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<blockquote data-quote="Skimbleshanks" data-source="post: 2038431" data-attributes="member: 22552"><p>Finished Elk season last week or a few days ago or something like that. Quarantine and my 2 kids make the time blur.</p><p></p><p>Went out opening morning with a friend I usually only see once a year to shoot before deer season since we stopped working together a number of years ago. We roll up to the gate on the main road opening morning and wait till 1 hour before sun up to continue up the road. Logging companies own most of the huntable stuff so you follow their rules or the state trooper that may or may not be a mile up the road gets ya with a hefty fine. Day 1 was foggy. My range finder consistently read 19 yards. Friends said the same. Some sign but zero visibility. Good day to strech the legs and get ready for lugging the 15.1 lb target rifle I decided to carry. Spent too much money on it too much frustration developing a load to not try and get an elk with it.</p><p></p><p>Day 2 we decided to check a different area since day 1 had only a little sign and nothing fresh. Well a truck beat us to the gate we wanted, drove to our next choice and ****, another truck. Decided to back track to a gate we passed a few miles back and hike up. Short little logging road that lead up into some real thick reprod. Didn't have much hope, but oh my, the elk had been there that night. Pellets everywhere. Stick to your boot soft and hard to not step in them there were so many. The road forked about a mile in. I went left he went right. 20-30 minutes later we were back at the fork. Each seeing more sign but the trail I found at the end of my road and the clear cut it went toward said we were going left. An hour of Bush whacking popped us out on a nice ridge. 400 yards away was the next ridge and the drainage in between just looked elky. We sat under a big Douglas fir, ate a snack and started glassing. 20 minutes in, the drainage opposite the ridge we were glassing erupted with gunfire. 12-20 shots in about 5 minutes. Aparently a group of guys cought the elk we were following in the open. 3 bulls I heard. 1 ridge over. Close. So close. Luck and skill matter. We didn't have the luck. Well that herd was going to move on, and no shootable bulls left alive so day 3 would be a different area yet again.</p><p></p><p>Day 3 was supposed to be glassing more clear cuts but the gate we wanted was occupied. Down the road a few miles was 1 we found empty. Looked at the maps after we pulled in and it looked REAL good if you hike 2 miles and a 1000 feet up. Got to the bench we wanted to be at and the weather held... for a time. So much sign again. We tried to wait em out but eventually visibily went to crap and my buddy said "at some point you aren't hunting, you're just sitting on a log getting rained on." Good day out and a spot I will for sure be checking out again.</p><p></p><p>We both had obligations for a couple days and wouldn't make it out till the last day. My shoulder needed a break from humping that 15 lb target rifle up and down the hills and through the nasty thick forest and reprod that is the Oregon coast range. Friend said I was crazy to carry such a rifle but I only ever complained about my binos being too heavy on my neck. It's good to have a sense of humor when you are cold and wet and tired.</p><p></p><p>Last day to make it happen. And my friend had to pick his kids up no later than 5pm. We decide to go back to where we started the season. It was nice to see the area and the variety of tree growth without the fog. More sign but ultimately the clock counted down and we were headed for the truck. I hoped really hard on the hike down, but no, there wasn't a big 6x6 bull waiting at the truck for us.</p><p></p><p>It was a good season. My boots finally need replacing after all the wet we worked through. They had a good run but they are too smooth on the bottom to provide secure footing and no amount of mink oil or nikwax will waterproof the cracked leather anymore. Tag soup isn't what we wanted to eat, and we wont. I got a good buck and he got a big black bear earlier in the year. But a couple nice bulls sure would have been the way to cap off this hunting season. Sharing 4 days in the woods with a good friend is a real close second though.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Skimbleshanks, post: 2038431, member: 22552"] Finished Elk season last week or a few days ago or something like that. Quarantine and my 2 kids make the time blur. Went out opening morning with a friend I usually only see once a year to shoot before deer season since we stopped working together a number of years ago. We roll up to the gate on the main road opening morning and wait till 1 hour before sun up to continue up the road. Logging companies own most of the huntable stuff so you follow their rules or the state trooper that may or may not be a mile up the road gets ya with a hefty fine. Day 1 was foggy. My range finder consistently read 19 yards. Friends said the same. Some sign but zero visibility. Good day to strech the legs and get ready for lugging the 15.1 lb target rifle I decided to carry. Spent too much money on it too much frustration developing a load to not try and get an elk with it. Day 2 we decided to check a different area since day 1 had only a little sign and nothing fresh. Well a truck beat us to the gate we wanted, drove to our next choice and ****, another truck. Decided to back track to a gate we passed a few miles back and hike up. Short little logging road that lead up into some real thick reprod. Didn't have much hope, but oh my, the elk had been there that night. Pellets everywhere. Stick to your boot soft and hard to not step in them there were so many. The road forked about a mile in. I went left he went right. 20-30 minutes later we were back at the fork. Each seeing more sign but the trail I found at the end of my road and the clear cut it went toward said we were going left. An hour of Bush whacking popped us out on a nice ridge. 400 yards away was the next ridge and the drainage in between just looked elky. We sat under a big Douglas fir, ate a snack and started glassing. 20 minutes in, the drainage opposite the ridge we were glassing erupted with gunfire. 12-20 shots in about 5 minutes. Aparently a group of guys cought the elk we were following in the open. 3 bulls I heard. 1 ridge over. Close. So close. Luck and skill matter. We didn't have the luck. Well that herd was going to move on, and no shootable bulls left alive so day 3 would be a different area yet again. Day 3 was supposed to be glassing more clear cuts but the gate we wanted was occupied. Down the road a few miles was 1 we found empty. Looked at the maps after we pulled in and it looked REAL good if you hike 2 miles and a 1000 feet up. Got to the bench we wanted to be at and the weather held... for a time. So much sign again. We tried to wait em out but eventually visibily went to crap and my buddy said "at some point you aren't hunting, you're just sitting on a log getting rained on." Good day out and a spot I will for sure be checking out again. We both had obligations for a couple days and wouldn't make it out till the last day. My shoulder needed a break from humping that 15 lb target rifle up and down the hills and through the nasty thick forest and reprod that is the Oregon coast range. Friend said I was crazy to carry such a rifle but I only ever complained about my binos being too heavy on my neck. It's good to have a sense of humor when you are cold and wet and tired. Last day to make it happen. And my friend had to pick his kids up no later than 5pm. We decide to go back to where we started the season. It was nice to see the area and the variety of tree growth without the fog. More sign but ultimately the clock counted down and we were headed for the truck. I hoped really hard on the hike down, but no, there wasn't a big 6x6 bull waiting at the truck for us. It was a good season. My boots finally need replacing after all the wet we worked through. They had a good run but they are too smooth on the bottom to provide secure footing and no amount of mink oil or nikwax will waterproof the cracked leather anymore. Tag soup isn't what we wanted to eat, and we wont. I got a good buck and he got a big black bear earlier in the year. But a couple nice bulls sure would have been the way to cap off this hunting season. Sharing 4 days in the woods with a good friend is a real close second though. [/QUOTE]
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