Elk Hunting--From a different perspective
I would like to share my recent elk hunt experience, not about the elk, but the cougar and the elk interaction.
Day 3 of our hunt and we haven't found any sign of elk. I was hiking up one nice hill through some forested area with several rubs, but only old sign. What I did come across was one cougar print. Thinking it was probably as old as the elk sign I moved on.
My husband and I eventually met back up at the Jeep and continued up this same road which ended at an area the Forest Service was clearing, lots of brush piles and cut trees. I proceeded to follow one road and split off to the next and next and finally a third road. It was very quiet, thick trees on either side, warm and dry. About a hundred yards up this road I come to a small bend and this huge cat walks right out in front of me, about 20 yards. I couldn't react quick enough, in a few steps he had turned around and disappeared. I opted not to follow him, he was as big as me and most likely weighed more. I was constantly looking over my shoulder after that and decided it was time to head back to the Jeep.
The next morning we decided to hunt on the other side of the ridge where I had the cougar encounter. Hubby took one side of the road and I took the other. I had hiked in several hundred yards, following a cattle trail which turned into a game trail down into a thickly grown draw with dead fall and lots of saplings. That's when I heard it, a bull elk alarm, three short eeeoo barks! I haven't hunted elk very long, so I've never heard this sound, but I knew immediately what it had to be. I froze and tried to reassure him with a few cow calls, but never hard another sound for over 30 minutes.
I decided to move along that draw and try to find the other end of it. There was a small knoll which I walked around to try and mask any scent (every once in a while there was a small puff of a breeze). After getting around this knoll I found a likely spot where the thick growth thinned and I could see at least 50 yards, hoping the elk had moved in this direction. Sure enough, now I hear the cows huffing an alarm, but they were further to my left, not quite to the end of the draw. Again I waited almost an hour with not a sound. I decided to try and get to the other side of the draw and that's when it happened, busted! I swear they were only about 20 feet in the thick stuff and took off when they either heard or smelled me, right back into the thick stuff. I never got a glimpse of them. Probably heard me with how dry and crunchy everything was. Well, back to the Jeep. Hubby had just as interesting a story, although not as exciting. He found a gut pile, most likely from a hunter. But several hundred yards away he found the cougar kill, probably only a day or two old, a large elk calf. Turns out, after comparing our GPS way points, that the kill was only about 100 yards from the road where I encountered the cat, and the cat was walking in that direction when I saw him.
We decided to take the next day off to let the animals settle and tried again the next day. The elk were in the same draw, and once again the cows sounded the alarm and took off. After getting busted again we hiked over to the kill site to see what was left of the carcass. Pretty much nothing! We were surprised at how little was left of that calf after only two days. Of course coyotes, ravens and magpies got their share, but I'm sure the cougar came back. I should have had that big cat!
So the neat thing is putting together a scenario. Did that hunter get that elk before or after the cougar got the calf? Was that her calf? Was either elk waiting for the other? Was the herd waiting for the other animals and hiding from the cougar in that draw? I'm sure the elk thought I was that cougar. To hear them make all their alarms and not just run off like they normally do was a different experience. Normally they just run off without making any noise, with the exception of their hooves and some breaking branches. I also imagine those elk standing their ground against what they thought was a big cat, telling him "you're not getting another one of us without a fight, go ahead and make our day!". Funny thing, after I had that cougar appear in front of me, hubby says of all the hunting and hiking we've done we've never come across a cougar kill. Then this happens and now we know why, nature came and cleaned up. No forest critters in the area went hungry that week. All in all we never got an elk or that cougar. But the experience, excitement and stories are well worth it. If having a big cat walk right in front of you doesn't make your heart skip a beat, I don't know what will. Good luck out there and stay safe!
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Erika Forsythe
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