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DAY 5

Wednesday Morning

We followed the same drill as we did the last two days, up far before light and heading to the top of the mountain to glass the Alfalfa field below us. The weather was much cooler this morning and for the first time since arriving on this hunt I felt I should grab a coat. After arriving at the mountain and the sun started lighting up the outlines of eastern hills, we could see several bull elk leaving the meadow and heading in the direction of John and Rob's blind at the edge of the field.

Wes relayed the play by play to Matt and I since it was too far to see with my Swaro 11x32's. The bulls filed one by one by Rob and John's ambush spot. Wes saw that the second to the last bull was the largest. At first the elk seemed cautious but as soon as the lead bull headed down the trail into the gully we knew all of them would soon follow. The biggest bull moved in to the area and we held our breath. The next thing Wes saw was the bull tearing out of that valley and running 300 yards before stopping. It was immediately clear to Wes that the bull was hit, but he did not go down right away. His back end looked like he was losing steam and the bull bedded down.

For several minutes the bull tried to get up and then would lay back down again. We watched him for another 20 minutes and now the sun was up. The bull was extremely weak but was still alive. Rob, Wes' guide, is an experienced guide and knew not to push him. We had a great visual from our peak and could see exactly where the bull was lying and his condition. We continued to watch as the bull stood up for the last time and fell to the ground. Because he didn't die immediately, we knew that it was far better to leave him alone and continue watching him rather than rushing in after him. Rob knew this too. Ninety minutes later, we were all comfortable that the bull was dead. We drove down the hill and Rob and John met us at the road. John then relayed the story to us.

The bull was only 23 yards away when he appeared next to the blind. John had an easy shot but his broadhead hit the edge of the shooting window throwing the arrow off target. The arrow still hit the bull in one lung. They knew it was not a perfect hit, but still deadly, penetration was very good.

John is all smiles after pulling it off on his last day! (Trophy Photo by Matt Lefemine)

We joined John on the short hike to his now dead bull. Everyone was in a good mood. The bull is a 3.5 year old 5x5 with exceptional white tipped tines. This was John's last day and he pulled it off! As if things couldn't get any better, the bull died on a small hill and Rob was able to pull up his pickup to it's bank and 2 guys were able to drag the elk right into the bed of the truck. It doesn't get any better than that folks!

For all of you guys packing your elk out of the mountains with your Mystery Ranch Pack, my apology for this photo.

Wednesday Afternoon

Things have definitely turned for our hunt. After all of the chores associated with John's bull we had lunch and headed back out for some serious glassing. We found bulls everywhere! There were two bulls in the mahogany flats, another three bulls on the Mountain we were at this morning and when we headed there to glass the next mountain we spotted a BIG bull, 300 inches at a minimum, perhaps much more than that. We had lots of options and decisions to make. By far, the furthest bull was the big one, the others were much closer. But he appeared to be alone and the wind was perfect from the opposite hillside. Of course we headed for him. It took us a while to work our way around to him and by the time that happened the sun was getting low. We hoofed up the mountain as fast as we could but were stopped dead when Wes spotted at least two more bulls right above us. One of them for sure was too small for me, just a raghorn. We couldn't see the other one. With the bulls above us we were reluctant to go all the way back to the Northwest corner of the property. We knew there was a good bull there, but it was dicey if we could get there in time. By now, he was surely moving. We decided to take a few moments to see what was above us, one of them could be a shooter.

As we sat there glassing, Wes and I looked at each other. The wind shifted in all four directions again. We decided it was best to forget about the big bull and concentrate on the bulls above us. They were only 200 yards and it was just a matter of time before we identified the second one. While doing that, the wind became worse and the bulls above us vanished. It really was pointless and we both knew it. So we quietly backed out. I have two days left and one of my favorite sayings comes from my African hunt; "Desperate cats make desperate jumps." With all the bulls around we are pumped for tomorrow.

My son likes to grab snakes, this one was not a good choice

On the way back home we drove by a big rattlesnake. It simply would not be my Elk hunt without running into a rattler. My son Matt was off the charts, he'd never seen one before and wanted to see one up close. Of course, I would have none of that. He grabbed a long pole and poked the outstretched rattler (don't worry, he was never in danger). The snake lunged and he jumped three feet in the air. We all burst out laughing. He then wanted to get closer and try it again but once was enough. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

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