Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Elk Hunting => Topic started by: rougheye on February 29, 2008, 06:24:28 PM
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I am starting to hear alot of rumors about the elk I shot this year ,not from this sight but anyway I thought I would share my story. I have been a charter captain in Juneau for the last 7 years on and off and I usually dont get back in town until late september.I had 5 bonus points and I put in for the only archery bull tag I could actually hunt,Teanaway late season. I have been hunting alot in that unit and I live in Cle Eum so I knew what A great tag I had drawn.I took the whole season off from work but the first 6 days were tough . I had seen alot of elk but most were on private property .The next 2 days I got up late to let the crunchy snow soften up a bit and on the way saw 1 big bull and 1 small 5 cross the freeway 2 mornings in a row. So I tracked down the land owner gave him a ton of halibut and salmon and he finally gave me permission.I also saw the local game warden watching the elk and he informed me that he had given several warnings and even a few tickets to hunters harrassing and even attempting to shoot them from the road. After I got permission I went out to the field and found that the only chance of getting a shot would be to crawl out to the only bush in the field in the dark and wait for day light.I knew the chances of them walking with in 50 yds of my spot were slim but I had 8 more days so I decided to try it and see what happens. That afternoon I went to shoot my bow to see if everything was still dead nuts.I found that my groups were still good but for some reason I was shooting 6 inches left and 3 inches down from every distance.The more I shot though ,the better I shot and pretty soon I was confident again.That night was a sleepless one for me. PART 2 coming soon wife is getting pissed
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I can't wait for part 2. I knew your bull intimately for a week trying to kill him. Someday I'd like to get my hands on him if you don't mind. Go ahead continue.............
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Can't wait for part two
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PART 2,wife is pre occupied :P I woke up the next morning at 4:00 A.M,made some coffee and waited for crazyelk to get to my house.Turns out he had the flu and didnt make it.The plan was for him to drop me off in the dark and crawl out to my spot.Plan B I decided to park on A little pull out and crawl to my spot,time 5:15,snowing like crazy,it took me about an hour to get there and I froze my balls off for another 2 hours till light .As soon as I could see I looked everywhere I could see and saw nothing ,I thought I could see the whole field ,part of me wanted to leave and hit the woods like I had every other day but I could see other hunters driving by and they all kept stopping like they could see something out there so I sat tight and waited.Finally at about 1 hour after light I saw the 5 point and he was coming right at me.He was moving pretty fast like he wanted out of that field right now. I havenever shot a bull and on any other day i would have creamed this bull but I knew the big one had to be there so I passed a 43 yard broadside shot .About 30 seconds later I saw the big boy.He was walking slower and even closer to me.Luckily He took his time getting to me,I was shaking like a leaf.I finally cleared my mind,focused on the spot,did my shooting routine over and over in my head,waited ,ranged him,34 yards,draw back,he stops broadside,put my 30 on him,O crap I cant see thru my peep,all iced up ,I cant believe it I had so much time to prepare and I didnt even think about my peep. Anyway I paniced lined up the sights with my bowstring and shot.Bingo,perfect shot or so I thought.The bull ran 150 yards and stopped,the arrow stickin right from behind the shoulder,maybe a little low but definatly lung.I looked up at my truck and saw the warden parked next to me so I went up to talk to him,I thought he was going to give me a hard time but he rolled down his window and said nice shot I watched everything from my spotting scope .For some reason MY arrowonly stuck in about 14 inches.We watched that bull for 2 hours and he just stood there and never moved when finally he walked to a fence line and layed down.There was starting to be a crowd around,mostly hunters and every one thought he would die anytime so we waited. Finally he put his head down but he was still alive so I decided to put the sneak on him.I was sneaking down the fence line ,when I got to about 80 yards,his head snapped up and he looked right at me.I couldnt believe it,he didnt even look hurt as he jumped up and headed straight for the freeway.When he got to the barbed wire fence he stopped ,then attemted to jump over and bit it hard.Then he got up and walked across the road.I dont think Ive ever been so sick in my life ,I thought ,he will just keep going and I will never find him over there.I went from the ultimate high to the low of lows.After i got my self together the first thing i did was call the game warden that helped me earlier.He came back out and i explained what happened and that he ran on to private land .He helped us track down the owner,turns out they live in bellevue and they wernt answering so I got the go ahead to walk in there. PART 3 coming up soon,gotta put the kids to bed
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Cool story like the suspense hope to here about the climax soon :)
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I never heard any negatives about your elk, but there should not be! You worked your butt off and we are all waiting for you to finish with the stroy and some pictures!! :o
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So im walking up this skidder road looking for his tracks or anything,FREEZE,There he is less than 30 yards laying next to a blowdown and he doesnt see me.I cant get a good shot because of a stump and im to close to move around alot so i wait. This is where this story goes from awsome to amazing .As I am waiting for the elk to get up or die or something I here a flock of turkeys coming up the hill towards me.There was about 15 and they came right up to the Elk and it was so cool they just looked at each other and the turkeys walked by the elk and then me,I thought that was cool,then i saw something else following the turkeys,It was A bobcat and it walked right between me and the elk.He stopped looked right at the elk then kept going ,I never saw one that close before and I could have smoked him but I had to get that elk.. Finally I took 4 steps where I could see his vitals and put another one in him,This time I hit him through both lungs,He got up and ran,than stopped,range 53 yards,hit him perfect,he took ten more steps and fell down for good. He officially scored 389 6\8 gross 367 3\8 net #3 in WA(http://)
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Awesome story, I probably woulda smoked the cat then finished the bull off, that would have been heck of a picture. Awesome bull hope to kill one like that someday Ive got six points burning a hole in this archery hunters pocket. Got anymore pics. Congrats.
