It’s a phenomenon experienced throughout the Rocky Mountain West every fall. In September, the mountains ring with the sound of bugling bull elk, with archers in hot pursuit. Then, a combination of hunting pressure, the winding down of the breeding phase and the shortening of days triggers a change in elk behavior. No longer can herds commonly be glassed in open alpine meadows, and with bugling rare, it’s almost as if they’ve simply vanished off the face of the earth.
They haven’t, of course. They’ve simply moved down into the dark timber, where they find plenty of food and water and security from the hordes of orange-clad rifle hunters driving mountain roads, stopping and glassing at every overlook, occasionally bugling in desperation.
When this occurs, you have to
