'08 Public Land DIY elk hunt- story with pictures

[crazyice]

Great story Scoot! I am loving every word of it! I can't wait to read the final chapter.

What you four have accomplished is exactly what I have dreamed of doing ever since I have picked up a bow. In fact last year at this time I had started planning an elk hunt to Colorado, but earlier this spring I found out I needed shoulder surgery so it got put on hold. I do have a couple of questions for you though, can you just buy a Wyoming archery tag OTC or do you have to apply for it? Also, what kind of broadheads are you guys using?

[wolfman-k]

Great pictures & story to boot! It sounds like you guys are having a blast. Thanks to all of you for sharing, and here's hoping that there's more 'callin & haulin' to report.

[Scoot]

Day 8 (final day of the hunt)

We started the day off with Slevy and me going down to the NE of the self-pity wallow. Rod and Jon were headed back to the area where Slevy had shot his bull yesterday. After shooting the bull, they’d seen three other decent bulls in the area, so it seemed like a logical choice. After our standard breakfast, we split up and put on a few miles. The morning started interesting for Slevy and me. We went down a draw and quickly found an interested bull. He sounded big and mean, and he was pretty interested in our calling right away. We called back and forth with him, moving in tighter after each call. We finally came to a large park, about the size of a football field. We then called back and forth with this bull for 15 minutes. Slevy would bugle at him and he’d fire right back. However, it became apparent he wasn’t going to come any closer and we were in a tough spot- we couldn’t get at him to the East, because he’d wind us. We couldn’t go very far West, because the West side of the park was a steep rocky cliff that we couldn’t climb. Our only shot was to cross the open park and risk being seen by the bull- we had no other option. We carefully and quietly slinked our way across the park and set up in a likely looking spot, about 60 yards from where we thought the bull was bugling from. We hadn’t seen anything in the aspen stand he’d been, but that’s pretty typical- it’s thick and nasty in some of those spots, and you often don’t see the elk that are relatively close to you there. Slevy screamed a bugle at the bull, hoping to get him to respond aggressively to the intrusion in his living room… nothing. We waited a few minutes and he tried again. This time the bull responded from about 400 yards away. Just as we’d feared, it was a done deal- he’d spotted something fishy and boogered outta there when we were crossing the park.

After that we worked our way to the West and closer to the self-pity wallow. We didn’t intercept anything the least bit close, so we settled into a wallow sit for a while. We tucked into the “lucky spot” at self-pity and waited. We really weren’t sure how long we’d stay there or what our plan was. While sitting there, we could hear a couple bears fighting over the carcass of Rod’s elk, not 150 yards below us. It was fun to listen to them growl at and try intimidate each other. But the more we thought about it, the more we started to wonder if we should stay there. The elk were all coming to the wallow from below. There were two load and mad bears very near the trail that they took coming up to the wallow. Plus, there’d been a whole lot of human activity by us at that wallow over the past several days. It was noon, time was running out quickly, and I wanted to get over to the area where that dead elk was so I could pick up his rack if it worked out. We decided it was time to move. We’d work our way West and see what we could see. On the way West, we heard what can only be described as a “rut fest” on the private land below us. There were at least ten bulls screamin’ and yellin’ at each other down there. We could hear the satellite bulls screeching and screaming and you could hear one old heard bull grunting and growling at them, trying to keep the away from his harem. It was great fun listening to them, but time was short and we clearly couldn’t go after them due to the fact that they were at least 600 yards onto private land. So, we left that entertainment and kept working West. At about 2:30 in the afternoon we found the rack of the bull we’d discovered previously. Given that we now had permission from a G & F officer, we cleaned it up, strapped it on my pack, and went on our merry way. It was at that point in the trip that I finally realized that I almost certainly wouldn’t shoot an elk. The only real reason I decided to take the rack then was that I knew I wouldn’t have another rack to carry back. Slevy and I considered the find of this dead bull a trophy in itself and I really came to peace with the idea of taking this trophy home, instead of a bull that I’d actually shot. Here's a shot of me with it on my back.

We talked about it for a while, and decided to end the trip in the area of the “way, way down wallow”. That was in the area where I’d screwed up Slevy’s stalk on the nice 6 X 6 with my “expert calling”. After bouncing around a bit, trying to decide the best spot to settle in at, we finally hid in a grassy spot near a large aspen tree. Here's the view we had from our little hidey hole.

