Self-Induced Pressure (long post)

[Baby Huey]

I witnessed some unfortunate self-induced pressure this past archery elk season in Colorado.

My buddy drew a tag that took over 10 years to obtain. Normally this is supposed to be a fun filled great hunt, and it was for the most part, but my buddy put too much pressure on himself to harvest a bull. It started with the application. He was worried he wouldn?t have enough time to scout, shoot, hunt and be prepared to the level he wanted to be at. He was asked to be the best man for a wedding out of state in the middle of archery elk season, so the wedding and the bachelor party the weekend prior was in the back of his mind as something that would hinder his ability to get ready for this hunt and have enough time.

The prep he puts in is always on-point and he is an accomplished hunter. But man, this year he really stressed himself out. He has harvested a mountain goat, bear and several elk and deer, but a nice 6x6 has always eluded him. Wanting a really nice 6x6 was what he wanted, but the lure of big bulls in this area also fueled the fire to harvest a great bull.

At work, he has a stressful engineering job, as he is the top PM in the country for roadway design at his company. This past year had another job heavy load this year, and was another factor in the stress to stay on top of projects, submit for additional jobs, etc.

We have helped others hunt in this unit before and know some good areas. Another friend of mine is a local and he took us scouting to a couple spots he suggested. I scouted twice with my buddy and he went up another 4 times. I helped him with virtual scouting as well as map study and other research.

He constantly worried himself with not having enough scouting in, not shooting enough, etc. I would tell him that he knows how to hunt, so his current scouting trips were enough (coupled with the previous knowledge we have of the unity) and that he just needed to keep shooting and be confident with his bow and effective range. He would call me and not have the confidence he normally had, and I would work to build up his confidence in our conversations.

The first day out we got on a 320 class 6x6 that was a very nice bull. We watched it for 30 minutes and he was going back and forth the entire time floundering on if he wanted to harvest this bull or look for a larger one, as we have seen larger bulls during our scouting trips. We decided he should stalk up to it and make a decision the closer he got. At 35 yards he was thinking he should take it, and he must have stepped on something that gave him away, as the bull trotted off.

At this point it was as if he jinxed himself for the rest of the trip, as he said he will be upset if he does not get a bull that size after essentially passing on this bull the first day. I don?t really believe in jinxes, but I think mentally he put additional doubt and stress on himself by passing up that bull for the rest of the trip.

He stayed in elk camp for 10 more days after that opening weekend, with me helping him 6 days. He had several encounters and shots that would hit limbs and small trees that further shook his confidence. Then he had to host the bachelor party one weekend, go to work that week and then the following weekend go to FL for the wedding.

 

[Baby Huey]

I helped him for another 5 days, before I had to leave and meet my brothers and nephew for their high country buck hunt I would help them with. Well, we had another chance at the biggest 5pt I had ever laid eyes on in the field. We were waiting him out, as he was bedded with 4 spikes around him. I was behind my buddy and we were 30 yds from the elk, but we had no shot as there were small branches in some of the arrow path. A few minutes later my buddy turned his head to talk to me and a spike happened to get up and noticed the movement and alerted the rest of the elk. The 5x5 stood up and offered a shot, but still had a few branches that could cause a problem. The shot was taken and branches sent the arrow off the mark.

That is a shot he normally wouldn?t take, but the stress of a few days left in the hunt appeared to be a definite burden on him. Each time we would go back to camp and he would drill his target at 60-70 yards ? which frustrated him even more. Again I kept up with the encouragement, but the live elk and pressure was just an albatross that he could not rid himself of.

The last day in that section of days I could help him was to be a morning hunt, as I needed to get to another part of CO to meet my brothers at the trailhead the next morning for their backcountry buck hunts. That morning saw us go down into a nasty canyon and found a huge bull bugling and tending his harem. There were other elk screaming in that valley as we made our way down. We found a wallow that was just ripe with elk activity. We caught a glimpse of the bull below us heading to our right. We were in sparse cover, so I stayed put and let my buddy go after him. I never heard nor saw the shots, but 3 arrows were sent. The first we found had blood on it, the second wasn?t found and the 3rd didn?t make it to the elk.

My buddy thought he hit it good on the 2nd shot, and the elk actually lay down. My buddy was in such a mode to get another arrow in the elk that he tried to get closer for that 3rd shot. The shot was short, and the elk got up and made his way out of there. My buddy pursued it, where I think he only detrimentally pushed that bull where we would unfortunately never see it again. I put on my radio after half an hour, so did my buddy, but we had some settings wrong. So, we were both upset that the other was not turning on the radios, but we found each-other and found the problem.

My buddy had trailed the elk after it got up, and I think that really put the nail in the coffin. Unfortunately we experienced the problem with pushing an elk when he should have just let him expire ? even if it would have taken hours. I knew in my head he should have never tried to get closer as there was not enough cover, but decisions were made and we worked with what we had.

