I DON'T Suck This Time!

[LckyTylr]

I'm sure all of you have seen my thread "I Suck!" . . . about me being a weeny and quitting my hunt early last weekend. I was mentally weak and couldn't take the heat when the bulls weren't bugling and I couldn't find the ones that I'd been watching all summer. I was frustrated and I quit. I knew it was wrong and I knew that I needed some humiliation to get my a$$ back in gear. You guys gave me just what I needed.

This weekend was different. I did what a good solo bowhunter SHOULD do.

I actually convinced my Father in Law to go with me this weekend. He's NOT a bowhunter and he's not much of an elk hunter but he was willing to go and I was looking forward to having some company. Saturday morning we woke up at 4:30 to hop on the dirtbikes and ride a few miles in before daylight. Immediately upon turning the bikes off, he got sick and decided to just sit close to the bikes. I continued on for another mile or so and watched the day break. I went back to check in on him and he was worse. He decided to head back to camp and wound up being sick the rest of the hunt (he insisted that I continue to hunt). And just like that, I was a Solo hunter again. I had the ambition and drive to hunt like I had in years past, I wasn't seeing elk so I went searching for them. I hiked from 08:30 to dark with only about 2 hours of mid-day lunch/nap time. I NEVER found the sign that I'd seen all summer, the bulls had vanished. With that, I had to think like an elk. I hadn't seen a cow up high all summer where I'd been watching the bulls and figured that they must be down lower in the thick stuff. I started off Sunday morning again at 04:30 even though my planned trek was much shorter. I wanted to arrive about an hour before first light in hopes that I'd hear some bugling before all of the road hunters started in with their own chorus.

I worked perfectly. A bull started sounding off about every 3 minutes across the river from me and I could only hope that others would follow suit. About 30 minutes before light the bull upped his intensity and really started getting nasty with his bugles. Against all hope, a bull sounded off about 400 yards from me on the logging road that I'd been sitting on. I knew that as long as nobody on a 4-wheeler came buzzing by and the wind remained in it's current direction, I'd be set to play with this bull. I anxiously awaited light while the bull occasionally answered the bull across the river. He didn't seem very amped but hey . . . this was the first bugle that I'd heard this year and I was very pleased. When I had enough light to shoot I dove over the bank about 75 yards and worked my way up the hill towards the last bugle that I'd heard (about 20 minutes ago). I started a light cow calling sequence with no response. After about 15 minutes I started to hear some branches snapping and it sounded like he was getting closer. I called one more time and he bugled. With that, as I have learned here on Elknutforums, I stopped calling. The seed had been planted and he knew where to find me. He took his sweet time coming in to me but made a lot of noise doing it as he was bugling, raking trees and stepping on every branch in the woods (it was THICK). Of course this had my heart rate through the roof. He came in and hung up at 75 yards and stood there bugling every few minutes. He was expecting a cow to follow nature and come in to his bugling but obviously that wasn't going to happen. Again, my Elknut knowledge paid off. Since I knew he would eventually figure out that something was wrong if he kept bugling but a no-show on the cow's part. I figured I had to paint him a picture of why that cow wouldn't come to him . . . I started raking a nearby tree and stomping on branches. That pissed him off as he bugled and started walking my way again. Unfortunately he was headed down wind of me and it was too thick for me to relocate. He was a HUGE 6-point!!! He came in to 60 yards and stopped for 10 minutes hoping that I'd make a move. I kept my patience (amazingly) and resisted the urge to call again. He raked a tree and finally continued on his way. As he was angling in I knew that he'd turn and offer me a 50 yard shot through a very narrow window. As his head went behind a big tree I drew and felt a stiff breeze at my back. SH!T. He spun on a dime and trotted off about 75 yards. I knew that it would be difficult to call him back to the same location and that I'd probably get the same results.

