Good job! What was the bow setup? (Lb and model)? Thinking of getting my wife a bow.
Hoyt Charger 54 lbs axix 500 arrows, 25 in draw.. montec 100 grain . She wrote a much better recap then I did-----
Big thanks to Paul and Brad for getting us into this secluded Washington wilderness and giving me the opportunity to hunt this bull.
At daybreak we soaked our clothes in elk piss and put our boots to good use. About a mile into our trek up to the first ridge line, we busted a herd of elk way too smart for our calls. With hopes still high, we forged on and made a trek up and down several canyons, through jack-firs, marsh, tall timber, and meadows for several miles. We set up several times to mimic a small herd milling about, but drew no interest from elk. After hiking into timber that we were sure hadn't seen a human for quite awhile, Brad handed me the keys to the truck and said, "I'm going to kill an elk." Being a logger, Brad can hike over extreme terrain, harder and faster than anyone I know, so that meant Paul and I had a choice, keep up, or turn around.
We were committed to find elk too, so we traversed another canyon that looked like perfect elk territory, following the elk trails all the way to the bottom, just to go right back up it. After several hours we took a quick 5 minute break on a landing that overlooked a convergence of canyons into a creek bottom and started mewing. After a few minutes we finally heard that subtle sound of elk talking back to us. We had several elk mewing and responding directly to our calls.
We quickly set up, with Brad at the top of the ridge, Paul and I moved about half way down the ridge on the edge of the re-prod. All of us calling and doing our best to sound like some happy cows that want some company. The snapping and popping of limbs and brush indicated the herd was interested in company too and was on their way to join us.
The only elk to show up was is gorgeous bull as he climbed out of the creek bottom and walked out in to the clearing to rake some ferns. Shortly thereafter he bedded down, so I started my ultra stealthy creep through the jack-firs towards him. As he faded in and out of sleep, he was still on alert. If I made a sound louder than a bird in the brush, he would flick his ears at me and stare. Although I had about 90 yards of brush between him and I still froze, sometimes on one leg, until he looked away. Muscles burning, I crept to within 40 yards of him. He stood up three times during that creep only to lay back down with his back to me. He caught me once with no cover in the FTD man pose, standing on my left leg, bow in left hand extended in front of me and my right arm holding onto the tree behind me, with my right leg in the air. Holding that pose for two minutes as the bull stared me down, I'm sure is why I can't do stairs easily today.
The bull showed his displeasure at my pose by barking at me and walked into the re-prod. I quickly got into my shooting position and started mewing. I heard Paul up the hill start mewing too, which brought the bull back out into the clearing giving me a broadside 40 yard shot.
My arrow sailed completely through him and instantly blood started pouring out of him. He ran a few yards and I stopped him with another mew, and drew for a second shot, but before I released, I heard a missile coming from up the hill as Paul's arrow punched right through him. He didn’t go far before I quickly sent another arrow to take his last breath.
I couldn't have asked for a more rewarding experience. This hunt had all my favorite elements of what makes me love hunting so much. Good friends, beautiful country, exhausting hikes, quick, clean kill, and rewarding harvest.
