EXTENDED: Hunt Success Photo Contest

[HuntTheFront]

EXTENDED - Now through 10/31
Since many seasons are not yet over, let's extend this one more week!

Hey guys and gals!
I think its been too long since we gave anything away on the Elk101 forums and FB pages, don't you think? So we are going to do a Hunt Success Photo Contest!


We want to see your pics & hear the stories from your hunts this year! - Let's try and keep this fair and limit it to this years hunts only. I know there is a meatpole post, but we want to do this separately for those that did not want to enter.
Rules
1. Must be Pictures from this year.
2. Tell us where you were and a short story that goes along withthe pic, we all love stories!
3. Winners will be selected by Elk101 staff. Remember, success does not mean you had to kill something (but it helps)

Prizes
1. We will be giving away 5 Elk101 Bugling Bull Combo Packs
2. The top winner will get a Havalon Piranta Bolt and a Elk101 Bugling Bull Combo Pack


Winners
-Winners will be chosen by Elk101 staff members, but it always helps to tell the story behind your success!


Post them up here or on the Elk101 Facebook Page (entries can be posted either of those places or both)


Let's run this contest 10 days, so until next Saturday. Good luck everyone!

 

[Big Country]

Rifle season doesn't open here in Montana until 10-25, any chance you could extend the contest to include at least part of this?

 

[dplumlee12]

2014 Nevada Bull.  Also my first archery harvest.
Took me 12+ (about 14) years to draw this tag as a resident.  Switched to archery last year and finally drew a tag this year.  Set out and learned all I could about archery elk hunting.  Decided on a solo DIY hunt on public land.  Drove up after work Sept 4th and ended up setting up camp around 10pm.  Bulls were very vocal and kept me up all night.  My plan was to spot and stalk the mornings then sit a wallow in the evenings.  I was prepared to spend 10 days in the field but I got lucky and got this guy coming into the wallow on evening #2.  Got an arrow in him at 30 yards.  Really good hit but at the advice of my dad I had another loaded and ready to go anyway.  He ran to 60 and stopped and I hit him again.  Didn't go another 50 yards then expired.  That's when the work began.  I couldn't hardly roll this beast but 1 time.  Glad I watched the gutless video a dozen times!  Really the only way to process an elk solo IMO.  He ended up scoring just shy of 365 green gross.  Two things I have to say are a must when you get an elk down.  Gutless method and Havalon knives.  Again without elk101.com I would have been lost.

 

[bob.newland.31]

Is this only for elk success stories or other game as well?

 

[turbo1967]

It was a rough season, the rut was late, the elk were scarce and time was short. Then as it often does, it changed in a moment. Ten minutes before legal shooting time the first bull shows himself on the skyline, , not a big bull but big enough to bring a smile on my face. A quick hike to the top of the ridge and just down the other side and it would all start. I let the first bugle out with an immediate response from the gulch below me followed by another then another ,before long 6 different bulls calling to me at once, yet none would come in. I find my mark on the other side of the gulch, two six points, I work my way down and across cow calling and bugling as I go with no luck 70 yards away and I’m busted. I set my sights on the next mark, now 800 yard away I find forty cows, a seven point, six point, five point and a five by six. Twenty minutes of bugling with the seven point and I was getting no were , so I switched over to the cow call again and immediately a bull breaks off from the heard within three minutes the distance dropped from 800 to 20 yards, standing broad side in the wide open . To pass or to shoot?  A million thoughts running through my mind. It was time to tag out. A squeeze of the trigger and my arrow sinks deep in its mark followed by a short heavy blood trail and a large crash .Now the work begins, a mile and a half to the truck and a lifelong memory.                  DIY, public land, Central Montana, solo hunt                                                                                                                                     

 

[HuntTheFront]

Is this only for elk success stories or other game as well?

Let's see anything!