After he came back and we started the second trailing, we ran into a lot of blood ? but it was all on the right side, so it seemed as if there was not a pass-through as blood was only found on the right side of plants/shrubs that we passed. The blood starting lessening after ? a mile and another 2 hours in we found a spot where the bull stopped and soothed itself in a muddy creek bed. We could see the sternum and four leg imprints in the mud and blood only on the right side near the back hindquarter. There was very little blood though at this point.
We could follow the minimal blood painstakingly another 100yds in the aspen country, but the blood trail just stopped. We searched for another 2 hours after at the last blood spot doing both grid and

 

[Baby Huey]

circular searches, but found nothing. I had to leave, which I hated to do to my bud, but I had to help on the other hunt. My buddy scoured that area for the next two days, but never found the bull.

He was ready to stop hunting as he felt horrible about wounding and not finding that bull. We had discussions and ended up going up again for the final 5 days. We packed into an area and ran into elk the entire trip. Bad luck just lingered with us. One day we found several elk working an area ? the bulls would be running/trotting/walking around up to a 400 yard radius ? it was pretty awesome. We just couldn?t connect.

There were three great chances, where I screwed up on one of them. We could hear bulls bugling and running around and found a spot that looked like a great corridor and ambush spot. We got set up and passed on a few smaller bulls. We could hear a good bull heading our way. It was coming down through some oak brush at a fast walk and as it turned to head to our left, I was just watching, when I should have blown my cow call to stop it broadside at 35 yds. Of course a couple seconds later my brain got out of its idiot lock up mode and it was too late. I won?t get over messing that one up for my buddy ? it was another 320 class bull and I screwed it up.

The second to last chance is when I let my buddy go by himself about 20 minutes ahead of me toward a good sounding bugle, as I thought it was too hard for two guys to go through the forest, as it was extremely hot this year and the crunchy leaves and vegetation would double the sound with two guys walking, not to mention twice the movement. My buddy got in position and had a great shot at a bull, but he knew there was a 3? aspen tree near the middle of the elk, just around the back of the lung area. Of course he hit that damn small aspen and buried the arrow into it, along with more frustration and self-doubt.

The last chance was on the last day. We encountered many elk, but just couldn?t get a shot. The last hour we ran into a 4 and 5 point locking up antlers. He said he will take the 5x5 that was a slam dunk 40 yards away. The arrow was sent and I never saw it hit. I watched both elk and told my buddy neither had blood. He kept saying I was looking at the wrong elk, but I knew neither had been hit. We found his arrow with no blood on it. He was just devastated
.
Everyone in our hunting group feels so bad for my buddy. The pressure of finally drawing the tag and then putting stress on himself instead of really enjoying the hunt was really unfortunate.

I just wanted to share this so that when you get your chance to hunt elk, try to ensure that it stays a fun time. This was totally out of character for my buddy as we always enjoy hunting and being outdoors, no matter if we harvest an animal or catch a fish. This limited draw tag and self pressure to get a great bull just unfortunately put a dark cloud over this hunt. We still had a great time and it was a great experience and learning opportunity, but I just feel bad that I couldn?t help my buddy get his mind back out of the stress-rut it was in and enjoy the hunt.

 

[bowhunter]

That sounds like a fun hunt minus the not getting an elk. I might not hunt a hard to draw unit as I like hunting too much and would settle for a couple hunts that just took a few points. Until I get to be better at this game of elk hunting I already have it set in my mind that I will shoot the first legal elk. Like the post \"would you rather\" I would rather shoot a few cows and a couple average bulls over 10 years than just 2 nice bulls.

Thanks for sharing. I hope it helps someone just relax and enjoy the hunt rather than putting pressure on themselves.

 

[iccyman001]

Great post, Roman.
I hope this really helps some people out.

I know too many people who put way too much pressure on themselves before the hunt even begins and it ruins their mood and starts the hunt off on the wrong leg.



I try to stay as positive as I can before, during and after every hunt. It makes life a lot easier. :upthumb:

 

[F M]

Roman thanks for sharing his story.

I can totally relate to what you are saying. When I went back to Co. this year the second time I was not mentally into the hunt. My mind was on my grandson and not enjoying the hunt. I didn\'t eat right and pushed to hard and burned my body out. I was trying so hard that I really forgot that the hunt was supposed to be enjoyed.

 

[Old School]

Roman - thanks for the post. As I\'ve read multiple stories (and some well documented hunts full of details and pictures) it has reinforced to me that the success of the hunt is really about the journey and enjoying the time spent not necessarily only in the harvest.

--Mitch

 

[Zpd307]

I know this feeling...... it is my number1 thing to work on for next year!
I was so worried that my wife would have been disappointed with me when I got home without an elk for the 4th year in a row...... I was so relieved when she told me that she didn\'t care, she just wanted me to have fun. it was a huge weight off of my shoulders!!!!!