First elk
- Thread starter nijimasu
- Start date
idhuntingfool
New member
congrats on your first elk
wilecoyote76
New member
Great job! It looks like that one will be pretty good eating too.
Moosie
Grand poopa
If it looks like and Elk....Smells like an Elk.... then it must be an Elk.
Kudos man !!!! I still remember my first elk....and 2nd one.......
Kudos man !!!! I still remember my first elk....and 2nd one.......
IDduckhntr
New member
NICE!!! Still trying to do the same-maybe I should give up trying with the bow?? NOT!! Anyway-looks like the trip was good!! How bout a little of the story!!
elkfarmer
New member
congrats on your elk, looks like you put a great shot on it.
ashersdad
Well-known member
Congrats. That's a great feeling.
I'd like to say I was super sneaky and pulled off something miraculous- Like I said I've been trying to do that for years. Unfortunately, it almost seemed too easy, compared to shooting mule deer with a bow when it actually happened.
I had been trying to find cows all morning with my buddy Steve- I was blowing on a Primos hyper-lip double (and sounding more like a wounded varmint than a horny elk, probably) and the bulls were going nuts. We called in several bulls, but all were too big to shoot (my tag was good for spikes and cows, Steve's tag was good for bulls 4X4 and under). It's quite a thing to have a big AZ 7X7 stand broadside at 30 yards and not be able to do anything more hurtful than cuss at him. We'd been doing that all morning and were on our way back to the truck when I decided to bugle just for fun. When I did, another bull retorted and sounded pretty big, so we decided to go have some fun with him. Only thing was, this guy wouldn't come in. He was obviously getting really upset with my bugling though. I crept within 100 yards and let one rip- and all hell broke loose. no less than 4 other bulls opened up, each pissing the other off more and more. pretty soon I could hear libs being broken off as bulls were raping Christmas trees left and right. If I'd so much as rub a stick on a rock these guys would all bugle back almost in unison. I was cracking up, but I was too dumb to figure out why none were coming in. I saw one of the loudest bulls come down almost to the edge of the trees, and then look over his shoulder and head back while bugling. At this point I was still too dumb to know there were any cows around. I had just figured the boys were bedded and that I shouldn't pester their beddding area.
Seve at this point was sick of not seeing the elk, and crept forward, hoping one of the buglers might be a raghorn he could legally shoot. he found himself in a mess of cows and saw the big bull as they slowly moved off a bit. he waved me over, and I saw the cows on the horizon and tried to cut them off to where I could get a shot, all the while doing my hyper-horny cow call. Me being in lousy shape, I couldn't get ahead of them, but apparently my calling kept them calm- they never bolted off. I got to where Steve was and we were looking at the tracks and trying to follow them. I was looking at the ground when Steve grabbed my arm and whisper-yelled "SHOOT IT!!! SHOOT IT!!!"
I looked up to see a cow rounding the hill in our direction at 25 yards. I loaded an arrow and let fly and Luck was with me- even though I totally rushed the shot and jerked at thje release, I hit a vital artery and blood was immediatly squirting. I reloaded and shot again at 30 and again at 40 yards, unfortunately creasing her gut sack, but getting another bleeder going. she headed up a hill and was about 100 yards away when I regained enough sense to cow call and stop her.
I regained a little composure and decided to look for arrows and sign, but Steve was already on the blood trail where it began at the first shot. It wasn't quite a garden hose trail, but pretty close. I didn't have to bend over to find blood drops, and many of the trees had been sprayed 3 and 4 feet up.
As we climbed the hill where we had last seen her, we slowed down and got quiet and I kept peeking ahed. Suddenly I saw ears- she was bedded but her head was up. I wanted to sneak in for a better shot, but Steve thought she was about to keel over, so I elected to wait a minute and watch her.
After about 5 minutes, the wind shifted and she smelled us and stood up. I was ready with an arrow, but her butt was all that was facing me. She was pretty weak though, and when she tried to take off she stumbled a bit and turned sideways- I put the last arrow through both lungs and pinned her to a tree. I was surprised that she stood there a good minute before collapsing and rolling downhill to rest in a tangle of branches. We had to tie her head to a tree to keep her from sliding downhill while we processed her.
