I'm a lucky guy in a lot of ways, not the least of which is I can hunt deer and elk within a few minutes of my house.
This morning I got on my ATV and was in my tree stand by pink light. Within minutes elk were bugling down the mountain from me and one startled me just a few hundred yards to the west. I cow called softly twice and within seconds he was coming across the opening you can see in the photo below taken from my stand.
(http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo195/m0r3land/DSC01054-1.jpg)
I was concerned because he was heading straight for my tree and I only had a few openings from which to shoot. As he reached the trail you can see above running right to left in the photo, he started to go south. He was 22 yards away, probably actually a little further since my stand is 20 feet up and he was on a slope below me. I had to shoot or he'd be out of my lane within a step or two. The shot was a little forward and hit the shoulder blade. He spun and I saw that I didn't have full penetration and the arrow (or part of it as it turned out) fell on the ground.
He stopped after I cow called and bugled and he stood for 10 minutes or so about 75 yards from me, then walked off. I would have sat for a couple of hours, but it looked and smelled like rain, so I decided to go check the arrow and the blood sign. The arrow was broken off about 7-8" from the broadhead and had blood showing a total of 16" penetration.
He had actually only gone another 20 yards and laid down, but he was in some trees and I couldn't get a finishing shot without him busting out of there. So I sat down and watched for about 30 minutes...He got up and trotted off!
I backed out, waited almost two hours, called my brother and the ranch owner (friend) and went to check his bed. Not a drop of blood! He laid there for all that time and lost no blood. We found no sign where he had trotted off, so I told my brother, "I'm going to go ahead while you continue to look, he's got to be dead." I only went 100 yards and saw him...
(http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo195/m0r3land/DSC01057-1.jpg)
(http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo195/m0r3land/6x6.jpg)
Terminator 175 grain broadhead, 63# Dale Dye bow
Very nice, congradulations.. :clapper:
Way to go sir! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Great Bull,congrats. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Congradulations. Hap
wow nice bull
You are a lucky guy! All this just minutes from your house? Sweet! Congratulations on a fine bull!
Very, Very cool. Congrats on an awesome bull. Great story.
Thanks for sharing a great hunt and pics with us
Congrats!
Wow! Really great Bull! Congrats! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Congrats,nice bull,excellent bow!
Top effort!
Shot placement looks 'spot on' to me!
ak.
Very nice.Thats a big guy.
:clapper: :clapper:
Nice bull, congrats.
Glad it worked out! Congrads
:archer:
Nice bull!!
I like it!! Congrats :notworthy:
Thanks for living my dream. Very nice.
Good bull! Congrats!
Nice Bull. Awesome hunt. Thanks for sharing that story and pics.
:clapper: :clapper:
Great job Mark. Very nice bull and story.
Congrats. :thumbsup:
hey hey, nice bull man!!
Very nice, congrats! :thumbsup:
You are one lucky fella. Congrats on the nice bull!
Super, what a fine animal.
Very nice bull! Congrats :thumbsup:
Nice Bull. Sounds like you had made the right choice chicking it out before the rain.
They're tough animals. Glad it all worked out for you. Got to love it when things fall in place, like him walking done that game trail and into your shooting lane.
Well done!
Fantastic trip and "Bull" sir :)
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
:clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Nice!! Congratulations.
Great bull! Congrats!
Nice Bull! Glad it all worked out.
Nice bull, congrats.
Nice bull!! So what did the autopsy show?
That's awesome! Congrats! :clapper:
The autopsy was not conclusive...my brother is an internist and he thought the operation was a failure as the patient died. Actually, it appeared that the aorta was clipped and one lung. Almost zero external bleeding. With such an acute angle, high entrance and no exit that's not too surprising.
Nice bull!
Wow, great elk, congrats!!
Great bull! How's that ol huntin buddy of yours, Dale, doing?
Beautiful!
Beautiful 6x6! Congratulations and happy everything worked out. It's scary when they get up and run.
Glenn
Outstanding Mark. :thumbsup:
Nice Bull
Big Congrats!
Congrads! Nice Bull. :clapper:
:thumbsup: :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Good job!
Nice!! Congrats!
"Great bull! How's that ol huntin buddy of yours, Dale, doing?"
Going strong at almost 75 years young...he helped haul it out.
Congratulations.16" of penetration sounds like pretty good performance to me on that shot.When people talk about how much or how little is enough for elk,situations like this should be factored in.As mentioned earlier,they are big tough animals.Nice job.
Great job, NICE bull!
QuoteOriginally posted by bozara:
"Great bull! How's that ol huntin buddy of yours, Dale, doing?"
Going strong at almost 75 years young...he helped haul it out.
Glad to hear it......I'm sure he's gonna expect some elk steaks for the effort!!!
Great bull, thanks for sharing!
cool bull!
Nice Bull Mark!
Good for you sir.
Congratulations on a Beautiful Bull and a successful hunt from start to finish! WOW!! Archery Elk Season in the first week of Oct. -- You are a Lucky Guy.
Im hoping to post a matching picture next year!!!!!!!!
Awesome Elk!!!!!
That is a great bull congratulations!!!
Nice bull elk, pictures and story, congratulaltions on a successful hunt.