09 Elk

[MSD]

Was finally able to sneak out to the hills for an elk hunt today and things were really exciting right from the get go. About 45 mins after getting into my spot I heard a big bugle from 3-400 yards to my west. I immediately started running towards the bull and he screamed the entire time I was heading his way.

I eventually situated myself so that I was directly south of him when I caught a glimpse of a cow sneaking across a small meadow. I immediately backtracked about 200 yards and moved into the small park of trees that they were heading to. Once I arrived at the small grove the bull and I had a great screaming match for the better part of an hour but I could only get him to 80ish yards. He was a beautiful 300 class 6x6 which is damn big for the cypress hills. With light just about to expire I knew that I wasnt going to get a shot at the bull, so I ranged the lead cow that had snuck in to investigate and ended up plugging her at 48 yards.

[WOOKIE]

Congrats once again Shane! Should be good eats!

[Taxman]

Very nice!

Congrats.

Mike

[Travski]

nice job Shane

[Devilslefthand]

Nice work too bad u didn't get a shot at the big man.....

[Rielbowhunter]

Congrats on a the elk. That hit looks a little far back. Did you have to follow blood trail for long?
looks like you will lots of great eating.
I hope you get the big bull next time.
Bill

[MSD]

The shot was definately less than desirable. She was quartering away and on high alert and as soon as my string dropped she spun around and well you can see where the arrow hit. I got really lucky though and hit the femoral artery and she was down in 50 yards. Ive never had a bad shot like that before it really bothered me the whole night we were packing her out. I guess it happens to us all sooner or later and Im thankful that it turned out good for me in the end.

[Elkvalleyhunter]

The shot was definately less than desirable. She was quartering away and on high alert and as soon as my string dropped she spun around and well you can see where the arrow hit. I got really lucky though and hit the femoral artery and she was down in 50 yards. Ive never had a bad shot like that before it really bothered me the whole night we were packing her out. I guess it happens to us all sooner or later and Im thankful that it turned out good for me in the end.

Fred Bear would call that a "solid ham hit"! There was a time when that might have been thought of as a desirable shot! You can see by the result why early bowhunters would have thought that.

The same thing happened to me last fall with a mule deer buck. Spooked, same yardage, jumped at the shot, same result. I watched him die. A very quick end. But again, lucky that I caught the femoral artery. Further forward, in the gut might have been horrible. Some times we get lucky!

Congratulations on a great elk!

[MSD]

Fred Bear would call that a "solid ham hit"! There was a time when that might have been thought of as a desirable shot! You can see by the result why early bowhunters would have thought that.

The same thing happened to me last fall with a mule deer buck. Spooked, same yardage, jumped at the shot, same result. I watched him die. A very quick end. But again, lucky that I caught the femoral artery. Further forward, in the gut might have been horrible. Some times we get lucky!

Congratulations on a great elk!

Thank you for the encouraging words. I cant tell you how many times I have played that scenario over in my head over the last week. I consider myself a pretty good shot and everything felt great when I released the arrow but there was just no way of accounting for the way she spun. I can still remember how sick I felt when I saw the blood pumping out of that wound, and how relieved I was only seconds later when she dropped. I will definitely be taking some lessons with me from this hunt.

[calgaryXhunter]

Good stuff! :)

I didnt even notice where she was hit....doesnt really matter now. Shes dead with a tag on her leg.