2013 Elk Hunt - A Good Year!
So this is the Bull I was fortunate enough to harvest this year. I hunted this bull and several others all Archery season and could never get it right. They always were one step ahead of me no matter what I did! I started to wonder if I was not smart enough? Then my wife came home one night and said that she had talked to Randy and she thought I should go hunt in the rocks above everything that I had been hunting. She explained what had happened to Randy on several hunts and how he had succeeded. I had nothing to loose! I had tried everything to this point to no avail! In fact my wife gave me a little "pep talk" the Friday before I was going out. She explained that I had been "milking" this hunting out long enough and it was time to GET IT DONE! Nothing hurts a guys pride more than your wife telling you to "buck up". HA! I had no choice but to do just that. The next morning I headed to the timber and rocks above where I had been all season. Sure enough I crossed a single set of tracks and started the stalk. I knew it was a decent size bull given the large circles he would make around close trees in his way. I kept glassing the tracks as far ahead as possible looking for them to start heading up hill and doubling back. This usually indicates they are getting ready to bed down and watch their back trail. At about 75 yards out I spotted something that did not look right. It was out of place. I could not make out what it was for the longest time. All of the sudden it was like the heavens opened up and I could see the entire bull laying facing away from me sleeping at 75 yards! The only shot I had of his vitals was a space the size of a small sandwich bag. I aimed and pulled the trigger of my 270 and heard the shot hit him, but he did not move, very strange? I put another round in the chamber and fired again hitting him. This time he stood up looked at me and took a step forward. I put a third round into him and this one brought him down. I had done it, finally!! I have killed a lot of Elk over the years but this one is by far my most favorite and special. Normally I hunt with my brother and Dad but this year our time was limited so I did most of my hunting by myself. This was on public land in a limited draw area that I had been putting in for over 15 years! I can still remember everything as if it happened 10 minutes ago.
