BBD frontal shot

[Csrbowhunter]

Well here's the story. I got to camp on Thursday and right away Pete (guide) said let's go. I got my stuff on and off we went. It was about 5:30 and we heard some bugling further up the mtn. We checked the wind and got in as close as we could. As far as we could see there were 5 bulls and countless cows in this herd. Two raghorns came our way so as I was knelt in the grass I got my range finder out and ranged them (61yds). I looked over at Pete and he looked at me to see if I'd shoot them. I shook my head NO and he smiled. I don't know if he was testing me or not to see what I'd shoot but for me I've killed bigger already and just drove 26 hours. There was no way I was going to shoot a raghorn on the first day! We kept trying to get in close and call but the cows would walk away every time and take the bulls with them. We did this for the rest of the of the evening with no luck.
The next morning we went out at 5am and were in the elk before daylight. As we waited for the day to come my anticipation grew! We had bulls bugling all around us and now we just had to decide which bull to go after. We got the wind in our favor and got in as tight as we could, about 100yds out. The terrain was open on the ground with large pine trees. It is beautiful country but hard to spot and stock. We tried some light cow calls but they were more interested in what was going on with the herd than us. At 8:20am Pete turns to me and says well they are bedded so lets go back to camp. I was standing there thinking are you crazy? He saw the look on my face so explained that we don't want to bump them out of here and to just be patient. I'm not used to going back to camp by 8:30 when I hunt by myself I stay out all day but it's the first day so I don't say anything.
That evening we go back to where they were bedded but they had already moved so we were back in chase mode. We get back on them but 150yds out. We glassed and saw there were a lot more elk now. There were at least three shooters in there. A thick 350 where his tines curled in, a thin racked 350 and a 340 with good mass. There were some 320s and 300s in there plus a bunch raghorns. As we glassed we tried to come up with a game plan to get in on the biggest one. The three big bulls were moving the cows back and forth as we watched. As time moved on with us still unable to come up with a good plan, the biggest bull started pushing the cows down the hill to the meadow. Now it's an all out stampede! We watched over just start running down the hill. Pete and I just looked at each other in amazement at how many elk were there. Pete then said we need to make up some ground and cut them off before they make the meadow. One of the reasons we had to beat them there is because once they went across the road they would be in a different unit that I couldn't hunt!
On our way down we heard a bugle coming our way. We set up as fast as we could. He bugled again and now we could see him. He's the thin racked 350 and headed right for us. The herd stopped and started to bugle again and they were 300yds below us. The bull heard them also and turned going more away from us. Pete cow called and the bull stopped but I had no idea how far away he was so I didn't shoot. He didn't stay long when he didn't see a cow and went towards the herd(maybe 10 seconds). We decided to loop around and get to the back of the herd where the herd bull normally stay. It almost worked, at last light we had the bull at 60yds but I couldn't see him threw my peep!
Then next morning Pete got up at 5 but I'd been up all night because of all the bugling around our camp. He was sleeping in a camper where I was in a wall tent. We had two bulls going at it all night behind our camp, so we just went after them instead of driving down the road after the big herd. the wind shifted and we had no luck on the first bulls so we headed back towards the big herd. It seemed to be the same old same with the cows moving the bulls off when we'd call. It was almost like the cows would say "you new cows aren't getting my man" when we would cow call. I watched threw my bios while they were bedded down and the cows would just stand up and leave. They would only take them over the next hump but would take us awhile to get back in position. This went on for awhile as we pushed them further up the mtn. At 9:30 Pete once again looked at me and said well they are bedded what do you want to do? I thought about it for a minute and said" why don't you go back about 25yds and just start to rake a tree and don't call at all". Pete said he didn't think that would hurt anything so we gave it a shot. As soon as he started to rake the woods blew up with bugles! I had one to my right that sounded really hot but the big 350 was infront of me. The 350 would come to the edge of his cows and scream a bugle but not come across the ravine. The bull to my right is moving behind me trying to get down wind of the caller. I signaled to Pete that I was moving my setup back and to the right. I went back about 80yds and setup. I scanned the woods and spotted the bull. He wasn't doing what I'd thought he'd be doing. He was just eating grass and would bugle every once and awhile. At this point I started to glass to see if there was maybe another bull there. No other bulls but he had 2 cows bedded by him to his left. I decided to move in on him because he was down in a little slope and I could use the edge of the drop off as my cover. It was lined with small pine trees along the edge. As I worked my way to the edge, Pete bugled and that made the bull start to come my way. I quickly ranged some small pine trees he was walking towards(38yds), I can make that shot I thought. I waited until he got behind the pines and pulled back my bow. Right then Pete bugled again and the bull stopped and bugled. As time ticked by my arm started to shake. All I need is two steps and he will be broadside less then 40yds. The bull bugled one more time and took one step and turned straight at me and kept walking. Now at full draw and on one knee with my arm shaking I thought, I either have to let the bow down or make the shot or he's going to walk into me or see me. Either one was not good for me! I put my 30yd pin on him where the dark brown meets the light brown and pulled the trigger. The arrow hit a little high but dead center! As he turned to leave blood flew out of his neck. It was like watching a action movie! I knew I'd made a good shot so I headed back to Pete. In all the excitement I forgot to turn on my GoPro, that stinks! I get back to Pete and tell him what happened and he said he thought he heard him fall after I shot. We decided to wait an hour before we started to track him. That was the longest hour of my life! I asked him how big he thought he was and he said he didn't get to see him. At this point I started second guessing myself, if he was big enough or if I should have taking the shot on the second day of a 7 day hunt. I put a big chew of Kodiak in my mouth and tried to calm down. lol Once we started to track the blood I calmed down quickly. Pete said in 30 years of outfitting he'd never seen a blood trail like this one. It looked like some one was poring It out of a bottle. We found the bull not more then 100 yds from where I shot him!

