3 hour elk season

[Button Nubbs]

Just got back from camp last night so here are the pics and story of my 3 hour elk season.

Opening day im sitting in my treestand well before the sun even starts to think about cracking. Im sitting there for a while and I can just start to make some trees out from the clearing behind my stand but its still pitch black in the timber. im sitting there eyes closed  with my head up against the tree and i hear a chuckle and bark that is so close i can almost feel it in my chest. i start begging him to stay out in the clearing until i can see. a couple hours go by and i start hearing some cows chirp out in the clearing so i give them a chirp here and a chirp there making sure not to over do it. meanwhile, all morning the damn cone cutters are driving me crazy i keep looking back and forth at every little twig pop or leaf falling through the trees. At almost exactly 9 am i hear what sounds like a bull dozer coming through the brush. i think to myself "elk!!!!" so i stand up, push my seat up, grab the trusty bowtech, hook my release up and wait for them. all of the sudden 2 cows and last years calf pop out into one of my shooting lanes. i am a complete wreck by now and cant stop my right leg from bouncing violently. the lead cow (so big she would give a horse a run for its money) and last years calf were feeding and the big cow kept chasing off the medium sized cow. this is all at 19 yards and i am having a complete meltdown. all of the sudden the big cow and calf jump out of the way like they were spooked. i think to myself "bull!" i see his head poke out  and count from the center out, 1, 2, ok its a shooter. all of the sudden something came over me, i settled down and was completely calm. he was quarterd to me hard  so i was going to wait until he came down one of the other trails when he turns broadside in this tiny pocket of a shooting lane. "now is the time" i said to my self. i drew my bow settled that pin right behind his shoulder and made what i felt was a perfect shot. they run off across the creek and i sit down back in my seat. for the next 30 minutes my entire body went into  violent convulsions.

i meet up with my buddies and we wait 3 hours to start tracking him. we get about 60-70 yards from where i shot him and all of the sudden he gets up and runs off. he is obviously really hurt from the way he is running but my stomach twisted up and i could have puked. we back out and come back 4 hours later. we get back on what little blood there is and go about another 80 yards from where we last saw him and he gets up AGAIN!!! F&%K! i wanted to start crying at that point. so we back out again and decide to come back in the morning. i slept like s*&t that night and woke up in the morning to get back on him. we went less than another 100 yards and i hear a faint "got him" from my buddy and i about lost it! when we found him we realized he had been slightly quartered to me but i couldnt see that because of all the brush. my arrow hit exactly where i wanted it to. destroyed one lung but missed everything else since he was quartered to me just a  hair. got him all cut up and took him to the butcher and he said the meat was good. boy was he right!

here he is:

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Cool palmation at the top on the right side:

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[arrowflinger]

Great Job

[TheHunt]

Congrats...  Fun to get your elk at the start of the season. Now you can help your friends.

[bearhunter99]

Nice bull, way to keep after him.  Persistence almost always pays off!

[jackmaster]

great story, i really like the part about the leg violently doing its own thing, i remember that happening a time or 2, just think if a guy could bottle that up and sell it    rich rich rich

[MuleySniper]

Nice job! So, are you either really ugly or do you work for the CIA?
MS

[mtbiker]

Great story and congrats, Nubbs!  Ah, yes the jimmy leg.  I used to do a lot of rock climbing in my 20's.  I'd get into some sketchy situation (not dangerous, but technically challenging) and the jimmy leg would kick in.     Usually ended with me popping off the rock and hanging from the rope.

[ribka]

Congrats and great job on the tracking . Well done

Been there with the violent convulsions in the tree stand after the shot

[cjensen]

Convulsions, puking and crying all in one story.  I guess that's why we hunt.  Good job.

[vandeman17]

Great story. Felt like I was there with you. I know the shaking feeling all too well. I had a close encounter saturday night and was calm during it but after the fact I was shaking so bad I thought I was going to fall over!

[Michelle_Nelson]

Good looking Bull!  Congrats!

[huntlakewood]

Sounds like a good time to me 

[Drake7]

Way to stick with it.  So many people will give up on a track like this when it's so hot.  Nice bull and great story
Was it hard to shoot with that black mask on?    

[SniperDanWA]

Elk fever, gotta love it.  Way to stick it out.

[losdaddy7]

Very nice!