Opener for elk in Idaho was August 30th and was my 1 year weddding anniversary. My wife doesn't hunt, but understands that I have my obsession. I also understand that my wife likes jewelry and bought a bracelet before leaving for an intended two week elk hunting trip. If I would have known this kind of luck would follow getting married, I would have done this a lot sooner. I also shot a double droptine whitetail last fall after getting married. HA. Originally we were planning on calling and our first trip this was our strategy. We also brought stands to hang over wallows, which we never used. After hiking in roughly 6 miles we were ready for a nap. Decided to move and look for a spot for our spike camp. Found a spot and started to clear off debris for tent. My buddy was hunting for a nearby squirrel that kept squawking at us. He has the attention span of a 5 year old. While he was off and I was clearing a spot for the tent we both heard a bugle nearby. My buddy also has the hearing of a 90 year old man so I went first because he kept thinking the bull was in a different direction. He's had bad hearing since he was a kid. I feel fortunate to be able to hear well, because hunting without hearing would be very hard for me. We decided to put tent up quickly and unload some of our packs to lighten up. Probably 2 minutes time and the bull bugled a couple more times. We took off quickly while checking the wind. While trying to close the ground on the bull the wind switched 3 times, but allowed us to stay downwind by changing our approach. We were very aggressive in the speed we were approaching the bugles even though we had to keep changing our route due to wind. We were stepping on every branch and snapping twigs with our hands. No calling. As we got within his "zone" the snapping of twigs made him very mad. His last bugle was close and I tried to look for a place to set up. Not a lot of options. As I hurried to what I thought was my best spot I stepped over a log snapped a branch and saw him appear. I sat down on the log. My arrow was already nocked and I had my release on the string a few minutes before. Luckily I had a tree between the bull and me. I was able to draw my bow. He started walking towards an opening and my friend cow called to stop him. It worked and all I could see was his neck. He was perfectly broadside for my friend, but he was around 50 yards from bull with a traditional bow. I probably held my draw for 20-30 seconds. Again, he luckily walked a couple steps forward where I had a good broadside shot. I have an adjustable pin sight and it was set at 30. I guessed the distance at 40 and aimed towards the top of the elk. I let the arrow go very quickly and hit him well. I could see where he was hit and it was a little high. The sound was very loud. I had hit the opposite shoulder which I didn't know at the time. He was actually at 30-32 yards very uphill which I almost always guess to long. We didn't find the arrow or any blood where he was shot. We waited 1 1/2 hours to start tracking. We found some blood probably 30 yards away and started the 3/4 mile blood trail that took over 4 hours. He died quickly, but covered a lot of ground. Running straight over small pine trees probably 10 feet tall. Shot the bull around 1 and recovered shortly before 7. We were 8 miles in from the road and truck. We tried carrying the hind quarters, backstrap, and loin. It was too big to fit in our bags. We had them strapped up. After going over a log my game bag caught and ripped. We took quarters out and put loin and backstrap in our packs. We walked out and got to truck at 1 am. Probably the most physically tired I have ever been in my life. We figured we put on 18-20 miles with 30 pounds plus on our backs most of the way. That night we got back to tent and we didn't have our sleeping bags. My buddy slept in his truck. I slept on a cot with only hunting clothes and gloves. It got down to 30 that night. I didn't sleep at all. I tried getting up to go to my truck, but every time I moved my entire legs would cramp up. We didn't get much water while tracking and both ran out. We also didn't eat except for when we were waiting to track. My body was shutting down my legs. We went to a local outfitter and got horses to get the meat out and the antlers/hide. God made horses and mules for a reason. Hauling elk out of deep country. Funny thing is, my dad has 5 mules that could have done this easily. It saved my legs though. I've included some pictures of the pack out. Now the best parts. Pictures will tell the story better than I can.
Awesome! That is a great bull. I really want to go elk hunting soon, but being at college I don't know if it will happen soon. Great story! Congrats.
Awesome man, great story and pics. Big congrats. Can't wait to finally chase elk, hopefully next fall! These stories sure don't make it any easier on the wait!
Way to git-r-done scarps! Congrats! I leave tomorrow for my Idaho elk adventure, can't hardly contain my excitement!
Nice story and excellent pictures. Congrats on the nice bull. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