 

[Montana_BackCountry]

My father and I spoke about this hunt sometime early this summer.  I had called him on the phone from Missoula Mt after receiving my 900-20 tag in the mail.  It has been rare to non-existent that we both pull a permit in this area, but I did want to gloat a little bit.  To my delight and surprise, his had arrived in Spokane, Washington that week as well.  My father grew up in Montana so he is able to access affordable out of state hunting licenses through the “come home to hunt” program offered through the FWP here.  We were booth excited to hear that we would be able to return to our rots and do some hunting in the mountains our family settled long ago. 
After plenty of physical conditioning over the summer and sufficient practice behind the sights, fall finally arrived and I set out to meet my father at our agreed upon hunting local.  He had gone up several days previous to check out the old road to camp and spend time with my grandfather.  Eastern Mt got hammered with 10” of rain this fall in the span of about 3 days.  This amount of rainfall can routinely be the annual rainfall accumulation.  The torrent of liquid had all but destroyed our old road, leaving five foot drifts of shale rock where the road had once resided.  I commented upon my arrival that the canyon had reclaimed the drainage.  My father however, being an engineer, had built in the days prior to my arrival a road sufficient enough to get our old 4 wheeler to through the mess and up to our trailhead. 
Day one of our hunt was warm and inviting.  Off of the trailhead are three finger ridges which run parallel to one another looming over the prairie below.  We took off the middle ridge and did some bugling to see what we could locate.  The elk were quiet, so we slipped a ways down the ridge before being surprised by a cow grazing below us.  We sat and watched the cow have its meal as another cow soon joined from below.  We determined after some time that these two were alone, and made the decision to slip away.  We crested over the opposite edge of the ridgeline and slid down into the bottom of the drainage. 
I stopped to tie my boot on the other side of a creek still running in the bottom of the ravine as my father set up above the trail running up the next ridgeline.  No sooner had I sat to join dad, had a group of 6 cows come barreling down to water.  We went unseen by this group for some time.  We watched the group mingle and mew and have social hour beside thestream.  I heard a ramble coming down the mountain and was pleased to see a small 6 point join the group, we both were ready to shoot.  The bull remained out of range however, and soon herded his harem up the relief and out of sight.  After some head nods and fist bumps, we put on the pursuit. 
At the top of the ridge, my father agreed to call and have me step up ahead as shooter.  He gave a strong word of caution however not to shoot anything that could run off the end of the ridge, as packing an elk out of there is not a task for the sound of mind.  I confidently responded the elk would not get far.  Sure as the sun rises in the morning, when dad started his calling series that bull, along with about three others answered back with vigor.  Before I had time to properly set up on the tree line, here he was.  Licking his chops and growling like a beast he charged into less than ten yards.  I was caught with my bow down but attempted to draw at the odd angle anyhow.  The bow did not draw back and I had to let down from half draw.  I thought I had blown it.  As the bull turned to flee I drew properly and bear down my sights.  He stopped at about 25 yards to examine what had moved in the trees.  Through an opening in the limbs no bigger than a dinner plate, I let loose.  The arrow struck the bull high, above his vitals in the spine.  He fell to the ground and rolled over twice.  Before he could struggle to his feet I knocked a second arrow and hit him quartered away through the lungs, as did my father within a second of my shot.  The bull made it about 20 yards from where he was first struck.  As my father came up to congratulate me, I turned and said “guess we don’t have to worry about him getting over that edge…”

 

[BrentLaBere]

