Cameron bagged this nice little 3 point mule deer on the opening day of the hunt this year. The buck didn’t go far once the Gold Tip shaft and Muzzy 3 Blade Broadhead was projected from that PSE compound bow! Cameron was happy about this nice buck just wishes it would have come later on in the hunt so he could have been out hunting longer!
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The archery Elk hunt started the 15th, this last Saturday. The camera that had the most action and the biggest bulls was the spot we wanted Rich to be at. We got up at 4:30 a.m. and carried him down to the blind to wait out one of the big bulls. He was accompanied by Nate. After dropping them off at the blind we scurried out of there fast so we could get Jerry and Chris to their spots.
Our first stop was at a nice big water hole that really hadn’t had much action with bulls but is a great spot, especially the further it is into the rut. We have had pictures of a big herd that had gone through the area as well. When we arrived we were completely let down, frustrated and angry to find that our camera had been stolen and our blind, rather than being stolen was cut up, thrashed and left there on the ground for us to find. (whoever does this kind of stuff really needs to evaluate the point of their living) We decided to drop Chris off there anyway to wait it out and see if anything would come in. We then took off to the next blind, luckily this one wasn’t harmed and Jerry and I waited it out.
Utah has some great elk hunting and world-class bull elk, the problem for archers is that the hunt starts in August and ends September 11th. This is completely ridiculous since the hunt ends right when the elk are starting to get into the rut. It is too hot and too early. The elk are still in the velvet and hanging out together instead of getting into the herds. There is very little if any bugling and calling. It’s very frustrating.
So the first day for us is summarized as:
So we were curious to find out how things went with Rich and Nate. We did get a hold of them in the early afternoon. They waited in the blind until about 7:30 a.m. When all of a sudden…Sheep! About 1000 of them everywhere. Sheep=No Elk! So feeling frustrated and defeated they decided to head back to camp. With only Rich and Nate it was going to be difficult to get Rich out of there. He decided he didn’t need help and tried crawling on his hands and knees out, Nate finally convinced him to let him help. Going was really tough and slow, the sheep herder could see they needed help so he offered his horse, but because Rich’s legs have no strength he is unable to balance on a horse, so the sheep herder tied his horse to a tree and offered to help carry him out!
Even though the opener came and went with little success and a lot of frustration, I think we all learned a great lesson. Even though there are a lot of jerks out there who have little respect for anyone or anything, there are also a great number of those who are willing to give of their own time and efforts to help another in need.
Rich is not able to hunt with us this next week but the best days of the hunt are yet to come and rest assured we will get him into a bull!
Less than 3 days away…
Some of the top things I enjoy most about the archery elk hunt:
I guess the list could go on and on. It is definately one of the best times of the entire year, I don’t think I could ever get tired of it. Some of the best memories I have from my lifetime are from hunting.
From PickASpotArchery.com we wish everyone good luck in their hunts!
See if you can find our blind in this picture!
So another weekend and we made it back up to the cameras to get another look at what we can expect on the hunt. I can’t believe it coming so quickly. The hunt starts this Saturday the 15th.
Our friend Rich thought about turning his tag in because he thought it was going to be too much of a hassle for other people to help him out. Luckily his family talked him out of it. This has been his life long dream, to shoot a bull elk with his bow.
We have put together a plan for the first morning of the hunt, we hope to get him into one of the wallows that has had some promising action, we are going to have to get him in with a horse and hopefully get him settled in time. I’m wondering if the evening hunts are going to be better for him since it will be easier to get him in to the spot in the afternoon then get him on the horse after dark. But because the elk a lot of times are already in to the water so early in the morning it may be difficult to get him in without spooking anything.
We will have to see how it works out. We are really looking forward to getting him in. His good friends tell us he is a dead eye with his bow and will hit anything that comes in so it seems that the most difficult part is going to be making sure we get it on video when the bull does come in.