We sat there quietly, occasionally talking about the trip, reflecting on our adventures, dropping a few soft cow calls once in a while, and generally enjoying the moment. It was great- it was one of only a truely relaxing, care-free sorts of moments in the trip where I wasn’t intensely focused on a goal or endpoint of some sort. After 45 minutes, I mentioned to Steve I wanted to rip off a bugle and see if anything would answer. I hit a locator bugle and got an immediate response from about 200 yards away. I waited a minute or so and was just about to fire off another bugle, to see if the bull was coming near us or going away from us, when the bull started grunting wickedly from 100 yards. He was extremely fired up and coming at us on a string! I saw antler tips first, then I saw the bull- he wasn’t huge, but I knew with great certainty I’d try take him if I could. Slevy held the range finder at the ready and softly whispered repeatedly, “He’s nice, he’s really nice”. Not the most settling words I’d ever heard in the field! The bull walked around a blow-down and stood facing us at 48 yards (Slevy had ranged him and whispered the distance). He didn’t know it, but the decision he was about to make would likely determine his fate- if he went to the small wallowing area to his left, I had only a tiny window to get a shot, which would likely not happen. If he went to the wallow to his right, he’d be in a perfect spot for me to get a shot. He literally looked right, looked left, stepped left, stepped right, then finally chose left! Uuuuuggghhhh, can you believe it?!? I did have one small window though, so as his head passed behind three aspen trees, I started to draw. At that exact moment, something happened- I’m certain the bull didn’t see us, but I believe he caught the slightest hint of our scent. He raised and lowered his head while turning back to look in our general direction. I was at half draw and had to stop instantly. He looked our way for about 30 seconds, all of which I remained at almost exactly half-draw- no easy feat considering I’m pulling almost 70 lbs. Just as I really started to shake with fatigue in my arms, the bull turned 180 degrees and casually walked back the way he’d just come. However, he wasn’t leaving, he was simply changing his mind and going the wallow I needed him to be at for a shot. Apparently he’d caught the slightest of whiffs of us, but smelled nothing else and settled back down. It was an incredible stroke of luck, to say the least! He again went behind the three aspens and I drew. I then heard Slevy whisper, “29, 29, 28, 28, 28”… He’d stopped nearly broadside at 28 yards. With the goofy wind in that area, I figured I wouldn’t get a better chance than that, so I settled my 30 yard pin in on the back edge of his shoulder and squeezed the release. WHACK! The bull tore off in a brown blur. Slevy saw my arrow on the opposite side of the bull- it’d passed through, with the exception of the fletchings apparently catching in the exit hole. We gave him 45 minutes and decided we couldn’t afford to wait any longer- storms appeared to be coming in and we didn’t want to lose a blood trail to rain. Although there wasn’t much blood for the first 50 yards, Slevy found blood soon after and we found him piled up 150 yards down the trail. Although not exactly huge, he was a 6 x 7 and I was and am extremely proud to have taken him. Here’s a shot right where we found him.

Daylight was burning and we quickly got to work quartering him and boning what we would be able to get back to camp that night. Since I already had a rack on my pack, I left his rack and carried the other one out. I’d have to get his headgear tomorrow. We made it back to the well beaten path we’d taken many times before that week just in time to need to turn on our headlamps. It got dark quickly that night, with the waning moon at about ¾ full, but the 1 ¼ mile we had left was an easy and gradual climb back to camp and we knew it well. We talked about Jon and how we hoped he’d lucked into an opportunity too. I commented that at least with the rack I found he’d a rack to pose with for pictures!

