Well, I'm very excited! I dreamed about having a good hunt in the fall while I was in Qatar waiting to come home and I'm so excited that it's gone so good so far. I wanted to share my archery elk hunt and a few people have said that it's good enough to share, so I thought I would write it out.
I saw a lot of elk during the last week of September. The first morning I drove up to the edge of a valley and ran up to glass and see if there were any elk. It was an absolutely perfect green grass valley w/ a meandering river running through it. I thought, "this would be perfect for elk!" Sure enough, I glassed about 12 elk at the top of the meadow. So, I went running back to the car and got my bow and gear. I worked my way down the side of the hill and tried to stalk the elk. Well, there were two old cows about 15 yards up the hill posted as sentries. Eventually, I was spotted and they jumped up and moved a little ways up the hill. Well, that's when a big 6 or 7 point bull, covered in mud and light grey in color, trotted out from behind a rock. They headed up over the hill and I couldn't track them b/c there was so much elk sign!
Well, the next day I hit the same valley and didn't see anything. I drove over to a valley north of there and didn't see anything again. Well, I grabbed my gear and decided it was time to get hiking. I knew there was another grass valley that ran parallel to that one...so I headed over. As I got to the top of the ridge, I spotted what looked like a lone cow headed up the bottom, running parallel to the ridge that I was on. Once I got a good look with my binoculars, I realized it was a bull. I tried to hurry up the ridge to keep up with him, but he was moving too fast. I decided it was time to try and call him in. Well, as soon as I blew the cow call he stopped a looked in my direction. He was about 600 yards away! Then I squealed again and he headed straight for me. I couldn't believe he was coming in. After a few more calls, I headed to a saddle in the ridge where I thought he might cross and found a place to hide between to large rocks.
I kept calling and threw in a few calf chirps to make it seem like there was more than one elk. After what seemed like an eternity (because I could not see him come up the ridge from my vantage point) I was about ready to go over to the ridge to see if he had run off. Then, just like they talk about in the hunting videos...he came up over the ridge. Well, I was very excited and nervous...I had never actually shot at a bull elk! I waited for him to go behind a Juniper tree and I pulled back. He cautiously walked forward and as soon as his body was in view I took my first shot. I didn't know if I hit him or not, and he ran about 15 yards away from me and turned to me broadside. I quickly notched another arrow and pulled back and shot again. The first shot was around 30 yards or so and the second was around 45 yards. After my second shot he spun around and ran over the ridge. I hurried up and ran over the ridge to see if I had actually hit him. When I glass him with my binoculars, his front right leg was covered in blood and he kept moving his leg up and down. I was pumped...I had actually hit him. I went back and found my two arrows. The first shot I had completely missed, but the second arrow was completely covered in blood from the tip to the fletchings.
See the video of the two shots.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoJhwiOgFN8
Well, I was pretty excited that I had hit him, but I knew I was going to have to track him. I walked over the ridge and then sat down to wait. Here's my redneck rant about the hunt...I was pretty excited.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnlMeez-LDc
Well, now the real work started. The bull was bleeding pretty well, but I still had to track him. It was difficult at time, but the blood was pretty red so I knew I had hit him good.
I tracked him about 2 miles down a steep ridge and then across a grass valley and then finally I started up another canyon on the other side. It took me about 2 hours to get close to him. I was headed up a narrow canyon and it was very thick. Before I even saw him he burst through the brush to the top of the hill above me. The race was on!
I busted up the hill and glassed, no elk. I ran over the next hill, no elk. Finally, after running to the top of the third hill and seeing nothing...I sat down and started to glass again. I barely caught a glimpse of him in the bottom headed back up into the Junipers. I circled around and found his blood trail in the bottom again. I followed it maybe 15 yards and I saw the butt of the elk 15 feet away! It scared me to be that close and I tried to circle around a tree so he couldn't jump up and charge me...as soon as I moved he jumped up and faced me head on at 12 feet! I was scared to death and I quickly drew back and shot. I completely missed! Then I took another shot and missed again! I think I was hitting brush that was between us. Finally, I drew back my last arrow, and aimed very high to make sure that I hit him and it hit the top of his neck and shoulder (merely a flesh wound).
CRAP! That was my last arrow. Now I didn't know what I was going to do. I pulled out my knife to defend myself and started to circle away. Then the elk turned and layed down...right on top of my arrows!
Great, now what am I going to do? Well, I waited for a bit and it was clear this animal was not going to die anytime soon. He would have bled to death, but I didn't want that to happen, so I started throwing rocks down by the elk to scare him off. It didn't work! So I tried some more. Finally, after about 15 minutes he moved about 4 feet and layed back down. Great, now I can actually see one of my arrows by his hind legs.
I circled around him a little farther and put down my bow and backpack so I could creep in and retrieve the arrow and put him out of his misery. I slowly worked my way up and grabbed and then ran back. He kept his eye on me, but didn't kick at me or get up, luckily! Finally, I circled around below him so that I could get a good lung shot. I moved up to around 10 feet and shot him in the lung w/ my one and only arrow. It was a good lung hit and he expired about 30 minutes later. What a rush. Just glad I didn't get hurt and still got my elk. Here's a video of the whole ordeal...I apologize, it's a little shakey, but I WAS NERVOUS! When was the last time you came face to face with a 600 pound animal!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7b1C7sp7Cc
Well, I gutted the animal and came back that night to pick him up. It was the most exciting hunt I've ever been on and I'm looking forward to more elk hunting adventures in Colorado. Bowhunting is challenging, but a lot more fun and rewarding than a rifle hunt! Here's a pic of the elk.
Ryan cutting meat from the Elk for jerky.
Keedan wanted to help so, he geared up and got onto the counter. 
I have to say, he's a good assistant in the kitchen 99.9% of the time.
