First Ever Bull Elk!!!!

[stickbuck]

I was very hesitant to post this in fear of what all the internet police would say about the sequence of events that transpired during this hunt, but I just couldn’t take it any longer and felt the need to post this after such an exciting and rewarding hunt. Sometimes, as you will read later in the story, elk fever sometimes gets the best of you and plays tricks on your mind. I have been hunting since I was 12 and have harvested some very nice animals over the years. After gun hunting for elk for the first 8 years of my hunting career, I opted to change over to archery in 1997. Since 1997, I have harvested three cows and missed multiple opportunities at killing my very first bull elk. I can playback in my head as if it was yesterday the three spikes that I have missed and the multiple spikes I have passed on during the years that I had drawn bull tags in our unit. I have continually hunted the same spot since 1997 and have come very accustomed to the habits of the animals in our area and what they do and when they do it. This year, I was very confident that I could make it happen and hopefully get my dad on his first elk in quite some time. On September 6th as I was packing all of our gear into the tent trailer and making the last minute preparations of packing, my dad explained to me that he would not be coming with me to start the hunt as he had on every other hunt since my youth. My grandfather who is now well into his 80’s, has been stricken with dementia and was going to be moving into an adult care facility on the 7th, the day of our departure for elk camp. I was completely bummed out and was wavering on what to do and when to leave. Talking it over, it was decided that I would leave as planned early on the morning of the 7th and head to setup camp and dad would be just a day or two behind me. With the multiple road closures in and around our unit, I knew it would be a long shot to get the camp spot as we always have in years past. I departed just after 8am on the 7th and with great anticipation for the hunt and adventure, I was off alone. To say the least, the wife was not very thrilled that I was going alone, but I promised her I would be safe and not take any chances being an 45 minutes from the nearest cell service. Just after 11am, I arrived in the vicinity of our camp and instantly started to sweat wondering if anybody was in our spot. As I rounded the corner, it became clear to me that our spot was empty and that I was going to get our annual spot. For the next few hours, I set up camp alone and it just did not feel the same. I had the urge to park the trailer and start hunting immediately, but I knew what dad would say so I took my time and setup camp to his liking not knowing when he would arrive. After camp was set, I proceeded to gather my gear and get dressed in my camo for the first evening hunt of the trip. It was hot and in the mid 80’s, but my confidence for the hunt was at an all time high. After getting dressed, I jumped in the truck and drove the short distance to my take off point. For as long as I can remember, the same guys camped at the end of the road had been there since Labor Day weekend. They explained that hunting had been a little slow with the heat, but the animals were there and it was only a matter of time before the rut really kicked in. After an hour or so of catching up with the guys, I started the trek up the hill to our spot. Walking in, I could not believe the amount of sign on the trail and on the road. The area we hunt is predominantly north-facing timber with north facing clearcuts. With all the dry weather, I was baffled at how green everything still was 4000 feet. This just seemed to get my blood pumping even more. About an hour after leaving the pickup, I had arrived at our spot up in the timber on this little bench. Two years ago, I had salted the bench in two different areas five feet apart and both of those areas had now become two large craters where the animals frequently came to get their fix of salt. Even though it was long gone, the amount of salt that had leached into the soil was still enough to draw them in. It was pretty awesome to see just how deep of holes they had dug. Upon arriving at the bench, I changed my shirt and put on some fresh camo and proceeded to spray down with my favorite scent killer. After spraying down and putting my facemask on, I reached for the Dead Down Wind mouth spray to freshen up my mouth odor. I took the cap off of the spray and pumped at least four to five sprays into my mouth and almost puked immediately. I could not figure out what the ‘F’ had just happened as I was looking at the bottle. It was at that moment, that I read the words, “odorless oil” on the bottle. As I was spitting out all of this oil, I was instantly trying to drink as much Powerade as I could to get this horrible taste out of my mouth. The taste went away a little bit, but definitely lingered for the remainder of that night’s hunt. As I sat there, I just couldn’t figure out what had happened. It then hit me, when I was walking through the aisles of Cabela’s picking up the items I had needed, my one and half year old daughter was stuffing the basket with every product in every aisle. Not paying attention, I had put back the mouth spray and kept the odorless oil that she had placed in the cart. I am pretty sure, I will be paying a little more attention next time I take a one and three year old shopping with me. As the sun started to fade behind the mountain, I knew that I should probably