The trip started out right for me in western Montana this fall. Walking in on the trailhead early Friday morning, bugles rang out from the bowl below. Skirting the ridge line looking for a spike camp location we ran into a few more elk working their way to bedding areas. The sun was slowly coming up and warming the mountain side as I put the last stake in the ground. Good time to kick back and have a nice meal. Discussing the possible hunting spots the next morning had us exploring before long. Examining saddles and meadows for sign and ambush spots, we hear a bull bugle from his bed. With nothing but time and the season soon to come, we sat down and listened. I can�t speak for the others but I know I was day dreaming of a confrontation with this bull and how it would work out with a clean harvest. The day went on with very little action. Mostly prep work for that day we had been waiting for since coming home last year. Light fading that night bugles rang out and elk filtered through open meadows, but so were the other hunters. Thoughts on what to do in the morning were tough to come by. I went with my gut, GO FOR THE BUGLING BULLS. Alarm went off that morning with my eyes already wide open and my body anticipating the cool morning air outside my mummy bag. Wishing others good luck and strapping my pack down tight before hitting the trail. I had ground to cover and not much time to do it in. Dropping into the basin where these bulls were bugling was off the beaten path. As I was approaching the thick timber of the north facing slope, I crossed a meadow covered with frosted blades that were shinning in the early light. On the far edge of the clearing there was small piece of saturated ground with two small mud baths torn up with steam rising off of them. With that pungent smell of wapiti in the air, I began to let out some sweet cow talk hoping an eager bull was near-by. Bam, a bull sounds off in the timber across the canyon. No time to waste, I dropped down and had water up to my knees crossing the cold mountain stream. Breathing heavy and knocking my knees on the deadfall was a pain I saved for later. Taking a deep breath and checking the wind I thought to myself I had to be close. Letting out a few cow calls as I check for shooting lanes, nothing responds. I move a head looking for a good setup and anticipating this bull sounding off again, but still nothing. I start pleading with my cow calls a bit more and really start adding the emotion of �wanting� attention now! At the end of the calling I let out a small bugle and there he was. Right over the top of me, he hit me with a challenge bugle. I responded with cow calls and this time when he bugled I hit him back with the same intensity and pitch, mimicking him.
I had this bull fired up and knew he was starting to come my way. I adjusted one last time for the wind and setup with two nice shooting lanes. Drawing my bow as I can hear his hooves kicking rocks and his antlers cracking branches, he steps out at 8 yards and I place the arrow behind his leg and watch it burry up to its fletching. The sun is now rising on opening morning as I check for blood. Not far from where I made contact he had knocked the arrow off. 3 inches was all that didn�t pass through and looking up at the morning sunrise, my bull laid there not 30 yards away.

Dropping the meat off in town the hunt was on again, trying to help others fill their tags. I managed to get in a little fishing before heading home which is always a bonus. The best part about my trip was coming home with an elk. My lovely girl friend who loves elk meat just as much as me  was proud and had to show off the elk rack to some friends. The countdown to next year.

 

[Arrows4Elk]

My best stories from this season - starting off with failure and ending with a win. Western Colorado, DIY, Public Land.

Failure. Through August, after work and on the weekends I was scouting a lot, and from a long distance started patterning a small bachelor group of 3 bulls I had located.  One of the bulls was a giant 350+ 6x7 I was really excited about. Three days before the opener, they were gone, vanished.  A few days later I decided to go in at ground level to look for signs of the bulls.  Getting into “the spot” at first light to do some recon work showed me what I expect was the reason for the bulls’ disappearance…a big lion watching me through the low brush at 20 yards.  I waived my bow over my head and spoke loudly in a deep tone, but he wasn’t afraid at all. He just crouched down low and continued to watch me. I was alone, scared and running on all cylinders as I backed out slowly over downed timber with an arrow nocked, never taking my eyes off of him.  He followed me from cover for a few minutes until I hit a steep meadow and got out into the open. He let me go.

7 days into the season at around 11am I found the bulls again, up and feeding, about a mile from kitty. From around 200 yards away, I stalked through thick aspens. It was very windy, and the only reason they didn’t hear me crunching as I crept towards them. Thinking since these 3 bulls were still together and the big 6x7 was tolerating the satellite bull presence there weren’t any cows around, right?  Wrong. 75 yards from the bulls, 4 cows came barreling out of their bedding areas in the nearby dark timber to bust me. The bulls actually ran a bit closer and below me in the commotion and stopped. I ranged the big boy broadside at 61, drew an arrow and in the stiff wind made a tough ethical decision to not shoot.  I let him go.

