Location: Somewhere in the elk woods
Hunt Pressure Status: Minimal
Hunt: Partner Hunt
Tag: Archery; 3 PT or better bull
Allrighty then! You and your buddy are having an epic year. Your buddy dropped a really nice 5 point on the second day of the season and it’s currently down at the wild game processor chilling till your hunt is over. On this fine day in the elk woods, you’re working up a large NE facing side hill that contains all the classic elk habitat (benches, plenty of water including several seeps with wallows, and some known bedding areas).. and..... you’re pretty sure it contains elk. As you head up the sidehill, wind in your snouts, before daylight….. you hear a big boy singing his song and it sounds like he’s moving from right to left. Up, up the hillside you go like a couple of roosters with an itch keeping track of the singer best you can from his vocalization. Yep, sounds like he’s moving from feed to bed somewhere higher on the hill. Move quickly, listen, move quickly, listen…… and BAM… you hear Bullwinkle coming from right to left, seemingly coming towards you and the edge of the bench you just set up on…
OK, back to the moment in the image. From right to left, here come the gals….. one, two, three, five cows moving with a purpose across the semi open bench and “SCREAMMMMM” comes from behind them and you see the battle worn antlers coming behind the cows. Shooter is set up and draws his bow as soon as the bull clears the brush and steps into the opening (shooter is 35 yards from the bull). Caller is back down the hill a bit, probably 50 yards from where the bull stands now. The cows and the bull are unaware of the hunters up to this point. And………… DANG IT, your buddy, the caller blasts out a loud nervous bark/grunt, stopping the bull in his tracks! Your buddy shoulda waited a bit longer to toot his horn but oh well, it is what it is and as the shooter in this situation….. your “shoot or no shot” moment is at hand. Shoot or no shot here?
If you're shooting, save the picture to your desktop and open in MS Paint, then place a spot, X, or whatever on the critter before you save it back to a jpg or png and add the marked up pic with your post.
