Cow hunt north of Hwy 26

StinkyFish · 12-23-2003, 07:54 PM

I was fortunate enough to get one of 20 cow tags for 167 sq miles of ODF land north of Hwy 26. I hunted last sat, sun, and mon. and only found the elk on the refuge and private property. The state sent me a map highlighting the damage ares wich i looked at, most of those without any luck. does anybody have any advice on techniques or locations? heck Iam not proud I need help. I thought this hunt would take a couple of days but its not working out like that. Good news the snow level is going down this weekend to 1000 ft and should help with tracking. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Jeff

[ 12-23-2003, 08:56 PM: Message edited by: StinkyFish ]

Flatfish · 12-23-2003, 09:08 PM

What unit(s) are you in.

eastside elk hate me. And I hate them.

Rosie is easy enough, if you are willing to get wet.

Mark and the dog.

Snapset · 12-23-2003, 09:11 PM

I have found that this time of year, the elk can be found active before 10:00 a.m. and after 2:00 p.m.. If you are hunting those times, and are staying on the ridges, but not seeing the elk, just hunt the timber where you are seeing the most and freshest tracks. I don't have specific locations for north of 26, but with elk, you just gotta put in the time on the road to find the fresh sign. Once you find a fresh set of tracks, there is guaranteed to be an elk standing in the last 4.

StinkyFish · 12-23-2003, 09:28 PM

Flatfish this hunt 210H1 takes place in the Saddle Mt unit.

Snapset the fresh tracks were very scarce last weekend. its amazing that an animal that size if only walking can sometimes bareley leave a mark. so you think the ridge tops between 10 and 2.

Snapset · 12-23-2003, 10:17 PM

Hunt the thinned and clearcut ridgetops early and late for elk that are up and moving around. I would hunt the timber between 10 and 2, and since these are elk, you need to cover some miles to find a band bedded down. For cows, since they are likely in a group, I wouldn't bother with Blacktail still hunting tactics in the timber. Whenever I have jumped elk in a goup it takes them a while to get sorted out which direction they are headed, and such, and it seems like the lead cow gets herself into the brush, turns around to take a look back, and the whole train stops, with the unlucky caboose left out in the open to take the abuse.

Leatherneck · 12-24-2003, 01:19 AM

Would this hunt happen to be the Rock creek unit within the Saddle mnt unit. If it is hunt around quartz creek or the first yellow gate before the Eldeberry Inn going west. Goodluck, my kid has a cow tag for the wilson unit that were trying to fill as well.

Norm · 12-24-2003, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by StinkyFish:
Flatfish this hunt 210H1 takes place in the Saddle Mt unit.

Snapset the fresh tracks were very scarce last weekend. its amazing that an animal that size if only walking can sometimes bareley leave a mark. so you think the ridge tops between 10 and 2.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">I don't have regs handy, but if the area includes Saddle Mt unit west of HWY 53 and you don't mind a walk, PM me.

StinkyFish · 12-25-2003, 06:24 PM

Snapset thanks for the advise I will put it to the test saturday and let you know what happend.

Leatherneck I have hunted that road (Osweg Cr) for three days and no success. I did see a five point and 4 cows 2 weeks before the season opened

Norm. Hwy 53 is not in my area thans any way.

Mr. BrownTrout · 12-25-2003, 06:55 PM

what about around the base of Humbug mountain, I use to see lots of elk there.

Flatfish · 12-25-2003, 10:04 PM

There are a slug of elk in there. Ya just gotta go in after them.

The best hunting will always coincide with really horrible rain. If you hear the drops pounding the window as you lay in bed waiting for the snooze to come on again, leap out of bed and go whack one.

Rosie is a fairly predictable critter. Cover ground fast til you cut hot tracks. Then make sure ya got the wind and go find them. Or better yet, get in front of them and sit in wait.

I have not hunted Saddle Mtn in a long time, so what I know of that unit probably does not apply any more. But Rosie is Rosie. And that's a good thing.

Clearcuts and the edhes of clearcuts are a great place to be at first light.

Enjoy the rain.

Mark and the cow killing dog.

