The Hike Continues Part 3

As we awoke with high hopes for the day, we wanted to get out and find elk.  We loaded up our packs for the morning, a Pro Bar for breakfast and we started heading out behind camp. We hiked up to a great looking meadow and set up in a tree line. Al was about 75 yards behind me calling. We sat for over 2 hours with no bugles or any sight of elk. With the temperatures rising we decided to head deep into the woods to hopefully find an elk bedded down or at least moving through the cool trees. We hiked over another mile behind one of the mountains behind camp.  If you would have told me on day one we would be hiking around this peak I would of thought there is no way I would even think about it. Little did I know we hike way past this peak and climb up even high the next morning. As we hiked we would let out a cow call here and there to see if we could get some sort of response. Through the trees we could see a huge meadow lined with pine trees and aspens. The aspens were still very green and not started to change to the fall colors. As we came into the clearing I spotted a meat pole, fire ring and a few other signs of a old outfitters camp.

We pulled out the map and found a stream to be on the other side of the meadow.  We explored the area and found a very recent outfitters camp. This had to be where the pack horses where coming from. At this point things started looking better. We saw they had elk and this might be the right area. We set up in some trees that gave us a 360 degree view of the meadow. We called and called and called hoping either to get an answer or at least catch something moving to bed. It was approaching 11am and getting extremely hot. We decided to head back to camp  to refresh and reload on water for the afternoon. At camp we enjoyed lunch and relaxed in the shade.  we talked about the evening hunt and what our plan should be.

We decided to sit the waterhole above camp, Al would go farther to one side and I would cover the other side over looking the pond and a few open meadows in the valley. We called almost till dark for  nothing. At this point, I am more of a glass half empty guy and Al is the glass is half full guy. I was a bit frustrated to say the least. Although with Al's positive thinking it helped me to keep pushing on. I knew things could change in a matter of seconds. It was between 5-6pm and still it was very warm.  We sat the high ridge above camp and glassed till dark. The only time I put on my jacket was back at camp once the sun went down. It would get chilly but it was still not what I was expecting. I was worried about being to cold before the trip now I wish I would of had my Southern California gear.