LAST EDITED ON Sep-15-08 AT 10:42AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Sep-15-08 AT 10:06?AM (MST)
I had a great Archery Elk hunt this year. This is my first archery elk. I've shot a bigger bull but this was the best and most memorable experience. Things have been very busy at work and I wasn?t able to get out as much as I wanted to so I was banking on being able to hunt the extended units. A couple of guys at work and I decided to hit the last two days of the hunt. Two of us were new to the area so we were looking for some advice on where to go. One of the local guys took us under his wing and decided to show us a place he likes to go. We hit the trail head at 4 am and started out on about a two hour hike. The first part was somewhat flat but the last hour was all up. We came out into a huge beautiful meadow right at first light. After a few steps into the meadow we were busted by a couple of rag horn bulls. They weren't too nervous but they weren't about to come in either. We started to walk up the edge of the meadow. After a couple of hundred yards we noticed another rag horn bull staring us down. He started to run but we turned him around with a quick cow call. We were out in the open and after a few more seconds of stare down this bull ran off too. There were four of us in our group, two hunting and two calling. Bo and I were the shooters and Burt and Lane were the callers.
We continued to ease up through the meadow. We stopped to bugle and cow call but the bulls were quiet. As we reached the end of the meadow we looked out in front of us and saw four bulls feeding right on the tree line. We slipped back into the cover of the trees and watched them for a while. It seemed like it took them forever to feed back into the trees. While they were feeding we started to make a plan on how we would get onto them. We decided to backtrack a bit till we were out of site and then cross around to the other side of the meadow and try to get close before we set up and called again. The plan paid off perfectly. We got into the trees just down wind of where we last saw them. We moved in about a hundred yards or so and set up.
Now is where the fun started. Bo set up on the tail. Lane and Burt moved back 80 yards to call behind us. Burt was starting to water the bushes and I was looking for a place to set up. Bo gave a soft cow call and I thought I'd better find a place to hide. He was going to call softly a few times before we got at it so that we didn't scare the elk off. I was standing at the edge of a small clearing and I pulled out my range finder to get a feel of where everything was at. All the sudden I hear things running and I am now looking at an elk in the rangefinder. It was within about 20 seconds of the first call. He is looking at me trying to decide what I am. I can see the others still running behind him. I drop my rangefinder and clip my release onto the string. I pull back???.I have a single pin sight and it was set for 20 yards. I had just ranged the tree that elk was behind at 35 yards. I figured 40 yards and aimed a little higher. I shot and saw the arrow drop to the ground. About 30 seconds have now passed from the call and everyone else was about set up. I hear a call from the trees behind me??.Did Andy just shoot??? I said yes and went to get my arrow. The first 4 inches were broken off and there was about 12 inches of bloody arrow. It looked like good lung blood. I wasn?t sure of where I had hit him though.
We gave him 30 minutes which seemed to take forever, then started to track him. He left a good blood train but he kept going. After about 300 yards he jumped up in front of us and leapt two large dead falls. I was really worried about the shot placement now but we saw that he was favoring his shoulder. We gave him another 30 minutes, and wanted to give him more but a large storm was coming and we didn't want too loose him. We tracked him for about 20 yards from where we had last seen him and the blood stopped. I was starting to get a little sick at the thought of loosing him. But we spread out and started to comb the area. After about 5 minutes Lane shouted ?I have a dead elk.? He was about 20 yards from where we had seen the last blood. The elk had only gone about 60 yards or so from where we saw him jump the deadfall. He died while running and had slid to a stop against some small pines. We had been right on top of him for the last 30 minutes waiting to track. We took a few pictures and started to bone him out for the pack out. After a three hour hike we had him back to the truck. It was an awesome day. The best part was being able to share it with some good friends. I couldn't have done it without Burt's guiding, Lanes tracking, Bo?s calling and all three of them packing. It was a great hunt. Here are some pictures of us with the elk. I also had a couple of the entrance wound and where the broad ended up. He was slightly quartering towards me at 52 yards. I hit him right in front of the front shoulder it clipped the lungs and ended up buried in the far shoulder. The spitfire did a number on him. I call him Smiley because my wife pointed out that he looks like he is smiling in a couple of the pictures.