make my way out since there was not too much activity at our spot. As I neared the clearcut on my way out, I was shocked to see elk tracks all over the trail that I had just walked up a few hours before. I guess I should have stayed with my gut that night instead of walking to the top of the ridge. Even though I hadn’t gotten into any elk that night, I was still very excited for the days to come with the amount of sign that I was seeing. After the hour walk back to the truck, I arrived back to camp at almost 9pm. It was so quiet that night and I was trying to make the adjustments of being there alone without dad. After a quick dinner, I headed up the hill to call home and let dad know that I had secured our spot. At around 11pm, I got back to camp and settled in for a very short night’s sleep. When the alarm went off at 3:45am on the 8th, it was tough getting up. I hadn’t heard a single bugle during the night, which is very strange for that area. After getting my clothes on and eating a quick breakfast comprised of two granola bars and a Diet Coke, I was in the truck heading towards the trailhead. As usual, I made the trek to the edge of the timber arriving just at first light. After not hearing any cows mewing in the clearcut, I headed up to the bench just several minutes later. I arrived at the bench at 6:20am and set up and instantly started cow calling. It was almost instantly that I heard what sounded like a single elk moving on the uphill side of the bench. It grew louder, but it just wasn’t coming very quickly. The thermals were still in my favor so I knew that my wind would be perfect. At that time, I realized that what sounded like a squirrel below me had materialized into a 280-290 bull standing broadside at 52 yards. Unfortunately, he was downwind of me and I knew he only had to walk another 20 yards at the most before winding me. This bull was pushing four cows directly towards me when they stopped trying to identify where the calls were coming from. He proceeded to walk directly past where they were standing to come investigate. Of course I didn’t have a bull tag and had to pass the shot as he approached. Without fail, he got to that magical spot and the woods exploded as the bull and his cows headed away from me. I instantly hit the two Hoochie Mama calls and slowed them to a walk as they departed my line of vision. As the sounds of those elk faded, the branches started breaking and cracking up the hill again. Moments later, a giant spike walked out 40 yards away but was severely quartering to me and was covered by a ton of brush and limbs so I had to wait. With the wind still in my favor, he proceeded to continue my way to find the source of the calls. I grabbed the rangefinder and ranged the spot that I thought he would walk down. I ranged the tree at exactly 20 yards and waited for him to step into view. As he stepped behind a giant beetle killed fir tree, I came to fall draw. I was somewhat composed knowing that I was seconds away from ending this chapter in my hunting career. It was at that moment that the big spike bull decided he would stand behind that tree for what seemed like five minutes even though it was probably only a minute and a half. At this point, I was shaking but still focused as he stepped from behind the tree. I put my 20-yard pin directly behind the shoulder and let the arrow fly. I instantly knew that I had shot low as the bull spun 180 degrees and started crashing away from me. I cow called and got him to stop, but 40 yards and tons of brush was not worth the second shot. I couldn’t believe it, I had ranged it and everything and I had just blown a chip shot. After sitting in there in shock for several minutes, I decided to grab my bow and go look for my arrow. When I arrived at the spot where he was standing, my heart sank. He was standing on a trail 8 yards behind the tree that I had just ranged and to top it off, I was shooting uphill at a fairly good angle. I ranged from where he was standing to where I had shot from and I kept coming up with 28 yards. I couldn’t believe that I had blown what may be the only chance I would get during the trip. I pulled myself together mentally and started looking for the arrow. After a brief search, I reached down and grabbed my arrow that was buried halfway into the duff and placed it back into my quiver. Still trying to reel my mental state back to normal, I sat down on the nearest log and started cow calling simultaneously with both calls. It took only about ten minutes and I could hear some movement up the hill coming from the direction where that spike had just walked off to and out of my sight. I hit the calls again and another spike bull was closing in on me fast. This time I didn’t have time to range him and being on flat ground, I was positive that he was at 20 yards. I came to full draw as he walked behind a tree and quickly came into view. I released the arrow and instantly heard a large branch snap just before striking the bull. I watched as that arrow hit high in the shoulder and I knew that my arrow had smacked a branch in flight deflecting it high into the shoulder. Knowing that this would be trouble, I quickly knocked another arrow as I cow called. The bull just stood there with half my arrow in him. I had no second shot at the time and the bull started to stumble down the hill towards me when he collapsed behind a large downfall only ten yards away. With the size of the downfall, I could only see the top of his back. Not knowing whether or not he had expired, I elected to sit down and wait 30 