North Idaho Bull - 5x5

[luvmystang67]

Always appreciate other people's posts, so I thought I'd make one about my bull this year.

I think the important message here, is that I'm starting to look like a guy who knows what he's doing, but I promise you I have no idea.  This is my 4th archery bull.  I'm now somehow one of those people that finds a way to kill an elk almost every year, but now that I'm approaching that lengendary status, I can also say I never enter the season confident, and always am surprised when it works out, espeially for archery.

We've got young kids at home and had to get my folks to come in and help my wife out so that I could take a week off and go, so stakes were high.  I wait for this all year, and go figure I get sick the day I'm headed out for elk camp.  Can't let that slow you down, but no sleep with a 3 month old baby at home, then no sleep and sick while elk hunting, all actually pairs quite well together, because your life already kind of sucks for a period.

Before I even made it to camp, one of our crew put down a 6x6 with a nice symetrical crown of kickers, so a 7x7.  This is the biggest bull any of us had seen in our camp.  He set the bar pretty high.  I'd post, but I don't think he wants to and its not my story to tell.

If any of you watch the news, I'm a remote employee, and my company, which you may have heard of, announced a 5-day a week return to office, which doesn't immediately impact me, but does make me see that the future isn't bright for my continued remote employment.  If there wasn't an emotional side to elk hunting it wouldn't even count. So I'm out there, family depending on me to do something, job and living situation newly in question, a big bull in camp, but not mine... there's a lot to talk to God about while you're out there getting chirped at by squirrels.

The week came and went, we had a few close encounters with spikes and raghorns, but the wind kept them all alive.  Some windy/rainy days that shut down bugling, and some nice days where they don't make a peep for reasons only the elk understand.  We worked our butts off, and had some glimmers of hope where we'd see or hear elk, but nobody could close the deal (3 of us left with tags after the one guy tagged out).  The end of the week came, all of my friends wanted to get back to the west side early, and left Friday night and Sat morning, so I was on my own for the weekend.

Maybe it was being newly alone, and the culmination of a largely unsuccessful week for myself, but I was starting to feel a little down.  My bike broke and I was either too dumb or too tired to fix it.  Little things like my mouth call breaking really started to bug me.  I went out for the evening hunt and the wind picked up.  I half expected to return to find my tent struck by ligthning.  All of this is easily spun in a positive way, but thats difficult to do when you've run a whole week on 4-5 hours of sleep at most.  Then, the glimmer I was looking for.

The wind died, I ripped a bugle out over 15 year clearcut, and got a response, and then another.  Two bulls, probably 800 yard apart, and me in the middle.  I had about an hour of daylight left as I walked down into the cut, expectations honestly rather low.  Going it solo, you really can't expect to call elk right do you, you need to call, and then move ahead and hope they go to where your call came from.  I had done a sequence, and walked up probably 80 yards into an old skid trail in the 15 year cut, with about a 30 yard lane about 6' wide above and below me, when I heard some twigs breaking inside of 50 yards.  I knew he was coming, even though he'd stopped bugling, but would he find me; would he walk into my lane?

A 15 minute silent standoff led to me losing light fast enough that I couldn't outwait him.  I very quietly snapped two twigs and let out a VERY shy cow call.  That did the trick, and he walked in front of my 30 yard tree, slightly quartering to.  I had a nice checklist in mind that I was going to execute on... this is my 4th archery bull, you'd think I'd be able to calm myself and execute.  Nope.  Like usual, I saw movement through the brush, drew, he showed up, and I went full instinct.  Pull the pins up, aimed center of body vertically (not my plan), and behind the shoulder a bit too far for quartering to, and flung my arrrow.

I knew I hit him, but didn't know where.  Couldn't find the arrow, but it was brushy and my fletching isn't that bright.  Darkness was coming.  I gave him 20 min, and tried to find blood prior to the sun departing, to at least gather his direction.  About 50 yards from the shot, I found the first blood, it looked pretty good.  I backed out and called my dad, who was with mom watching my kids.  He graciously agreed to come down and help me look/pack.  Another good friend in the area also came to help look, which was I very grateful to have support in, espeically in the dark.

