BOWUNTR
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- May 21, 2002
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Let me start off by saying that this was a unique elk hunt. Tule elk are a much different creature than their American elk cousins. This was no wilderness experience to say the least. If you've ever driven through the Owens Valley you know what I'm talking about!!!
I'm going to skip the scouting and research because of my other posts, but that was really my hunt and why I pulled this off so quickly.
I wanted to try for the biggest bull that I could and one that I had a reasonable chance at. I found pleanty of good bulls but I selected one of the biggest that was in a pattern that had some flaws. This bull had 14 cows all to himself, every time I saw him, for three solid weeks. He was an 8x7, nice bull!! He would bed up in the lava and sage all day long and right at last shooting light he would herd his cows up and bring them down to a grazing field that had a ton of elk in it. He would take different trails to the field but he would cross a canal in the same spot everyday. Then in the morning, at the crack of first light he would herd his cows up and leave the field, crossing the canal at the same spot. The bull was always the last to cross.
Me and my huntin buddy, Terry, went up two days before the season and confirmed that he was in the same pattern. One of my new friends, Dan, arrived on Friday with his two buddies, Jeremy and Chad. Dan was going to film my hunt for a video that he is going to produce. My other buddy Jerry also showed up on friday to help out.
We built a blind on the downwind side of the canal. All 14 cows would have to cross the canal first before I would get a chance at the bull. It was an awsome blind, tucked under a tree with sage and dead trees providing cover.
Me and Dan got in the bling an hour before shooting light. The other guys went scouting to locate and pattern the other bulls that we located. Great group of friends!!. Anyways, in the darkness we were treated to several bulls bugleing and crashing their antlers together. When first light came I could see my bull and all his cows staging to head over to the canal. Perfect, right on schedule. about ten minutes later both Dan and I look over and we see this other bull thrashing sage and throwing it 15 feet in the air. I don't think that I ever saw this bull before, he snuck into the field past dark the night before. Then, before we had a chance to completely enjoy the show, he was heading right for us. This bull was every bit as big as the other bull. No question that I'm going to fire and arrow at him if i get a chance. I dropped to my knees, pulled my facemask on and got ready. Buck fever was coming on real fast!!
The next thing I know, I see antlers coming up the bank. I drew back behind the cover and he stopped, with only the top half of his body exposed. I thought if I raised up a little I could shoot up over the rise and nail him. Things were real serious right now, buck fever was gone. I thought about letting down for a brief second, but decided to wait him out. The bull looked back at all the ladies he was screwing all night and let out an awsome bugle. Then he took one step and I drilled him through both lungs at 30 yards. The arrow passed completely through him and into outer space, never found it!!
The bull spun and looked around, he had no idea what happened. About 15 seconds after being hit with a bad ass Muzzy, he fell on his face, dead. He traveled a total of 8 yards. I was overwhelmed with emotion, what an amazing moment. Couldn't believe an animal that big, died so quickly.
We took a ton of photos and film. Here's a pic of the crew.
We had a couple of guys (Jerkee's buddies) help us get it into the back of my little huntin pickup. Yes, it took eight guys to load it. We estimated it at 600-700 pounds. Not as big as an American, but still a big ass animal.
Then the land owner drives up and thanks me for taking one of the elk off his property. I said "No, Thank you"!! Nice guy. Then he tells us to drive the elk to his ranch and use his tractor to take care of it. Awsome.
The elk was at the butcher in Bishop at about 1pm. Thats the story. I owe a lot of thanks to a bunch of people. I was going to list them but I'm afraid I would miss someone. If I talked to you or corresponded with you about this hunt or anything to do with it, I sincerely THANK YOU. This story is longer than I expected. I have to go finish packing for my NV mulie hunt. Ha Ha. Ed F
