ELK HUNTING WITH RENOWNED OUTDOORSMAN, STEVE PUPPE

How to Hunt Elk

EDITOR'S NOTE: For the past 25 years, Steve Puppe, a member of the Mossy Oak Hunt Team from Hamilton, Minnesota, has been very fortunate to gain a wealth of hunting knowledge and experience which has given him the opportunity to be featured in several hunting videos and national magazines. He is known for his public speaking and currently is a co-host of the popular television series "Outdoor Expeditions" on the Outdoor Channel. Puppe enjoys sharing his knowledge and experience with hunters -- young and old alike. This week Puppe will tell us about his experiences hunting elk and will walk us through some of the most-overlooked steps to elk-hunting success.

QUESTION: Tell me about the Bill Wolf elk hunt.
ANSWER: My elk hunt with Bill Wolf was an awesome archery hunt. On the first afternoon of the hunt, we went for a nice, easy walk to get broken into the rugged terrain. The second day, we dropped down off the mountain. The elk were in much lower country during the 2001 archery season this year because of the extremely-warm weather. The elk we spotted walked down the mountain and stopped on a ridge. My hunting partners and I were on another ridge, and we heard a bull bugle across the canyon. I asked my buddies if they wanted to hike over to the other ridge. They said yes, but I hemmed and hawed because I knew how difficult it would be. As we proceeded to the other ridge, we saw a nice-sized bull making a rub on a tree. However, by the time we reached the other ridge, the big elk had moved, and we couldn't find him. So, we made our way out of there. Eight hours later, we were back at our camp.

The next day, my partners were hurting pretty badly from the long day of hiking, so we took it easy again. On the third day of our hunt, we rode horses down to where we'd first spotted the elk. We went down in that draw, and we could just barely hear a bull. We started to climb up on a ridge. I told the guys that we needed to sit down and rest. I had a gut feeling that we couldn't go any further. So we sat down, and I cow called a little bit. But nothing happened. I bugled once, and a bull stood up about 70 yards from us. Then he gathered up his cows and took off. I said that was ok. "We'll catch up with the bull tonight." As we started to go back up the ridge again, we came upon a nice little basin. A bull that must have heard us walking grunted at us. I told the guys, "Let's get as close as we can." I tested the bull. He was lying down, and he wasn't moving. He bugled at us. I said, "Let's just leave him." I think my hunters thought I was absolutely crazy. They wanted to go after the bull.

We hiked back down the ridge, and I said, "I'm tired. Let's take a nap." Then I knew the men thought I was crazy. We settled down in a little sunny spot at about 3:00 p.m. Soon after, the bull got up and moved 50 or 60 yards, which is typical for a bull to move a little bit during the day. We moved into position about 100 to 125 yards from him. Around 4:00, I started to call, and the bull finally got up. I could tell he was moving around at that point. I had my two hunters set up 25 to 30 yards from me, with one on each side about 50 yards apart. The bull proceeded to make his way toward us, bugling loudly. Bill, who's a little hard of hearing, was pointing in one direction. He was looking and looking, and all of the sudden he caught sight of the bull out the corner of his eye. Bill bent around to ready his bow and get into shooting position. The bull was coming in perfectly for him to get a good shot. When the bull was about 18 yards from Bill, I bugled because I wanted that bull to bugle for Bill. The bull did; he let one go right in Bill's face. Bill got a shot off, and the other hunter watched the entire thing take place. The bull took off, and I bugled to try to slow him down. Bill just pounded his chest and collapsed on the ground. I went up to Bill and asked where he'd hit the animal. Bill didn't know. He completely spaced everything out. He said, "I thought I had that big bull when he bugled in my face."

We took off following that bull. I ended up jumping him. I was a little bit concerned. The elk kept going, and I jumped him a second time. But he had not gone very far. I said, "He's hurting pretty badly." We walked a little bit further and saw the elk lying on the ground. The big bull didn't move again. By the time we finished shooting photos, it was getting pretty dark. We were probably 1 1/2 miles from our horses. I wasn't sure if I wanted to take the elk that night or wait until the next day. Bill said, "I'll go down and get the horses and ride back to camp and get some help." I thought that was a good idea. But after he took off, I remembered that the ride to camp is a 2 to 2 1/2-hour ride. By the time Bill would have arrived at camp it would've been midnight. I thought that wasn't a good idea, but Bill had already gone. So the other hunter and I quartered and capped the elk. Then we started going down the trail. As we got closer to the horses, I saw some orange light. When we moved closer, we saw that Bill was all wet. He had fallen in the creek and had stopped to build a fire. We found out that Bill didn't have a flashlight, so he'd had to walk 1 1/2-miles down the trail in the pitch-black dark. He did an excellent job to get as far as he did. He was only 50 yards from the horses. We went out to the trail head and got the truck. Then we returned to the lodge and spent the night there. We went back and got Bill's elk out the next day.

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TOMORROW: ELK CALLS FOR BEGINNERS