By the time we got up there, it was midnight, we hiked up from an open road to the closed road he had been on, and dad, at 64, was a champ.  Up a very steep 200 vertical feet, he came with me in the dark.  Blood only ran for maybe 70 yards, before we lost his direction in an opening in the old cut.  A lower road provided the next clue after an hour or so of looking.  Dad remarked that he'd checked the bank 100 yards in each direction, and this was the only fresh track down to the road. I checked, and noticed what looked like some gut bile on a strawberry leaf... not ideal but at least we had a path.  We crossed the road on the fresh track, and into the next section... 20 yards down that hill, I thought I heard something.  Heavy breathing.  Was it him, or a sleeping bear?  We're now 6 hours post shot or more.  Dad can't hear a thing anymore and was no use in confirming what I thought I heard.  I peeked around the corner, and there was antler, sticking out of the grass, right where the heavy breathing was coming from.  I had no bow, and figured popping a wounded elk with a pistol in archery season was probably going to land me in some hot water, so we backed out to let him expire on his own.

We returned in the morning, he was in the same spot and expired, only 180 yards from the shot.  Very relieved to have found him, very happy to have my dad by my side for the recovery, and quite thankful to have a strong glimmer of the hope I was so desperately seeking all week.  This is my 4th archery bull, I'm delighted to have him and the feeling of accomplishment that I get from doing what seems impossible.  Each bull is different, the first archery bull was "OMG, I can't believe it actually worked", whereas this one felt more like confirmation, redemption, and hope for the future.  Each one is the culmination of many experiences, learning, equipment and support via friends and family. 

For any of you who made it this far, who are either a better or worse elk hunter than I am, I hope the story brings you something to relate to and ideally inspires a bit of hope.  Keep grinding, not every shot is perfect, and there's a balance of good and bad news in the world, just don't be too surprised when the pendulum swings in the alternate direction.  I still have no idea what I'm doing, but have managed to find success most recent years.  I need the recharge to hold me over the next 51 weeks where I can build up the fitness, excitment, and gear I need for 2025.  Hopefully I can help some of my buddies fill their tags or pack their meat in return.

[elkboy]

Congratulations on your bull!   Thanks for sharing the story!   

[Rugsnfeathers]

Great story and thank you for sharing!  Congratulations!

[blackveltbowhunter]

Awesome bull and write up. Congratz!!!

[hunter_sean08]

Incredible story. Great bull. It is truly a glimmer of hope that when all else seems to be trending negatively, an unexpected moment can reverse your fortunes for the better. Something tells me the Man upstairs was looking out for you. What a blessing. Hopefully you have more good news headed your way.

On another note, having two toddlers at home makes this story semi-relatable. With my hunting season just about to begin, you've inspired hope for me! Congrats!!

[Taco280AI]

Good bull, congrats 

[Dan-o]

Great bull.

I appreciate the write up. 

[LDennis24]

Nice job! 

[Rob]

Congrats on a nice Bull - very glad you found him I bet you were sweating bullets at times there.    Thanks for the story

[dvolmer]

Congratulations on a great bull!!!!

[luvmystang67]

Congrats on a nice Bull - very glad you found him I bet you were sweating bullets at times there.    Thanks for the story

Not seeing blood is a bullet sweating situation... then losing blood it happens again... seeing some gut bile on the ground is another bullet.  Glad to have found him and finished what we started.

[7mmfan]

Well done!

[D-Rock425]

Wish I was there for the pack

[MADMAX]

Congrats
Solid bull

[dreamingbig]

Nice job!  Tell us more about the arrow placement.  Did you get 1 lung or 2?  Liver?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RobinHoodlum]

Great story and overall message about the emotional side of hunting, perseverance, & remaining humble. Congrats!

