Muley1
Member
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2009
- Messages
- 128
2010 continues to be a pretty good year for me. After drawing a once in a lifetime elk tag in North Dakota and shooting a bull on opening day, I continued to make my plans for my trip to Colorado for my 3rd try at bagging an archery elk. After making plans, my brother-in-law and I loaded up and headed to Denver to pick up my best friend Jason and his friend Mike and head out to the mountains for a week. For those of you that hunted the last 10 days of the season you are well aware of the hot weather we encountered. To say the least, it made for long days and tougher hikes. It seemed that the weather may have had a hand it keeping the bulls quiet also. We were fortunate to run into elk each morning and evening, but the bulls just weren't interested in talking. We had several times when a bull would answer once or twice from a distance but then would soon go silent even when closing the gap. We finally ran into a bull that let us close the ground on him on day four but after the close encounter he quit bugling and disappeared. Before he disappeared however he gave us a quick skyline view from about 60 yards and I realized for an over the counter tag in this area, he was a good quality bull. I told myself that I wanted to stay focused on this bull. We worked this same bull the following morning and again got him to answer but then he went quiet. Once again, we got into the middle of his cows, but there was no site of him. We left him alone that next day and hunted another area so that the cows and bull could settle back down even though we never really disturbed them too much. The day after, we tried for him again in the evening and heard one bugle in the same general direction that he was at the previous times, but again he would not keep talking. Finally, on our fourth try the evening before we were planning to go home, we went back to the same area. After several bugles from Jason, the bull answered. He was quite a distance away and we decided to close the gap immediately. After several hundred yards, Jason bugled again, and he answered again. We knew we were closer but still quite a ways away. We closed a couple hundred yards and again Jason bugled and this time, we were right on top of him as he barked about 25 yards below us. After a couple minutes of chuckles and barks from Jason, the bull seemed to lose interest and we were feeling that he was going to go quiet and wander off again. At this point, Jason signaled that he was going to move back about 50 yards and try again. No sooner did he move and let out his first bugle and the bull began an aggressive bugle, chuckle, bark, raking sequence and we knew the game was on. A quickly ranged a tree that I felt he may come out by at 32 yards. Moments later I saw his face come out just behind the tree. Jason made one more rake behind me and the bull took the 2 steps I needed to have a clear shot. I drew and released and made a near perfect shot and he crashed down the mountain. We quietly gathered and went to look for my arrow and blood and found both. The blood trail was extreme and confidence was high right away. After giving him about 15 minutes (I would have normally given him longer but darkness was closing in fast), we made the decision to begin trailing him. A short 100 - 150 yards later we found him laying on the ground. I did put another arrow in him for insurance as he was still vaguely aware of his surroundings and as you will see from the picture, I didn't hit where I was aiming that time as the arrow bounced off the shoulder and into his neck. Shortly thereafter, my first archery elk was laying there for me to put my hands on. It was definately one of the best feelings I've ever had. I want to thank my best friend Jason for again doing a great job of convincing the bull to come out and my brother-in-law and the other boys at camp for helping with the pack out. I can't wait until next year!!
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