 

[Arrows4Elk]

The Win.  In a different unit 45 miles away, it was September 20th and my fourteenth day afield for the season. It was just after first light and I was late, about ¾ of the way to where I had a camera set up over a pond wallow.  Walking just inside the fringe of dark timber along the outside of a very large meadow a calf bolted out in front of me and into the meadow. I froze thinking I was busted, and watched the calf run out to a little spruce clump island in the middle of the meadow at about 100 yards. There were a few cows and another calf there, mewing, chirping and playing around, just being elk. I realized they hadn’t seen me. I cow called and got an immediate bugle from 200 yards away on the fringe of the opposite side of the meadow. I challenge bugled back and he responded immediately with a bugle and series of grunts. I raked a tree and then he raked a tree. One of the cows ventured out towards me and stopped at 40.  She looked for me and ended up running back into the spruce. The bull and I stayed in the trees on our respective sides and worked towards the end of the meadow and closer to each other.  With the wind blowing in the direction I wanted to go, I was stuck and had to stop advancing.  He came down to the spruce island, gathered his cows and pushed them into the next basin while I struggled to keep up.

They stopped below a steep knob in dark timber and I kept quiet to let them settle in. I worked up to the top of the knob from the back side and started raking again and he sounded off. I challenged and he responded.  It went back and forth like that for about 10 minutes. Then from 50-60 yards away I saw him through the trees, climbing up the hill to my position at a good clip, he was pissed.  I drew my bow and waited.  He came to 10 yards, stopped, picked up his head to look at me and I released, a full on frontal shot. It went in just above and right of his sternum and passed all the way through and out the lower left rear quarter.  I knew the arrow hit him hard, but waited 30 minutes to check the blood trail. I was rewarded with this great bull and an experience I will never forget. 

 

[dorning3]

Congrats to everyone!!!!!
Couple of my kills this year so far in IDAHO and not done yet..OTC

 

[Elkillr88]

                                             

Breakfast Bull

Pre season scouting turned up some good bulls in a secluded drainage.  Opening day turned up three packs of wolves and several hunters in that same drainage.  The following week I packed 4 miles into steep terrain with plans to spend 4 nights in a new area.  I knew I would get away from hunting pressure and was hoping to hear something other than wolf howls. 

I reached my bivy camp destination at 6p and was greeted with 4 screaming bulls within a half mile of my new home.  One of the best sleepless nights I can remember.  Bulls were active in the full moon and by 6am three of the four bulls were piping off within 300 yards of camp.  Just before daylight I could hear the larger sounding of the 4 bulls wallowing 100 yards below camp.  I quickly threw on some clothes and popped a heads up decoy on the bow and checked the wind.  The bull started raking brush as I peaked over the ridge.  When he finished destroying two saplings I let out a single soft cow call.  He looked my direction and methodically started my direction.  At 40 yards i came to full draw as the bull stepped behind a tree then froze.  I expected the usual 30 minute stare down, he had me pegged.  His focus must have been on the cow head extending from my stabilizer as he continued walking into an opening.  At 26 yards the 5x6 was broadside and fully exposed.  The release was smooth and the arrow hit the center of the lungs just above the heart.  The bull ran 80 yards from my sleeping bag and fell over in a large patch of 6 foot high buck brush. First bull i can remember killing before breakfast!
​

 

[Mulemandan]

It was October 12, 2014 in southern Alberta, I was filming my brother elk hunting all morning, my camera died and I decided I would  hunt as well, we split up and got on a huge herd with over 120 elk, the wind was swirly and we blew them out... I started cow calling and though the big bull rounded up the cows and moved off, the satellite bulls started to show interest. I did a weak spike bugle on my bugling bull tube and they started coming in quick. 92 yards was as close as they came though and then headed out, a few more cow calls from my brother had them coming in again and I moved positions to be set up if they scared off of him.. My bugle tube and range finder were thumping together so I dropped my bugle tube intending to come back for it. That would be the last time I ever saw it!  I moved as close as I dared to the elk let one cow call and drew my bow as I seen them rushing in, my bull stopped at 40 yards broadside, and the rest of the story is about bloody hands and hard work! We hauled him out in one trip with the two of us... My pack weighed 150lbs and Ivan's weighed 134lbs it took us 2.5 hrs to get back to the truck. I did get chased by an angus bull about 200 yards from the truck I made it to the fence but got cut up a bit when I fell trying to cross the barbwire, just because a good elk story can't just end with tired muscles and parched throats! No, it has to end by me getting chased by a bull...