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Nice work was it two or three arrows in him. What a beast.
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That is one nice looking Bull. Congrats! :IBCOOL:
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great looking bull.
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WOW!!! He's Awesome!!! Congrats!!! ;)
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Great bull and good to hear the story. The only thing I don't like about your bull is it put my bull at #4 by a measly two points! It was good to meet you at the Puyallup show. Good Job! nwhunter
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Great story!!! Thanks for posting it and the picture!!
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Nice job I've been waiting to hear that story! I saw your bull at the Puyallup show ... very impressive! :drool:
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I cant get any moere pics ,it says they are to large,anyway I had alot of people help me that day and I greatly appreciate it.Also I found out afterwards that my bow was all out of time ,thats why I didnt get good penetration.The guy by my house really screwed my bow up good.The nock point fixed everything pretty quick.They are the best,worth the 2 hour drive IMO.
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Congrats on an excellent hunt and harvest. That is truely a great bull. Loved the story. Can't wait to get out this year and hunt.
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Wow, great bull and a crazy story to go along with it.
Nice job
MS
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Maybe next week Ill post another story about my buck I shot this year,I had a great year,biggest elk and biggest deer. Ilove reading all the stories,Great website Tmike,I will let you know when I get the elk back its at the Taxidermist.Still trying to come up with the money....
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Great looking bull, the emotional ups & downs can be overwhelming at times during ones hunts! It's amazing how quickly things can change, it's no wonder we don't all have gray hair by 35!!! (grin)
ElkNut1
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I am sorry that i was to sick to make it to watch the hunt but when you called me and told me you got that sucker nothing was keeping me home not even my 103 degree temp. Glad I was there to help pull it out one of the greatest weekends in my life.
You should tell them what the guy at the nock point told you that people were saying about your elk.
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Great bull and story. Thanks
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That's just an awesome story and kill. It was cool the warden helped you out. That must have taken a little anxiety off, but I know that until you finish the job it's stressful. I was wondering if you had the rack or if the Taxidermist had it. Is it done or what's the time frame there? Let me know when you get it and Ill buy you a cold one and we can toast to a magnificent animal.
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Great photo and loved the story. Were your broadheads flying off center or something? I can't imagine how you felt waiting for the bull to die and everyone waiting with you. That area winters a lot of bulls. There are many five acre parcels sprouting up too and I wonder how long the elk are going to last. I got a bull in that area last year though not as good as yours. Good job.
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hunterofelk, do you have a pic of him? we would still like to see any new kills to help us through this off season ... I'm ready to go hunting allready, is it really only March?
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I'll ride on rougheye's coat-tails. I've posted this pic before, but I don't mind showing it again.
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi3.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy94%2Fhunterofelk%2F100_1091.jpg&hash=47896345bf0afa0af8386d3ed296f44e4bfca45e)
Had a short rack, but the points were long enough. Just a good-eating, average sized bull elk, just what I've wanted for thirty years now. Can't get too many elk like this...no room for the shoulder mounts.
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Hunterofelk, that is awsome, thanks for sharing
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Nice bull,Ther are some nice ones in there
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hunterofelk I did see that one once before, but I'm not sure of the story but thanks for posting that's a great bull from one of my favorite hunting areas great job!
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One of the reasons I wrote this story is because I was at the nock point and they had heard a different story.It involved me sitting in the wardens truck for over an hour ,getting a ticket for tresspasing,and 2 county sheriffs hauling my ass off. I guess if I drove by and saw a hunter in the wardens truck watching an elk that was shot I might jump to conclusions to.Oh well. 2 sheriffs did come out because of all the hunters that kept stopping to look at my bull.It was like a frickin traffic jam a couple of times.Anyway it was a great hunt and so many people helped me.
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Sure is a great bull!! I was wondering how you got an arrow in that bull. That sucker was right out in the middle every moring. Great skills to figure him out and get within range. Very impressive!!!
You were probably hiding in the bushes in this picture. :chuckle:
I wish I would have had my new camera. I would have some better pictures for you.
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Great to hear the story and see the pics all together. Can't wait to see the deer pics. That Alaskan seafood goes a long ways in E Wash. Congrats on your great year.
