Almost shot an elk at National Guard Training this weekend

[Pathfinder101]

As you would expect, I was a little bummed out that I was missing the first week of elk season because I couldn't take any time off until later this week.  We were scheduled to do ambush training in the unit just north of Ellensburg, and I knew it was open for cow and spike, so I threw my bow and calls in my truck, y'know, just in case I saw something. 
Sunday morning, while everyone was eating breakfast, we heard an elk bugle down the ridge.  Everyone in the unit knew I had my bow, so they all looked at me, and I figured; why not?  I've got an hour.  So, I grabbed my gear and got ready to take off.  One of the new guys in the unit has never hunted before, and asked if he could come along.  I said no problem, might be fun for him if we see something.

I got a few hundred yards down the ridge, stopped and bugled.  Immediate response.  Put my diaphram call in my mouth and started to cut the distance, cow calling as I walked.  Every minute or so, he responded, closer each time.  After a bit, we came to the edge of a meadow, and I could hear that he was just in the timber on the other side, still bugling, still headed our way.  I set up behind a row of sapling pines, knocked an arrow, and told the guy I was with to get his camera phone ready to take pictures.  I explained that it was probably a bachelor satellite bull, nothing I could shoot, but at least he can get some pictures. 
Pretty soon we see antler tips coming out of the timber, and a young 5X6 bull materializes and starts thrashing a pine sapling about 100 yards away on the other side of the meadow.  I start cow calling again, and he comes straight in on a string.  80 yards, 70, 60, 50, 40.... 
At 40 yards he stops and is trying to look through the trees to see all these horny cows that keep calling him.  I clammed up, and he starts circling to our right to get a better look.  (at this point, if I had a bull tag, I could have shot him 6 or 7 times.  Easy 30-40 yard broadside shots, etc...)
After a couple of minutes at 25-30 yards he finally spotted us, and a stare-down commenced.
As this is happening, I heard cracking in the brush behind him, and two cows walked out, just to the left of the tree he had been thrashing earlier.  Unfortunately, the first thing the lead cow saw was the bull, on high alert, starting at us.  She immediately directed her attention to us, and never came closer than 80 yards before she turned tail and trotted off, taking the bull with her. 
I'll add some pics in a few minutes...

[Woodchuck]

sounds like a good heart pumper anyway, too bad on the cows. i can see where the ambush training could come in handy for that but is field dressing in that FM or is there another?

[whacker1]

I bet your hunting rookie was loving that stuff. Very cool for you t show him how it goes

[Pathfinder101]

OK, I am back (had to get some work done).
As the cows and the bull are taking off over the hill, I cow call at them, hoping to slow/stop them (of course, they wouldn't).  But I got another response from another bull, farther down the canyon.  Not a squeal like the one I had just been playing with, but a loud, deep, raspy growl.  We still had the wind in our favor, so we beat feet in his direction, cow calling and cutting the distance. 
The next thing we knew we were down in a thick draw that was obviously this big bull's home.  We set up next to a wallow (with every other tree for 50 yards in each direction rubbed bare), and started to call again.  A few minutes later, we could hear him coming down the hill toward us, then started catching glimpses of him through the thick timber.  He was a monster.
Like any good, smart mature bull, he hung up at about 80 yards and started thrashing a tree and calling us up there to him.  After a few minutes of back and forth with him, he started to circle to get downwind of us, so we got up and tried to intercept him, running down below his wallow and setting up in a shooting lane that we figured he would walk into.  When he stepped into it at about 40-45 yards, the guy I was with about pissed himself.  "OH MY GOD!  HE'S HUGE!!!"  He was so mesmerized, he forgot to get a picture. 
Of course, the bull could see us too, and he didn't hang around long.  I had only a few seconds to get a look at him before he was gone.  I figure he went somewhere between 360 and 370 (I didnt' get a good look at his fronts, but his tops were huge.  His G5s where easily 12 inches long, and he had long, wide main beams).
On the way back to camp, my "photographer" was already asking about a good place to buy a bow

Here are the pics of the smaller bull and the lead cow coming out.  Sorry for the quality, off a cell phone, just emailed to me a few minutes ago.

[Pathfinder101]

One of him bown up.

[bowhunterforever]

Sounds like it was an exciting quick hunt

[Bows4huntn]

Heard yesterday that u guys were training over the weekend in the exact spot I chose to hunt on Monday! Just my luck.  Too bad the schedule these things in an area with a open season. The elk get pushed around enough by hunters and now we get training exercises thrown on top of it! ( just my little vent)  Still got an unnotched any bull tag 

[rosscrazyelk]

Thats pretty cool right there

[Ellensburg]

Don't mean to be a party pooper, but I saw the national guard van and it was up Reecer Creek, which is in the Naneum Unit. If that was you guys, isnt it True spike only? No cow permits?

[colockumelk]

Pathfinder did you at least find all your landnav points. If I was your PL and you failed landnav I would totally accept your story as a valid excuse.

[400out]

I bet the new guy wants to go again    cool story pathfinder!

[wsucowboy]

Sounds like a blast. Good story.