I got this 6 x 7 on opening day in the Maury Mtns in Central Oregon. A little before 6:00pm a herd of about 20 came into one of the fields about 3/4 mile away. At first I could only see a few cows and a couple calves, then a spike stepped out. I dropped below the ridge and headed toward them to get the spike. I popped over a rocky knob right on top of them, about 75 yds away. I was alot closer than I meant to be and I didn't want to take too much time and risk spooking them, but I couldn't find the spike through the junipers. Then this guy stepped into view. I didn't count the points but there were alot of them so I took the shot. He ran about 20 yds and fell dead.
When I shot and the herd bolted it turned out there were alot more there than I had been able to see. They broke toward me into the closest trees for cover. I thought for a second they might come up and over the knob where I was sitting but they turned and side hilled through the trees and were gone.
We hunted hard for another 4 days to get a shot for my brother. We think we found where they were, but we just couldn't get a look at them. On Saturday I tracked another (the same?) small herd for a few miles into the same area where I'd shot the bull a couple of days before. We just never got a look at them.
It was a great hunt and my first elk!
