Carnage2011
Well-known member
Last year I had what I would consider to be a great season. I harvested an ancient mule deer that was regressed and had exactly 3 total teeth, I was also fortunate enough to shoot a mature 6 point bull and a really solid antelope. However, at the end of the year I felt like I hadn’t done a great job in helping my family harvest anything. My wife shot a whitetail with her bow, but that was the only animal that she or my father got. So this year I set some goals: Help my wife get her first elk with a bow. Help my uncle find a mature mule deer. Make sure that my dad gets his first bull elk.
Fast forward to mid-April when Montana’s tag results come out, and we learn that my wife drew and archery elk permit. I immediately called my wife to give her the good news, and let he know that I’d make a few phone calls to friends in that area to try and gain some access. Of course she was ecstatic, but little did we know, this was only the beginning of the excitement!
A couple months later we find out that my uncle, best friend, and I had drawn 3rd season Colorado deer tags. I’d done countless hours of research on this unit and had high hopes that we could find some great deer. This unit contains about 50% private land, but I felt like that may give the deer a chance to grow up. It was shaping up to be a wonderful season with some great hunts planned.
Throughout the summer my wife and I made it up to scout for a total of 9 days. During that time we located some great bulls, and many that she would be happy to hang her tag on. She shot her bow religiously everyday out to 70 yards to be sure that she was comfortable at 40-50. We have an archery range down the road from our house that we would shoot together twice a week. In years past I would always out shoot her, but this year she gave me a few @ss kickins!
As the season finally rolled around we headed to the unit the Thursday before opening day. We got camp set up right at dark and settled in for the night. The next morning we were spotting at day break and found one of the bulls she wanted to shoot. Her excitement was building by the minute as we waited for the hours to pass until we could hunt. The next morning we set up on a natural funnel where I thought the bull might come through. Sure enough about an hour after daylight 5 bulls rolled through the funnel. The closest one was 22 yards and the farthest, and biggest was at 70 yards….well out of range. It was a great morning though and my wife was thrilled with the experience. That evening was slow, but still a great night out in the woods. The next morning we got setup on a different funnel and waited again. We could hear some bulls bugling below us and were confident that they would come through at some point. Well, it took almost 3 hours but they eventually made their way by us. The biggest bull was a solid 6 point in that 320” range that stopped and grazed broadside at 33 yards. I gave my wife the range and she never even lifted her bow. I was shocked as the bull walked through and she turned to tell me “he wasn’t what I am looking for.” I made it clear that this is archery hunting and she may not want to do that too many times. The next two days were filled with rain so we headed home as we both had to work for a couple days.
Friday rolled around and we were loaded up and headed back to our camping spot. We were late getting there and it was drizzling so we decided to grab a hotel for the night. At 4:00AM we were headed for the mountains to see what we could turn up. It wasn’t long after daylight and we were into elk. A beautiful six point was working 13 cows and my wife wanted to make a move on them. We slipped around a hill and worked up the backside of a knob that got us within 150 yards of the bull. I gave a couple soft cow calls and the bull was coming on a rope. I gave my wife ranges of 62, 57, 49, 41, and 36 before he finally stopped. He was staring a hole in me, head on the whole time. My wife hadn’t been able to draw as he was coming in so we tried to stay still and keep the bull calm. Little did we know and smaller bull had come in below us and eventually busted us….ending our morning hunt. What an encounter! We hiked out and headed for our camping spot.
We got to camp and started to set things up when I realized that I’d left the tent hanging in the garage. I’d hung it up there to dry after all the rain the weekend before and forgot to grab it before we left. If we hadn’t had such an awesome morning I’m sure my wife wouldn’t have been too thrilled with me. The good news was one of the other hunters that was camped there lived about 45 minutes away and had to run home to grab a few things so he brought a tent back for us.
That night we left about 3:30 to try and relocate the bull from that morning. The wind was howling which made it impossible to hear anything. We decided to slip off the edge of the hill and sit tight in hopes that it would die down closer to dark. Sure enough, at 6:00 in died down and actually became almost completely still. I let out a bugle and got a very distant answer. My wife and I hustled our way up the hill towards the bugle in hopes of cutting the distance in half. We stopped to listen again after about ten minutes of hiking and didn’t hear a peep. I decided to give it another bugle and sure enough he answered again, and we had gained some serious ground. Up the ridge we went again, and this time we had a much better idea where we wanted to be. Just as we were getting close I spotted a cow in the trees. She had seen movement but wasn’t sure what it was. She milled around and finally determined that there was danger and let out a couple barks. I cow called a few times to calm her down and she walked down the hill without making another sound.
