Tuesday September 7, 2010

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STATUE BULL - 04/01/2008
Category: Elk

The Statue Bull

Story By Jace Olson

The alarm went off at 3:30 a.m. I was already awake anticipating the day’s hunt. Jeremy - my hunting partner - and I had hunted this spot in the past and always seen lots of elk.

Finally, after a long drive, we arrived at the trail. We grabbed our bows and packs and started the long hike ahead of us. On the way in, we could hear the distant bugles of bulls in the honey hole. Our excitement grew as we got closer to our destination.

Out of nowhere, the bugles seemed to quit after sounding continuously all morning. We kept going in the direction of the last bugle. After crossing through a swampy marsh, I saw movement in the trees ahead. As we neared the trees, I noticed it was a hunter who had somehow beat us to our spot. We made our way over to him to ask about his plan of attack. This way, we could both still have a chance at the elk.

I learned he had permission to cut across private property to get to the area we were hunting. In doing so, he crossed through the open meadows and bumped the elk. He decided to go after some others that were in the flats and we headed in the direction we had heard the last set of bugles. We walked for a couple more hours making cow calls every so often, trying to get a response from a bull. It was silent all around; the elk were done talking for the day. We made a big circle back toward the trail we had come from.

After hiking for awhile, we came to a flat spot on top of some finger ridges that connected to a very tall vertical mountain. Hoping to catch a glimpse of an elk, we started glassing some small parks at the top of the mountain. Suddenly, Jeremy gave a light whistle and motioned me to hurry over. I looked up on the mountain and saw a nice bull. We kept an eye on him for over half an hour, trying to see which way he was going, but he never moved. He stood there like a statue on top of the mountain. He was looking down the ridge at his cows. They were feeding and slowly making their way up the mountain to him.

We tried cow calling and even gave a light bugle, but he wouldn’t respond. I marked a tall tree he was next to him and checked the wind. We had to cross a creek and climb straight up the mountain in order to keep the wind in our favor. We hoped we would be lucky enough to find him and get a shot. Even if our chances were slim, there was no question - we were going after him.

We crossed the creek, which was deep enough to thoroughly soak my boots, socks and feet before the hike up the hill. I didn’t let this deter me; I put my head down and marched straight up the mountain in record time. At the top, we stopped to catch our breath and scent down using Scent Shields Fall Blend Scent and Cow-in-Heat Urine. We both knocked an arrow and started the stalk toward the tree we had marked from below.

Not making any calls, we were silent trying to get close enough for the shot. At about seventy yards, I motioned for Jeremy to stop. I could see elk legs walking through the trees. Seventy yards in front of us the bull came into the open, turned and walked directly at me. I drew my bow and readied for the shot - he was closing fast. He came into 50 yards, 40 yards, and then 30 and turned, giving me a walking broadside shot. With one cow call, he stopped and the arrow was on its way. It flew true. The bull whirled around and ran about 60 yards into the trees where he expired. Emotions ran high; I had just arrowed a great bull! We snapped some photos, quartered him up and hauled him out.

It was a great hunt - one that I am glad my hunting partner, Jeremy, was able to experience with me.

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