So after killing a nice 3 point blacktail in early muzzleloader season I was scrambling to get ready for elk season and im glad I was able to go. Me and my buddy went out for our normal morning hunt opening morning and didn’t see or hear anything so we headed back to camp. We Headed off to another spot for a mid day hunt and nothing. I met up with him and another buddy that came to help us with some calling and packing. I was tired from hiking all day but he said let’s go kill a bull. So… We dropped all our gear except the necessary items and headed out around 530 pm on opening day. We made it about a 1/8 th mile and the bugling started. We then lost our other hunter so we decided let’s go as far as we can and get set up since they were calling us in at that point, we were silent. Then all of a sudden our other hunter starts cow calling and we realize we needed to go a bit farther so we ran about a hundred yards. Well so did he. About 3 minutes goes by with 3 different bugles getting close. We we’re rite in between 2 bulls and I look up and see the elk coming through the timber. Boom! My buddy shoots about 80 yards above me. The cows were gone ,but the bull just came walking down the hill, I saw his horns and said to myself, breath and stay focused on the target. Aim small miss small. I never looked at anything but where my bullet needed to go after I seen he was a legal bull. My other buddy looks at me and says get it together and be ready.. He ran off breaking every branch he could while cow calling and my bull literally walked rite to me. He stared through me towards my buddy for a minute and then decided he was gonna go down the hill, but then he stopped broad side quartering away down hill at 50 yards. I stood up from behind the tiny tree I had used for cover and BOOM! I was shaking so bad I could barely reload my muzzleloader. We all met back up where I shot from and start down the hill. We were standing in his tracks and no blood, my buddy says I don’t know, I’m not seeing any blood. 20 yards away we walk through 2 trees and we both get painted red. He went about 50 yards and piled up. I made a perfect shot. I wasn’t sure if we just got 2 bulls or if I shot my buddies bull or what really happened. I couldn’t believe it. When we got down to him there was only one bullet hole in him and my bullet was inside the hide on exit. He was mine! I finally got one and he is huge!It turned out that it was the same bull my buddy shot at 5 minutes before I shot him and he had missed. I had to go back for gear and my buddies stayed and started cutting. Luckily we had our friend with experience cause he was a giant and we needed all the help we could get. We got him cut up and hung in game bags that night. The next morning I headed out with the cape and head, it was so heavy I couldn’t get off the ground and I was solo so no stopping till the truck. The other 2 guy went back in to debone and start packing meat out. I called my wife to let her know I finally did it. I got a elk and he’s a monster bull. She thought I was joking of course after hunting for 25 years and eating tag soup the hole time.Yes she went back in with me and another buddy and the 5 of us packed out around 300 lbs of meat and 3 guys full camps. Lots of hard work but so rewarding.
