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Show i pinosewrldnd Outdoors j . , By Hartt Wixora S Vernal Express Outdoors Writer ; -- j Elk hunting challenges i wildlife pursuits I know JJAtobeoneof , ' are more questions asked 'i ere-to, and how-to, than all VL animals put together. For : m be as elusive.- And if you jAmm your $30 for an open bull JrSB for a restricted unit) you . uow what you are doing. The a opening last Wednesday Sept. that far away. iv f( yoU read in the outdoor i'-i .jes.andwhatyou'llfind in Utah ; 'f-xi'K 1' necessarily the same. tvear in the Book Cliffs I lip-9 lip-9 r f-id in a six-point bull to the edge of "' , call spg where I sat. The '.jx tossed away all caution, vir, in full view through sagebrush fu; iTm 25 yards of me. Only my , e stomping a foot, spooked that i h bull. Even then he left , r srently, still trying to pick a fight lq tit "US1" "c ' However, this was 20 miles from the ' gmt road. Wild country like that jwi't exist everywhere in Utah. "y,ptoticated elk like that exist in 5 ' i.jiiiirg and Colorado, but pressure is jeMthas great. You can, of course, pt the bugle a try: start high and s dip to gutteral low, and turn irano again. People like Ken Tuttle, -jay years Manti Mountain condition con-dition officer, could even provide i right grunt at the end. ! But, if you do not get an answer, it tanotmeanan elk is not around. I've a received answers where-in the Errd bull wouldn't budge. You cannot, tilrepeatneverwill, be able to tiptoe tn a wapiti if conditions are not jfrfect. I did manage to walk within 15 t of a big bull last September in the j ar River sector, north slope of the I '.jitas.But, itwas on carpet-like grass. r I Notigs underfoot, no crusted snow, no 1 tttish elk which had been recently ( might add that my companion, Dee tith, returned to the scene on the elk ' )jj pner But, in his own words, he blew ,' "' didn't see any elk at first as I ' wed the meadow in the lower end of it basin, so I began walking along the edge. Then I saw movement wd. But, it proved to be a coyote. I I t think any elk were about, so I n( the coyote. Then, I heard the elk. ' sounded like they were knocking (( everything in their path! They Lj TJd out above timber, too far away '" '"to. I lost out on this one." us llT easy to lose out on elk. I kayoed a fl. 'Nter on the Book Cliffs when it was ,K? '""it (both are restricted now) l' first jumping it in a meadow. The ' which were with it, and there are , jj J Ksnst always cows with any large bull fr,,i Jjimt of year, scattered,. He herded itr slnKle file into timber as usual, r and I trained my Weaver variable 2X-7X 2X-7X on the bobbing-weaving line. When the bull appeared in the nearest opening, some 250 yards away, I squeezed off a 180-grain cartridge. The 30-06 slug caught it in the backbone, but a heart shot was required to the coup de grace. The bull gave me less than three total seconds to spot, hold, and shoot. I mention this because it is typical. Shooting in a hurry is only normal. At other times I have skittered away elk at some 600 yards when deer half the distance continued browsing. Several times on Wyoming hunts a snoopy old cow has determined we were not there in her best interest, and sounded the alarm while yet 400 yards out. Happily on one of those occasions, we spurred horses into an intersecting pass where bullet met bull. But, elk hunting there was different than most areas of Utah. It was easier. If you scouted bull ahead of the hunt, they were there on the opener. I've talked to eastern Utah nimrods who found nice bulls in foothills barely out of the Uintah Basin along the Uinta foothills. But, these were on restricted units. I would certainly put in for each year, because with pressure cut in fourth, your chances are four times better. Many permit holders go for the meat, but too often they are the least prepared. You have to get into the spirit of the quest. If it is not a lofty adventure, ad-venture, you probably haven't gotten your money's worth anyway. Treating it that way, with at least four-five days, v horses, and sighted-rifle, you have a chance of being the one in ten who score -in Utah's wapiti carnival. Of course, the longer you remain out, and more intently you pursue, the luckier you might be. I know places in Montana and western Wyoming where it is a precise science. If you're the only party after them that can be the way it is. Facing the Utah crowd, you have to realize you better be prepared. The competition is . Special equipment such as a four-wheel drive, spotting scopes etc. won't hurt a thing. But, you better be more tenacious than the elk. And I've seen them hide and mill in north slope pines where it seems no one can rout them out. Still, there are successful permit holders every year. Other than, merely being lucky, most have located quarry ahead of time. If you do not skitter them off three canyons away, or have someone else do it for you, you'll have at least a starting point. That's important because I would guess more than 50 percent of all Utah elk seekers are not where the elk are at all! After the opening day surprise is., gone, I'd look for them in one place: where the hunters won't use up the energy to look. Maybe the elk shoot is not that difficult after all. Fishing isn't much different. |