I was lucky enough to take this Colorado cow last week. We are still in camp and will be here for another 3 weeks but my elk season is over.
(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c199/BillrK/IMG_0838.jpg)
It was a morning hunt and I was sitting on one side of a very deep canyon talking back and forth with a bull over on the other side. It was after 8 o'clock and he sounded like he had lain down for the day and was simply squealing every once in a while because he was bored. I was not going to cross the canyon an try him because I have been suckered into doing this many times. They will answer until you get inside their area and then vacate the premises.
This had been going on for most of an hour when a cow and a calf came from my right and below me. The air was absolutely still and my scent had settled in the area. She immediately went on alert but was undecided which way to go. After looking in all directions, she turned broad side and looking away.
This was my chance, I picked up my Black Widow and slowly turned into shooting position. This is where thoughts went through my head about whether I wanted to take a cow or continue to hunt for a bull. My season would be over and I would have to quit until next year.
As you can see I have absolutely no will power so I came to full draw and picked my spot and released. The arrow hit mid rib and deflected slightly rearward. I immediately thought it had touched the side of a rib which caused this.
She headed off into the deep canyon at an angle and disappeared after 100 yards. I heard a crash to the left of where I last saw her and marked the area in my mind. After 30 minutes I eased down to where I thought she had turned left. A cow jumped up and disappeared around a point. Thinking this was a different cow I concentrated on where the crash sound came from.
After finding nothing I returned to where the cow had gone. I found blood immediately and sat down and waited some more. A while later after easing about 75 yards I saw her lying down in some tall brush and looking back at me. She got up again and moved out of sight.
I returned to camp and gathered some equipment and 4 friends to help with the retrieval. We were close to where I last saw her when she was spotted lying dead about 60 yards away. When we walked up to her we could see that bears had already found her and had dragged her a few feet. A front leg had been chewed on pretty hard near the elbow and there was a large patch of skin removed from her lower belly. She also had some claw marks that were through the skin but no meat was damaged. We felt we had interrupted the bears as we approached and ran them off without seeing them. One hour later and this elk would have been ruined. We were very lucky.
The arrow had glanced of the side of a rib as I suspected and went through the near side lung and then the liver. Bow used was a Black Widow with a CX Heritage 250 arrow tipped with a Tuffhead broadhead. Total arrow weight is 630 grains.
Nice, congrats! Lots of prime eating there! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Well , good deal Bill!!
Congrats!! :thumbsup:
Congratulations!
Great Job sir!
Congrats , well done :thumbsup:
:thumbsup:
Well done......Glad you beat Yogi and the Boo-Boo crew to the cow. A bull would nice, but that's some fine eating right there! Again...Well Done!!
That's awesome! Congrats
Congrats on a nice cow!! Would those be blackies in that are or grizz? Congrats again Joe
Week done Bill, even if the hunt is over! The freezer at home will look good after the season is over as well. Good job, Maxx
Congratulations Bill. Beautiful animal!!
Nice bow too.
Congrats
Good deal!! I f I ever make it out west I would shoot a cow too. Congrats.RC
Amazing, funny how filling a tag always comes at the bitter-sweet price of ending a season.
Great job! :thumbsup:
Top of my list cow or bull.
Great job, Congratulations!!
Congrat's Bill. It's hard to get down on the bears though. She does look delicious.
Well done Bill, Little willpower leads to a full freezer and I think you made a great choice.
Glad to hear you got it before the bears were finished. :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
All i can think about is chicken fried elk steak. Ummm, ummmm
Congrats
Congratulations Bill. :)
:clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Way to go Bill ... killing any elk with trad gear is a big deal in my book!!! As the others said she will definitely be a trophy in the freezer!
Very good!
Congrats!
Well Done
Congrats Bill,better a sure cow in the freezer than a maybe bull.
Your season may be over, but you still have 3 more weeks to enjoy a wonderful time of year in the Mountains...... and your freezer is full....Congrats... :thumbsup:
Excellent
Well done sir! Enjoy that elk meat
Nicely done !
Glad you found her. Nice work!
Congratulations Bill! If I see a nice fat mature cow mine will be over too in the next few weeks.
Gil
You done good
:thumbsup: :clapper: :clapper:
Congrats Bill!
great job !!!!!!
Congratson a fine cow! :thumbsup:
Congratulations Bill! Some good eating right there.
Great story and topped off with a freezer full of prime meat! Congratulations! Enjoy the rest of your time in the mountains!
Bernie Bjorklund
NC Iowa/SW Wisconsin
Congrats, Bill! I hope I can get one in front of me in a couple weeks when I ma up there.
Congrats again,
Bisch
Well done, Bill! Congrats on a fine cow elk! A true trophy indeed! Thanks for sharing.