Because the hunt here in Utah is so early and it is so hot having the blinds close to the water will be a big advantage and I think will be promising for him. The challenge is that the elk are really not rutting a whole lot until the end of the hunt. We had Rich apply for an hunt extension period through the state so that he could hunt through September but they turned him down because he is not actually missing a limb. I had to laugh at that since in reality he is probably much less mobile than someone that is losing a limb. I wonder how these lawmakers come up with their ideas.
Oh well, it won’t get us down and like I said I think it will turn out to be a huge advantage to be near the water holes, with the heat those big bulls will be coming in and our friend Rich will be ready for them!
Good luck buddy!
Hopefully this big guy won't bother us while we're sitting in the blind!
First appearance of this nice 6X6 hope he comes back
This 5X6 wouldn't be so bad either!
This is where he will be opening morning, I hope this big guy comes back in at 11AM!
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So I was finally able to get the images on my computer and sort through them all. We do have a few locations that look promising for a nice big bull elk. It is sometimes hard to tell where the elk are going to be during hunting season because when it comes closer to the rut they seem to move to new locations. In one of our locations for example we had over 1600 pictures of elk, in another only 175 pictures and only a couple were elk. However, I know the location of the second I mentioned has a lot of elk during the hunt.
It sure is a lot of fun watching all the areas and getting pictures of all the game in the area, it sure gives another insight into some of their habits. Here are a few of the pictures we were able to pull off some of the areas:
Fairly nice buck
Darn Cats!
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A couple weeks ago Chris and I headed up on the mountain to set up some game cameras and do some scouting. We re-discovered some wallows and actually ended up building one ourselves in a prime location:
Side view of our beautiful homemade wallow!
Bottom view...if you look closely you can see the game camera on the tree!
There is a nice spring coming out of the mountain in this spot and I have hunted in this location for years. The elk really like to cross over this ridge especially during the rut. This wallow faces West. On the north side there are some thick pine trees and to the south there are some nice aspen trees with some meadows and a flatter grazing area just to the East. It really is a prime elk spot and we hope to get some nice elk in here so our friend Rich will have a shot at a nice bull.
By the way since we are getting close to archery season if any of you need a compound bow or archery equipment visit our website at PickASpotArchery.com!
Chris (one of the PickASpotArchery owners) and I have a unique opportunity for the Elk hunt this year. Some friends of Chris’ drew out as a group on a great unit here in the state of Utah for Elk. One of the 4 that drew out has Lou Gherig’s disease, which which is why I say it is a unique opportunity. Unfortunatly this gentleman is not very mobile and for all you who have hunted elk before in Utah you know that being mobile is one of the most important abilities you need on the hunt. Not only is he not very mobile but he has already outlived the time that was given him to live. We have the pleasure of helping this gentleman find and bag his first bull elk before the disease takes his life.
We have decided to make it a priority to get this man an elk! We have put somewhat of a plan in place to make sure this happens. We plan to move him around with horses and maybe 4 wheelers, I will carry him if I have to! We also plan to get him over some high traffic trails and water holes in a tree stand or ground blind. I know he is willing to sit in these areas all day if he has to and I know he has made this a top priority and wants to get himself an elk more than anything.
The archery elk hunt starts August 15th and ends September 11th. From now til then I would like to report on this story and its progression to all of you readers, I believe it is a story that may help inspire each one of us to live life to its fullest!
There are a lot of exciting things happening at PickASpotArchery.com! First of all this blog. We have to apologize to anyone out there who has visited this blog in the past to find…well…nothing. The blog is a big priority for us now and can see that it is going to be a great portal in reaching our customers and keeping each one of you informed and also bring you cutting edge information, stories and entertaining stuff. This big push comes in connection with our new Email Newsletter – Shoot the Bull. If you have not already signed up for Shoot the Bull we recommend doing so by visiting the page on our website.
As hunting season approaches once again we can again see the importance of this blog and Shoot the Bull in sharing hunting stories, pictures and videos! So keep checking back for all the lastest information.
One last note…if you are looking for a new compound bow or any other archery equipment or hunting gear, visit our website. If you can’t find what you are looking for, let us know we more than likely carry it.
Thanks again to all of our customers, Happy Shooting!
Kade Church
President/Founder
