2016 Elk Meat Pole

By late morning I was beat, so I popped up the Big Agnes and crashed for the afternoon. When I got up around 3:00 pm, and the wind was howling. I knew any calling would be fruitless, so I decided to climb up the ridge opposite where the huge herd had been the night before. Throughout the trip we had had numerous encounters on this ridge, and it was clearly a transition area for them. I crept along the top of the ridge hoping to spot some moving through the timber on the north side, or through the scattered brush on the south side. About halfway through the ridge, I popped over a rock outcropping only and saw elk around 250 yds down the hill ahead of me. I immediately thought I was busted as it appeared they were staring at me. I slowly raised my binos and, much to my elation, saw that they were looking downhill. I watched them as they fed my direction (left to right) and could tell they were going to feed into the large opening near the bottom of the drainage directly downhill from my position. There were 3 bulls, all by themselves, with the biggest being a small 6. I was in no position for pickiness. I wasted no time in running down the hill (literally) trying to get into position to cut them off. This was the south side of the hill with scattered cover in the form of sparse pines and rocky outcroppings, but I made the most of what I had and darted from cover to cover. I had made it around 80-100 yds and could see we were converging on the same spot. I slowed way down and began to pick my way very carefully, keeping an eye on them as they fed my way no more than 60-70 yds out. I figured I was close enough and waited behind a pine tree. I knew this was going to happen. The first bull appeared and I ranged him at 32 yds......
 
I looked behind him and could see the 6 was next in line. I drew and slightly stepped out, letting out a cow call, stopping him. There was nit a branch anywhere between us. I put the 30 yd pin behind the shoulder and can still remember the sun gleaming off the elk and sight of the arrow hitting him in what appeared to be a good shot. That is until he whirled to run downhill and saw my arrow sticking almost completely out of his shoulder! Luckily he only ran a littler ways and stopped to look back. I nocked up and drew thinking 50. For some reason my mind overrode itself and at the last second I went with 40. I was right the first time as I watched the arrow hit him low... and back..... :(
 
\"Justin Byers\" said:
I looked behind him and could see the 6 was next in line. I drew and slightly stepped out, letting out a cow call, stopping him. There was nit a branch anywhere between us. I put the 30 yd pin behind the shoulder and can still remember the sun gleaming off the elk and sight of the arrow hitting him in what appeared to be a good shot. That is until he whirled to run downhill and saw my arrow sticking almost completely out of his shoulder! Luckily he only ran a littler ways and stopped to look back. I nocked up and drew thinking 50. For some reason my mind overrode itself and at the last second I went with 40. I was right the first time as I watched the arrow hit him low... and back..... :(
Click to expand...


Low like the \"lower brisket\" or gut? Oh no!
 
(Low/back - stomach)

The bull ran down into and across the drainage and stopped. He eventually disappeared up the hill. The hillside he ran up was a north facing slope and was still covered in snow. At the top of that ridge is a miniature forest of dense Christmas trees ranging from 1-10 ft. I had a feeling he was going to go up there to bed. I decided with the wind covering my noise, and the snow making tracking much easier, I had a real good chance of sneaking up on him and finishing him. I would normally just back out, but tomorrow I had to pack out camp by myself, and with the temps warming the possibility of the snow melting was high. I quickly made my way to where I had last seen him standing, and almost immediately found a good amount of blood. I began to quickly but carefully follow the trail, scanning ahead for any sign of the bull. As I neared the Christmas tree top I spotted antlers sticking above the trees. I could tell it was my bull standing up, but I could see nothing but the tops of his rack. All of the sudden his rack disappeared and he bedded down. I could see the top of one tree continuously shaking, I\'m guessing from him moving his head, which made it possible for me to keep tabs on where he was. I was able to sneak to within 15 yds, but could not see any part of the bull. I dropped back down and came in from the other side, getting to within 5 yds!!! I stood on top of a deadfall trying to get a view of the bull to no avail. It was that thick.
 
I stood there watching the tree shake in unbelief that my prize was so close (literally) but still so far. I waited for 5 or so minutes contemplating what to do. I wasn\'t sure if I should back out or just sit down and wait, maybe all evening if need be. Thankfully the bull made the decision as something clued him in, and he jumped up and ran 15 yds, then stopped and looked at me. I still couldn\'t see much of his body, but decided I had to try ad thread it. I shot and heard a loud crack! (the sound of my arrow breaking on a tree) :(

He ran down the hill stopping at 40 and I could see there was a gaping hole from my second shot. His insides were hanging and catching on limbs. I could tell he was bad hurt and wanted to end this pitiful debacle asap. I knew there was no way he would still be standing there had he not been in serious trouble. He very, very slowly made his way through the ridge, and I kept back trying to keep an eye on him until he disappeared. I still decided, in spite of conventional wisdom, To stay on him, and try to end it. He eventually made his way out of sight and I cautiously moved forward staying on blood.
 
I hear ya. I shoulda known better than to start a story in the middle of season! ;)


He was out of sight now. I followed his trail which led me up to the top of the ridge and back down. I was super nervous of bumping him, and was doing my best to keep my eyes peeled ahead while trying to follow the blood at the same time. As I crested the top of the ridge going back down into the snow, I saw him standing ahead of me, at 20 yds! I could only see his rump and his horns. He was standing, and there was no clear shot. I waited for a while until he bedded down. The pic is my view of where he was bedded. Over the number of minutes I moved forward a step at a time. The wind had started to really die off now, and any slight noise I made caused him to whip his head around. I still could only see his rump and his horns as the 2 small pines obstructed everything else. (I took this pic exactly where I was standing. His rump was sticking out of the gap in the pines) I was 10 yds from him. I bored a hole into those 2 small trees with my range finder, studying every feature trying to find an opening. After 10 minutes or so I determined that as long as I didn\'t dead center the small trunks of the trees I should be able to punch through the rest. I\'m shooting a very heavy setup and figured at that distance, with the downward angle, even if it somewhat deflected it would do the trick. I waited for a gust if wind, pulled, said a prayer, and buried my pin in the middle of the 2 trees. I was anticipating another explosion of the bull beating it out of there. He tried to explode, but immediately rolled downhill unable to get up. I had went down through the top of his spine, and finally ended it.
 
I ran down the drainage, grabbed my horse, led him back up, and immediately set about breaking down the bull. I was 5 miles from camp , which was another 3.5 from the truck. I got the bull broke down by 10:00 pm and walked back to camp. First thing the next morning I re-loaded the horse with my bull, walked him 3.5 miles back to the truck, rode back, broke down and loaded up camp, then walked back again 3.5 miles to the truck. When I got home I was beat!
 
I was ashamed of my pitiful display of shooting. Not a 100% sure what was going on, but I hope to never have a situation like that again.
Even though I wasn\'t proud of my shooting, I was happy with my recovery effort. It also felt good to stick out till the end and come home with a load of meat for the fam. It was hard, tiring, and at times frustrating but in the end I was very happy to have my tag filled and my freezer full. As tired as I was I can only imagine what ol? ?Buck? must have felt like! He carried my butt for 2 straight weeks, and packed 2 bulls by himself, back to back days, and had no real issues the entire trip. I was really proud of him, and there is something to be said for knowing your horse.

I am really looking forward to hunting solo next year. As much fun as I have in the mountains I do hope my trip doesn?t have to go the whole 15 days every year! Sorry for dragging this out, I hope you guys all had a great season!
 
Was going through all the great results from last year and realized that although I made a thread about my bull, I never posted a pic here. Here\'s one for the archives:

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