 

[Trouble Shooter]

A tall tale from a Walla Walla archery hunt


Back in June when I found out that my Cousin and I drew one of the coveted Elk Units in the state of Oregon we were
like kids on Christmas morning. We quickly started making plans of scouting the area.  We did the google earth thing
which worked well but isn't the same as putting boots on the ground and spending time in the unit. Our first trip out
and about was an eye opener, it is as everyone has said steep and deep in most of the unit but still has areas that can
be hunted by the average everyday Joe meaning not in pristine shape. We found many areas that looked to be good
and circled them on the maps that we had picked up. We deployed a few trail cams just to see what was in the area.

Our second trip we viewed the trail cam picks and if they were good enough we placed salt in the areas that
had a good water source. We moved the cams around a bit but found great spots for them and got many picks of nice
bulls but not the BIG ones that everyone kept talking about, then again we were also told that they were in the
bottoms of the canyons and generally only come up on the tops was to kick some small bulls away from the cows, do
their business and go back down to the secluded spot where they know they are safe.


Season opener and we were at the spot that we chose for our camp site, 4:00 AM the alarm goes off and
were up and at it with high expectations of hearing and seeing big bulls.  We stepped out and were immediately
greeting with Bugling Bulls.  We make our plans to head out after them we were in place by day light only to find out
that they have already beat us to the Wenaha unit and moving down deep into the canyons, dang-it man.  We found a
couple of small bulls that would come up for a peek and then wonder off into the thick vegetation, Oh I forgot to tell
you that it can be very thick.

Day two had us heading out to a large meadow that we had a camera at and had some good bulls in the area
on film so we head out to hunt them and pull the SD card so we could view it in the evening after dinner.  We heard a
nice sounding bugle on the far side of the meadow and made a plan to see the quality of the bull we heard but by the time
we got around the meadow the bull had what we called lock jaw and must of been in his bed. So we made our way to the
cam and hoped that the bull had his profile taken, upon arrival we saw something or later deemed someone had turned the
cam into the tree so that it wouldn't take any pic's and then pulled the card and view it and erased anything it had captured.
It's too bad that other people can't leave well enough alone but it could have been worse they could have destroyed the trail
cam, so we pulled it and moved it into a new location. This evening we made our way to a water hole that we had another
cam at and we set up our tree stands and sat for the evening, not seeing a thing we changed the SD card and made our way
back to camp for dinner and to view the card. 

Day three again we heard the bugles on the ridge above camp and checked them out and again they had made
their way to the Wenaha unit so we checked out another area that we liked and we had a little 4x5 walk within 8 yards  of
us not even knowing how close he was.


We had to head home for a few days till our vacation kicked in and we could spend some serious time in the unit
hunting for the big ones. Hearing bulls everyday but they would go silent by 7:30-8:00 AM and wouldn't talk till 6:30 or so
our time locating them was very limited but still had hopes because everyone said that things will change around the 15th
of September.

Well the 15th came and gone and nothing had changed so I told my Cousin that the next descent bull that comes in I was going to take him. That evening we headed to a draw and headed up it, the wind was blowing hard and not even steady in one direction, not holding high hopes for the hunt for seeing bulls it was in my mind that it was going to be a looksee at the area and maybe head back into it if we see good sign.  Well as we made our way up I heard a bugle up above us and then again. We worked our way into a position that the wind had been blowing in our favor and started calling when we heard a second bull up the draw a few hundred feet so we kept our eyes open for either one but with the wind swirling they both must have got a molecule of us and went silent.
So we moved up the ridge and found another good spot to call from so we made a cow call and were immediately greeted by a bugle and a second he was coming in hot and fast which is what we needed with the swirling winds.  So I found a spot where I had cover behind me and my cousin moved down the draw about 50 yards and called again.  There he comes through the new growth timber I see his antlers on his right side and see 5 points but he looked to be a nice bull so I made the choice that if he gives me a shot I was going to take him. He gets closer and now only 35 yards out but still too much vegetation I couldn't see his other side then he steps out at 25 yards and I went immediately into full Rambo mode and looked for my shot not looking at his antlers again it didn't matter what his other side looked like he was mine.  He stopped for a second and let out a beautiful bugle which I will never forget, and then he took a step maybe two and presented me a shot.  My pin burned a hole right in the pocket of his boiler room as I squeezed the trigger and watched my arrow zip right into the pocket my pin had burned a hole in, the bull lurched forward and was off to the races into the brush to his left and crash bang then I saw him come out a couple of seconds later and disappear and nothing else.
My cousin came up and said that was a shot it looked like it was right through his boiler room he won't go far.  We gave him 20 minutes and then checked out the spot he was when he was shot, good sign was found there so I said lets jump to the spot that I had last seen him and go from there.  So we move forward to where I could see the spot I had last seen him and there my Walla Walla Bull laid he had only gone 40 yards from where he had been shot.  I thanked the good Lord for helping guide my arrow to the spot and putting him down as quick as possible. I then thanked my cousin for being there and calling for me and that I would do my best to call in a bull for him before we call this Walla Walla season a success. My bull was a nice 5 point bull on his right antler and he was broken between his G4 and G5 on his left but I'm thinking he was a 5 by 6 but I can only count him as a5 by 5 and a fighter.