[pd]

Congratulations.

We have all been there.  Family at home weighs on your soul.  Worry about your job, your income, your mortgage, they all weigh on your soul.  Too darned hot to hunt, now it's too darned cold to hunt.  Too smokey.  Too dusty.  Loose bowels.  No appetite.  It never stops.

What a blessing when it comes together.  It almost seems like you know what you are doing!

[WildBear]

Congrats and great write up! Thanks for sharing.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

  Grate adventure Stang!!!!!!!  Just can't make stuff like that up!!!!!

[High Climber]

Nice bull Congrats 

[NorseNW]

Beautiful bull and great write up.  Thank you for sharing. I believe you are being a bit humble with saying you don't know what you are doing. I do appreciate the motivation to keep grinding being in my 6th season and never firing a shot.  Keep up the great work.  I hope all works out for your family and work situation.  Stressful times but life can be like that

[WapitiTalk1]

Nice representation of a N Idaho 5 point. Congrats.

[TommyH]

Great story and overall message about the emotional side of hunting, perseverance, & remaining humble. Congrats!

  nice work!

[C-Money]

Congratulations! Great bull, well done!

[high_hunter]

Nice job!  Tell us more about the arrow placement.  Did you get 1 lung or 2?  Liver?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great story and bull, nice to have help for the search and packout!  Curious about this too as a learning opportunity for the rest.  And did you get a pass-through?  Didn't see a hole in the photos. 

[GASoline71]

Nice representation of a N Idaho 5 point. Congrats.

It sure is!  I've hunted in that jungle before and that's an excellent bull coming out of there!

Congrats!

Gary

[luvmystang67]

Beautiful bull and great write up.  Thank you for sharing. I believe you are being a bit humble with saying you don't know what you are doing. I do appreciate the motivation to keep grinding being in my 6th season and never firing a shot.  Keep up the great work.  I hope all works out for your family and work situation.  Stressful times but life can be like that

I hunted rifle bull in SW WA for 3 years before I even SAW a bull in year 4 (which we shot).  When I moved to archery, I hunted 2 years in WA and the first I never saw a bull, the second I saw bulls, but it was a Spike/Cow unit.  My 3rd archery year, I saw one bull, through brush, on the 5th day (and my last day that season).  My first elk hunt was ~2001 I think, my first rifle bull was 2004... first archery hunt in 2012 and I didn't really even get close until I killed one in 2017 and I didn't kill another rifle bull until 2016.  There's a lot of dry years in there.\

Since about 2016 things have really perked up though and it seems like I usually get one with either a rifle or a bow in Idaho now.  A couple of dry years, but I've been chasing these things a long time.  6 years without one is absolutely common, and makes the first one that much sweeter.

[luvmystang67]

Nice job!  Tell us more about the arrow placement.  Did you get 1 lung or 2?  Liver?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great story and bull, nice to have help for the search and pacmout!  Curious about this too as a learning opportunity for the rest.  And did you get a pass through?  Didn't see a hole in the photos.

Last 2-3 years I've gone to the heavy single bevel broadheads.  I'm running 100 grain brass inserts and 150 grain heads (cutthroat heads).  Claim to fame would be penetration.  I used 100 gr slick tricks prior to that.  I'm still on the fence as to which is better.  I think the penetration I got on this bull bailed me out a little. I cleaned it with the gutless method, but I was a little far back and might have just hit the rear of the lung if he were perfectly broadside, which he was not.  With him quartering to, I must have hit liver only as he lived for many hours afterward.  About 8" of my arrow was hanging out, I did not get a passthrough, but it sunk pretty deep.  I think with my lighter slick tricks, I would not have seen the penetration I saw.  One critical error was ranging a tree that he passed in front of and assuming he was that range.  Running arrows as heavy as I am, 5 yards makes a big enough difference to matter, and I think he was really 25, not 30, which made me hit higher than I wanted, and I already aimed erroneously high because I didn't take time to think like I should have.  I did EXPECT a pass through, and was surprised not to have seen it.  I'm honestly surprised with the shot I did make, that he didn't go further.  It was 180 yards straight downhill, but took hours to die?  Sometimes its hard to say what is going on in there.  Maybe I did clip a lung?

