Day 4

Tuesday September 15, 2009

 After a good Mountain House dinner and a solid night’s rest last night, and with the thoughts of all those bulls bugling up the valley from us, we were ready to go hard this morning! We parked the truck and started hiking up the valley just before daylight. Bulls were already bugling all around us so we slipped up to a nice opening on the edge of a big meadow and started calling. The bull we originally targeted grabbed his cows and began heading away from us.  As the first signs of daylight began making their way over the ridge, another bull answered from 400 yards to our right. We moved up 100 yards and cow called to see where he was. I’ll let Donnie tell the story from here…

 “Dave grabbed the camera and I headed out in front of him and Corey to get set up as Corey ripped off a bugle. The bull responded 100 yards out in front of me to the right and he was headed our direction. Two cows crossed the meadow out in front of me, right to left, at around 80 yards with the bull trailing them. Corey cow called and got the bull to turn on a dime and head my direction. I ranged him at 40 yards and he was still heading right towards me.  Five more steps and he turned back to the right and offered me a broadside shot. Not intent on looking at his rack I knew he was a bull and that’s all that mattered to me. I focused on his body and my pins as I released an arrow. The shot looked and sounded good! He whirled and raced in the direction the cows had gone as I hailed my hands in the air and turned to Corey and Dave to let them know I was confident that I had placed a good shot on him.”

 The sound of Donnie’s arrow making solid contact with the elk’s body was unmistakable. I bugled to slow the bull down, and the first bull we set up on this morning answered back immediately…and much closer. Dave, who had been running the video camera for Donnie’s shot, was about 3 yards behind me. I turned and said “Grab your bow.” It was 7:04AM according to Donnie’s watch.

 We high-fived with Donnie, then turned our focus on the bull bugling about 400 yards to our left. Donnie grabbed the video camera, Dave grabbed his bow, and I resumed my position on the small end of the grunt tube. I’ll let Dave retell the story from here…

“With Donnie right behind me, we closed the distance on the bull.  We hadn’t seen him yet, but it was evident he had cows with him.  Corey told me to slip up to the edge of some trees overlooking a wide opening we anticipated he would come through.  He answered Corey’s cow calls with a bugle and Corey stomped on him with a challenge bugle.  I didn’t have time to get to edge of the trees before he was already running into view.  I slowly ranged a small pine tree I thought he would come to… 43 yards. 

He stopped behind the tree as I came to full draw.  He turned, and started walking back toward his cows when I stopped him with a cow call.  The shot felt good, although I didn’t see it hit. I heard the arrow hit something, but it didn’t sound to me like Donnie’s shot did only moments earlier.  I’ll never forget the depressed feeling as I watched the large herd bull trot back to the safety of his harem. 

As I was standing there in my sorrows Corey & Donnie came up to me all excited. I told them I thought I missed, but they disagreed. Video evidence confirmed a solid hit, and my emotions went from depressed to elated in short order.” 

 Watch video of Donnie & Dave’s shots.

 

What a difference 30 minutes makes! We decided to go back and look for blood from Donnie’s bull, track it, then come back and look for Dave’s bull. I’ll let Donnie give us the replay of the tracking and recovery:

 “After Dave’s bull ran off we headed back to the direction my bull had ran and tracked him to a thick brushy area along the creek. We didn’t have a lot of blood and thought for a minute that the blood trail had run out 150 yards from where I had shot him. Corey went out ahead to look for blood and I looked into the alder thicket to my left and immediately saw the bull lying there. As I entered the thicket I was overwhelmed with excitement at what lay before me…this was a big bull!”

 Watch video of Donnie’s recovery.

 

We took some pictures and video, and with the bull lying in the cool grass and thick alders along the creek, we headed 100 yards over the ridge to begin looking for blood from Dave’s bull. We found the first blood about 100 yards from where Dave had shot the bull and easily tracked it 200 yards out across the meadow. The blood, however, didn’t match a double lung shot and we began to doubt our judgment of the shot placement. Another look on the video camera viewfinder didn’t confirm or deny anything, and it had been an hour since the shot, so we kept on the trail.

