Sorry for the delay, guys. Who knew leaving the wife, kids, and work for nine days would hold someone up from writing a story. Now, on to the hunt.
We started off with a short 28 hour drive from South Alabama. Our final destination was near the town of Rangely, CO. We hunted with an outfitter, whom we been to a few times and have become great friends with. Its not a Solo/DIY hunt, but hopefully in time, I'll get there like some of the elk killers on here.
Day 1 consisted of hanging around camp and shooting the bows as we weren't planned to hunt until the following day. I'm shooting the Carbon Spyder turbo @ 60# and MBG Ascent 3 pin sight. I built some GT XTHunters 400s with a 50 grain inserts and 125 grain Magnus buzzcuts. I also fletched my arrows with 3" fusion vanes with wraps provided by onestringer. This will be my first hunt with this new rig.
Day 2: The hunt Begins. My brother and I started off behind the camp with our guide Cody. He's a real cool dude, who we have become real good friends with. The temps seemed a little bit warmer this morning and the bulls were quiet at first light. After 45 minutes or so the bulls began to wake and make their presence known. After a few bugles from Cody, we had a bull answer and he was coming fast! My brother and I got set up and knocked an arrow. "I can't believe this happening on the first morning" I thought. With bow in hand, I was ready take on what was behind those pine trees. Then, as soon as he came in, the wind changed and he was gone. All I saw of this bull were his legs but I'm sure he was a 365" 7x7 : ). This was the excitement of the first morning's hunt. That afternoon, I sat on a well used waterhole in anticipation of a large bull coming in for a drink. The evening's hunt was uneventful, except for one cow and three coyotes, who decided to pay the water a visit. Uneventful it seemed, I was still in beautiful Elk country and enjoying every second of it. As I walked back to main road, bulls began to bugle all around me and knew that tomorrow would be a great day.
Day 3: We made our way farther north into the property and at first light we were immediately surrounded by sights and sounds of the majestic Elk. Its time to get it ON! We made our way towards the group of elk. What a sight and sound it was. Bulls were screaming, cows were mewing/chirping and my heart was pounding. We decided not to call as we were in stealth mode. We closed the distance within 80 yards of a great 6x6 but eventually he turned and went the opposite direction. Then, I was able to close the distance on a heavy 5x5 at 52 yards. He was quartered to me and the brush was too high. Being the second morning, I elected not to take the shot and admired the morning's show. After the elk receded from their rendezvous point in the flat, I noticed they stopped by a little pond for a drink. The elk then ventured up to the quakies to bed for the day. I think I might visit this pond in the afternoon. Evening's hunt: We made our way back out into the general area around 4:30. All the elk activity we witnessed that morning was nowhere to be seen or heard. Its still early and due to the rising temps the elk were going to make a later appearance. We decided to make a big loop around this section due to the wind direction and try to find some elk. Well, no elk were present but we did manage to see a great mule deer and this peaked my interest for an upcoming hunt : ) We decided to change our game plan and focus on the little pond for the rest of the evening's hunt. It was an hour before dark and a few bugles were singing through the quakies; it just felt right. The bugles began to get nearer and louder and I knew soon enough somebody would make their presence known. All of sudden I caught a glimpse a bull walking through the trees and heading my way! As he made his way down the little valley, he let out an awesome gnarly bugle. "Its going to happen", I thought. This is why I practiced shooting my bow all year. This is why i researched elk hunting literature, videos and especially Bowsite. The bull walked along waters edge and decided to take a drink, while facing me at 40 yards. He then proceeded to walk in and splash his front hoof, while facing me. I knew it was a matter of time before he would give me the shot. He then decides to lay down and cool of in the water. All the while I'm thinking how awesome it is to witness this but he's still offering me NO shot. "As soon as he acts likes he's going to turn, I'm going to draw and shoot him at 35 yards", I thought to myself. Well, he decided to turn, but it was an immediate U turn and walked right out of the pond. I drew quick, put my pin on him and released. All in one precise, fluid motion. Then, I watched the arrow hit further back than I intended.
I wasn't so sure of my shot placement. My brother and Cody were watching the whole thing and reassured me it was a good hit. The bulls reaction was as if he didn't know what happened and just walked back up the valley as he came. We discussed the shot and kept quiet and listened but heard nothing. We moved a little (15-20 feet) to our west to see if we could see anything and Cody noticed the bull standing in the brush about 100 yards away. He was hurt bad but alert. We decided to ease out and pick up the trail early next morning. I wasn't going to get much sleep that night.
The following morning we made it to the waterhole to look for sign. I could've swore my arrow passed through but no arrow was on the ground. Next step was to look for blood and that resulted in nothing as well. We decided to take up a main trail that led to the little valley. All this time I'm thinking about how I screwed up the shot and how I'm going to explain to the wife that I won't be bringing home any elk meat. Only 10 minutes go by in the search and Cody (who is 50 yards ahead of us) gives us a cow call. "Maybe he found some blood", I thought. So we meet back up and Cody has a concerned look on his face. I didn't have a good feeling about this meeting. Cody began to say "Well, I think the best thing we can do is go back to the camp and round up some guys to do a grid search or we can go to elk because he's laying right there!!!" What an awesome feeling knowing that we found my elk. Words can't describe how I felt as I walked/ran up to this magnificent animal. Something I'll never forget. He's a nice 6x6 and only went 200 yards from where I shot him. He ended up being more quartered away at the shot than I thought. The arrow entered in front of the left ham but buried all the way to the fletching. Catching intestines, Liver, diaphragm, and back of lung.
As I finish up my Wild Turkey 101 it looks like I'll write up the Mule Deer Story tomorrow. Its another hunt that I will not soon forget.
Congrats!
Best of Luck, Jeff
Mark
FYI the mule deer is a "3x4 with eye guards" not the whitetail count where everything pokey gets counted. Its a nice buck.
DJ
How did your brother do on his hunt/hunts?
Congratulations and thanks for sharing
