one_dryboot
Long Time Member
- Messages
- 5,045
this year i decided to try archery elk hunting. the last few years I have gone with my friends, helped call in bulls and watched as most of our well thought out plans were not so great after all. well as most of you know this year was hot, dry and just not the way i picture elk hunting. at the first of the hunt the elk were comming into water well after dark and didnt move much during light hours. there were alot of days with very little activity of any kind.
a few weeks in to the hunt i got my first chance to watch a group of elk at a watering hole. there were three spikes and the thought ran through my mind to shoot one because it wound be my first bow kill.
after that work kept piling up and i couldnt get away to hunt elk. my plan was to have the last week of the hunt off work and just hunt my ace off! ya that didnt happen!
The next time i got out was sept 11. i would be my last time out because in the evening I had a wedding dinner for my sister that was getting married the next day we left early, got up to the top just before light. when we turned off our atv's we could hear bulls bugling all around us. we walked down the dirt road getting ready to drop off the top to glass when i could hear a bull raking a tree. i came over the top to find the bull still having its way with the tree so i snuck down to him. every time he would rake i would move in on him. then when he was looking around i stayed low behing the brush just hoping he would continue. just as i got into position he started straight away heading for the cows. i cow called and he turned broadside and he pegged me as i tried to draw back. i stood still for just a few seconds just hoping he wouldnt see me. he turned to look back at the cows and as he did i drew back, put the pin where i thought it should be and let it fly. i heard it him then saw the arrow mid way up just behind the shoulder and i knew he wouldnt go far.
he is my first archery bull and now my biggest comming in around 320. i didnt realize how big he was til we put a tape on him. i was in shock because i didnt think he would go over 300. it was a great hunt even though it wasnt great conditions in my mind! sorry about the pics i kinda made a mess of him before i thought to take some pics!
a few weeks in to the hunt i got my first chance to watch a group of elk at a watering hole. there were three spikes and the thought ran through my mind to shoot one because it wound be my first bow kill.
after that work kept piling up and i couldnt get away to hunt elk. my plan was to have the last week of the hunt off work and just hunt my ace off! ya that didnt happen!
The next time i got out was sept 11. i would be my last time out because in the evening I had a wedding dinner for my sister that was getting married the next day we left early, got up to the top just before light. when we turned off our atv's we could hear bulls bugling all around us. we walked down the dirt road getting ready to drop off the top to glass when i could hear a bull raking a tree. i came over the top to find the bull still having its way with the tree so i snuck down to him. every time he would rake i would move in on him. then when he was looking around i stayed low behing the brush just hoping he would continue. just as i got into position he started straight away heading for the cows. i cow called and he turned broadside and he pegged me as i tried to draw back. i stood still for just a few seconds just hoping he wouldnt see me. he turned to look back at the cows and as he did i drew back, put the pin where i thought it should be and let it fly. i heard it him then saw the arrow mid way up just behind the shoulder and i knew he wouldnt go far.
he is my first archery bull and now my biggest comming in around 320. i didnt realize how big he was til we put a tape on him. i was in shock because i didnt think he would go over 300. it was a great hunt even though it wasnt great conditions in my mind! sorry about the pics i kinda made a mess of him before i thought to take some pics!
Many guys would love to get a bull like that as a first bow kill. Sound like it was alot of work.