 Watch video of us tracking Dave’s bull below.

The bull started up the steep hillside through a small burn following his cows. Amidst the dust and ash, there wasn’t much blood to follow and his tracks were often washed out by the tracks of the cows he was traveling with. Fortunately, about 100 yards up the hill, the bull branched off and began sidehilling to the right. We knew he was hit hard and wouldn’t be going much farther. We crested a finger ridge and spotted a nice, timbered flat about 100 yards below us. I told Dave the bull was likely headed for the cool timber and to be ready for a follow up shot if needed. As we slipped into the timber, the bull jumped up 80 yards in front of us and took off running straight away. We ribboned the area, then backed out to give him more time. 

 We went back to Donnie’s bull and quickly got him worked up and ready for the pack. Our game plan at this point was to pack Donnie’s bull to the truck, then drive back to camp and grab another truck. Donnie would take his meat into the butcher while Dave and I drove back and hiked in to finish blood-trailing Dave’s bull.

 See video of packing Donnie’s bull below.

 

We had waited approximately 5 hours before we resumed the blood trail on Dave’s bull. The bull was still bleeding a little bit, but not enough to reliably track. The good news was that this bull had an incredibly large foot, which made following him through the burn a little easier, even with the limited blood trail. He was still side hilling and not able to climb at all, so I was confident we would find him. Dave was on the elk tracking roller-coaster anyone who has ever had to track an elk knows all too well. We’d find good blood in places and his spirits would be lifted. Then we’d go 100 yards with no blood and doubt would creep back in. Finally, after another 3/4 of a mile, we crested a ridge onto a saddle and I turned to Dave and said “There he is!” Dave was ecstatic. His bull had circled onto the saddle, then bedded down facing the hillside below. He had only been dead for an hour or two, so backing out and waiting proved to be the right approach.

I’ll let Dave describe the moment:

“My shot was less than perfect, but the end result was awesome.  My first archery kill, and first elk ever was on the ground!  He was an old warrior, his body was huge and it was evident that he was past his prime.  I couldn’t have been happier!  Although visibly tired and not feeling his best I think Corey was almost as excited as I was.  I’ve never seen anyone track an animal like that!  This definitely wasn’t his first time doing this. 

Thankfully Donnie showed up a short time later for pictures and to help in the skinning & quartering duties.  It’s been a long day, but one that I will never forget.  Two herd bulls shot within minutes of each other, both six points, brought in by Corey’s bugle.  Unbelievable!  What a great experience, shared by great people.  I can’t thank Corey & Donnie enough for all of their hard work.  These guys are not only top notch elk hunters, but top notch friends as well.”

 Watch video of Dave’s recovery below.

 

Dave was overwhelmed with excitement. The highs and lows quickly turned into a permanent smile that we weren’t able to wipe off Dave’s face the rest of the night. This was Dave’s first elk and first big game animal with a bow. To be able to share that with him and be a small part of such a great hunt is beyond description. It’s what hunting is all about for me. Sharing these one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-lifetime experiences with good friends…it just doesn’t get any better than this!

We quickly worked Dave’s bull up and got him onto the packframes. Finally, at 10:30PM, we were back to the truck for the last time.

 It has been a long day, but none of us seem to be too weighted down. I have to say this was one of the best days of elk hunting I have ever experienced. Calling in and shooting 2 herd bulls, 20 minutes apart, 200 yards apart is incredible. It’s now 12:15AM and I’m crawling into my sleeping bag after a big dinner of Teriyaki Beef and Rice (Mountain House). About the only thing that could make this day seem any better is if we hike back into the valley tomorrow morning and find another big bull hanging around all the lonely cows…my bow will be coming out of the case in the morning along with my second Idaho elk tag.