I had a great Archery Elk hunt this year. This is my first archery elk. I've shot a bigger bull but this was the best and most memorable experience. Things have been very busy at work and I wasn?t able to get out as much as I wanted to so I was banking on being able to hunt the extended units. A couple of guys at work and I decided to hit the last two days of the hunt. Two of us were new to the area so we were looking for some advice on where to go. One of the local guys took us under his wing and decided to show us a place he likes to go. We hit the trail head at 4 am and started out on about a two hour hike. The first part was somewhat flat but the last hour was all up. We came out into a huge beautiful meadow right at first light. After a few steps into the meadow we were busted by a couple of rag horn bulls. They weren't too nervous but they weren't about to come in either. We started to walk up the edge of the meadow. After a couple of hundred yards we noticed another rag horn bull staring us down. He started to run but we turned him around with a quick cow call. We were out in the open and after a few more seconds of stare down this bull ran off too. There were four of us in our group, two hunting and two calling. Bo and I were the shooters and Burt and Lane were the callers.
We continued to ease up through the meadow. We stopped to bugle and cow call but the bulls were quiet. As we reached the end of the meadow we looked out in front of us and saw four bulls feeding right on the tree line. We slipped back into the cover of the trees and watched them for a while. It seemed like it took them forever to feed back into the trees. While they were feeding we started to make a plan on how we would get onto them. We decided to backtrack a bit till we were out of site and then cross around to the other side of the meadow and try to get close before we set up and called again. The plan paid off perfectly. We got into the trees just down wind of where we last saw them. We moved in about a hundred yards or so and set up.
Now is where the fun started. Bo set up on the tail. Lane and Burt moved back 80 yards to call behind us. Burt was starting to water the bushes and I was looking for a place to set up. Bo gave a soft cow call and I thought I'd better find a place to hide. He was going to call softly a few times before we got at it so that we didn't scare the elk off. I was standing at the edge of a small clearing and I pulled out my range finder to get a feel of where everything was at. All the sudden I hear things running and I am now looking at an elk in the rangefinder. It was within about 20 seconds of the first call. He is looking at me trying to decide what I am. I can see the others still running behind him. I drop my rangefinder and clip my release onto the string. I pull back???.I have a single pin sight and it was set for 20 yards. I had just ranged the tree that elk was behind at 35 yards. I figured 40 yards and aimed a little higher. I shot and saw the arrow drop to the ground. About 30 seconds have now passed from the call and everyone else was about set up. I hear a call from the trees behind me??.Did Andy just shoot??? I said yes and went to get my arrow. The first 4 inches were broken off and there was about 12 inches of bloody arrow. It looked like good lung blood. I wasn?t sure of where I had hit him though.
We gave him 30 minutes which seemed to take forever, then started to track him. He left a good blood train but he kept going. After about 300 yards he jumped up in front of us and leapt two large dead falls. I was really worried about the shot placement now but we saw that he was favoring his shoulder. We gave him another 30 minutes, and wanted to give him more but a large storm was coming and we didn't want too loose him. We tracked him for about 20 yards from where we had last seen him and the blood stopped. I was starting to get a little sick at the thought of loosing him. But we spread out and started to comb the area. After about 5 minutes Lane shouted ?I have a dead elk.? He was about 20 yards from where we had seen the last blood. The elk had only gone about 60 yards or so from where we saw him jump the deadfall. He died while running and had slid to a stop against some small pines. We had been right on top of him for the last 30 minutes waiting to track. We took a few pictures and started to bone him out for the pack out. After a three hour hike we had him back to the truck. It was an awesome day. The best part was being able to share it with some good friends. I couldn't have done it without Burt's guiding, Lanes tracking, Bo?s calling and all three of them packing. It was a great hunt. Here are some pictures of us with the elk. I also had a couple of the entrance wound and where the broad ended up. He was slightly quartering towards me at 52 yards. I hit him right in front of the front shoulder it clipped the lungs and ended up buried in the far shoulder. The spitfire did a number on him. I call him Smiley because my wife pointed out that he looks like he is smiling in a couple of the pictures.
