Joe Hulburt
Well-known member
My two oldest son's drew really good Rocky Mt Elk tags in NE Oregon this year so I didn't really expect to get much hunting in this year myself. Luckily they both killed nice bulls the first weekend and I survived helping pack out of the steepest country I have ever had to pack meat out of.
There was a lot of pressure in my normal haunts around home so I decided to find a way into a remote bench that I knew would be open enough to hunt but it would take a journey up through the salmonberry jungle to get to it. I was finally able to pick my way up there one morning and right when I got there I heard a bugle. My first thought was "damn, someone else is here too". I gave a few cow calls and got no response which king of made me wonder....normally hunters are pretty easy to get a response out of. I was trying to decide which way to head when I saw an elk slipping through the timber about a 100 yards away in the direction of the bugle. I called a few more times and got set up. He was coming in slow and searching for me but wasn't really worked up and I didn't expect to get him into range. Finally at about 40 yards he turned straight at me and I was hiding behind the only spruce tree around peaking on both sides trying to figure out how it was going to go down and stay invisible behind a tree. At about 12 yards I figured he was coming around the left side of the tree and went to draw. I was in an awkward position and couldn't come to full draw on my first attempt which really rattled me. I jerked the bow back the second time but with too much movement and just as I settled the pins on him at 10 yards he wheeled. I marked "Choke" on my GPS and decided to back out before I did any more damage.
It was a long day reliving my mistake but I knew he wasn't too spooked so I made a plan to come in from a different angle to where he ran in the morning. I got in there and got as close to the salmonberry patch I figured they were bedded in an made a few cow calls. Nothing. I sat against a tree for a while and was just about to head out to a different spot when I saw a cow stick here head up into a huckleberry at about 75 yards. Finally she and two others came into the little open draw below me and were feeding to my right. A while later I saw a huckleberry swaying back behind them and finally caught view of his crown on the right side. They were crossing out of my range so I crawled forward about 15 yards so if he followed his cows he could be broadside at 50. Right when he was about to step into position a cow stepped out at 25 and caught me fiddling with my sight and burned holes thru me for a while. She finally put her head down and stepped out of the way right when he came clear into the open. I was able to make a perfect hit and he only ran about 50 yards and I heard a crash. Bull down!
My wife and two older boys were all around and made it up to me right at dark for some pictures and help. Very thankful for the help!
There was a lot of pressure in my normal haunts around home so I decided to find a way into a remote bench that I knew would be open enough to hunt but it would take a journey up through the salmonberry jungle to get to it. I was finally able to pick my way up there one morning and right when I got there I heard a bugle. My first thought was "damn, someone else is here too". I gave a few cow calls and got no response which king of made me wonder....normally hunters are pretty easy to get a response out of. I was trying to decide which way to head when I saw an elk slipping through the timber about a 100 yards away in the direction of the bugle. I called a few more times and got set up. He was coming in slow and searching for me but wasn't really worked up and I didn't expect to get him into range. Finally at about 40 yards he turned straight at me and I was hiding behind the only spruce tree around peaking on both sides trying to figure out how it was going to go down and stay invisible behind a tree. At about 12 yards I figured he was coming around the left side of the tree and went to draw. I was in an awkward position and couldn't come to full draw on my first attempt which really rattled me. I jerked the bow back the second time but with too much movement and just as I settled the pins on him at 10 yards he wheeled. I marked "Choke" on my GPS and decided to back out before I did any more damage.
It was a long day reliving my mistake but I knew he wasn't too spooked so I made a plan to come in from a different angle to where he ran in the morning. I got in there and got as close to the salmonberry patch I figured they were bedded in an made a few cow calls. Nothing. I sat against a tree for a while and was just about to head out to a different spot when I saw a cow stick here head up into a huckleberry at about 75 yards. Finally she and two others came into the little open draw below me and were feeding to my right. A while later I saw a huckleberry swaying back behind them and finally caught view of his crown on the right side. They were crossing out of my range so I crawled forward about 15 yards so if he followed his cows he could be broadside at 50. Right when he was about to step into position a cow stepped out at 25 and caught me fiddling with my sight and burned holes thru me for a while. She finally put her head down and stepped out of the way right when he came clear into the open. I was able to make a perfect hit and he only ran about 50 yards and I heard a crash. Bull down!
My wife and two older boys were all around and made it up to me right at dark for some pictures and help. Very thankful for the help!