As we got to the bottom of the last hill, we noticed two headlamps coming from the North- it had to be Rod and Jon. Hmmm… it was late, too late to be getting back to camp, unless something delayed them. I couldn't help but be hopeful, but I also I had the pessimistic thought, “They must have stuck it out to the bitter end, given that it was the last day.” We met them at the bottom of the hill and they immediately knew we’d shot an elk (not sure if it was the ear-to-ear grin or the big ol’ rack on my back). We asked for their report and they told us that at 1:00 or so they went to the self-pity wallow. We’d not been gone for an hour when they showed up, but they had no idea where we were or that we’d even been there. It was all quiet until mid-afternoon. Then, Jon told us a lone cow wandered into the wallowing area. Given it was the last day and with extremely limited time, Jon shot her at 15 yards. They were making the final trip out with the last of the meat. Wonderful! We congratulated Jon and there were smiles around. Miraculously, we’d all tagged out, with two of us filling our tags in the final afternoon! I showed the boys a picture of the bull I shot and asked to see a picture of Jon’s cow. Unfortunately, they told us that in their haste to get their work on the animal done, they hadn’t even bothered to take a picture. Again… bummer. But, not matter- we’d all tagged out and we cracked a celebratory shot out to acknowledge the accomplishment, as well as celebrate the conclusion of a wonderful hunt.

You’d think that’s the end of the story, wouldn’t you? However, it isn’t. In fact, what happened after that was pretty incredible! While we were sitting around the tent enjoying a celebratory drink…

[Deitz Dittrich]

Argh, great story scoot.. however picts are not working for me yet?

NEvermind, they are working now.

[Scoot]

DD, none of them are working? Or... just the ones in the last post?

Hmmm... at my work I can only see about 1/3 to 1/2 of the pics. However, at home I can see them all. Must be a filtering issue for me at work. Could that be the case for you too?

[crazyice]

Another great chapter!

[DonBo]

Congrats to all of you on a great DIY hunt! You should be proud.

[DTro]

Just a great all around read. Thanks again for sharing Scoot!

You had me guessing right up till your arrow went "whack".

But there is more?

[Scoot]

But there is more?

Yep, and... it's "best for last"!

[muc33]

At least having you type this makes me know that the next chapter does not include a bear tearing you up or anything freaky like that. I can't wait to read on!!!!!

[Shack]

The trip home is always the best part, no wait, I think it is the trip out is the best part

Either way, great end (so far) to a great story.

Again, thanks for sharing

[mrklean]

now thats a story cant wait to hear then ending

[Coach1310]

Another great chapter Scoot!! Can't wait for the conclusion. You should be an author, cause you do a heck of a job "stringing us along."

[crazyice]

Hey Scoot, could you drop me an email please? andylori at msn dot com It would be greatly appreciated.

[Scoot]

Thanks fellas!

crazyice, I'll send an e-mail. I just now noticed you'd asked me some questions that I neglected to respond to. I'll shoot you an e-mail.

[Scoot]

Day 8 (continued)

We hadn’t been at camp long when Slevy and I told the whole story of our day’s happenings to Rod and Jon. They had lots of questions and were clearly happy for us. Once we finished with our story, we asked Jon to give us more details about the cow he’d shot earlier in the afternoon. He was just about to start the story, when he excused himself to use the rest room (any old location behind the tent) first. I saw his headlamp quickly returning, but he was shining his light right in my eyes- I couldn’t see a thing. Suddenly, he turned the light away from us and showed us the rack of this bull! That lying bugger hadn’t shot a cow at all- he’d shot a HUGE 5 x 5. This thing is a monster! Our camp went from happy as could be to completely ecstatic! Here’s a picture of the bull he’d shot…

Apparently his “cow story” was mostly true- Rod and Jon had put on a ton of miles by noon and hadn’t seen a thing. They then showed up at the self-pity wallow about an hour after Slevy and I left. Again, they had no idea we had even been there at the time. After a couple hours of quiet time, they started to hear some activity below them. There were a number of cows, some satellite bulls, and a big bull coming in! The big bull made only one noise the entire time he came in- he was glunking, and doing it loudly. He glunked his way into the wallow for over 100 yards, dropping glunk after glunk after glunk- very cool!

