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My First Elk - NM Bull

Congrats on your success and thanks for an equally entertaining story! Nicely done!
 
Excellent read, and Congrats! Sometimes things just work out. I hunted public access property in Idaho and shot a cow the first season but as I was waiting for her to hopefully bed down and expire, about 30 minutes had passed and it started raining hard. I was torn between giving her time and losing a blood trail so I decided to follow the blood trail. I followed good blood for about 100 yards and found where she had bedded down but the rain was making it impossible to find/follow any blood. I spent most of that night and next morning searching but never found her. Six seasons later I glassed a bull & 2 cows late afternoon following an all day steady rain. I saw where they bedded down across a canyon so the next morning I am walking toward the area b4 daylight and suddenly the bull lets out a bugle which sounded like he was about 150 yards away. I let out my best bugle which is not very good @ best and he responded with a very aggressive bugle. I was on an old logging road so I figured he would come over to kick my tail so I took cover next to a small tree and got out my EZ Sucker cow call and did a couple cow calls. Less than a minute later I see him 100 yards away trotting toward my location on the logging road with his nose up in the air. He stops at a point that I thought was 50 yards and is broadside. I draw and use my 50 yard pin but my arrow flys a few inches under him. Fortunately there is a deep canyon that begins just at the edge of this old logging road so the arrow does not make any noise and he is just a little confused but does not spook. I let out a cow call and knock another arrow while he comes towards me and stops at a point I believed was 25 yards. He is giving me the look that an animal does when they know exactly where the cow call came from while I am on my knees crouched down for what seemed to be an eternity but was probably only a couple minutes. I saw his head look toward the canyon (away from me) and I drew and let the arrow fly into his shoulder. He jumped down into the canyon but heard what may have been a crash. After 30 minutes I crept over towards the area he jumped down and I head the animal's heavy breathing which sounded like his last couple of breaths about 30 yards below. (Afterwards I measured the distance from where I shot to where he first stopped to be 59 yards and also to where my 2nd shot was which measured 30 yards). My first bull, a 5x5.
 

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Congratulations on a nice bull, and a great story. Very rewarding with all the hard work put in. Outstanding!!
 

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