StinkyFish · 12-28-2003, 10:25 AM

OK Guys heres what happend on sat. I saw my first cow about 30 min before dayligh standing in the middle of the road about 600 yards from the ODF property. Whould have been an easy kill if I wanted to be a Poacher. I parked up the road about a quarter mile waiting for daylight, it comes and no elk in sight. I did have 2 other rigs drive past me while I waited for daylight but neither one stayed more then 40 min. I worked my way up the road checking all the clearing from the landing and finaly cut some fresh tracks about 10yds off one landing in about 2 in. of snow ( I love snow). they took me through the thinned area and into a creek bottom and up the other side, this was about 1/2 mile where the tracks split up. but it wasent long after that the woods came alive with elk, and I only got a quick view of one with no chance for a shot.( My heart is still pounding). My next sighting was also on private timber property about 400yds from ODF land, about 18 total and lots of big cows, calfs. and 3 spikes. I worked throughout the day up high ridge tops in 5-6 in. of snow and never even saw a track. All of the sighn was down low and it was very scarce. Maybe the fact ther are only 20 tags has something to do with this, not enough hunters to split up the heard and keep these animals moving. Alright heres my question after I jumped the group in the morning is it wirth my time to get on one track? will these animals regroup? If I should do this is it better to give them time to settle down or just get on it?. Dont be mistaken Iam having a blast going after rosie and I will be back next sat.

Flatfish · 12-28-2003, 12:05 PM

If the lead cow gets shot, the herd will be messed up for a while( nobody to play leader).

They hate snow, and will go below snow levels, or into heavy cover where they don't have to dig for their food.

If they smell you, you messed up. But if you just bumped them, they usually don't go far. Their home territory is not really big. So once you find their living room, go make a stand. They will come as long as the wind is right.

I shot a cow in Feb this year. They were a bit spooky, but we were on elk every day we hunted. Be where you want to be at first light. A huge number of elk are gonna die in the first 1/2 hour of the day. All season long.

Goog luck.

Enjoy the adrenaline.

Mark and the quarter packing dog.

Snapset · 12-28-2003, 11:56 PM

If you have fired a shot they may leave the county, but if they just jumped, they usually won't go too far, unless ther has been a lot of pressure in the area. If the terrain isn't too rough, and they weren't leading me towards a closed area to hunt, I would give them a half hour, then get on the tracks and walk them down. By now you are still hunting, so watch for when the tracks stop going in a straight line, and start to wander. When they do this, start being super sneaky, because the wandering means they are getting ready to settle in, and they are probably within a couple hundred yards.

StinkyFish · 01-02-2004, 10:03 AM

THE HUNT IS OVER....

I decided to play a little hooky on new years eave and got an early snowy start towards Elsie. I got to my road at about 7:05 AM and somebody had already gone up the road. I was 2 seconds from turning around and going to a different area when I decided to check out the area any way. Lucky for me the rig in front of me took the second left which left the real big clearcuts open for me to view. Nowing what I do and help from you folks I decided to head straight to the lowest point on the other side of the hill into an area that I saw a five point and four cows in two weeks before the season opened. As I approached the end of the road I spotted tracks heading in the direction I was going. Knowing the road ended in about 150 yds in a very small clearcut I got on them on foot. Just as I came into view of the clearing I could see in front that the tracks crossed into the clearing on my left and sure enough about 80 yds was miss rosie standing broadside looking back towards the end of the road.( Must have heard my truck) Lucky for me I stayed up next to the trees till I came to the opening. First shot was perfect I thought but she dident even flinch, the rest of the herd ran into the canyon about 20yds behind her. She then took a stager step which I thought she was going to run. I paniced because I dident want her to run into the canyon with me being all by myself so I shot her one more time but I think she was actually falling over not trying to run. My first shot had taken out both lungs. My second shot was a little farther back and ruined half the liver. Neverless I was able to pull her out whole with the truck and 350 ft of rope and get her in the back of the pickup in about four hours. I will be carving meat on sun. Thanks for all your help and well see what happens next year. Oh yah as for snop they dident have a choice it was about 10" deep at 700ft elevation were I was. Thanks again.

Snapset · 01-02-2004, 01:22 PM

Great Job, Stinkyfish. I just love to hear a story like that. That was a smart move to ditch the truck, too. Those elk are so used to road hunters that they will high-tail it at the sound of a car door. Thanks for the report.

Flatfish · 01-02-2004, 02:33 PM

Good for you.

[img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

Mark and the dog.