JEL
Well-known member
Awesome. I may need to hear this story in person.
A Poor Elk Hunter With A Good Elk Tag
- Thread starter Nameless Range
- Start date
NEWHunter
Well-known member
Congrats. Looks like you planned that pack out well.
MT_Chad
Well-known member
Awesome!!!
Threedognight
Well-known member
Congrats on your successful hunt!
TRS_Montana
Well-known member
So happy for you, man! Can't wait to catch up and hear the whole story!!! Hope you got what you wanted out of these hunts!
8andcounting
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2013
- Messages
- 3,404
Congratulations! Nice bull
Nameless Range
Well-known member
A coworker who knows I had the tag told me at work yesterday that some bulls had been perusing a mountain on his ranch and that I was welcome to go up there and try for one. I took advantage of this very gracious offer.
I started hiking 20 minutes before shooting light. And not 5 minutes into my hike I heard a bugle below me. The truck was also below me about 300 yards, and so somehow this bull managed to get between me and that. I sat still waiting for shooting light. It was foggy as hell, with probably 200 yard visibility.
Numerous times during this short hunting season I have seen things that seemed scripted out of a movie. As I sat there waiting for light, a bull appeared out of the fog above me at about 150 yards. He was big, and is the bull in the video that is bugling. I was pinned out in the open, and only the fog obscured me somewhat. I was hearing elk everywhere. Probably 5 or 6 different bulls within a quarter mile.
I hadn’t heard the one below me for a while and the wind was bad for him, so I figured he had sniffed me and moved on. When the bull of the fog faced away I backed down the hill, hoping to use the contour of the mountain to obscure me after 20 or 30 yards. Shooting light had arrived.
Once out of sight of the upper bull, I walked a contour over to some timber thinking I would try and walk the timber up a draw toward the bull above. In that timber was a bull and his cows. He took them and ran. “Damn”, I thought, but about 70 yards away he stopped and turned back at me.
I knocked an arrow. He began running through the timber at me. About 20 yards out he screamed his final challenge to the universe. I drew back. He continued right at me. He was looking at me! I don’t know if he was so pissed he was seeing red and thought I was an elk, or if he really did plan to stomp the chit out of this short and round bow hunter. I’ll never know, but at 5 yards the only thing between he and I was a young 8 foot Doug Fir. He pushed past it, and stopped essentially at the end of my arrow. Literally 2 yards. He looked at me and I at him.
What does a Poor Elk Hunter do when he is drawn at 2 yards on a bull elk bigger than any he has previously killed? He pulls the trigger....
I don’t remember doing it, but I remember seeing the arrow buried to the fletchings sticking out of his high shoulder, and him taking off down the mountain.
The next hour was spent trying to find him. There was snow on the ground, but so many elk tracks that I couldn’t locate his. Other than a few flecks of blood, I found absolutely none. I was confident he was dead, but it was a dark and despondent hour. I gridded my way down the mountain and up the next one.
I found him about 300 yards from where I shot him. 10 inches of the arrow and the broad head had broken off inside him and were buried in his lung. The other half of the arrow fell out right after he took off running. I think it sort of plugged the hole, because he bled internally significantly. Even at the site of his demise there was very little blood.
I started hiking 20 minutes before shooting light. And not 5 minutes into my hike I heard a bugle below me. The truck was also below me about 300 yards, and so somehow this bull managed to get between me and that. I sat still waiting for shooting light. It was foggy as hell, with probably 200 yard visibility.
Numerous times during this short hunting season I have seen things that seemed scripted out of a movie. As I sat there waiting for light, a bull appeared out of the fog above me at about 150 yards. He was big, and is the bull in the video that is bugling. I was pinned out in the open, and only the fog obscured me somewhat. I was hearing elk everywhere. Probably 5 or 6 different bulls within a quarter mile.
I hadn’t heard the one below me for a while and the wind was bad for him, so I figured he had sniffed me and moved on. When the bull of the fog faced away I backed down the hill, hoping to use the contour of the mountain to obscure me after 20 or 30 yards. Shooting light had arrived.
Once out of sight of the upper bull, I walked a contour over to some timber thinking I would try and walk the timber up a draw toward the bull above. In that timber was a bull and his cows. He took them and ran. “Damn”, I thought, but about 70 yards away he stopped and turned back at me.
I knocked an arrow. He began running through the timber at me. About 20 yards out he screamed his final challenge to the universe. I drew back. He continued right at me. He was looking at me! I don’t know if he was so pissed he was seeing red and thought I was an elk, or if he really did plan to stomp the chit out of this short and round bow hunter. I’ll never know, but at 5 yards the only thing between he and I was a young 8 foot Doug Fir. He pushed past it, and stopped essentially at the end of my arrow. Literally 2 yards. He looked at me and I at him.
