It all came together for me yesterday morning at first light. I had been out a half a dozen times already this season: one 3 day hunt and a couple evening/morning hunts. I'd been in and seen elk every time but just wasn't close enough.
I'm very fortunate to live in prime elk country. I get jealous of those that have turkeys strutting in their yard and others that can hunt hogs any day they like, but being able to hunt elk essentially out my door is a blessing.
One thing is for sure, there are more and more out of town and out of state hunters here than ever before. Gone is golden age of bowhunting elk in the Western US; back when most elk hunters hunted with a rifle and the woods in archery season of September were quiet except for sounds of bugling bulls and mewing cows...
These days, I find the best scouting is done during the season, where I'll drive around to parking spots for terrain and see if other hunters are there or have been there. Then I'll hunt it the following day of it looks undisturbed.
That's exactly what I did yesterday morning. I drove to an area only about 4 miles from my home by the way the crow flies. But the round about rugged road in the dark took me a little more than 30 minutes. After parking I hoofed it up a steep 600' slope, the beginning of which was chewed up by some boneheads trying to drive their side-by-side up it! Come one folks... "Use the Quads God gave You!" I was prepared for an overnight, bringing a light bivi and small stove. I wanted to be able to pursue the elk and remain in the terrain.
My plan was to get to the ridge and listen, maybe throw out a locator call if needed. It was just light enough that I didn't need my headlamp as I crested the ridge. Immediately I heard some thrashing and breaking branches in the aspens about 100 yards away. My first thought was I'd spooked a small heard. I gave couple cow calls and it got real quite...
Standing in the open on the ridge top, I wasn't in a good position, so I decided to relocate. I crawled on my hands and knees to a pine about 20' away, took my pack off and backed up against the tree.
Now that it was quiet I pictured a rag horn by himself thrashing the trees rather than the small herd I had originally imagined. On my knees with my bow raised I gave a few more mews... silence... then I heard what sounded like branches moving, then a stick broke... he was getting close and coming my way! It was just getting to be shooting light and the eastern sky was pink and rose colored. Another stick broke and I could tell he was close! Just then I could see the tips of his antlers crest the horrizon less than 20 yards away. He paused with just his 5x5 rack showing and I'll never forget the dramatic beauty of that sight...
With my heart racing I remained stone still, and finally he continued to the top of the ridge, broadside from me at 24 yards... then he turned his head and stared bullets right me. He stood behind a sage brush that covered the lower half of his vitals and at first I thought I'd wait and try and get a quarrying away shot... After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably less than a minute, I thought I'd draw and see what he'd do. I knew that I could send an arrow just over the top of the sage and it'd be solid, but I wasn't committed to the shot yet because I didn't know how he'd react to my movement.
I took 2 slow deep breaths and drew... He didn't even flinch. With the wind in my favor, I'm sure he was trying to identify my odd form before the tree as the cow he'd just heard... At full draw I kept telling myself "keep pulling, keep pulling" (Joel Turner), got the fletching to my nose and let the arrow fly!
The shot whizzed through the tips of the sage and looked a bit low, but the sound was of a good solid hit. In fact, it's a testament to how big these animals are, because I actually was instinctively shooting as if he was 18 yards away. It was only later when I paced it off that I realized he was 24! The bull whirled and ran along the ridge out of view. I cow called to try and stop him but I heard nothing by crashing and thrashing and maybe the sounds of him piling up!
I waited a minute but the thrashing continued and was close. I pulled another arrow out of the quiver thinking he may need a follow up shot, but when I crested the ridge I could see he was only 30 yards away giving the final kicks of life.
My arms and shoulders went slack, all the tension in my body faded. I laid down the bow I had crafted myself just a month earlier and slowly made my way to where the bull lay. I put my hand one his warm mane and said I was sorry for taking his life, but forever grateful for his sacrifice...
After a moments pause in respect of the animal I snapped a couple pics, called my wife and few friends. 2.5 hours of bent over work with a knife and I had the quarters, backdrops, tenderloins, liver and skull ready for packing. Thankfully a couple friends showed up to help and 5 loads later I had a cold beer at the car waiting just for me...
What a day.
Tackle Details: Bow - my personal custom 3 piece hybrid longbow 58#@29". Arrows - GT Trads 400 spine. Broadhead - 200gr Cutthroats. Total arrow weight - 585gr.
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Congrats! That's awesome!
Congratulations! :clapper:
Congratulations nicely done
Splendid hunt and wonderful harvest...congrats!
Thank you for taking us along.
Way to get it done. :thumbsup:
Congrats, great job!!
great story and hunt, plus with a bow of your own making wow!
Outstanding!!! Congratulations
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Great story. I could actually smell the sage and hear the thrashing. Congrats and thanks for sharing.
Way to go!
Congrats
:clapper:
well done sir!! :thumbsup:
Congrats to ya and thanks for taking us along with your story :thumbsup:
Great story! Thanks for sharing with us. You painted the picture beautifully :campfire:
That's awesome! I plan on killing an elk with my longbow someday!