As the bull approached to about 15 yards, Jon drew- a shot appeared just seconds away. However, the bull stopped and ate some grass and a cow moved in to 6 yards. The cow was facing right at Jon, which wouldn’t have been much of a problem, if she hadn’t done it from inside of 20 feet and looking in Jon’s direction for three straight minutes. Jon didn’t dare move or he’d be busted and it’d be over in a heartbeat. He held his draw, then he held it some more. Finally, he started to shake, the he shook some more. Finally, the cow put her head down for a second and Jon let his draw down. The bull moved in tighter and was now at about 12 yards. However, Jon had absolutely no shot. Rod was a couple yards to Jon’s right and he had a wide open view/shot to the bull, but Rod wasn’t the shooter! Rod finally couldn’t take it… he very softly whispered, “Find a shot.” Jon responded with, “I have no shot”, as he had two trees right in front of him. But Rod would have none of it and replied, “MAKE a shot”. Finally, the bull walked a few yards to the East, Rod’s general direction- exactly what Jon needed. Jon slowly and carefully tried to move his bow to his right so he could draw and shoot. But, Jon was so focused on the bull he didn’t see his broadhead headed for the tree immediately in front of him- “SSSSSSCCCRRRAAAAAAAPPPPPPPEEEE”, went the arrow on the tree. Things were apparently meant to be, though, and neither the cow at 6 yards nor the bull at 11 yards even batted an eyelash. Jon drew and got his pin on the bull’s ribs in one motion. Rod wasn’t really in the way, but leaned back to be 100% sure he was completely clear of Jon’s arrow. “ZIP” went the arrow, then all heck broke loose! Elk were flying everywhere! It all happened so fast that Jon wasn’t even sure he had hit the bull, let alone made a good shot. It was only 11 yards, so he felt good about it, but he somehow hadn’t seen the arrow enter the bull’s side. Rod wasn’t sure either, because he was staring at the bull’s rack the entire time!

Soon they found Jon’s arrow covered in bright red blood and soon after that they found the bull. Here’s a few more pics of the monster 5 x 5.

… and that’s the end of our hunting story. I hope you have enjoyed it half as much as we did! I’ve also really enjoyed writing up the story. I hope my writing hasn’t been too over the top and I really hope nobody interprets me telling the story as bragging or being grandiose- that’s certainly not my motivation or intention. I enjoy writing up hunting stories like this and I’ve been lucky enough to read write ups of others who have written similar stories. I loved their stories and I hope everyone has enjoyed ours.

A few other notes about the trip:

My dad, mom, and uncle all considered joining us at camp this year, but it didn’t work out for a handful of reasons. I wish they could have come, but, but maybe next time. I think we’d all really like that.

Sorry if the pictures seemed biased towards Jon and me, but that's due to Rod and Slevy's cameras crapping out on them- not due to any bias on my part.

Thanks to Steve Foss (stfcatfish) for help with the pictures- he's a genius with his keen eyes and a master with the software he uses.

Thanks again to Rod, Jon, and Slevy- I’ve never shared a hunting camp with finer fellas and I hope we can do it again and again for many years to come.

Here are a few final pics from our trip.

Here's a shot of Jon and me hauling out the final load of meat for the trip.

FYI- this pic is with the bull I found, not the one I shot. I'm not trying to fool anyone with this. However, when we did pictures Jon and I still had one trip left to haul out the remainder of the meat and carry back the rack. So, I used what I had available...

[woody1975]

That was one of the best stories I have read in a long time. Felt like I was out there with you guys. You truly have a knack for story telling. What trip are you going on next? I can wait for volume 2 to come out. Congratulations on a truly amazing trip.

Thanks again

DL

[DonBo]

WOW! What a great story. Better and better everyday. Thanks. May all our hunts end as well. Congrats again to you guys.

[Hossienda]

Scoot,

Thanks for the outstanding story. Each update has been eagerly anticipated on my part. You have a great ability to "reach" your readers. I felt like I was there with you guys! Congratulations on an excellent adventure and the writing of a great short story.

-Hossienda

[ibwhnt]

Congrats and great job there guys, Scoot make sure you tell the others I said that ok.

[mrklean]

great story, you should do this with all your hunts, keeps me busy at work

[Deitz Dittrich]

Great story and great picts.. Thanks Scoot.

[Scoot]

Thanks everyone- sure is fun to write up and relive the trip.

crazyice, I sent you two different e-mails and both bounced back. Why don't you e-mail me at: scootsfishing

at yahoo

[Shack]

Here are the rest of the images. It limits the amount of images you can put into one post: Very cool and the pictures we have all been waiting for.

[Shack]

Scoot, again great story, great post and great images.

Thanks for sharing dude!