My son Michael is not on Hunt WA
and asked me to share his story of our hunt this year.... I love seeing him grow up and learn some of life'smost important lessons while on the mountains with great people... here is his story as he sent it to me .....
True Joy... This is my story,
For months all I could hear my dad (BrianMTSinc) say is how excited he was for this hunt… “Finally going to get a monster!”.
I serve as a Corpsman in the US Navy (previously stationed on the east coast) and I was extremely disappointed that I couldn't make it for the early archery season.
The time of year that I look forward to more than any other. It is the one time of year that for two weeks, it is just myself, my dad, a few good friends, and archery elk hunting. I can’t tell you how appreciative I am for all the memories that I have with my dad that I will hold onto forever. So you can imagine how excited I was to find out that I picked up orders to Kitsap Naval base just in time to finally go up in the elk woods!!
The excitement woke my dad up at 0445. After having a cup of coffee, we finally rolled out of camp around 6 o’clock. There were so many elk the day before, the hardest part was to decided which direction to head. Finally deciding which way to start our hunt we took off. Our first play of the morning was a screamer from the night before. He would come in, we would set up, then he must’ve winding us because he ran up hill. So we chased him. We repositioned, set up and yet again he would head up hill. TrophyHunt said, “He’s just right up there” (400 yards and a 800 ft elevation change.) !!
. You can guess what we did next…
BrianB and myself were calling. Finally we were closing the distance! We thought that BrianMTS and Trophy were in parallel to us on the hill and we were pulling the bull on a string. Next thing I noticed some movement in the tress. There standing sixty yards away on the other side of the draw, probably the biggest bull I’ve ever seen up close. But he didn’t stop there. He crossed the draw right to us!! All I saw was the whites of his rack at 10 yards from the other side of this finger. He spooked, and just walked up the hill away from us.
We finally made contact w/ Trophyhunt and BrianMTS and told them to get up the hill as fast as they could. When they finally got up the hill, we could hear the bull scream again from just a few hundred yards away, but they were tired and we took a quick break.
20 minutes later and a candy bar split 3 ways we took off after TrophyHunts curiosity for "what’s over the next ridge". We climb another few hundred yards and get into another 3/4 bulls. It’s the same play- set up and pull them in. It didn’t happen then, so again we took off following TrophyHunt
up.
It was something like a dream. The bedroom. BrianMTS and Trophy hunter go out 40 yards down the trail and BrianB and I stay back to call. There were so many elk all around us!!! Brian and I counted 6-7 bulls and all sounded like there within 200 yards from us. Just to our right up through a thicket we can hear a bull breathing and crunching of sticks under his feet. BrianB and I didn’t know what to do. Do we keep calling? What bull did they decide to go for? I never thought that I would get frustrated as a caller when 7 bulls are screaming at each other! Almost an hour goes by and we decide to meet up again and regroup. We learn that BrianMTS passed on a 5 pt and that they got eyes on a big bull...
We decided to continue down a highway of a game trail toward a bull that sounded like a monster, but we couldn’t make anything happen. I remember asking my dad what time it was “5:30 pm” he said. There was about another 45 minutes left before we needed to head down the mountain…. Again we were at a cross roads, what bull do we go after?
Yet again, we chase TrophyHunts desire to know what’s over the next ridge.
Thankfully we did! After climbing another 100 yards, BrianB blows a couple estrus calls and this bull just let off this angry, raspy bugle. My dad sees him on the other side of the draw, pulls out his binos, “he’s a shooter!!” its Game time! BrianB calls this huge 5x5 right in on a string! As this 5x5 is literally running to the call, another bull is coming up from below with us as the epicenter!!! I can see over this little tree I’m standing in behind and there was the 5x5 just standing there less than 100 yards away from me! I knew my dad must’ve had the shot.. Shoot… shoot…I am thinking… why aren’t you shooting?!?!’
This great 5x5 walked away…. ‘how could he have passed on that bull?!’ BrianB interrupted my thought, “big bull on our left!… Don’t move!.. “ he whispered! BOOM!!! The cloud of white smoke filled the air! A squeal of excitement came from my dad just on the other side of the ridge.
‘Did you get him?!’
“I think so.. Yeah, I got him!!!”
It was a 70 yard shot, on an incline that would make most mothers sick, off shoulder without sticks and he laced him!!! It was an amazing shot!!!!
Just after any shot, every minute seems like hours!!! The track job was easy. We found him just 50 yards away!!! After some pictures, we thought we would drag him whole down the hill, we made it a few hundred yards right into a creek bed… thats where we decided to take care of business. Mind you, the sun was just setting, we had 2 head lights, an expensive flashlight, and a cheap flashlight (that I obviously got stuck with)
. The head came out with us that night and we left everything else for the morning. “10:23pm” my dad said and off we went back down this mountain we just climbed. TrophyHunt is a beast!!! That is no joke!
I thought I could run up the elk woods better than most but not like this man! He led the trail out guiding us away from cliffs and picking the right path to get out in one piece. Only after BrianMTS falling about 5 times... BrainMTS, BrianB, TrophyHunt and myself finally hit the road two hours later. We were met at the road by family and friends. The celebrations can finally begin!! The picture of my dad and I, "True joy" my dad describes it... I couldn't have said it better... True Joy.
I couldn’t have asked for a better experience! My dad and I have talked about going high country elk hunting for as long as I can remember. A check off the bucket list.
A memory that I won’t ever forget! A huge thank you to all those who helped my dad accomplish a dream of his. Thank you TrophyHunt for having the desire and passion to see “what is over the next hill”. BrianB thank you for letting me call with you, teaching me the ropes, and sharpening my calling skills. BrianMTS, my dad, thank you for all the memories from when I was a kid and fighting me to get out of bed at 5 in the morning, the patience of teaching me how to be a skilled hunter, and all the money you’ve spent over the years buying new bows for me and all the lost arrows. lol
Your passion for the sport is contagious! This is one memory that I will forever cherished. Words can’t express how thankful I am.
