J
JOHUNT
Guest
Let me start by saying, this was my first archery elk hunt(big game archery hunt in general) and maybe one of the easier elk hunts I have been on. I was definitely spoiled on bow hunting for elk on this one.
Weeks of glassing and scouting paid off on this hunt. I glassed this bull as well as 5 or 6 other bulls Friday night. We marked their position with a GPS as best as we could and made a plan to get on them the next morning. We hiked in a little early Saturday morning and listened to at least 4 of the bulls bugling in the canyons right where we had put them to bed the night before. As soon as we had enough light, we moved in slowly and spotted the bigger bull moving on to the next ridge ahead of us. We moved back to the head of the canyon and followed the bull's bugles form canyon to canyon until I thought they had hung up enough to try to move in on them.
We had moved down the ridge and were in the middle of a group of bulls and a large group of cows. within 2 minutes, a small 5x5 walked within 20 yards of us, but I could only watch him walk away up the ridge knowing there was a bigger bull in the group. After sitting, calling and listening to this bull scream all around us for at least 10 minutes, I caught a glimpse of tines moving towards an opening in the scrub oak. I drew back, stopped him at 35 yards slightly quartering to and slipped a perfect arrow in behind his shoulder bone. He went 75 yards and piled up. He is my biggest bull to date and I couldn't be happier with him
First, a slight re-creation shot
Weeks of glassing and scouting paid off on this hunt. I glassed this bull as well as 5 or 6 other bulls Friday night. We marked their position with a GPS as best as we could and made a plan to get on them the next morning. We hiked in a little early Saturday morning and listened to at least 4 of the bulls bugling in the canyons right where we had put them to bed the night before. As soon as we had enough light, we moved in slowly and spotted the bigger bull moving on to the next ridge ahead of us. We moved back to the head of the canyon and followed the bull's bugles form canyon to canyon until I thought they had hung up enough to try to move in on them.
We had moved down the ridge and were in the middle of a group of bulls and a large group of cows. within 2 minutes, a small 5x5 walked within 20 yards of us, but I could only watch him walk away up the ridge knowing there was a bigger bull in the group. After sitting, calling and listening to this bull scream all around us for at least 10 minutes, I caught a glimpse of tines moving towards an opening in the scrub oak. I drew back, stopped him at 35 yards slightly quartering to and slipped a perfect arrow in behind his shoulder bone. He went 75 yards and piled up. He is my biggest bull to date and I couldn't be happier with him
First, a slight re-creation shot