When I reached for my fanny pack for knives and my camera, it was gone. It's still somewhere on the Mountain in AZ, if anybody wants to go looking for it. Luckily, Steve had a couple knives and his video camera, and the tag was still with me.
We got the meat all packed out that day, but decided to come back the next day to look for my lost stuff. When we got close, we jumped a gigantic black bear that was in the process of burying the carcass- really awesome!
I had been trying to find cows all morning with my buddy Steve- I was blowing on a Primos hyper-lip double (and sounding more like a wounded varmint than a horny elk, probably) and the bulls were going nuts. We called in several bulls, but all were too big to shoot (my tag was good for spikes and cows, Steve's tag was good for bulls 4X4 and under). It's quite a thing to have a big AZ 7X7 stand broadside at 30 yards and not be able to do anything more hurtful than cuss at him. We'd been doing that all morning and were on our way back to the truck when I decided to bugle just for fun. When I did, another bull retorted and sounded pretty big, so we decided to go have some fun with him. Only thing was, this guy wouldn't come in. He was obviously getting really upset with my bugling though. I crept within 100 yards and let one rip- and all hell broke loose. no less than 4 other bulls opened up, each pissing the other off more and more. pretty soon I could hear libs being broken off as bulls were raping Christmas trees left and right. If I'd so much as rub a stick on a rock these guys would all bugle back almost in unison. I was cracking up, but I was too dumb to figure out why none were coming in. I saw one of the loudest bulls come down almost to the edge of the trees, and then look over his shoulder and head back while bugling. At this point I was still too dumb to know there were any cows around. I had just figured the boys were bedded and that I shouldn't pester their beddding area.
Seve at this point was sick of not seeing the elk, and crept forward, hoping one of the buglers might be a raghorn he could legally shoot. he found himself in a mess of cows and saw the big bull as they slowly moved off a bit. he waved me over, and I saw the cows on the horizon and tried to cut them off to where I could get a shot, all the while doing my hyper-horny cow call. Me being in lousy shape, I couldn't get ahead of them, but apparently my calling kept them calm- they never bolted off. I got to where Steve was and we were looking at the tracks and trying to follow them. I was looking at the ground when Steve grabbed my arm and whisper-yelled "SHOOT IT!!! SHOOT IT!!!"
I looked up to see a cow rounding the hill in our direction at 25 yards. I loaded an arrow and let fly and Luck was with me- even though I totally rushed the shot and jerked at thje release, I hit a vital artery and blood was immediatly squirting. I reloaded and shot again at 30 and again at 40 yards, unfortunately creasing her gut sack, but getting another bleeder going. she headed up a hill and was about 100 yards away when I regained enough sense to cow call and stop her.
I regained a little composure and decided to look for arrows and sign, but Steve was already on the blood trail where it began at the first shot. It wasn't quite a garden hose trail, but pretty close. I didn't have to bend over to find blood drops, and many of the trees had been sprayed 3 and 4 feet up.
As we climbed the hill where we had last seen her, we slowed down and got quiet and I kept peeking ahed. Suddenly I saw ears- she was bedded but her head was up. I wanted to sneak in for a better shot, but Steve thought she was about to keel over, so I elected to wait a minute and watch her.
After about 5 minutes, the wind shifted and she smelled us and stood up. I was ready with an arrow, but her butt was all that was facing me. She was pretty weak though, and when she tried to take off she stumbled a bit and turned sideways- I put the last arrow through both lungs and pinned her to a tree. I was surprised that she stood there a good minute before collapsing and rolling downhill to rest in a tangle of branches. We had to tie her head to a tree to keep her from sliding downhill while we processed her.
When I reached for my fanny pack for knives and my camera, it was gone. It's still somewhere on the Mountain in AZ, if anybody wants to go looking for it. Luckily, Steve had a couple knives and his video camera, and the tag was still with me.
We got the meat all packed out that day, but decided to come back the next day to look for my lost stuff. When we got close, we jumped a gigantic black bear that was in the process of burying the carcass- really awesome!
JohnSWA
Senior Thread Mover
Wow, what an experience! Great job on recovering your first elk and with a bow even! Way to go. Thanks for the great story.
Horn Seeker
New member
Nice Job NIJ!!