What does a Poor Elk Hunter do when he is drawn at 2 yards on a bull elk bigger than any he has previously killed? He pulls the trigger....
I don’t remember doing it, but I remember seeing the arrow buried to the fletchings sticking out of his high shoulder, and him taking off down the mountain.
The next hour was spent trying to find him. There was snow on the ground, but so many elk tracks that I couldn’t locate his. Other than a few flecks of blood, I found absolutely none. I was confident he was dead, but it was a dark and despondent hour. I gridded my way down the mountain and up the next one.
I found him about 300 yards from where I shot him. 10 inches of the arrow and the broad head had broken off inside him and were buried in his lung. The other half of the arrow fell out right after he took off running. I think it sort of plugged the hole, because he bled internally significantly. Even at the site of his demise there was very little blood.
Pucky Freak
Well-known member
Congrats!
Nameless Range
Well-known member
Spiritual is a cheesy word but it fits. I have 20 minutes of video like the one I posted earlier. I sat on the mountain side next to the bull I had just killed and watched another beautiful bull try to booger his cows, chase another bull off, tear up the ground, and holler at whoever would listen. The Gulch was filled with the bugles of half a dozen bulls. Spiritual.
The bull died only 80 yards above the road. I called my dad to see if he wanted to come with me while I loaded it. He can’t do anything physical due to bad knees, but I was confident I could heave this bull into the truck alone. He was coming out whole and did. Icing on the cake with my dad.
I’m aware that there’s a lot of folks who would pass on this bull every year in a general unit, much less a trophy one, but I couldn’t be happier. I am after all, A Poor Elk Hunter. The Elkhorns during archery season are flat out incredible. They are the first and only wildlife management unit in the country and it shows. Between scouting and hunting I have over 170 miles of Elkhorns travel on the pair of boots I purchased in May. I admit that family, work, and other duties were often on my mind when thinking of this tag in the long term. The amount of hunting I did over the last month was not sustainable, and I feel like I put in the time in the Elkhorns, and what they say about a blind squirrel is true.
I am a lucky guy, and that’s about it.
The bull died only 80 yards above the road. I called my dad to see if he wanted to come with me while I loaded it. He can’t do anything physical due to bad knees, but I was confident I could heave this bull into the truck alone. He was coming out whole and did. Icing on the cake with my dad.
I’m aware that there’s a lot of folks who would pass on this bull every year in a general unit, much less a trophy one, but I couldn’t be happier. I am after all, A Poor Elk Hunter. The Elkhorns during archery season are flat out incredible. They are the first and only wildlife management unit in the country and it shows. Between scouting and hunting I have over 170 miles of Elkhorns travel on the pair of boots I purchased in May. I admit that family, work, and other duties were often on my mind when thinking of this tag in the long term. The amount of hunting I did over the last month was not sustainable, and I feel like I put in the time in the Elkhorns, and what they say about a blind squirrel is true.
I am a lucky guy, and that’s about it.
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Holy shit! Epic! Absolutely epic! Fantastic, NR!!!
Wow! Bet your heart was pounding though at that distance... Wow!
Thanks for taking us along. What an epic elk hunter with a fantastic elk experience to share.
Grats! Suds on me next time.
Wow! Bet your heart was pounding though at that distance... Wow!
Thanks for taking us along. What an epic elk hunter with a fantastic elk experience to share.
Grats! Suds on me next time.
livingthedream
Member
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
- Messages
- 30
Congrats! Very much enjoyed following along on your adventure!!
The Hedgehog
Well-known member
Your hunting write ups are always killer. Congrats! A bull elk at 2 yards with your bow is pretty great stuff.
TheJason
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- Joined
- Oct 21, 2024
- Messages
- 18,613
It took a bit for an idiot like me to figure out it was a video. I was wondering WTH everyone was talking about.
Great write up. After you tell the story enough you can morph it into the bull charged you because you’re such a damned good bugler and he impaled himself on your arrow in the process of running you over.
I’m rather jealous of hour pack out. Did you have enough water?
Great write up. After you tell the story enough you can morph it into the bull charged you because you’re such a damned good bugler and he impaled himself on your arrow in the process of running you over.
I’m rather jealous of hour pack out. Did you have enough water?
Western Traveler1
Well-known member
Nameless Range, well done. Congratulations...
Scrappy
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- Joined
- Mar 25, 2017
- Messages
- 255
Thank you sir for taking us along. Congrats on your successful adventure.
Pucky Freak
Well-known member
I think any bull elk taken a 2 yards is an unforgettable trophy, with a bow no less. Who cares about rack size or points
dcopas78
Well-known member
Nice! Glad you got it done, and in the fashion you did is just....outstanding!
Southern Elk
Well-known member
Congrats! That’s one heck of a story that you will enjoy telling for years to come.
KipCarson
Well-known member
This has been so enjoyable to follow along with, thank you for sharing and many congrats!!
