M
MontanaTines
Guest
This is a bull my friend shot opening day. He was about three miles in on an old logging road behind a locked gate. He was a little late in the morning as his first choice spot was filled with trucks. As he reached the thick timber he wanted to hunt he slowed to a hunting pace. No sooner had he done so than he caught movement off the road. It turned out to be a spike which he started cow calling to. Instantly a bull bugled farther up the ridge. He called again and the bull sounded responded closer. A few seconds later and another cow call and he watched 15 cows come down off the ridge and file in front of him at 40 yards. The bull was right on their heels and he stopped him on his second try with only his mouth, and took the shot. You can see the shot was a little back, so he gave it at least an hour. The blood was good for about 200 yards, and then stopped completely. He tried to unravel the trail but after a few hours returned to get help. I got the call literally as I was headed home from the airport. We got back in there and again tried to pick up the blood from the last spot. After 2 hours without sign we began making circles somewhat in desperation. In doing, Scott happened upon blood again, almost as soon as he called out I looked to my right and saw the bull. We were able to recover the meat despite the hot temps which had us worried. Scott has a great bull for his first archery elk, and the bikes made the packing quick but very heavy as usual. The blood trail had probably a 100 yard gap before it started again and heavy. Persistance paid off, but not without the worries of not finding the bull. I'm looking forward to getting in on some elk myself, hopefully we're just getting started!