minutes or so. I sat down facing downhill with my back to the bull. I am not sure the reason behind it, but that is just the way I chose to sit at the time. Five minutes later, I heard a branch break behind me and I turn around to see my bull standing up. I instantly reached for my bow, nocked an arrow and came to full draw. As he stood with blood pumping out of the first hit, I let go with the final blow at just yards. He instantly fell to the ground and you could hear all the air exit the lungs. I could not believe it, I had just killed my first ever bull elk. I was in complete awe of how beautiful he was. I know he was just a spike, but my lifelong goal of killing a bull with a bow had been reached. Reality started to set in when I looked at my phone and saw that it was already 8am and I knew that it was supposed to be 90 degrees down in the valley. I had a lot of work ahead of me so I quickly got him gutted and skinned out. I got him tagged and loaded the head onto my pack and headed for camp only 2.5 miles away so I could drop my bow, change my clothes and grab a pack frame. Only 70 yards from the kill site, a single cow stood in her bed at only 35 yards from my position before crashing down the hill. I got back to camp and told the story to the guys before heading back up for trip number two. At approximately 11am, I arrived up to the edge of the timber. As I approached the trail into the timber, I looked to my left to see two cows stand up from their beds and stare at me from just 30 yards. Why don’t they ever do this when you are hunting?    After they made their way back into the timber, I got up to my bull and proceeded to continue to get him all quartered out. I hung the two hindquarters on a tree stand step 30 yards from the kill site and I placed the two front shoulders on a downed log near them as well. I loaded the tenderloins, flanks, rib and neck meat into a game bag and hung it from a tree near the other quarters. After that was all done, I loaded the pack frame. Knowing that I was on my own for this pack, I elected to load a front shoulder and a hindquarter onto the pack frame. This was going to suck. I have done this with smaller cows before, but I have never done this with such a larger animal. The pack out was hell and every time I sat down, I contemplated taking the front shoulder off the pack frame and hanging it up for another trip but I continued on until I made it down to the creek by camp. After arriving down to the creek near camp at almost 3pm, I quickly took the pack off and almost collapsed. I meandered my way over to our friend’s camp and found that they too had killed a spike a few hours before. After celebrating with several Mirror Pond’s a few shots of Pendleton, I headed back up the hill for the daunting task of pack #3. For the third trip, I had planned to hike out just the last remaining hindquarter and leave the remaining front shoulder and game bag until the following morning when dad and I would return to get it. As I approached the halfway mark to my spot, the infamous thunderstorm of September 8, 2012 was knocking at the door. The sky was getting extremely dark and rain started to fall as lightning proceeded to strike very closely. Anybody that experienced the storm that day will understand when I say that it was one of the most jaw dropping thunderstorms that I had ever seen. I continued up the hill, but only after I took the metal pack frame off my back and decided that it was in my best interest to carry it instead of wear it.  I arrived back to the kill site and started loading up the pack frame. It was then that I had realized that I had forgotten about the hanging tenders. I ran over to the carcass and scattered all the camp robbers that were getting their fill. I reached in an they were ice cold and not sitting in any blood so I cut them out and added them to the big game bag full of meat. Due to the fact that it was starting to rain fairly hard, I knew that I did not want to leave that meat up there and risk getting it all wet during the night. Instead of loading just the hindquarter, I loaded up the front and the rear and strapped it down. As I put the pack on for the suicide mission down the hill, I glanced to my left and saw the game bag full of straps, neck, etc. still sitting there. Not being able to strap it to the pack frame, I elected to carry the game bag in my arms like a baby. Along with packing out a front and a rear and carrying 25-30 pounds in my arms, this was literally going to test my will and determination. I think knowing that I had killed my first bull really helped me get through it. At 8:50pm, I crossed the creek near camp and almost collapsed as I dropped the pack and the game bag full of meat. I still don’t get how I did it, but it was a huge relief when I was done. After more high fives and I made the drive up the hill to call home and spread the news of my success. The wife and my dad were elated. During the conversation with my dad, he explained that there were further delays with my grandpa and that he didn’t know if he would make it until mid-week. With too much doubt, I broke camp on the 9th and headed back home. With a second deer tag to fill in Central Washington, I arrived back home just in time to spend some time with the wife and kids before departing for my doe hunt/late Alta muzzy scouting trip on Tuesday the 11th. A big thanks goes out to my wife for being so understanding once again during the hunting season. Only 11 months left until next elk season!!! Wow, sorry this was so long of a story.


