LAST EDITED ON Aug-17-11 AT 08:38PM (MST)[p]Getting close to archery time, has got me reminiscing about some of my favorite hunting memories, so I wanted to share one I will never forget. I was hunting with my best friend lance, and the plan usually is that if we would see deer in the morning, that's what we would hunt, but if we found elk, we would go after them (seeing we were hunting in a spike only unit.) We got up early in the morning and hiked in from the top. We glassed for a little bit, when across the huge canyon, we saw a group of elk. We would have been happy with a cow, or a spike, so we headed after them. This by the way isn't a small canyon.
We went about 4 miles from the top down to where we saw the elk, leaving the truck parked at the top (this will come into play later in the story.) We decided to try and come around the elk figuring that they were in their beds by now. We moved in slow, and gave a few calls as we were approaching trying to locate exactly where they were. As we got close, we looked up and saw a nice 6 point bull about 150 yards straight ahead of us. We hurried and jumped behind a tree, and began to glass and watch, trying to locate as many elk as we could so we could try and get in close. All of the sudden, another 6 point bull walked in on this other one and they began to spar. It was awesome seeing them tear through the trees, and go back and forth.
We utilized this time to get as close as we could and find some good cover so we could watch. We got in to a good spot, directly behind a log, and took our packs off and I got my bow ready. The elk eventually broke apart, and began walking right at us! 40 yards, 30 yards, 10 yards holy crap 9 yards. One bull walked to 7 freaking yards from us and decided to bed down! The other one stayed a lot farther away, he stopped and bedded at 9 yards! (note the sarcasm!) Being in a spike only unit, a 2x1 bedded at 80 yards from us, and with the other elk being so close, it didn't give us any room to maneuver and try to get any closer. We sat tight for almost an hour!
After completely running out of patience, We kind of decided that it was going to be dang lucky to get a shot, so we decided to take a chance. Maybe a stupid decision, but all of the sudden, I blew the cow call. Being that close, they seriously had no idea what the hell just happened, and it was kind of funny. They got up and ran about 30 yards, then stopped and kept looking. Then they would go to about 50 yards, and then stop and come back towards us. They had no idea what was going on. By this time, the 2x1 had stood up and was just watching the other two. After about 15 minutes of messing with the big bulls, they wandered off, but the 2x1 stayed put. We waited a few minutes and gave another cow call out, just to see what the 2x1 would do (by this time, we really though we had no chance in the world of getting this bull) but to our amazement, he began to walk towards us! Lance kept reading off yardages to me as he was walking. 85?..80??75??..70?.holy crap?..65?.then he stopped?.63 yards. I rested my 60 yard pin, and let an arrow fly. As I let it go, I thought for sure the arrow went over his back by 20 yards, but the arrow flew perfectly and absolutely drilled him! Being an uphill shot, the arrow penetrated a touch high, but angled directly into his spine, and dropped him immediately. The greatest moment of this hunt, was that when he went down, Lance and I looked at each other, and we just started to laugh. It was the greatest moment ever! We went from not thinking that we had a chance, to this! The elk eventually died, and then the real fun began! (again?sarcasm)
Anyways, I can give the rest of the story if people want to hear it, but let's just say the next day and a half turned boys into men! Mainly because after we packed the back half of the elk back to the road, we had to hike all the way 7 miles UP back to get the truck.
Also, btw I would consider us kinda beginners at this point of our hunting careers, and a lot of things have changed with the way we hunt now, so don't judge us. Everyone has to start somewhere, and everyone has a story how they really got hooked! Hope you enjoyed the story.
Oh, and seriously thanks to Lance for your part in this story. It's one we will never forget!
We went about 4 miles from the top down to where we saw the elk, leaving the truck parked at the top (this will come into play later in the story.) We decided to try and come around the elk figuring that they were in their beds by now. We moved in slow, and gave a few calls as we were approaching trying to locate exactly where they were. As we got close, we looked up and saw a nice 6 point bull about 150 yards straight ahead of us. We hurried and jumped behind a tree, and began to glass and watch, trying to locate as many elk as we could so we could try and get in close. All of the sudden, another 6 point bull walked in on this other one and they began to spar. It was awesome seeing them tear through the trees, and go back and forth.
We utilized this time to get as close as we could and find some good cover so we could watch. We got in to a good spot, directly behind a log, and took our packs off and I got my bow ready. The elk eventually broke apart, and began walking right at us! 40 yards, 30 yards, 10 yards holy crap 9 yards. One bull walked to 7 freaking yards from us and decided to bed down! The other one stayed a lot farther away, he stopped and bedded at 9 yards! (note the sarcasm!) Being in a spike only unit, a 2x1 bedded at 80 yards from us, and with the other elk being so close, it didn't give us any room to maneuver and try to get any closer. We sat tight for almost an hour!
After completely running out of patience, We kind of decided that it was going to be dang lucky to get a shot, so we decided to take a chance. Maybe a stupid decision, but all of the sudden, I blew the cow call. Being that close, they seriously had no idea what the hell just happened, and it was kind of funny. They got up and ran about 30 yards, then stopped and kept looking. Then they would go to about 50 yards, and then stop and come back towards us. They had no idea what was going on. By this time, the 2x1 had stood up and was just watching the other two. After about 15 minutes of messing with the big bulls, they wandered off, but the 2x1 stayed put. We waited a few minutes and gave another cow call out, just to see what the 2x1 would do (by this time, we really though we had no chance in the world of getting this bull) but to our amazement, he began to walk towards us! Lance kept reading off yardages to me as he was walking. 85?..80??75??..70?.holy crap?..65?.then he stopped?.63 yards. I rested my 60 yard pin, and let an arrow fly. As I let it go, I thought for sure the arrow went over his back by 20 yards, but the arrow flew perfectly and absolutely drilled him! Being an uphill shot, the arrow penetrated a touch high, but angled directly into his spine, and dropped him immediately. The greatest moment of this hunt, was that when he went down, Lance and I looked at each other, and we just started to laugh. It was the greatest moment ever! We went from not thinking that we had a chance, to this! The elk eventually died, and then the real fun began! (again?sarcasm)
Anyways, I can give the rest of the story if people want to hear it, but let's just say the next day and a half turned boys into men! Mainly because after we packed the back half of the elk back to the road, we had to hike all the way 7 miles UP back to get the truck.
Also, btw I would consider us kinda beginners at this point of our hunting careers, and a lot of things have changed with the way we hunt now, so don't judge us. Everyone has to start somewhere, and everyone has a story how they really got hooked! Hope you enjoyed the story.
Oh, and seriously thanks to Lance for your part in this story. It's one we will never forget!
![IMG_0143[2863].jpg](/xf/data/xfmg/thumbnail/6/6794-753641deeaa8340a9898da3f8c726c85.jpg?1614230599)