Congrats to you!!!
Bisch
Great story :clapper:
Congratulations on a great hunt. Your right about finding an area that hasn't been hunted, by man or predators. Elk are adapting to the pressure and leave when they are.
Congratulations Marc.
I fixed the picture for you.
:thumbsup:
Attaboy!
Tim B
Congratulations! Fantastic story and a beautiful bull!
Nice work, good story, well told.
Thanks for sharing.
NICE!!! great story, must be really cool using a bow you've made yourself, Congrats
That is awesome! Way to go sir! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Congrats on the nice bull and beautiful bow.
Way to go!
Awesome!!!! Great story I held my breath when you shot like I was there! Congrats!
Well done. Congrats.
Congrats on a great bull and story!
Congrats, great bull
Way to go,you look pretty happy! :clapper:
Great story, thanks for sharing!
Congrats
Congrats, well told story as well !!
Congratulations and great post!
Congrats man! very cool and great story!
Congrats!!! Such a cool story and great bull!
awesome!!!! Congratulations and thank you for the story 👍👍
Congrats!!! Great job
Congrats, thanks for writing this out.
Great story and bull, Congrats!
Congrats! Thanks for sharing
I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge IdahoCurt and his friendship and mentoring of bow building and elk hunting. I approached Curt out of the blue a couple years ago when I found him on the internet and realized that we lived not far from each other. I expressed an interest in building my own bow and he graciously took me under his wing. My bow build took quite a while (pretty much 2 years!) but over that time Curt and I have become good friends. He inspired me to get back into dirt biking, which I hadn't done in 25 years, and we've had some great adventures exploring our wild and scenic backyard. In addition, Curt invited me into his elk camp this year, and even though neither of us got any shot opportunities, I felt privileged to spend the time in the woods with him and the elk. Curt's a real gentleman, a very talented craftsman and somewhat of an elk whisperer... He repeatedly has elk in his yard, and can't tell you how many times he's called to say, "you not gonna believe what happened today..."! Thanks again Curt! I look forward to more bows being built together, more trails to explore on our dirt bikes and more elk hunts!
congrats great hunt good shot enjoy the meat
Congrats and thanks for taking me along. We don't get to hunt elk down our way. Nice story and kill!
Way to get it done.
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Congratulations, thanks for sharing.
Marc, congratulations, that's an incredible experience that will never be forgotten.
You da Man! Story well told, and you recognizing your friend says something about you....
Nice one! I can't imagine what it's like to shoot an animal that size.
Tedd
Good write up
Congratulations on the elk and building the bow. Has to be a great feeling. :clapper:
Congrats!!! Well done! :clapper:
:thumbsup: :bigsmyl: :thumbsup: :bigsmyl: :thumbsup:
Great write up Marc. Why don't you put all that together and send it to field and stream, etc. And you really are blessed.
Ronnie
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awesome , congrats :clapper:
Awesome, not sure what part of Idaho you're in but up here in the panhandle things have been slow for me at least I haven't seen nor heard an elk this yr .
:thumbsup: Day to go. I sure would like to pursue wapiti with my Cari-bow one day. Enjoy the healthy meat. Greetings from the north.
Canadian boy
Fantastic, congrats!
Very exciting! I'll my turkeys for your elk any day :biglaugh:
Trade :)
Outstanding sir...
,,Sam,,
Just a quick update on my bow:
Many of you may have read my thread "Bull Down" in which I described my successful elk hunt this year.
In addition, my father, who is an avid firearm shooter and reloader, recently got a new chronograph with bluetooth capabilities. We spent a few hours choreographing arrow speeds.
I am happy to say that my home built, laminate hybrid longbow shoots with the best of them!
I shot 10 arrows for each bow, arrow weight was 524 gr. I shoot 3 under with a tab. Here are the results of all the bows I own:
Blacktail Sitka 58#@30" - Avr speed 185 FPS
Morrison Shawnee w/ Longbow Limbs 55# @28" - Avr speed 191 FPS
Morrison Shawness w/ Recirve Limbs 55# @28" - Avr speed 194 FPS
My Longbow 58# @30" - 192 FPS
Sweet!
Great story & hunt, congrats
So awesome!!!!
Congratulations! Nice bull!
Thanks for sharing a wonderful event in your hunting life. Very nice trophy.
Hey Marc! post some pictures of that beautiful bow you made. I can't believe how well it shoots for your first bow,crazy!
Way to go!
Congratulations! Job well done! I would have taken that bull in a heart-beat!
JMC
Good on ya! :clapper:
Such a good story. Impressive is you built your own bow. I made a Bingham project recurve and used it to take a javelina. Was pretty happy about that. To take an elk with your own creation would be 1000 times better. Can't wait for more of your adventure stories.
Awesome story! Great to hear all the hard work paying off!
Great story and well told. Congrats!