Petersen’s Bowhunting – September 2019

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I hoped my salvation would be the

Red Moon hitting toward the end of

the week, beginning on Sept. 13.

As I feared, hunting over wa-

terholes was less than produc-

tive. Over the first few days of my

hunt, I saw more bears than elk and

heard minimal bugling. I knew I

should have listened to Beau and

Greg about buying a bear tag! The

chocolate-colored bear that regular-

ly visited the water tank was a true

trophy, definitely over the Pope and

Young minimum. At least his visits

to drink and bathe in the water were

entertaining.

I kept up my vigil of morning

and evening sits on-stand, spending

midday scouting for fresh sign and

checking a half-dozen trail cameras

I had placed on other waterholes

and wallows. Still more of the same;

more bears than elk.

When Tanner showed up in camp

after dark on Sept. 10, we had four

days left to get it done. Finally able

to get after the elk on the ground,

we spent the next couple mornings

chasing decent bulls, just hoping to

get a look at something big. We also

spent the next couple evenings at my

waterhole, thinking something good

might eventually show, but even the

big chocolate-colored bear was gone.

Second Chance

We were starting to hear some bu-

gling in the evenings, but most of the

action sounded like it was coming

from the opposite end of the ranch.

There was a big lake on that end of

the property, too big to effectively

hunt from a treestand. As we stealth-

ily passed within earshot of the lake

on the Polaris Ranger EV after dark,

we could actually hear elk splashing

in the water!

After arriving back at camp one

night, we studied the aerial view of

the ranch and decided we should

investigate the lake the following

afternoon. The area above it was

full of hidden meadows and smaller

patches of timber, leading to the high-

est elevation on the ranch, where we

guessed the elk were bedding during

the day. After a little midday scout-

ing on Sept. 13, we had a new plan:

With the wind coming off the higher

elevations and blowing down to the

lake, we would set up in the timber

between the meadows that evening

and wait for the bugling to begin.

Hopefully, we could maneuver and

cut the elk off as they worked their

way toward the lake.

As we nestled into a strip of tim-

ber between two meadows, we were

expecting a bit of a wait before any

bugling started. The elk, however,

had different plans! With the Red

Moon finally appearing for our eve-

ning hunt, the elk began bugling

early that afternoon in the timber

just above us. With plenty of time

and a decent wind, I was in no rush

Toward the end of his hunt, the author

discovered a hotspot that led to his op-

portunity at redemption. The elk were

bedding on the timbered ridges seen

here during the day and then moving

down through the adjacent meadows

to the lake below in the evenings.