Monday morning I drove out to the area I had been in the midst of the action with the morning prior. The bulls were in full voice answering each others bugles and I could hear cows and calves chirping loudly below me in the river bottom.
Before I could get into the tree line I had two bulls bugling close. I set up in some tall weeds and cow called and both bulls came in on a string. I recognized the bull I’d gotten to 30 yards on in his bed the day before from his broken 4th point on the right antler. He came in twice to 25 yards. Another bull circled me a couple times but didn’t like the looks of things and gave a nervous grunt/bark that was distinctive. I could here the herd bull below chasing cows and then big splashes and squeals as the bull pushed his harem across the river. Cows were going everywhere and at one time there were as many as four different bulls sounding off. Pretty soon the whole herd was across the river so I went back to the truck to find a way across the river.
I got over to the other side to see that there was more than one herd. A good 6 point was following about three cows along the river. I was stuck in the open so I tried to use the Montana Decoy to disguise myself until I could get to cover but the cows stepped into the thick cover and took the bull with them. I could still hear bugles up river so I worked along the edge of the trees and brush to try to get in an ambush position. A bull was answering my cow calls but not moving. I then spotted the herd bull standing on the bluff above assembling his cows to move off into the desert. They had three satellite bulls (2 spikes, and a small 6 point) that were moving with the herd but keeping their distance from the herd bull. This was the group I’d spotted Friday with Leigh.
As they moved off at an amble through the desert, I was able to crawl along 125-150 yards behind them. They meandered for an hour to around half a mile from the river on a path that took them past my pickup parked along a 2 track road. They eyeballed the white GMC for a good 30 minutes then moved off to 378 yards from it and bedded in a small depression . I snapped some pictures from the truck and left them there and took my midday break. If they wanted to bake on the sand for the next seven hours they could do that without me. Besides they were in an unstalkable position with 20 some cows looking at the whole perimeter.
It was 5:00 pm before I got back out to check on the herd. The satellites were out there, but I didn’t see the main herd until I checked the river. The bull was standing guard over the cows spread out feeding a sub-irrigated flat along the creek channel just off of a two track road. I circled to the North and used the terrain to maneuver within 150 yards of the bull and his cows bedded in the tall grass at 6:00 pm. I vowed to wait and let the elk make the first move before I called. I couldn’t see the cows but I knew they were close to where the bull was bedded with his antlers sticking up. I wasn’t going to get any closer without getting busted. About every 20 minutes the bull would bugle from his bed.
Pretty soon in about 45 minutes cows began to get up and move around . I started some light cow talk, and had an elk calf come at a trot to within 15 yards of my position chirping and mewing up a storm. He got so close I could see quite clearly it was a bull elk calf (if you know what I mean?) He circled behind me on my down wind side but for some reason never busted me. I was nervous about him being down wind, but when I heard the vehicle coming that became a secondary concern. The Pickup came down the two track road and the driver was on the cell phone . I heard him remark “Dude there is an elk up here right in front of me.” I heard the muffled voice from the other end of the call, and the driver said “Yeah, dude, WAPITI!”
The truck passed by me at 40 yards as the cows watched it drive by. Apparently they see a lot of white pickups daily and didn’t blow out of the country much to my surprise. I was extremely dismayed when the truck stopped 200 yards behind me and the driver got out to watch the elk. The vehicle was hidden from ythe elk by some trees so I figured what the heck, I’d continue to call to see what wa going to happen.
Well it turned out better than I thought. The cows mewed back and began trailing my way. The bull got out of his bed, bugled and began pushing cows by me at 40 yards, along a trail . When he stepped into the open I drew my bow on the unsuspecting bull and put an arrow RIGHT OVER HIS BACK!
He whirled and ran 10 yard before he looked back as I frantically tried top nock another arrow with the nock full of dried mud. I dropped that arrow and nocked a different one, put the 50 yd pin on him and watched my fletching pass into and through the bulls ribcage. Then the bull hit high gear! My cow calls stopped the herd briefly, and I thought I herd some gurgling but moment later I could hear the herd spashing across the river, and even heard a bull bugle on the other side. I could only hope my bull was not in that group that went across.
In order to fill the 15 minutes I vowed to give myself before I looked for blood, I walked over to the pickup to meet my spectator. It turned out he was an employee of the local utility company, and he apologized profusely for driving through my hunt. He introduced himself as “Cowboy”, but I told him that tonight he must be my guardian angel. It turned out Cowboy was an avid rifle hunter and he offered to help me trail up my bull. As soon as the 15 minutes was up I went to the site of the shot and saw my bull laying 50 yards away.
I was ecstatic! At that point I snapped a picture with my cell phone and started sending it to folks in my contact list. For the rest of the evening the phone vibrated constantly with congratulations pouring in, as Cowboy held light and legs for me as we broke down my bull. He even loaded the quarters in his truck and gave me a ride back to my vehicle before he bid me good night shortly before 10:30 pm.
That night I contacted a deputy sheriff who validated my tag and got my elk in a cooler before 11pm. The next day at noon I loaded my gear and began my long drive home
