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My lifelong hunting dream has been to take a Bull Elk with my bow. For me there is nothing like being in the mountains and hearing the bugle of the majestic bull elk.

Upon the recommendation of my friend from Archer's Choice, Ralph Cianciarulo, I contacted Larry and Laura Amos with Winterhawk Outfitters. I immediately felt comfortable with Larry. After listening to what he had to offer on an elk hunt, I made plans for the 2010 Archery Season.

My hunt would be the last week of archery season, September 19 th through the 26 th . When the time finally arrived, I couldn't wait to get there. As I pulled into base camp, I was very impressed with what I saw. The first thing I noticed was a nice archery range complete with life size 3D targets. The camp was very clean and organized. There were big wall tents complete with comfortable beds and heaters. There was a very nice cook cabin and a stock of horses and mules that were sure-footed and well taken care of.

The staff was very friendly and professional. I could tell they really loved working at Winterhawk. Larry and Laura immediately made me feel like and old friend and we talked about my hunt. The first few weeks of the archery hunt had been tough due to hot weather, yet all the hunters had been into elk and some nice bulls had been taken.

We spent the first day planning and packing. I learned that my guide would be Bob Terwilliger. Kyle Christensen, one of Larry's student guides from his Guiding School, also accompanied us. The plan was for us to rise at 3 am the next morning, eat breakfast and hunt our way to our spike camp.

After breakfast, we mounted our horses and mules with only the equipment we needed to hunt. Members of the staff packed the rest of our gear into camp later that morning. We rode in the dark for an hour and a half until we reached the destination where Bob thought we should hunt. We tied up the horses and continued hiking. We then waited for daybreak and began our hunt up the mountain. We had not gone far when I heard the first bugle of the hunt that answered Bob's cow call. We chased several bulls that morning but didn't get a shot.

After things slowed down we made our way back to the horses and continued on to spike camp. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. We arrived at spike camp, which was set up on a little knob above a mountain stream. This comfortable wall tent would be our home for the next week. It had a wood burning stove that kept us plenty warm and provided a way for us to cook meals. And let me tell you, we ate well. There was even a spring with good water right next to camp, the best water I've ever tasted.

The second afternoon we hiked to an area that had been burned a few years ago. We hadn't gone far when everything broke loose. There were elk bugling in all directions. That afternoon we had five bulls inside 100 yards. Two of them were inside 50 yards but as archery hunting goes, a shot opportunity just never presented itself.

We heard or saw elk every time we hunted with the exception of the first afternoon when it was very warm and windy. On the fourth afternoon the elk broke loose again and we heard numerous bulls bugling. We set up and called but just couldn't get them to come in.

Bob spotted a herd bull with cows down in a valley from where we were. We thought about going after him but we had two more bulls bugling up on the same ledge as us and decided to stay up there. We eased our way towards them and made a plan on how to set up on them. Before we moved on, Bob let out some cow calls. We immediately heard a bugle very close right in front of us. It turned out that the bull Bob had spotted below us earlier had pushed his cows up towards us. They were now inside 100 yards.

Kyle and I set up on the edge of the burned area and Bob went back behind us a short distance and began calling. Every time Bob would cow call the bull would bugle but he would not leave his cows. As fate would have it we saw a big 5x5 coming in from our left towards the larger bull with the cows. Then we could hear another bull coming in from our right. This was making the bull in front of us very nervous. We finally got a look at him and could see that he was a big 6x6. The closer the other bulls came, the madder the bull in front of us got. He moved in the direction of the big 5x5 and began thrashing some bushes with his antlers.

He was over 100 yards away from us now but his cows were directly in front and below us about 75 yards away. Even with Bob cow calling I did not feel like the bull was going to come our way so I knew we needed to do something. There was plenty of cover between us and the elk so I asked Kyle to go tell Bob what was going on. A short time later, Bob and Kyle moved down to the same level as the 6x6 and started cow calling again. It was starting to get dark so I decided to make a move.

I crawled back up to my pack and got my elk bugle. I knew one of two things would happen. Either the bull would gather his cows and leave or he would come to me. Like I said it was getting late so I felt I had nothing to lose. I let out a bugle and the bull went nuts, he began screaming bugles at me and started heading my way. About that time the big 5x5 bugled and the bull turned towards him. I let out another bugle and chuckle and began raking a tree with a stick. That was more than the 6 x 6 could take and he came to challenge me.

I was up on a steep slope and the bull was below me. The wind was blowing straight down the hill to my left. The 6x6 continued coming towards me and was trying to get down wind of me. Earlier I had ranged a pine tree at the bottom of the slope. It was 60 yards away but with the steep slope the range finder told me to shoot 52 yards. The bull finally turned broadside at the bottom of the slope. I drew my bow and settled my 50-yard pin behind his shoulder and released.

I watched the arrow hit the bull. He bolted down the hill and crashed through the timber. I let out a couple more bugles and then just collapsed on the ground from the adrenaline rush. Oh man, what a feeling it was!

A short time later, Bob and Kyle came over and I told them what had happened. We waited about 40 minutes and then went down to where the bull had been. We found a good blood trail and easily followed it for about 100 yards then it quit. We followed some hoof marks down a hill and picked up the blood trail again at the bottom of another steep slope. We followed the blood trail another 75 yards and I saw the bull. He had piled up in some brush and fallen timber.

There was more excitement and then relief. I couldn't believe I had finally fulfilled my dream. I couldn't get to him fast enough. I had to hold his antlers in my hands. It was awesome. He was so big that I couldn't hold his head up. Hooping, hollering and hugs were followed by pictures and then the work began. Bob called Larry on the portable radio and told him we had recovered my bull. He congratulated us all and said he would send in the pack mules the next morning.

We caped and quartered my bull, and hung the quarters in the trees. We then hiked back to camp. We were exhausted. We slept a few hours and hiked back to meet the packers and pack mules in the morning. The bull's horns, head and cape were heavy but I gave the bull the dignity that he deserved and I carried him down the mountain to where the pack mules were tied. The whole week was just awesome. I want to thank Larry, Laura, Bob, Kyle and the rest of the folks at Winterhawk Outfitters for an incredible hunt.

There is some advice I would give to anyone who plans to hunt the Flat Tops Wilderness area with Winterhawk or any other backcountry elk hunt. That is, it is very important to be in the best physical shape that you can possibly be in. It is very hard hiking up and down the mountains and through the dead falls. I thought I was in good enough shape for my hunt but it wasn't enough. It cost me a couple of times when we had to move uphill quickly to get in front of some bugling bulls. I could not get up there fast enough to get in position and I blew opportunities at some bulls.

I enjoyed spending the week with them both of my guides. They became good friends. We had tons of fun and shared a lot of laughs. They worked very hard to make my hunt the best it could be and took very good care of me, keeping me in a positive frame of mind, even when the hunting didn't go our way.

I would have said this even if I had not taken a bull. Everything about Winterhawk Outfitters was first rate. The facilities were excellent, the staff was friendly, professional and very efficient, and the hunting was awesome. I would not hesitate to hunt with them again and I plan to do so.