Alright! Back to finding that bull. There was a small saddle ahead of us that would open up into a bowl on the backside and I thought the bull might be in it. We snuck our way up and peaked over and sure enough there he was! His head was buried in a tree about 250 yards across the bowl and he was destroying it! I threw the bino’s on him and could see that he had mass and some extra points on the back end. We took one more step and could see his cows were right underneath us in the bowl. My wife being the smart young lady that she is, declined the option of looking at the bull through her binos because she knew from my expression that he was a definite shooter. So, now we had the bull of a lifetime at 250 yards, his cows strung out from 80-200 yards and we needed to get in range. I told my wife that we should step to our right about 15 yards and get behind the rock outcroppings and see what the elk decided to do. As soon as we got behind them I looked down and a cow was coming through the saddle. I ranged her at 60 yards and hoped more elk would follow. About that time I could hear a strange noise coming from the bowl (the same sound that you hear when you drink too much water and then go for a run, water belly as I call it). All of a sudden I see tines coming through the saddle and the bull pops out. I give my wife a range of 35 yards and stop the bull with a cow call. She settles the pins and lets it fly! The arrow sails about 136’ over the bulls back and actually spooks the cow more than the bull! My wife instantly grabs another arrow and is ready to go again. The bull starts to run forward and arcs up towards the cow. I’m trying to get another cow call out but my adrenaline spikes and I can’t get anything other than a few awful grunts to come out! The bull grabs the cow and pushes her down into the saddle closer to us, and I compose myself enough to stop him again. 45 yards I tell my wife. She sends another one and it hits right in the 10 ring. The bull jumps and snaps the arrow off just below the fletchings. He takes off running through the bowl and stops on the other side. I can see blood on both sides of him, but not a ton. My wife is in a panic as the bull and all his cows walk off the backside of the ridge. We watched as all his cows and a small bull worked up out of the draw on the opposite hillside. I told my wife that she smoked him and that we needed to give him 30-45 minutes to make sure he expired. As we sat there I decided to go back to where she shot him and mark first blood. I made my way over there, grabbed her arrow and marked it on my GPS. When I got back to my wife she said she heard the bull crash and that he was gurgling below us. Sure enough about 2 minutes later I hear it and then a big crash. I turned to my wife and said “I think it’s over.” We waited another 15 minutes or so just to be safe and started making our way in there. The bull was wrapped up in a bunch of saplings and almost impossible to see. I made my wife walk up first and confirm that he was dead. As I watched this happen all of the emotions took over and I cried for the first time ever after a successful hunt. She pulled on the bulls right antler and couldn’t move it. I walked up and helped her pull him out of the trees. This bull was bigger than either of us realized. I gave my wife a hug and we tried to get a few pictures. Finally, we rolled him to the bottom and opened him up to cool so we could come back in the morning and pack him out.
It was the greatest hunt of my life, and there is no one that I would rather share it with. Goal number 1 was accomplished!
I’ll continue this tomorrow….
Fast forward to mid-April when Montana’s tag results come out, and we learn that my wife drew and archery elk permit. I immediately called my wife to give her the good news, and let he know that I’d make a few phone calls to friends in that area to try and gain some access. Of course she was ecstatic, but little did we know, this was only the beginning of the excitement!
A couple months later we find out that my uncle, best friend, and I had drawn 3rd season Colorado deer tags. I’d done countless hours of research on this unit and had high hopes that we could find some great deer. This unit contains about 50% private land, but I felt like that may give the deer a chance to grow up. It was shaping up to be a wonderful season with some great hunts planned.
Throughout the summer my wife and I made it up to scout for a total of 9 days. During that time we located some great bulls, and many that she would be happy to hang her tag on. She shot her bow religiously everyday out to 70 yards to be sure that she was comfortable at 40-50. We have an archery range down the road from our house that we would shoot together twice a week. In years past I would always out shoot her, but this year she gave me a few @ss kickins!
As the season finally rolled around we headed to the unit the Thursday before opening day. We got camp set up right at dark and settled in for the night. The next morning we were spotting at day break and found one of the bulls she wanted to shoot. Her excitement was building by the minute as we waited for the hours to pass until we could hunt. The next morning we set up on a natural funnel where I thought the bull might come through. Sure enough about an hour after daylight 5 bulls rolled through the funnel. The closest one was 22 yards and the farthest, and biggest was at 70 yards….well out of range. It was a great morning though and my wife was thrilled with the experience. That evening was slow, but still a great night out in the woods. The next morning we got setup on a different funnel and waited again. We could hear some bulls bugling below us and were confident that they would come through at some point. Well, it took almost 3 hours but they eventually made their way by us. The biggest bull was a solid 6 point in that 320” range that stopped and grazed broadside at 33 yards. I gave my wife the range and she never even lifted her bow. I was shocked as the bull walked through and she turned to tell me “he wasn’t what I am looking for.” I made it clear that this is archery hunting and she may not want to do that too many times. The next two days were filled with rain so we headed home as we both had to work for a couple days.
