Broadhead
Member
I moved out to Colorado slightly over a year ago to chase the majestic, wild creatures that we call elk. After all, why pay for a non-resident tag, when you can pay a 10th of the price for a resident one, right?? I put in countless hours listening to Randy's podcasts, reading the plethora of knowledge each of you share on the Hunt Talk forums, crunching statistics from the CPW website, struggling to carry my excessively heavy pack on scouting trips and putting many miles on my boots. After deciding on a unit for an upcoming week of Archery hunting in mid-September, I still hadn't devised a strategy for opening day.
As opening day slowly approached, I expanded my search for units around my location, utilizing Google Earth and OnXMaps to gain further clarity on where I thought elk may be located. The weekend before opening day I had selected a location that I thought looked "elky," having no clue what elk habitat really looked like and drove there before sunrise. Upon my arrival I saw an older gentleman pull off the side of the road and grab a spotting scope. Upon driving past, I asked if he had saw any elk. He smiled and said, "About to look at some now. Pull off and join me?" We proceeded to glass about 15 cow and calves on the opposing mountainside. I mentioned how there was a low success rate in the area and asked how the population in the area is since it is so close to the Denver metro area. Laughing, he replied, "I've been hunting this unit for 40 years and I shoot a big one every year!" He gave me a few details of how to get to the opposite mountainside and proceeded on his way. I knew that mountainside would be where I was heading for opening day.
Fortunately, I have a buddy who decided to tag along with me for the big day. We got to the trailhead a little later than expected Friday, so we ended up camping at the truck. After struggling up the mountain at 4:45am Saturday morning, we finally arrived tired and out of breath 45 minutes after sunrise.
We got set up in a small group of trees where I had saw the cows the following weekend. After an hour, I decided we should move closer to the basin so that we could glass more of the area. As I am halfway across the clearing, a spike walks out 30 yards in front of me. Frozen, I stood there and let it walk within 12 yards before it fed on down the hill. The 5x5 bull that my buddy said was following him decided not to come our direction after another hunter spooked the spike a few minutes later.
That evening we were set up overlooking the same meadow. As 6:30pm approached, we watched as a 4x4 fed at the top of the mountain. As we were devising a strategy of how to approach him for a shot, I glanced off to our right and standing 200 yards away was a nice 5x5. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! As he fed out of sight, I slipped out of our make-shift blind and started my stalk. Having never tried spot and stalking an animal, I wasn't sure what to expect. Utilizing the natural tree cover, I keep small clusters of trees between him, leaving just enough so that I could see when his head was down and feeding. Halfway across, I stepped on a hidden branch and I swear I've never heard a noise so loud. Expected him to turn and run, I was devastated. For the second time that day, I was frozen with an elk staring right at me. I was relieved when he put his head back down and continued feeding. I stuck to my plan and slowly worked my way to 43.8 yards when I stepped out from behind a bush to range him.
I drew my Elite Energy 32, found my pin, settled on my anchor point, aimed at the opposite shoulder for the quartering away shot that had presented itself and let the arrow fly. As it made contact, I knew I had hit exactly where I was aiming. The arrow penetrated at least 20 inches before stopping at the other shoulder blade. I will never forget the sound the arrow made as it connected and he started running. He whirled around to run up the meadow, then realized he couldn't do that. He swung back around and went crashing through the woods. As the adrenaline and "Bull Fever" hit me, I was overwhelmed with emotion. My very first day of elk archery hunting and I had already arrowed a nice 5x5 bull. I thought to myself, "Why do yall always complain that this is so difficult?!?"
After nearly 45 minutes, we went to check for blood. There was decent blood where he entered the woods so we slowly started the tracking job. The bright red spray showed that I had connected with at least one lung, while the deep crimson drops showed that I had hit liver. We proceeded to bob and weave through the trees, tracking him for 4 hours that night before being too exhausted to continue. After a sleepless night, we arose at sunrise and continued along the blood-trail. He had continued his path downhill and past two water sources. As the day got longer, we could tell the arrow hole was starting to clot up, as he was brushing the clots off on branches in the dark timber. The blood slowly went from drops to specks, eventually running out completely. We continued searching until nearly 4 o'clock before having to call it quits. Needless to say, it was a heartbreaking experience and one that I will never forget. To those that have lost an animal, especially you first elk or bull, my heart goes out to you. I will never know why he didn't kill over in a few hundred yards as the blood-trail eluded. Perhaps it was the shot or something completely outside of my control. Either way it is not something I want to encounter again. As they say, "That's the nature of the beast." But it sure isn't fun when it happens to you. Best of luck to you all on your hunting adventures this season!
