Since I am fairly new to the forum I thought I would post some pictures of my first archery bull I shot back in 1998 in the Margaret unit. I have seen a couple posts of hunters asking about the Margaret and started looking at some of my past photo's. The pictures are not the best quality but this was 11 years ago.
My dad and brother were along helping with the hunt, calling for me. This was a year that Weyerhaeuser closed their gates and would not allow us to even walk in. So we had to go to plan B and hunt the East side of the unit which we did not scout. We hunted very hard, walking in the trail along the Green River many days. My brother and I worked our way up a Ridge in some heavy timber. Stopped for a potty break and did a little calling. A bull answered and the hunt was on. This bull came in so fast my brother hid behind a 5' diameter fir tree with me right behind him. Not the best setup but we were still learning the archery techniques. I do not know for sure how many points this bull had, but he walked directly on the other side of this huge fir tree. I drew back ready to shoot when he stepped out from behind the tree. Well, 1 more step and he winded us. The game was over.
On day 7 of the hunt we were watching a heard up on the Ridge in a blast zone type clear cut. We had seen this heard earlier in the season but they were a little out of reach for us. The heard was feeding down towards an old logging road that was basically destroyed after the eruption. We made a plan, and had to make a big loop around them to get the wind in our favor. We worked our way up to the logging road and setup. Dad was about 40 yards behind me and started cow calling. The Bull answered down by the creek. He was getting a drink while his cows were up higher feeding. Now the excitement began. The bull was tearin up a 30' tall tree. All we could see was the top of the tree moving. After a few minutes he had decided it was time to come and give this cow a visit. Our plan seemed to be working except he showed up on the logging road between my dad and I. We had a stare down for a minute or 2. Nothing I could do. My dad was directly in line with the bull on the other side. This was a nice mature 5 pt bull with a broken tine. Finally he knew something was not right. Probably winded us. I was so disappointed that I did not have a shot. The bull kept bugling and started running around trying to gather up his cows. We had other elk around us so we decided to keep calling to see what would happen. I started calling along with my dad using the Wayne Carlton's fighten cow call. I had a calf come to within 5 yards of me. This calf was calling too, looking for its mom. Somewhere around this time we noticed a satellite bull sneaking in to try and steal some of his cows. The calf calling brought some cows within 20 yards with the 5 pt satellite bull right behind them. I drew back when he went behind a stump, he stepped out and gave me a nice broadside shot. The whole sequence of events is something I will never forget. I watched the bull walk another 20 yards before he expired. A memory with my dad and brother that I will never forget.
The 4 quarters weighed in at 450 lbs.
This was a hot season. Cooling the Elk quarters in the creek.
