Had an GREAT hunt this Am,the sec we stepped out of the boat in the dark we were in elk,there was enough moonlight to make out about 20 cows about 50 yards from us just in the timber so i started cow callin to try to calm them down when the BIG bull of the herd come runnin down the hill right at us as we were hunkered down in the sage brush.he ran back and forth about 20 yards from us trying to figure out what we were,thought we were about to get run over a few times.He got tired of that game,rounded up the cows and they took off.We headed up the ridge and waited till there was enough light to see there were still a good 100 head out in the valley and then hiked up to their usual draw.About 6:45 they started moving in our general direction and at the last minute turned to a draw further up the ridge so we hauled ass and relocated to intercept them.They came over the edge of the steep bank one by one and filed past us,most of them never saw us.There were 2 raghorns and one 5x6 decent bull in the bunch and they were bugling right below us on the hill,my partner was about to have a stroke as this was the closest he has ever been to elk.He was holding out for one of the bulls until they started to get spooky and run past us so i told him to shoot the next elk that stopped,he agreed and i started barkin at them when they came past.Finally a big cow came to a screeching hault at 25 yards and he smoked her with a double lung pass through.She turned and went straight back down the hill and piled up against a barbwire fence at the bottom of the hill,she struggled for a min and died right there.All the other cows just stood there on the hillside below us watching her at about 30 yards and the bulls took off back across the valley.I thought long and hard and decided one dead elk(cow) was enough for one day and didnt loose an arrow(if the bulls had stood there i would have!)So my buddy goes into a fit and about chokes the life out of me with a big bear hug,i think he had tears in his eyes he was so excited,hes a blast to hunt with,he really enjoys hunting for what it is.I walked back to the boat since I have to work today and when I got back here I called his wife and relayed his location so she can have her brother in law bring a horse out,they can drive to within 1/4 mile of where the elk is laying.So long story longer ill be back over there tomorow AM and try it again,Im gonna bring the boat in at a different local and try to get above that big bull to catch him moving up the ridge,hes a dandy 6x6 that will probably score 320-330.
