It’s elk hunting time again. No, I did not draw one of the coveted Wisconsin tags. Even though the DNR issues only 10 tags annually, I still apply every year because hunting the Clam Lake terrain is much easier than hunting the west slope of the Continental Divide in Colorado.

I’m not sure how many times I have gone on this archery elk hunt, but I know that the first trip out there was 20 some years ago. A lot has changed during that time with the biggest one being me. No longer do I have the unlimited gas tank of energy or the endless enthusiasm. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I can still “giv’er.” I would just classify my efforts as more controlled. To be clear, I’m not ready to announce my retirement from the mountains, but I know that I have way more elk hunts in my rear-view mirror than I do in front of me.

Along for the hunt and the camaraderie this year was elk brother Dan and real brother Whammer. Both are equally good travel and hunting partners. When you spend so much travel time and mountain time together, you’d better all get along.

We all had various levels of chances on this trip. I’ll be brief in order to relay all three. Whammer had the best chance at a bull. He had two cows and a calf at 30 yards or so and the bull was right on their heels. The setup fell apart when the wind gave us up and the cows blew up the mountain taking the bull with them. I was close enough to hear the action but didn’t see any of it. A bugling bull at close range is heart pumping even if you can’t see him.

Elk brother Dan had an even closer encounter. He had a small two-forked elk walk by at 20 yards. The young bull didn’t have enough horn to qualify as legal, but it was an awesome encounter and Tactacam video.

My encounter? Well, that’s a longer story in all ways. I spotted three elk a mile and a half away and I had a choice to make. I could either walk way, way around and try to get around and above them, or I could hike straight down to get below their sightline and then hike back up to be even or above them. It was sort of like being asked to get punched in the face or getting punched in the face twice. Both choices were not going to be a very pleasant hike. In the end, I chose to drop below them and come back up.

Fast forward an hour and a half later and I was drenched in sweat and huddled in some small aspens 250 yards from the elk. The good news was that there were seven elk there and one was a 6x6 bull. The bad news was that they were bedded down and it was anybody’s guess how long they would remain there. Waiting them out seemed like the poorest option because it was getting warmer by the minute making it less likely that they would get on their feet until just before dark. For that reason, I called at them and they couldn’t have been less interested. That told me that they weren’t going to move anytime soon. I needed another plan, a more aggressive plan.

I popped up my cow elk silhouette decoy and called while walking behind the decoy. I weaved in and out of the small aspen to try and conceal myself, and guess what? The bull got to his feet and actually took a few steps my way. That was the beginning of the end to that encounter. The lead cow got to her feet and immediately took the small herd straight away from me. The bull looked over his shoulder and did the math and followed the other cows up and over the top of the mountain.

My hunt ended there. Those elk were a mile and a half away as the crow flies and I could only guess that the walking distance was closer to two or more miles away, and brutal ones at that. When it was all over, I was disappointed that I didn’t get a crack at that bull but I felt pretty good giving myself a legitimate chance at them.

Next year… next year!!

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