As opening day slowly approached, I expanded my search for units around my location, utilizing Google Earth and OnXMaps to gain further clarity on where I thought elk may be located. The weekend before opening day I had selected a location that I thought looked "elky," having no clue what elk habitat really looked like and drove there before sunrise. Upon my arrival I saw an older gentleman pull off the side of the road and grab a spotting scope. Upon driving past, I asked if he had saw any elk. He smiled and said, "About to look at some now. Pull off and join me?" We proceeded to glass about 15 cow and calves on the opposing mountainside. I mentioned how there was a low success rate in the area and asked how the population in the area is since it is so close to the Denver metro area. Laughing, he replied, "I've been hunting this unit for 40 years and I shoot a big one every year!" He gave me a few details of how to get to the opposite mountainside and proceeded on his way. I knew that mountainside would be where I was heading for opening day.
Fortunately, I have a buddy who decided to tag along with me for the big day. We got to the trailhead a little later than expected Friday, so we ended up camping at the truck. After struggling up the mountain at 4:45am Saturday morning, we finally arrived tired and out of breath 45 minutes after sunrise.
We got set up in a small group of trees where I had saw the cows the following weekend. After an hour, I decided we should move closer to the basin so that we could glass more of the area. As I am halfway across the clearing, a spike walks out 30 yards in front of me. Frozen, I stood there and let it walk within 12 yards before it fed on down the hill. The 5x5 bull that my buddy said was following him decided not to come our direction after another hunter spooked the spike a few minutes later.
That evening we were set up overlooking the same meadow. As 6:30pm approached, we watched as a 4x4 fed at the top of the mountain. As we were devising a strategy of how to approach him for a shot, I glanced off to our right and standing 200 yards away was a nice 5x5. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! As he fed out of sight, I slipped out of our make-shift blind and started my stalk. Having never tried spot and stalking an animal, I wasn't sure what to expect. Utilizing the natural tree cover, I keep small clusters of trees between him, leaving just enough so that I could see when his head was down and feeding. Halfway across, I stepped on a hidden branch and I swear I've never heard a noise so loud. Expected him to turn and run, I was devastated. For the second time that day, I was frozen with an elk staring right at me. I was relieved when he put his head back down and continued feeding. I stuck to my plan and slowly worked my way to 43.8 yards when I stepped out from behind a bush to range him.
I drew my Elite Energy 32, found my pin, settled on my anchor point, aimed at the opposite shoulder for the quartering away shot that had presented itself and let the arrow fly. As it made contact, I knew I had hit exactly where I was aiming. The arrow penetrated at least 20 inches before stopping at the other shoulder blade. I will never forget the sound the arrow made as it connected and he started running. He whirled around to run up the meadow, then realized he couldn't do that. He swung back around and went crashing through the woods. As the adrenaline and "Bull Fever" hit me, I was overwhelmed with emotion. My very first day of elk archery hunting and I had already arrowed a nice 5x5 bull. I thought to myself, "Why do yall always complain that this is so difficult?!?"
After nearly 45 minutes, we went to check for blood. There was decent blood where he entered the woods so we slowly started the tracking job. The bright red spray showed that I had connected with at least one lung, while the deep crimson drops showed that I had hit liver. We proceeded to bob and weave through the trees, tracking him for 4 hours that night before being too exhausted to continue. After a sleepless night, we arose at sunrise and continued along the blood-trail. He had continued his path downhill and past two water sources. As the day got longer, we could tell the arrow hole was starting to clot up, as he was brushing the clots off on branches in the dark timber. The blood slowly went from drops to specks, eventually running out completely. We continued searching until nearly 4 o'clock before having to call it quits. Needless to say, it was a heartbreaking experience and one that I will never forget. To those that have lost an animal, especially you first elk or bull, my heart goes out to you. I will never know why he didn't kill over in a few hundred yards as the blood-trail eluded. Perhaps it was the shot or something completely outside of my control. Either way it is not something I want to encounter again. As they say, "That's the nature of the beast." But it sure isn't fun when it happens to you. Best of luck to you all on your hunting adventures this season!
