Elk Hunting

Day five

We heard seven or eight bulls on the fifth morning. Again, we checked them all out and again, we didn't see anything I wanted. We weren't trying to call them in really, we were just sneaking in to their bugles to look at them.

That afternoon the activity picked up and one particular bugle led us to the bull we were after, "Brow Tine". Unfortunately, he was in the middle of five bulls. There was no doubt that he was the herd bull and he just circled up the cows and ran them over the mountain to keep them away from the other bulls. As he was going over the top, we realized he was a lot bigger than we had originally thought. His thirds weren't short at all. In fact, they were well over 20 inches long!

All I could think about was what it would be like to take a bull of that caliber with my bow. Those other four bulls were in a frenzy, there must have been a cow in estrous in that herd and they were completely on fire. Looking back, maybe the best thing to do was to go right at them calling up a storm, but as soon as he saw Brow Tine leave with the cows, I played it safe and backed out. There would be another day.

Day six

The sixth morning wasn't productive; it was kind of like the lull after the storm from the day before.

That afternoon we were trying to cut the distance on two bugling bulls when all at once Rick hissed, "The big bull is coming straight at us." We hid in the timber and he never knew we were there but he turned toward the top of the mountain.

We tried to catch up to him but we didn't want to push too hard and blow him out of the country. He was going silent, and the tendency is to push too hard at times, and spook the elk. I tried a few bugles to get him fired up, but he neve responded, and that was the last time we saw him that day.

I was fortunate enough to get within 50 yards of 350-360 class bull. There was brush between us and he never would come out of the thick stuff. There is no doubt I would have released an arrow at that bull even though I really wanted Brow Tine. I only had 10 days to hunt and day six slipped away without success.

Day seven

The seventh morning started out well with us seeing a lot of bulls, however, at about 10 o'clock we heard two bulls bugling that really sounded big. We finally eased in on the first bull and he was bedded with a few cows around him. Richard and I got to about 55 yards and glassed him. Richard estimated that he would score about 350 inches. I told Richard that I could crawl to about 40 yards and take him.

Richard looked at me and said, "I think the bull that was bugling about 300 yards over that way sounded awfully big." I decided to pass up the chance at the first bull for now just to see what the other one looked like. I never thought I would ever pass up a 350-inch bull in my life, but as I said, I was still hoping to shoot that monster. Like the television show Deal or No Deal, I was going to hold out in hopes of a big payoff.

We eased over toward the other bull; he was bedded  in a thicket too. I told Richard that I would crawl to him. The wind was good and I was able to get to a tree about 32 yards from the bull. When I arrived, I was somehwat disappointed. He probably would have been a 370-inch bull but he had five points broken off.

I made an attempt to signal Richard with my Knight & Hale cow call. All of a sudden, the bull stood up and started walking straight toward me. The bull actually put his nose on the tree I was hiding behind.  In the back of my mind I kept thinking about what this big bull could do, even with a bunch of broke off tines.  Not sure what to do after I politely asked the bull to leave, I jabbed him in the nose with end of my bow. Now both of us were scared.  He jumped and walked straight to Richard, bugling all the way down the mountain

That afternoon I decided to hunt close to the water hole where I saw Brow Tine the first time. It was about 4 p.m. when I had heard a chuckle from 200 yards away. I thought, 'Here comes a bull to the water.' I set up behind some pines, not anticipating what was about to come out of the trees. All my dreams of killing a monster bull instantly started played through my head. He was coming straight toward me.

I have been hunting elk for 14 years and I have killed some very nice bulls but I had never seen a bull that big before. He came within 20 yards of me. Thank goodness, the wind held my way. He got to the water and stood facing me as he drank. It seemed to last forever. I kept telling myself not to look at the antlersbut I couldn't keep my eyes off them. I knew when he came out of the water I would have one chance for a shot. I ranged him at 42 yards. As he turned to walk away, I whistled and drew my bow. He looked my way and stopped just long enough for a broadside shot.

In an instant the shot of a lifetime was on its way. I practice many hours each year getting ready to hunt, but I have never taken a more important shot in my life. It felt good and I heard the arrow hit him. The bull trotted about 80 yards and bedded down. What a relief.

I immediately called Jim on the radio and told him what had happened. He was hunting by himself about a mile away and said he would be over in an hour. It seemed more like five hours when Jim finally came through the pine trees. In hushed but excited tones, I told him the whole story and then took him over to where the bull was standing when I shot him. We found blood immediately and then we recovered my arrow. It had been a complete pass-through.

I told Jim that I thought the bull was still lying in the same place. As we approached, he got up and started to trot down the mountain. I was stunned but decided to follow. The bull stopped again in some trees and I watched as he lay down again. I said, 'Jim let's get out of here." After talking with Richard, I decided to wait until morning. That was the longest night of my life.

Bright and early the next morning we were at the spot where I left the bull. He was still there, stone dead. It was cool that night and I saved all the meat. I had a taxidermist standing right next to me so the caping job was perfect.

Epilogue

After getting my bull quartered and out to the locker plant, I stayed to hunt with Jim for two more days until I had to leave. We got close a couple of times. Jim finally killed a 340-inch bull on the eleventh day of his hunt--the day after I left.

The antlers on the bull I shot have a gross score of 393 inches even with 10 inches broken off the sword point on the right side. He is an old beast of a bull with nine- to ten-inch bases and heavy mass all the way through the long beams. It took nine years to draw that tag, but it was the bull of a lifetime. p> By Gary Keeton as told to Bill Winke