Bow4elk's Oregon Coast Elk Hunt (9/17-26) UPDATED story & pics

[billythekidrock]

Nice! Congrats.

[boneaddict]

Sounds like a success to me. 

[rasbo]

tag filled.dont get much better than that

[bow4elk]

2010 Oregon Roosevelt Elk Hunt Recap:

Location: State Land, Oregon Coast Range.  Camped 11 miles from the truck; killed the bull 2-3 miles from camp.

Conditions: heavy rain, wind, fog, (92% humidity), and very little bugling action.  In short, this was the most challenging elk hunt of my life by far.

It took us quite a while to get within striking distance of the herd bull and his cows.  With heavy fog and continual rain visibility was often nil, so we relied on our remote location and lack of hunting pressure to keep the herd content on their clear-cut bench until we could travel the mile-plus loop around to the ridge they were on.

I was hunting the steep coastal mountains of Oregon with my hunting partner Stan Woody and our friend Chris Combs, both of Portland, Oregon.  On the thrid evening Stan had located a small herd led by a huge bull the evening before and elected to leave them alone until morning.  We determined that our best approach was to utilized the logging road network to close the distance and get the wind right, which required a long hike.

We worked our way around and once within ½ mile or so, I started checking the wind to ensure our final approach would not be spoiled.  It turned out the only way to get down to the timbered bench was to drop into a large cut and as we made our way to the bottom, it was clear we’d have to move further downwind.   Our plan was to drop into the big timber, descend the steep fern-covered slope to a point just above the creek, then start working our way into the wind and uphill toward the herd.  With three of us hunting together, we had to stay focused on our collective movements.

Not 20 yards into the big timber, I spotted the flank of a single elk about 100 yards down slope to my right.  As his head turned slightly I could make out the baseball bat girth of his left main beam.  I alerted Stan and Chris but we were pretty much stuck given the wind and thick vegetation.  Any further movement would likely tip him off.  At this point we didn’t know if this was the herd bull or a satellite bull.  Either way, he was a shooter.

He started moving down and across the hill below us.  I lost sight of him but Stan and Chris, being 20 yards ahead of me, could see him.  They waved me forward and pointed him out.  At this time he began working over a 14” diameter Douglas Fir tree, which really turned up the adrenalin!  Stan stayed back as Chris and I slipped forward and down an elk trail that would angle us downhill and directly above the bull.

As the bull worked over the big fir, I dropped quickly down the trail to within about 60 yards.  Chris stayed a little higher to watch over a small rise in case the bull circled away from my location.  Once I had an arrow nocked and was ready I signaled to Stan to proceed with a few soft cow calls.  Knowing this bull was a frustrated satellite bull, I figured the first indication a cow was nearby would pull him uphill to investigate.  He looked and started to come up but something didn’t sit well with him and he never committed.  I wish I had video or photos of him working over the tree.  He was a P&Y class 5x5 or 6x6 but it was just too difficult to tell for sure given our focus was on setting up.  He was a full-framed bull and that’s all that mattered!

We gave this bull plenty of time to sneak in but he simply vanished.  Knowing we had a larger herd bull nearby we didn’t waste any time moving on.  As we dropped further downhill we discovered the rub made by the satellite bull.  While I was taking photos, Chris and Stan crept along an elk trail that ran across the hillside and would put us within reasonable distance of the herd.  To the best of our knowledge they were still out in the cut or just inside the timber edge 2-300 yards ahead.  We had the wind so it was just a finesse game from here on out.

Not five minutes later I spotted my bull feeding below us but it was clear Chris and Stan hadn’t noticed him.  They had their eye on the prize ahead I think.  I hissed to stop them because they were in plain sight of the bull as he ambled along with his head down.  They immediately saw the bull and dropped to the ground.  The bull snapped his head up but didn’t seem too bothered.  I had several trees between me and him so like the wiley coyote cartoon, I snapped from one tree to the next, closing the gap to around 40 yards.  As the bull kept feeding uphill in the swale, I readied for a shot.  He took a couple full steps forward with his head down which put him in clear view.  I eased back to full draw and he caught a bit of my movement.  He stared in my direction for a minute or so as fatigue started degrading my focus.  But he broke stride and turned quartering away and facing uphill.  In a second I had my pin locked on his ribcage and released.

The arrow got near full penetration as the bull lunged uphill.  He only made it about 60 yards before tumbling back down and coming to rest at the base of a tree.  Incredibly, my arrow was intact protruding out the opposite side for easy removal.  I figured with all the rolling, the arrow would have broken off immediately.

So, that’s the story – another Oregon bull on the ground.  The big guy still roams for another day.  Stan passed several bulls this season waiting for a mature bull.  I called in a 4x5 to about 10 yards but had no shot due to the fact he came running in from a random direction.  Chris passed a cow that same afternoon and almost got a shot at the same 4x5 the next day when he pushed his cows right through our camp while we were there!  Shoulda-woulda-coulda on that deal but the point is we had serveral opportunities in the week we spent in the rain.

Much has been written about special hunting partners over the years.  The most common theme has something to do with “unselfishness” and though I hesitate to do the same for fear of watering down the cliché, it simply fits.  My hunting partner, Stan Woody (Portland, Oregon) and I have been sharing bowhunting adventures for nearly 20 years now.  We’ve wallowed in sweet success and fought tears of pain through some tough times in the woods.  This was a tough hunt for many reasons but we made it happen and enjoyed another elk season making memories.  He does virtually all the scouting for our Oregon hunts and he spends countless hours biking roads and researching hard-to-reach hunting grounds.  He’s tagged a lot of bulls as a result but he’s always putting me first at every opportunity, and I can’t thank him enough.

Some photos:

[bow4elk]

more pics:

[400out]

looks like a great hunt if you like the rain and more rain JK! Glad to  hear you scored nice bull!

[jimkirk]

awesome report, photos and experience. congratulations.

[carpsniperg2]

great write up and a lot of great pics as well. thanks for sharin

[Tony 270]

Great trip! Looks like some steep country

[PacificNWhunter]

Great write up. Love all the pictures. Congrats.

[bow4elk]

Thanks guys.  More pics....

[bow4elk]

and a couple more...

[Buckoholic]

I love the baby strollers be hind the bikes!!!! What an awesome idea!!! 

[bucklucky]

 Awsome pictures and story Tom, I really enjoyed it.

Congrats on the bull, it was a hard earned trophy!

[wildmanoutdoors]

Awesome post! Awesome job, and what a great way to hunt!