Well let’s start where I last left off.
After running around the big herd that had the herd bull I never got eyes on, and another decent satellite bull. I decided to pull out and not to push them anymore that evening, as I didn’t want to push them onto private property or across the river. My buddy was going to come up for the final day of my hunt to help me out, so I figured we could try to hit the herd again. So back to my hotel for dinner an a couple beers while I look back at my encounter thinking what I could have done differently… Hindsight always 20/20 right? Made for a tough night sleep with my mind racing, also knowing I only had one day left to seal the deal.
The next morning I am up way before sunrise, watching a clear cut near the area I had last encountered the elk. My buddy was on his way but wouldn’t make it until about mid day, so I decided I would wait for him to go in after the herd from the previous day. So after a couple hours of watching the clear cut and scouting onX maps some more, I decided I would go farther back in and try a spot my dad had told me used to hold elk back in the day (80s & 90s). I get to the end of the drivable roads and see an old overgrown road to walk, why not, I have a couple hours to kill. Only a couple hundred yards down the road I run across two cows, just feeding and they didn’t seem to mind me. So I kept moving slowly down the road watching for more elk, I hear a faint bugle off in the timber to my left… Game on! I wasn’t going to give this bull the chance to round up his cows and move on like the ones the day prior.
I bust through some thick brush to get about 50 yards into the massive old growth timber, Stop and let out a couple excited cow calls. After about a minute I began raking a nearby tree and stomping some downed branches, followed by the meanest sounding bugle I could make.. followed by a frenzy of cow calls. I will tell you what, he did not take kindly to that one bit! He screamed right back at me during my cow calls. Knowing how the herd bull had responded to me the day before, I didn’t want this bull to have any time to do anything other than to turn and come defend his cows. So following his bugle I ran straight towards him…moving fairly quickly and quietly on the mossy floor of the rainforest. After about 75 yards I stop behind a tree and rip off another bugle followed by my frenzy of cow calls. He bugled back immediately and is noticeably closer (Me still thinking he is about 100-150 yards away). My brain knows that in the dense forest he was probably closer than that, but my adrenaline was letting my ears play tricks on me. I run straight at him towards him again.. bugle in one hand, rifle in the other. I get about 50 yards into my charge and boy do I get a surprise! 35 yards in front of me, here he comes busting his way through some alders! I froze.. I didn’t even focus on his antlers plowing through the brush, I just knew he was a shooter. I throw my bugle into the ferns (Had to retrieve that later which took me awhile to find LOL) and pulled up my rifle. Again, thinking back to the day prior and how the satellite bull gave me the slip at 30 yards… I was going to take the first shot I got. He stopped for what seemed like an eternity behind a tree, in reality it was maybe 10 seconds.. He then begins to take one step to the side which I am already anticipating and BOOM.
Dropped him in his tracks with my trusty 30.06 with 178 Grain Hornady Precision Trophy Hunter rounds. Cows take off from every direction, and the woods suddenly turn quiet… except for me yelling THANK YOU LORD and THAT ONE WAS FOR YOU DAD!
For anyone who has been following, my dad has mostly recovered from his spell of covid and is doing well. He turns 70 next year and has taught me everything I know. He is a hell of a dad and wouldn’t trade the times we’ve had for anything. I think he may have been more excited for me than I was when I called to tell him I got one down!
All in all my encounter with that bull lasted-only about 10 minutes total, I really enjoyed being the aggressor and feel it could not have worked out better. As he expires and I walk up to him.. I am in shock. The antlers were impressive no doubt, but the head and neck and body of this thing were unreal. This will be my 5th bull elk but I had yet to see anything of this magnitude.. I had my work cut out for me. I punch my tag, take a couple teaser photos and get him gutted so he can start to cool off. I knew my buddy was getting close so I went back to my rig and drove to get phone service. I’ll spare the details of the rest, but let’s just say I shot him at around 10am and we were headed home about 6pm.. fully quartered and caped out. Got home around 1030pm…What a day!!
I cannot thank my family enough for the support and knowledge they have given me. My dad gave me a lifetime of knowledge even though he couldn’t be there in person, My brother gave me two full days of help hunting even with his busy schedule, and my buddy gave me the one day he could to help me pack out this trophy. I am surrounded by good people and for that I am blessed. Also the knowledge and support I have gained from this forum I am so thankful for, I have only been using this app for a couple years off and on but it is a big part of my hunting life now. Shout out to [mention]CascadeCruiser [/mention] for all the moral support through text and sending me some Pins on onX maps to help me gain even more knowledge of the areas I was hunting, that man is a class act. Alright, I am tired of typing and tired in general. Elk meat is processed by myself my dad and my brother, and the elk head is at the taxidermy. Until deer season! Cheers!
Thanks for staying tuned everyone.
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