Friday rolled around and we were loaded up and headed back to our camping spot. We were late getting there and it was drizzling so we decided to grab a hotel for the night. At 4:00AM we were headed for the mountains to see what we could turn up. It wasn’t long after daylight and we were into elk. A beautiful six point was working 13 cows and my wife wanted to make a move on them. We slipped around a hill and worked up the backside of a knob that got us within 150 yards of the bull. I gave a couple soft cow calls and the bull was coming on a rope. I gave my wife ranges of 62, 57, 49, 41, and 36 before he finally stopped. He was staring a hole in me, head on the whole time. My wife hadn’t been able to draw as he was coming in so we tried to stay still and keep the bull calm. Little did we know and smaller bull had come in below us and eventually busted us….ending our morning hunt. What an encounter! We hiked out and headed for our camping spot.
We got to camp and started to set things up when I realized that I’d left the tent hanging in the garage. I’d hung it up there to dry after all the rain the weekend before and forgot to grab it before we left. If we hadn’t had such an awesome morning I’m sure my wife wouldn’t have been too thrilled with me. The good news was one of the other hunters that was camped there lived about 45 minutes away and had to run home to grab a few things so he brought a tent back for us.
That night we left about 3:30 to try and relocate the bull from that morning. The wind was howling which made it impossible to hear anything. We decided to slip off the edge of the hill and sit tight in hopes that it would die down closer to dark. Sure enough, at 6:00 in died down and actually became almost completely still. I let out a bugle and got a very distant answer. My wife and I hustled our way up the hill towards the bugle in hopes of cutting the distance in half. We stopped to listen again after about ten minutes of hiking and didn’t hear a peep. I decided to give it another bugle and sure enough he answered again, and we had gained some serious ground. Up the ridge we went again, and this time we had a much better idea where we wanted to be. Just as we were getting close I spotted a cow in the trees. She had seen movement but wasn’t sure what it was. She milled around and finally determined that there was danger and let out a couple barks. I cow called a few times to calm her down and she walked down the hill without making another sound.
Alright! Back to finding that bull. There was a small saddle ahead of us that would open up into a bowl on the backside and I thought the bull might be in it. We snuck our way up and peaked over and sure enough there he was! His head was buried in a tree about 250 yards across the bowl and he was destroying it! I threw the bino’s on him and could see that he had mass and some extra points on the back end. We took one more step and could see his cows were right underneath us in the bowl. My wife being the smart young lady that she is, declined the option of looking at the bull through her binos because she knew from my expression that he was a definite shooter. So, now we had the bull of a lifetime at 250 yards, his cows strung out from 80-200 yards and we needed to get in range. I told my wife that we should step to our right about 15 yards and get behind the rock outcroppings and see what the elk decided to do. As soon as we got behind them I looked down and a cow was coming through the saddle. I ranged her at 60 yards and hoped more elk would follow. About that time I could hear a strange noise coming from the bowl (the same sound that you hear when you drink too much water and then go for a run, water belly as I call it). All of a sudden I see tines coming through the saddle and the bull pops out. I give my wife a range of 35 yards and stop the bull with a cow call. She settles the pins and lets it fly! The arrow sails about 136’ over the bulls back and actually spooks the cow more than the bull! My wife instantly grabs another arrow and is ready to go again. The bull starts to run forward and arcs up towards the cow. I’m trying to get another cow call out but my adrenaline spikes and I can’t get anything other than a few awful grunts to come out! The bull grabs the cow and pushes her down into the saddle closer to us, and I compose myself enough to stop him again. 45 yards I tell my wife. She sends another one and it hits right in the 10 ring. The bull jumps and snaps the arrow off just below the fletchings. He takes off running through the bowl and stops on the other side. I can see blood on both sides of him, but not a ton. My wife is in a panic as the bull and all his cows walk off the backside of the ridge. We watched as all his cows and a small bull worked up out of the draw on the opposite hillside. I told my wife that she smoked him and that we needed to give him 30-45 minutes to make sure he expired. As we sat there I decided to go back to where she shot him and mark first blood. I made my way over there, grabbed her arrow and marked it on my GPS. When I got back to my wife she said she heard the bull crash and that he was gurgling below us. Sure enough about 2 minutes later I hear it and then a big crash. I turned to my wife and said “I think it’s over.” We waited another 15 minutes or so just to be safe and started making our way in there. The bull was wrapped up in a bunch of saplings and almost impossible to see. I made my wife walk up first and confirm that he was dead. As I watched this happen all of the emotions took over and I cried for the first time ever after a successful hunt. She pulled on the bulls right antler and couldn’t move it. I walked up and helped her pull him out of the trees. This bull was bigger than either of us realized. I gave my wife a hug and we tried to get a few pictures. Finally, we rolled him to the bottom and opened him up to cool so we could come back in the morning and pack him out.
It was the greatest hunt of my life, and there is no one that I would rather share it with. Goal number 1 was accomplished!
I’ll continue this tomorrow….
Thanks for sharing.