I silently pulled back and walked down over the hill about 300 yards. It was very steep and very thick so I was making a ton of noise. The bull still thought I was a cow and another bull so he was shadowing me at a quicker pace. I knew that he'd catch me quickly so I had to just pick a spot and hope for the best. I ended up in another very thick spot and was forced to kneel on my knees to see under the tree branches. I cow called a few times and let out a very squeaky and immature sounding bugle (on purpose) in hopes that this big boy would kick pee-wee out of his area and steel the cow. Worked perfectly, he screamed and cut me off and literally came RUNNING at me from about 100 yards away. He sounded like he was going to knock half of the forrest down. My heart rate was off the charts . . . equal to when I killed my first whitetail with a bow when I was 15. As I mentioned, I was kneeling with both knees pointed down hill and precariously positioned on very slippery pine needles. The bull stopped at 30 yards down hill from me and bugled . . . chuckled . . . peed on himself . . . lip bawled . . . raked a tree. Finally after about 5 minutes of this he continued on and passed behind another big tree. I drew and he emerged on the other side and soon he was 15 yards away. As I was swinging from left to right and waiting for him to enter into the shooting lane I had. FOUR MORE STEPS!!! As I was rotating my weight transferred slightly and my left knee slid about 2 inches and broke a tiny little branch. Boom . . . I was pinned. He stared right at me while I was at full draw. Of course I knew this was a losing game as he had nothing but time and I'm a mere mortal. I figure I held for about a minute before the awkward body position and arm fatigue caused my bow arm to start swaying around. He'd had enough and busted. As soon as he turned to run I was on the cow call doing my best impression of "Wait come back!!!" whines. It worked, he went about 50 yards and stood there. Again . . . Thank you Elknutforums . . . I knew I had to act fast or he'd be gone. I immediately stomped out of there doing nervous barks the whole way up to the ridge behind me. I was trying to say "I don't know what just happened but I don't like it and I'm leaving". It worked perfectly, he started bugling at me to try to get me back. I relocated AGAIN about 300 yards down the hill. This time I literally ran down the hill since I didn't think it would be out of place for a "spooked cow" to be running. I committed to NOT stopping until I found a location where I could actually get a few decent shooting lanes. Low and behold . . . I found an old abandoned logging road. Perfect, I figured that if I could get him down on the logging road, the natural terrain of the surrounding hillsides would force him within shooting range of me. As the brush and trees were so thick, I assumed that I'd see his antler tips coming down the bank just before he got to the road and I'd be able to draw. After a few more soft cow calls and some more raking he started charging down the hill crashing the whole way. He hung up about 20 yards above the road and bugled several times. Again . . . I resisted the urge to call. He threw everything at me that he could think of . . . raking . . . bugling . . . growling . . . glunking . . . raking again . . . screaming . . . driving me up a wall with excitement. I thought to myself . . . this is the spot, it's perfect and he's going to walk right into my trap. Suddenly I heard him snort-growl and now he's heading down the hill. I see his antlers coming down the bank, I draw . . . he STOPS!!! He had two feet on the road but his vitals were still behind the brush. He looked both ways like he was crossing the street, didn't see the cow he was after (should have had a decoy . . . Kicking myself!!!). He bugled twice, turned in his tracks and walked up the hill to bed.

It was too thick to follow him without being heard and seen. I retraced my steps back up the steep brush and set up where I called him in the first time but with a little better shooting lanes. I raked a tree and let out a few soft cow calls. He bugled but it didn't have the intensity. I managed to get him to bugle another 5 or 6 times but he never sounded any closer (it was now 11:00 and I think I'd worn out my welcome).

So . . . I never got to release an arrow . . . but it was AWESOME!!! This was the kind of experience that I have been after for the last 2 years. At various points in time, I had 3 other bulls bugling at me but I kept me focus on the big boy.

I can't thank you all enough. Without the knowledge that I have gained here on elknutforums . . . I would never have gotten him in even once . . . let alone called in a monarch 3 times in one morning close enough for an archery shot. I feel like I couldn't have played the situations any better and I was able to make them at very critical points in time to really push this bulls buttons and also keeping him calm when he was nervous. I think if I'd had a caller for the 1st encounter to pull that bull closer to me and a decoy for the 3rd encounter to get that bull to fully commit to standing on the logging road.

So close guys . . . I was THIS Close!!! It almost hurt to be so close after 5 years of trying and playing all of my cards correctly at the right time . . . and not be able to release that arrow. Deep down, I knew that I wouldn't feel good about getting lucky and snaking an arrow through the tree branches. There's a reason that I have only ever lost one of the 14 archery deer that I have shot, shot etiquette. I'll never regret this weekend, I did everything that I could have done to kill a bull. Maybe next weekend chance will favor me and I'll let the air out of that bull's lungs.

Thanks all.

[Sucobowhunter]

Yeah buddy!! That's what we're talking about..

[JGH]

Awesome!

[eriks.]

Way to be Tyler!
Time and $ constraints are keeping me from getting back to try it again this year, so I get to replay what I did wrong for a long time to come. Man, I wish I lived closer!
Oh well, I guess when I get to do it again it will be all the sweeter.

I hope to see some success photos of you later. Good luck

[Trophyhill]

Git er done! Good luck

[ElkNut1]

Great story & decision making Tyler! It was a great read!

ElkNut1

[cnelk]

Go get him again!
He wont be far

[bnsafe]

great hunt tyler. sounds like you played it as well as could be played. its only a matter of time before you put one on the ground.

[BRazz]

Nice work man! That must have been a rush!!!

Go back up there and shoot him!

[JCS]

That had to be hard not letting the arrow fly. Great job man!! Never give up, Never give in.

[Lefty]

Dont need to kill one to have a great hunt

[LckyTylr]

Thanks for all of the comments and encouragement. I managed to convince one of my rifle hunting buddies to tag along for the final weekend. Here's the best part . . . HE KNOWS HOW TO CALL . . . a little.



The plan is for me to do all of the calling to locate a bull and get him all riled up. Once he's committed to coming in I will move ahead a few yards and Tom will stay where I last called from. If the bull hangs up Tom will give him a few mews and hopefully we can put that beast to bed.

I'm SUPER EXCITED!!! I'll be leaving Wednesday after work to hunt solo Thursday and Friday and Tom will meet me up there Friday night. That's a good friend right there.