I'll also say on my heavy single bevel game, I lost an elk due to this that I KNOW I would've killed with a slick trick. I'm running my arrows at the edge of the capability of my spine, and I threw an illuminock on there last minute when Idaho allowed them, didn't practice enough, and it appeared through a few test shots that things were fine.  They were not fine and corkscrewed and hit 8" low and right at 45 yards.  Had I plopped those on my slick tricks, I'm sure it would've been just fine.  Penetration is great, but not if you hit them in the wrong spot or your arrows dont fly true.  These are all "my fault"... but running standard lightwight arrows are certainly more forgiving, and you'll hit more often where you're aiming. I also think the single bevel leaves a smaller blood trail...  Still on the fence about continuing to use these, I need a few more samples I think.  I do like being able to sharpen my own and get them RAZOR sharp.

[Machias]

Awesome, congrats!!

[dreamingbig]

Thanks for the breakdown of the shot and glad it worked out for you!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Longfield1]

Nice job!  Tell us more about the arrow placement.  Did you get 1 lung or 2?  Liver?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great story and bull, nice to have help for the search and pacmout!  Curious about this too as a learning opportunity for the rest.  And did you get a pass through?  Didn't see a hole in the photos.

Last 2-3 years I've gone to the heavy single bevel broadheads.  I'm running 100 grain brass inserts and 150 grain heads (cutthroat heads).  Claim to fame would be penetration.  I used 100 gr slick tricks prior to that.  I'm still on the fence as to which is better.  I think the penetration I got on this bull bailed me out a little. I cleaned it with the gutless method, but I was a little far back and might have just hit the rear of the lung if he were perfectly broadside, which he was not.  With him quartering to, I must have hit liver only as he lived for many hours afterward.  About 8" of my arrow was hanging out, I did not get a passthrough, but it sunk pretty deep.  I think with my lighter slick tricks, I would not have seen the penetration I saw.  One critical error was ranging a tree that he passed in front of and assuming he was that range.  Running arrows as heavy as I am, 5 yards makes a big enough difference to matter, and I think he was really 25, not 30, which made me hit higher than I wanted, and I already aimed erroneously high because I didn't take time to think like I should have.  I did EXPECT a pass through, and was surprised not to have seen it.  I'm honestly surprised with the shot I did make, that he didn't go further.  It was 180 yards straight downhill, but took hours to die?  Sometimes its hard to say what is going on in there.  Maybe I did clip a lung?

I'll also say on my heavy single bevel game, I lost an elk due to this that I KNOW I would've killed with a slick trick. I'm running my arrows at the edge of the capability of my spine, and I threw an illuminock on there last minute when Idaho allowed them, didn't practice enough, and it appeared through a few test shots that things were fine.  They were not fine and corkscrewed and hit 8" low and right at 45 yards.  Had I plopped those on my slick tricks, I'm sure it would've been just fine.  Penetration is great, but not if you hit them in the wrong spot or your arrows dont fly true.  These are all "my fault"... but running standard lightwight arrows are certainly more forgiving, and you'll hit more often where you're aiming. I also think the single bevel leaves a smaller blood trail...  Still on the fence about continuing to use these, I need a few more samples I think.  I do like being able to sharpen my own and get them RAZOR sharp.

Do you know what your total arrow weight is? I started around 530 grains and have since dialed mine back and removed the brass inserts to 470 grains using 2 blade 150 grain ozcut solid broadheads stropped hair popping sharp. The previous year i had some complete misses due to shooting 60lbs and having a heavier arrow. Now i'm using a lighter arrow and shooting 70 lbs. From your description of the hit you got 23-25" inches of penetration more likely than not hit a rib and slowed you down some. But glad it worked out for you.