I don't think I could even explain how excited I was to finally put my hands on a bull that I killed. 


A pic of a front and a rear on the pack frame during trip 2 of 3.  I definitely feel my age and will be in much better shape next elk season.


A pic of the thunderstorm that swept across Central Washington on the night of the 8th.

[Dan-o]

BIG contrats to you!

[Bluesdude]

great story and congrats on your first bull!!!!! 

[elkoholic1]

awesome bull!   congrats   

[NWBREW]

And that's how it's done hunting alone. Congrats on a job well done.

[carpsniperg2]

Congrats on your first bull. One tip for ya that might help on all of your animal. You can take those bottom chunks of the legs off at the knee's or the joints in the back. It will save you a good bit of weight with a big animal like a elk. No need to pack that extra hoof and bone. That's probably another 10lbs or so of weight on those bigger animals. I don't have a good video of it but I am going to try to make one this year. I know a lot of guys that pack hatchets or saws just to take the legs off. Or they pack them out like you did. It will save some weight in your packs for the next time you knock a big critter down.

[buglebuster]

  congrats

[combs338]

Great job!!! Way to get after it on the pack out. Beast Mode!

[stickbuck]

Carp, my thoughts exactly. I have since invested in a collapsible bow saw that's very compact so I can avoid in the future. That dang saw in the Kodi-Pak couldn't quite handle the job.

[johnnyaustin44]

Awesome

[carpsniperg2]

Carp, my thoughts exactly. I have since invested in a collapsible bow saw that's very compact so I can avoid in the future. That dang saw in the Kodi-Pak couldn't quite handle the job.

Been there before My buddy that is a mobile slaughter guy saw some of my pics when I was about 15. He then said WTH why you packing that junk out. He Made me do a few of the legs on the beef we were having done. Over the years it has saved me a lot of weight in my packs!!!! I will do a youtube video this year for everyone.

[pianoman9701]

Great story and a nice first bull. Thanks for the share. Boning out your quarters is pretty easy and will eliminate about 40-50 lbs of total weight. YouTube is a great source for how to do this.

[Austrian Hunter]

 

[bearpaw]

great story and congrats to you for your first bull... 

[rosscrazyelk]

Big congrats to you. Now it gets easy