Kenny :clapper:
:thumbsup: :clapper:
well done, meat in the freezer, and a trophy in any man's book.
congrats
Nice cow, Bill! Freezer is looking better now!
Congrats!!
I would have shot also! Way to make meat!
Congratulations!
Enjoy the rest of your camp!!!
Great Cow. Congrats!
Congrats Bill!
Congrats Bill, that's great!! :clapper:
Good shootin, good job on the recovery too.
Congrates!
Congrats Bill on a nice Cow.
Great job an a fine trophy. Looks like you get to be the cook camp now. God Bless
Way to go Bill! There's some mighty fine eating for your winter! A cow elk is a true trophy in my book. Congratulations!
Very nice! Plenty of meat there!
Good Shoot'n!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/Iflytrout/Pictures/buzzards.gif)
Fantastic Bill :clapper:
That would be a trophy for me!
Way to go Bill! Glad to see you are making good use of retirement!
Great job. Now you can be camp cook and pack mule for the rest of the trip. Way to go.
That is the kind of elk Im hoping for... brown and on the ground.
Congrats Bill.
I'm envious! Glad you got to her in time!
Congratulations, job well done and some fine eating.
Congrats. Good shooting!
Congrats on a nice elk! :thumbsup:
Congrats Bill on getting the job done. You certainly inspire me, because at your age, you are still out there enjoying the good life of Bowhunting. Thanks for sharing.
Tony
Congrats Bill!!
Congrats on another great hunt!!There is no doubt Bill knows how to get the job done regardless of the species. :clapper:
Bill
Great Bill, Good looking cow. Congrats
Congrats Bill !
So what if you punched your tag early in the game.... like you said.... three more weeks in camp to soak it all in and truly enjoy the whole experience. I bet fresh elk backstraps over an open fire never tasted so good. :campfire:
Bill congrats on a fine animal!!! One of these days we are going to get that cheeseburger at the 'Lil Red Barn and I'll get to hear ALL about it!
Nice job, Bill! I'd be dropping the string too.
mmmmmmmmmmmmm...........Medium rare with a little Country Bobs :)
Thanks fellas. I dunno how many more years I'll be able to do this. I need to lose some weight, that cheeseburger sounds good Mike :D . This year made my 48th in succession to come to the mountains. Sure enjoyed every one!
Well Done!
Congratulations Mr.Kissner :clapper:
Well done Sir!
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
F-Manny
Way to go Bill! The pressure is off and now you can relax and play. Congratulations!
Alright Bill-well done!!!
I am so jealous! Congratulations! :thumbsup:
well done
Congratulations on a fine elk.
Great job and a fine job on recovery that cow.
Cow elk is about the finest table fare anywhere.
Good choice.
Good job Bill. Your dedication to succeed gives us old, big guys inspiration. Congrats on a job well done.... again. BW
Man, I love to see trad elk pics...congrats Bill
Congratulations, well done.
Congratulations Bill!
I sure will be looking forward to hearing more about it and seeing any pictures that you have.
Please give everyone in camp my very best.
Tim
Very nice. Congrats!
Congratulations!
Your experience brings up a great point for consideration.
When you have an either-sex tag in your pocket especially if it's a unit that takes a while to draw, it's probably a good idea to mull it over beforehand whether you are going to take the first available shot or wait on a big bull. No right or wrong and it may change during the hunt but I think it's important to have thought about it before you start an internal debate when the opportunity comes. Usually not a lot of time to scratch your head.
Nice job, congratulations!
-Jay
Awesome story and cow. Congrats.
Way to go Bill...seems you have those CO elk figured out!
:clapper:
Congratulations Bill!!
There are benefits to tagging out early.......
48 years is an amazing string Bill. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
:thumbsup: Atta boy!!
ya the bears have been pretty bad here in CO this year I have a friend who was charged on 2 separate occasions on opening morning and then again on sunday. At least they didnt ruing anything for you.
Nice Job Billy!!
Bill,
Contrats on a successful hunt with a recurve !!!
Too bad about the bears - it is really amazing how fast they can locate your downed game. Too bad use humans don't have those abilities ....
Sorry - I meant "to bad for US humans"
Can't spell so good tonight ...
Way to go, congrats.
Big Bill,
NICE Going partner !!!! Nice picture & short sweet story.
Thanks again fellas. Tom, you keep putting a Co elk hunt off. You're gonna be like me one of these days, too old! :)
Glad you got to her before they ruined her.
Outstanding, Bill! Congratulations! :thumbsup: :campfire:
:notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:
Wat to go Bill !
Steaks for dinner tonight! :clapper:
Great job. Probably the only thing that would cause me to not shoot a cow would be if a bull were with her or very close by -- the idea of a freezer full of elk meat would be too much of a temptation to bear!