so here's my story(updated with video link to watch the spike walk past me)

[bloodhound]

back from a 9 day trip and no freezer food for me or pops. the high light of my trip was crappy for a west side hunter and a east side hunters dream. we were not seeing any any elk and Friday morning after getting back to camp for lunch dads says i don't know what we are gonna do i think we need to go some where else. he hands me the map and says like always when we are not seeing anything find us a good spot. so i looked it over and decided i thought this one area would be a good area. had to walk in behind a gate and got there and sitted down at about  4:00. bout 5:30 i heard some snapping and new it was elk coming so i got ready and a few minutes later i see a elk with its head down. heart starts running like a cammed out race car. picks its head up a little and i noticed antlers... its a bull!!! i start trying to calm my self down....... deep breath and he picks his head up all the way and its a spike with probably 15inch spikes. s.o.b i cant shoot him. 3pt min or cow. so now i have to play the sit still game so i dont spook it and spook everything else in the area. it takes him a good hour and a half to get past me after bedding down 2 times and then walking past me at 5 yards. that was good news for me because my legs are asleep from being on my knees the whole time. so i stand up and turn around and there is a shooter bull standing behind me at about 120 yards, but the sun is just starting to go behind the trees. i tried everything to get him to come to me but there was no commitment coming on his end. so i decided to try and close the distance but it was really noisy stuff and didn't take but 10 yards and he was barking at me. i beat this tree next to me and stuck my bow upside down on my head to look like a rack and starting walking strait at him. got to about 90 yards and he just kept barking at me. i was never able to get to 70 yards which is my elk safe shot zone for me before dark. exciting day but no elk for me yet.

spike elk at 5 yards

[kglacken]

opening morning me and my buddy walked to the end of this logging road in the st. helens tree farm and we spotted a couple deer and elected not to go after them in hopes that we would see some elk. as we sat glassing the clear cut i could hear crunching and i knew by the way it sounded that it was elk. I sunk down into the ferns and waited. I watched a cow and a calf walk out and thought oh thats a good sign. and I then he stepped out. a nice shooter bull!!! I was so excited and so I took a few deep breaths after he walked into the timber and i headed into the timber about 300 yards above him. I walked in the timber about 200 yards and sat down hoping to ambush them. We waited for about 2 hours and nothing came by. it was getting hot so we stood up got our stuff together and we heard crashing about 40 yards away! I had no choice but to take off after them! On a dead sprint cow calling I could not get him to stop. had an 80 yard shot but just wasnt comfortable with that. after they left I went back and found the trail they traveled and if I would of set up 20 yards farther down the hill, they would of walked right past me and I would of atleast had an opportunity at my first bull.  But hey thats why its called hunting not killing...

[Bigfoot_44]

At least you guys are out hunting and seeing elk! I'm stuck at school and working till modern season! Good luck you guys and have fun. Bring back a elk!

[kglacken]

I will be in school starting on the 19th and baseball on the 14th... and 

[Bigfoot_44]

Starting baseball pretty early. I play and dont start till Feb,but I'm also in high school

[kglacken]

Oh ya. Freshman year of college for me.

[zackmioli]

at least you guys are seeing elk! was out all weekend and didnt see or hear anything. well today i heard 1 little chirp and some branches snapping but thats it.

[Dblstks]

Great video, very cool.