We packed him out to camp that night and I headed home to cut him up first thing in the morning and return to camp the next morning to call for my cousin who ended up harvesting a very nice 7 on 7 Bull elk but that's another story. This was a tough year as far as I could see for the Walla Walla unit I am sure there are a few that would say man I wish I took that shot on that 320-330 inch bull but held off because of the stories they have heard about the big ones will come. I can only hope they were able to pull the trigger on the bull of their dreams.


Shooter

 

[Trouble Shooter]

here is a couple of pic's to go with the story

 

[Trouble Shooter]

and a couple more sorry they aren't included with the story I had a work Doc all put together with a few picture but when I copied it to the post the pic's disappeared 

 

[wyoelk]

My home state of Wyoming was very good me this year.  I found the bull that I harvested on opening day but he was not interested in any of my calls.  He was all by himself and didn't even pay attention to the cows that passed by him at 300 yards.  What a difference a few days can make.  On the 6th I was actually hunting a different bull that had moved in.  I set up across the draw from their bed room and gave a couple of mews.  Immediately I got a response.  A couple more cow calls and I could see him.  One more cow call and he came running to the bottom of the draw.  As soon as he gave me the quartering away shot I took it.  He ran thirty yards and fell over.


The cow I shot about a week later.  Not much of a story there.  I was walking the timber and called a few times and three cows came running to me.  I took the first one that offered a shot.


The whitetail I had to shoot with my rifle but I'm okay with that.  God blessed my family with a full freezer.

 

[Wapiti308]

I have rifle hunted deer my whole life.  Seven years ago I started hunting elk.  One year ago, I started archery hunting.  This year, we chose Colorado GMU 19 with big plans.  It didn’t start off great.  Our first choice the road was closed for logging.  Days before leaving, we found out our second choice was closed half way for culvert replacement.  One guy lost his cell phone; I had to leave without him.  He never even made it up.  Another buddy’s truck broke down on the way up.  I had to tow him the rest of the way.  Finally, Saturday morning we got to hunt.  By Wednesday night two of the guys filled their deer tags.  Thursday morning I woke up feeling defeated.  With only one day left to hunt.  I was the only one who had not seen anything.  One buddy said he heard bugling down the road from us.  We came up with the plan to sit close by each other and he would be the caller.  We picked a spot and before we sat down a spike walked in on us at about 15 yards.  He made a complete circle around us and left the way he came in.  We just sat down when a nice 5x5 came into our calls.  My buddy bugled, the bull stopped at 32 yards away, and I had the perfect lung shot.  After 30 minutes we followed the blood trail and found him piled up 150 yards from the shot.  Thanks to great hunting buddies I got my first elk.

