 'rag-horn'. Of course the tag was for "antlerless", so we weren't interested in the bulls. I just mention them for 'completeness'.

Couldn't ask for better shot opportunities! 100+ yards; STANDING BROADSIDE; just looking at us. It had been explained to me when Mark first offered to let me ride along that his son and the boy being mentored were to get the first shots. That didn't bother me AT ALL! I was pretty sure we would see elk in 'herds', and the chance at a shot was still very good for me. More importantly, I was most looking for "training" on the area: "where", "when", and "how" to hunt this particular hunt. The fact that he was willing to bring me along on HIS hunt was 'gravy' as far as I was concerned!

So... you'd think with the above circumstances, we'd have 3 dead elk on the ground PDQ. We didn't. The reason is clarified when I include ALL of the information. Specifically, we were on National Monument property when we saw these elk. :( No shooting them! Didn't even bail out of the truck. We were about a mile from "the line" that would have made them legal.

The sad news is that we hunted that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We saw two more small herds of 6 or 7, on public land, but at ranges of 1000 yards plus. And when they saw us, they started running away, even at that range. Tuesday was Christmas Eve, and we all needed to be back home for that, so Mark and sons headed back to Ogden, and I headed for Layton. We met back up in Vernal the following weekend to try again. Unfortunately, the results were fundamentally identical: Saw a big herd on the Monument - but they were VERY spooky - and saw a couple of small herds on public land, but WAY off, and 'on the move'. We did get closer to a herd of about 50 on public land, but it was IN COLORADO! (The hunt butted up against the state line.) No joy there.

In this picture, the elk are in the clear patch in the distance, at the center of the picture, about 1000 feet in elevation below us, and close to a mile off. They were moving away from us.



The countryside was beautiful, and I got some cool pictures of petroglyphs.


And here's a panoramic view of the Green river on the Monument:



Also, during the middle of the day one day, we stopped at a federal fish hatchery located near the hunt area.











The last two days we hunted, we went up to the "high country". Mark and I agree that we saw more than 200 deer that day. My estimate is that AT LEAST 50% of them were bucks, and that at least 50% of those bucks were GOOD bucks. I finally got tired of just looking at them and took some pictures. These are pictures of the "average" ones.
























The second weekend, the weather got 'rough' the first day. That's genuinely horizontal snow you see in the first picture.




I did get some good 'training', and I made a new friend. By the way, no one else got any elk either. We saw ONE dead elk, and when we mentioned that to other hunters we spoke with, they were amazed we had even seen ONE dead one. NO ONE was getting any elk, and no one knew "where they were". So... ANOTHER bust on an elk hunt. Getting downright discouraging. It'd be different if I were the only one not getting one, but the last FOUR elk hunts I have been on, NO ONE has even SEEN any elk (on legal land)!

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Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

sakorick

At least you saw Elk! Real nice Muleys too. Obviously deer season closed. I fished the Green in my younger days. That river is full of fish!
Talk to yourself. There are times you need expert advice.

Paul Hoskins

Again the old Tyrolean saying applies "The best laid plans can go astray when the angel of luck pees in the frizzen of your musket." The sights & scenery are priceless. No wonder P.O. Ackley loved utah. Luck has a way of changing,Paul. Don't give up no matter how discouraging. ........Paul H

Hunterbug

Great pictures as usual. You may not believe it, but we do kill animals down here.
Ask not what your government can do for you. Ask how your government can go away and get out of your life.
 
 
The unarmed man is is not only defenseless, he is also contemptible.
Niccolo Machiavelli

sakorick

Quote from: Hunterbug;152296Great pictures as usual. You may not believe it, but we do kill animals down here.

I believe, I believe!
Talk to yourself. There are times you need expert advice.

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