This takes place on public land in the great state of Idaho in September in an area that I have been hunting in for over twenty years. This area has been very good to me and my family.
In the 2017 season I was hunting with my two sons Bryan and James. I bugled a 350 bull in and Bryan placed a perfect shot on this magnificent bull. The days following Bryan’s Harvest we saw a couple of very nice bulls.
Unfortunately we ended the season with just the one harvest, but with high hopes for the 2018 season.
The summer of 2018 was very dry. We had a couple of nasty lightning storms with one of them striking the ground near our hunting grounds. All of the roads leading into the area were closed in fear of more fires.
We watched the news as the fire approached and then started burning our hunting area. All of our hopes and dreams for the 2018 season started to diminish as hundreds of aches turned into charred forest.
The fires were still burning as the hunting season was fast approaching. We feared that our season was going to be a total loss. We watched the news and two days before season they opened the roads.
The three of us decided to see what was left of our hunting area and if there were any elk left. We hauled our camp up to our camping spot and setup for the next two weeks. From camp things did not look too bad but the first trip into what used to be big timber was downright disappointing.
The areas that we loved to hunt were almost gone and there were still fires burning on some of the ridges. We walked around for two days looking in the small pockets of trees that were left for sign but found nothing.
We had to change our way of hunting and explore areas that had not been burnt. We did find a small herd of elk close to area that had been burnt and started focusing on them. By the end of the first week we had only heard a few elk bugle and our hopes for a harvest were falling fast.
Bryan and James were going to have to leave and I still had a week of vacation. I was planning to stay. The boys did not want me to stay and hunt by myself so Bryan made a few calls and decided to stay for the last week.
The next few days would turn out to be very promising. Bryan and I walked many miles and heard bulls bugling but always on the other side of the canyons. We did find a small draw that had some wallows in it.
I knew this draw well. I had taken a big 6×6 off of one of the wallows 5 years before. We approached the draw from downwind and worked our way to within 100 yards. We saw plenty of sign but were not sure any elk were in the area.
We set up and I started to softly cow call. The whole draw seemed to explode with bugles. It was hard to tell if it was one bull or two. I kept cow calling and the bull, or bulls, kept screaming.
They didn’t seem to be moving so I asked Bryan to see if he could stalk close enough to get a shot and I would stay and call. Just as Bryan got about 50 yards closer the elk sounded like they were moving to our right.
Bryan started moving in that direction. We could hear brush braking to our right then I could see Bryan switch directions and start coming in my way. I was not sure what he was doing because I could hear something to the right.
I saw Bryan squat down and draw back aiming in front of me. I was so focused on the sound to my right I had not seen a spike bull right in front of me. Bryan was at full draw and the bull was looking in my direction so I let out a soft cow call hoping to pull him threw a small patch of brush giving Bryan a shot. It worked.
The bull stepped forward and I heard the arrow flying then a loud whack. The bull trotted away and bugled. I couldn’t believe Bryan had missed. The bull was not done and started looking for the cow he had heard.
He was coming in faster this time to my left. I got ready and looked in Bryan’s direction. He had came down the draw and was approaching me. He sneaked right past me and to my left, between me and the spike. I could see the spike and Bryan.
They were about 30 yards apart. The spike started screaming, I’m sure looking for the cow. The spike continued moving to our left and I could see another bull just in front of him. It was a much bigger bull but I could not see all the antlers.
It was a branched antlered bull and he was approaching me right between Bryan and I. I was sure this was going to be a good one. The spike bulged again then the bigger bull bugled and they both walked to our left out of sight.
Bryan came to my location and explained he had hit a branch and his arrow deflected, missing the spike. What a fun experience that was. The walk back to camp was a steep climb and when we got to the top of the ridge we could hear the bulls bugling across the canyon.
We decided we would hunt them in the morning.
The morning started out with a long drive to the side of the canyon where we had heard the bulls the night before. We started walking before it got light so we could be in position as the sun came up.
We were about a mile down the canyon and waiting for light when we heard our first bugle. The bugle sounded like it was deep in the canyon so we started walking and listening, trying to get in position for a stalk.
We ended up in the very bottom of the canyon and the elk ended up back where we had seen them the day before. It was getting later in the day and we had to make a decision whether we should go after the elk or walked back to where we had the truck parked.
We decided that camp was closer than the truck and would walk in that direction. All the way up the canyon heading to camp we did not hear another bugle. The hike was steep and I was tired and ready to be done for the day.
We were approaching the top of the ridge, about 500 yards from camp, when I saw movement ahead of me. It was a small herd of elk and the closest to me was a branched antlered bull. I got an arrow knocked and started to draw.
I heard Bryan say dad he is 40 yards then the bull walked behind a tree. I went into what Bryan called beast mode and started creeping up the trail at full draw. Every time I would get ready to release the bull would go behind another tree.
I crept up the trail getting closer to the bull. I was now at 30 yards and he presented me with a perfect shot. I released and heard a loud smack almost the same as the day before when Bryan had hit a branch.
My heart stopped, and all the thoughts flew thru my mind. Did just hit a branch? I turned to Bryan and he was about 20 yards down the trail where we had first seen the elk. I waved him to me and he asked me if I had hit him.
I said I was not sure and it sounded like when he had hit the branch. We decided to sit and give it 30 minutes before approaching where the bull was when I shot. The time seamed to drag on and it started to get darker as the sun started to go down behind the mountains.
We decided to go look and see if we could find any blood, or my arrow. As we approached were the bull was standing I saw a patch of blood on the ground and I started to get excited.
As we looked closer Bryan said, “Dad look”, and held up half my arrow dripping with blood. The light was fading fast and we decided to go back to camp and I would come back at first light and start the tracking process.
As we walked the 500 yards back to camp I played the hunt over and over in my head. I could not wait to recover my bull. Bryan made arrangements for a friend of his that lived in the area to come up in the morning to help us with the pack.
The morning came and I was ready to go. Bryan’s buddy had called and said he was running a little late so we decided I would go and start the tracking and he would wait for his buddy. I was walking fast down to where the bull was and I was about 50 yards from where I had shot the bull when I heard a branch snap.
It was not quite light yet so I stopped to listen. There it was again. Another branch breaking. I was not sure what it was. Was it a wolf on my elk or a bear? I decided I had better wait until I could see.
As I waited I could hear something walking around in the area where the bull should be. When the light filled the area I could see movement. It was elk. They were feeding in the same area. I watched and strained my eyes but all I could see were cows.
As it got lighter I heard a bull further down the canyon bugle. Now my mind was racing. Was that the bull I had shot? I waited for about 20 minutes, allowed all the cows to leave the area, and went to where we had found the blood the night before.
I found more blood and it was headed in the direction of the bugle. My heart was pounding as I followed the blood trail for about 30 yards. I stopped to look around and there, right in front of me, on the far side of a log I could see an antler sticking up.
My heart started racing as I walked up to find a nice 4×4 bull. As I sat on the log looking at this magnificent animal I couldn’t help but think of all the miles we had walked just to harvest a bull right behind camp.
Giving thanks to the LORD for filling my freezer for another year and being able to spend time with the boys in the woods, I couldn’t hold back the tears.
You know, sometimes I would rather be lucky than good.
Always blessed.
Wishing you a great upcoming season.
Hunter's Best LLC 