[luvmystang67]

Nice job!  Tell us more about the arrow placement.  Did you get 1 lung or 2?  Liver?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great story and bull, nice to have help for the search and pacmout!  Curious about this too as a learning opportunity for the rest.  And did you get a pass through?  Didn't see a hole in the photos.

Last 2-3 years I've gone to the heavy single bevel broadheads.  I'm running 100 grain brass inserts and 150 grain heads (cutthroat heads).  Claim to fame would be penetration.  I used 100 gr slick tricks prior to that.  I'm still on the fence as to which is better.  I think the penetration I got on this bull bailed me out a little. I cleaned it with the gutless method, but I was a little far back and might have just hit the rear of the lung if he were perfectly broadside, which he was not.  With him quartering to, I must have hit liver only as he lived for many hours afterward.  About 8" of my arrow was hanging out, I did not get a passthrough, but it sunk pretty deep.  I think with my lighter slick tricks, I would not have seen the penetration I saw.  One critical error was ranging a tree that he passed in front of and assuming he was that range.  Running arrows as heavy as I am, 5 yards makes a big enough difference to matter, and I think he was really 25, not 30, which made me hit higher than I wanted, and I already aimed erroneously high because I didn't take time to think like I should have.  I did EXPECT a pass through, and was surprised not to have seen it.  I'm honestly surprised with the shot I did make, that he didn't go further.  It was 180 yards straight downhill, but took hours to die?  Sometimes its hard to say what is going on in there.  Maybe I did clip a lung?

I'll also say on my heavy single bevel game, I lost an elk due to this that I KNOW I would've killed with a slick trick. I'm running my arrows at the edge of the capability of my spine, and I threw an illuminock on there last minute when Idaho allowed them, didn't practice enough, and it appeared through a few test shots that things were fine.  They were not fine and corkscrewed and hit 8" low and right at 45 yards.  Had I plopped those on my slick tricks, I'm sure it would've been just fine.  Penetration is great, but not if you hit them in the wrong spot or your arrows dont fly true.  These are all "my fault"... but running standard lightwight arrows are certainly more forgiving, and you'll hit more often where you're aiming. I also think the single bevel leaves a smaller blood trail...  Still on the fence about continuing to use these, I need a few more samples I think.  I do like being able to sharpen my own and get them RAZOR sharp.

Do you know what your total arrow weight is? I started around 530 grains and have since dialed mine back and removed the brass inserts to 470 grains using 2 blade 150 grain ozcut solid broadheads stropped hair popping sharp. The previous year i had some complete misses due to shooting 60lbs and having a heavier arrow. Now i'm using a lighter arrow and shooting 70 lbs. From your description of the hit you got 23-25" inches of penetration more likely than not hit a rib and slowed you down some. But glad it worked out for you.

Yeah, I think I'm probably similar.  I had this all down, but I've forgotten since I set it up.  I think we're at 9.1 GPI, something like 29-30" arrows.  273 grain of shaft then, 250 grain of broadhead and insert.  Add 20 grains for fletching and 12 grains for the nock.  I thought I was in the 530 range, but this is showing more like 550 grain range.

To your point, with the longer say 2" broadhead, I'm guessing you're about right at 2 feet of penetration, which is pretty damn good, and I'm nearly certain I would've hit a rib.  All of that definitely contributed to success here, but a more forgiving shot might have improved placement.  I'm mixed on my heavy arrow setup, versus the old 430 grain slick trick setup.  If I'm lucky enough to send this combination at another elk or two, I'll feel a lot better about my data collection.  I can confirm that my broadheads are RAZOR, leather stropped, sharp.  They also fly a heck of a lot different than similar weight field points.

[idaho guy]

just saw this well done! good story