[powderhogg01]

great story and great elk!!! good on ya for a killer hit, man, that is one heck of a blood trail as well

[Indian Summer]

That is a great story Craig. You know I've been waiting for it too brother. Sounds like it was an incredible place to elk hunt and you sure did that tag justice. GOOD JOB!!!!

[Csrbowhunter]

Thanks Joe,

I tell you at one point I was kind of pissed at myself because I didn't give myself more time to kill the bigger one. But mother nature showed me why you don't get to picky in elk country. It rained hard for the rest of the time I was there! I knew this one was nice but I also knew he wasn't as big as that other bull. When whitetail hunting I know I won't pass up a 160 buck because I've seen a 180 when I only have 5 days left to hunt! Plus I always say if it's bigger then what's on your wall now then don't pass it up. And he's going to look goooood on the wall!

[Gypsumreaper]

Congrats man, I'm always scarred of the frontal but have practiced an practiced imagining that shot as a possibility for under 30 yards, congrats on a very nice bull

[zpd307]

congrats on that biggun!

[Csrbowhunter]

Here's a few more pics.

[Rangerz]

Congrats!

[LckyTylr]

DANG that's a Good Bull! That's an awesome story. Did you notice that the bulls quieted down a lot with the rain or was the action still pretty heated because of the bull/cow ratio? I bet NM is just a magical place to be in september. What was the name of Pete's service?

Look at all that Blood . . . the Frontal . . . whew!


It's kinda funny, two years ago I think was the first time when the frontal shot really started taking a lot of heat on this and other forums. When I first saw that archery guys were taking frontal shots, I initially scoffed at the lack of ethics. Then I started to see more and more respected forum members toting the effectiveness of this shot, so I started doing my research and soon realized that it's pretty effective . . . but not for me. Several months passed and I got a little more interested in it, so I really started doing my homework. I searched every forum and website I could find on elk anatomy. Last season after a friend shot his bull, we boned him out and then I took considerable time to dissect the frontal area of his bull. I made distinctive cuts in his cape at the front and then peeled away layers of skin and flesh to expose arteries, esophagus, the hole into the ribs and then peeled back ribs to see how lungs and heart are positioned. I realized pretty quickly that there's a LOT of important stuff going on in that area. A well-placed broad head would do some pretty bad stuff to a Bull's breeding season. Here I sit, having finally killed my first elk, releasing my first arrow on an elk with a 30 yard frontal shot and an 80 yard recovery. Sure glad I gave it more than an initial scoff and did my homework.

Awesome bull! Have you green scored him yet?

[BrentLaBere]

Sounds like a dream hunt! Congratulations on a great bull.

[Ghost]

Way to go Craig!!! Great bull!! Talk about a blood trail!. What broad head did you use and what kind of penetration?

Did you try that Altitude Advantage?

[ElkNut1]

Craig, great story! Awesome bull & shot! Congrats!

ElkNut1

[Csrbowhunter]

Lucky,

The outfitter was Pete Davis from southwestoutdoors. He's put out some videos called "pure huntin elk" and was on the early videos of primos big bulls. This guy outfits in AZ and NM. He really knew the area well. He never even turned on a gps! For me I have to use one or I get turned around pretty easily. I will use his services again for AZ when I finally draw there. He had been putting in for both states the last couple of years. I've done a lot of diy hunts in MT and had some success. I like doing it myself and if I would have just not listened to primos on NOT taken a frontal shot I would have killed an elk every year! Most of the time I call for myself and the elk come straight in and that's the best option on shots. This time I thought I wouldn't have to worry about it with Pete calling for me. But as fate would have it that ended up being my best shot. I'll admit I hit him higher then I should of but my steelforce sabertooths did the job quite well! By the time I shot he was under 30yds and I used my 30yd pin so I hit him high.

Ghost,

I think it worked but I don't really know because I've never had a problem with altitude. The first day I was sucking wind but that's because I'd planed on getting there and spending a day in camp before going out. Pete was there a couple of days early and had to sit there and listen to the bulls going crazy. So as soon as I showed up and got unpacked he was ready to hit it!

This was a dream hunt but in some ways I was sad it was over so quick! Like I said before I think I could have gotten the bigger bull if I would have done some things different. Or I could have waited to long and that rain that come in really shut them down! This bull is between 310-320 and has a beautiful rack. I looked at him once threw my bios and said "yep he's a shooter" and tried not to look at his rack again!