 

[MT Hunter]

September 21st of this year I found myself forced to try a new area in an effort to find unpressured elk.  I had spent all of my summer scouting an area that I knew to hold good bulls, and that generally didn't receive a lot of pressure.  I had found lots of bulls, and hadn't seen another person hiking, scouting, or otherwise.  However, opening day there were 20+ rigs parked on the 2 mile stretch of road between the forest boundary and the trailhead, which pushed the elk to further reaches of the forest.  Two days later I was back at the trailhead and backpacked into a more remote area of the forest where I knew the elk would head to.  I found myself once again hunting unpressured elk and good numbers of bulls.  On day 3 of the hunt, however, an early September snowstorm moved in and completely shut down the rutting activity, and my hunt.  Three days later I was back again, for another backpack hunt.  Once again, the elk were fired up and I had them all to myself.  On the second morning of the hunt I was on a great bull when all the sudden everything shut down and the hunt was over.  Sure enough, two horse hunters came marauding straight into my setup looking for the bull that they were hearing.  Unbelievable!  The horse hunters stuck around, and the elk did not.  So was the end of my hunt.  After this, I knew that I had to do something different.  I had to leave the area that I had scouted all summer, and go to a different unit that I knew to have fewer elk, and fewer people.  It was a risk, but it would pay off...

Several days later I found myself on a vantage point looking over numerous draws, scanning for tan bodies.  Sure enough, my glassing turned up a great bull with 10 cows feeding up one of the draws.  I came up with a plan and got moving.  About an hour later I had stalked to within 100 yards of the bull, and tried some aggressive challenging.  The bull was fired up, bugling and raking, but would not leave his cows.  After some time of this I decided to retreat, let things calm down, and try a silent sneak.  Thirty minutes later I was within 50 yards of the bull and neither he, nor his cows, had any idea I was there.  As I slowly rose to my feet to range the bull, I snapped a twig and made just enough noise to cause the bull to stand up.  There he was, standing there broadside 40 yards away, give or take.  Now, of all things, my rangefinder was obscured by a few whispy blades of tall grass and would not give me a reading.  For a solid minute the bull stood there, and I was never able to get a range.  Finally I drew back, knowing the bull was close to 40, and rose above the grass for the shot.  As I was pressuring up on the trigger the bull stepped behind a small tree.  I was forced to let down and never had another shot opportunity.  I had to watch the bull and his cows walk away.  Devastating!

The next morning I was back in the same area, traversing ridgelines glassing for the bull and his cows.  After hours of glassing, there was no sign of the bull.  I was sure they had moved off to a different area.  As a last effort, I returned to exactly the same spot as the previous day's encounter and tried a little calling.  Sure enough, a small bull responded to my calls but was stationary, unwilling to come closer.  As I moved in, his bugle grew louder, longer, and more raspy, and soon enough I realized that this was the big bull again bedded with his cows in the exact same spot as the day before!  I carefully stalked to within 75 yards of the elk and this time got the bull to commit with some very soft cow calling.  The bull slowly meandered through the trees my way, this time there was no grass to obscure my rangefinder.  70....60....50...45...40, and finally one last mew from my diaphragm to stop the bull in my shooting lane.  Once again, there the bull was at 40 yards.  He was very slightly quartering towards me so I held tight to his shoulder and released.  The bull exploded over a small rise and out of sight.  I sprinted after him in an attempt to maintain line of sight, and upon cresting the small rise discovered the bull standing still, breathing heavy, 80 yards away.  He was quartering away and I saw that my arrow did not pass through.  I ranged him at 82 and sent a follow up shot on its way, striking him mid body in the ribs on his right side.  The bull once again ran over another small rise and I backed out to give him time to expire.  About an hour later, I found the bull lying a short distance from where I had shot him the second time.  The first shot was a good double lung, but I will always fire a second shot at a still standing bull if the opportunity presents itself.  I sat there alone with the bull and took in the sight, smell, and stillness of the moment.  What an incredible archery season it had been, and what a result!  The bull was good all the way through...  great mass, great tine length, great beams, symmetry, a dreamer royal to be sure!  Thanks be to God for creating such a majestic animal, and allowing me to explore the wild places that they live!

 

[HuntTheFront]

Biggame,
You are right! Let's extend this thing one more week! Now through Halloween!

Rifle season doesn't open here in Montana until 10-25, any chance you could extend the contest to include at least part of this?