i woke up and got ready, i did not hear the bull i had heard the day before. so, i started going up the road that lead to the elk sign i saw the day before. i started to get on a ridge and still hunt through the timber going south (that is the way the local said i should go). however, the wind was exactly wrong for hunting in that direction, and playing the wind is the biggest part of getting close to an elk. i decided to go towards the north. as i was heading up the road and heading towards some timber. i came into an open spot where i could see other hills and fields in the distance. i decided to glass those hills and was thinking to myself, non-elk seeing self, what i would give to just see an elk. it is day 5 and i haven't seen any, i will never see any, i should just go home. as i was thinking that, i saw a bull through my binoculars (go figure, just something else to keep me out here one more day :)). i looked at the map and figured the bull was about 1 mile away, as the raven flies (there are no crows out there). so i decided to keep on the same track i was on (i was planning on spending the night at the truck) and maybe try to get on that bull in the evening. however, by looking at the map it appeared this bull was right on the edge of private land. so i headed into the timber and found lots of fresh rubs and poop, but no elk. i tried calling a little and got no response. because i was stalking through the timber i was not going very fast. by 10am i had gone no more than 1.5 miles from the truck. i went out on a point and got a spectacular view (if you want to see the view you will have to go there because i forgot to take pictures). i ate a little and got hydrated, just rested a bit, and thoroughly went over my map to see what the topo was around me and to see if i might be able to get on that bull in the evening. with no action there i decided to head to the truck, eat lunch and see if i could find a trail that looked like (on the map) it went right to where i had seen the bull. i got back to the truck and drove around a little in and out of private land (that had public access roads cutting through) and came to a small opening by a creek where i decided to eat lunch and really study my maps, some more. after figuring out a plan i decided to look for that trail again. i never found that trail but i did find a road that i thought lead up the the hill i wanted to be on. unfortunately there was a camp there and another truck further up the road. so i got in my truck and drove a little more. i came to a hill that i thought i could climb and get the spot where i wanted to be. it looked steep. i thought to myself, lazy self, just maybe this is far enough away from those other hunters that they aren't hunting here. then i thought, that hill looks steep. then (too many thens?) i said to myself, inspirational self, if i came all the way out here, away from emily for 2 weeks, i did all that training, i better climb that hill for emily, if i think i might get into some elk. i turned around and the hill did not look as big. so, i got packed up, and with my busted hiking pole and overweight pack, headed up the hill. 1 hour and 5,000,000 hitch-hikers later i was at the top, heart about to bust, legs like jello. i looked around ad decided i was one hill over from where i had seen the elk and the wind was wrong. the good thing was the road with the camp did not come up the valley between me and that elk's hill, so it had to be one hill over, opposite the side of the hill where the elk were, if it even went up that far. i was pretty sure those hunters weren't hunting this far up. it was getting a little late and the thermals were changing and i had a great view of lots of little meadows, especially meadows where i had seen all the fresh sign that morning. i decided to sit, glass the meadows, pull hitch-hikers off and listen. around 6:45pm it was starting to get a little dark so i decided to eat and set up camp. about 7pm i heard the bulls start bugling. there were 2 on my side (about 2-300 yards away) and one where i had been that morning. i called emily (she was probably upset i kept interrupting her to say "one just bugled"). they bugled all night. at 12:41 am (ok, this gets into day 6) i heard one bugle (and wake me up) about 100 yards away and i thought to myself, sleepy self, you might have camped a little too close. about 15 minutes later i heard one give an alarm sound about 30 yards away and run off. i thought to myself, busted self, you camped too close.
tune in next time for the rest of day 6 (when it really gets exciting, i promise, no just keep reading, it does get more exciting).
lessons of the day: the bread that comes in mres was made to protect our troops not eat, it has to be bullet proof. don't be lazy, if you need to climb a hill to reach your goals, climb it. wherever you are, whatever you are doing, you did not come this far to not push yourself. lastly, you are only insane if you talk back to your talking self.
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