My first Elk

Congratulations on a fine elk and a great story..

Yepper, elk are tough critters.

Congrats on the elk.

Big congratulations on the elk!!! Someday I hope to get that done. Did you hear a lot of bugling?

What kind of arrow head did you use?

Trial and error. I first went in 2003 and it was like the blind leading the blind.

In 2004 I actually lucked out and found the Elk on the first day of the hunt. I passed up a shot at a cow 10 yards away because I thought I wanted to hold out for a bull. I spent the rest of the week chasing ghosts and never had another shot opportunity.

In 2005 my hunting partner got a little antsy and moved right when a bull was stepping out from behind a pine tree .... we had called him and at least 3 of his buddies in. Once he saw movement he headed for safer ground.

Didnt make the trip in 2006 because of the birth of our second daughter.

In 2007 we saw plenty of elk but it seems like they were always on the other side of the canyon or on private property we couldnt hunt. I had a shot opportunity at a cow and blew it .... I had been walking for an hour or so and was gasping for air when I saw her. I rushed the shot and missed. Valuable lesson learned ..... watch the timber instead of my feet. I have a very bad habit of watching where my feet are landing instead of watching the area I am walking through.

This year I bought a new GPS and researched the best mapping software I could get my hands on. I studied maps of areas I had already hunted and looked for north facing dark timber and other likely bedding areas. I had 47 areas I wanted to walk into and look at before I ever stepped foot on Colorado soil.

I spent the first day hunting putting in leg work .... hiked into 5 different areas looking for fresh sign. 4 of the 5 areas I didnt find anything other than weeks old scat and tracks. The 5th area I found the jackpot ..... fresh tracks ... fresh scat ... rubs.

I decided not to hunt it until the next evening. So ..... Sunday evening my buddy and I decided to set up about 70 yards from a water hole right at the edge of where some dark timber met a more open meadow. 2 hours before dark I looked up the meadow and saw this bull about 150 yards away. He would bugle at us every time I called but he wouldnt come any closer. As it got dark he moved back into the timber and we snuck out and headed back to camp.

The next morning I decided to hike into some more areas and look for sign ..... nothing.

That evening I decided to set up closer to the area I had seen the bull the evening before. 2 hours before dark he popped out of the timber about 65 yards away. I was setting in a make-shift groundblind under a pine tree. I knelt down and used the rangefinder to get an exact yardage.

I hate to make a judgement of a broadheads performance based on 1 animal but I put 2 killing shots on him and he never bled a drop. I think the 1" diameter slick tricks might be a bit to small for Elk.

HH .... when I first decided to go hunting Elk I talked to everyone who would give me advice .... I read every online forum I could find ...... and I called the local forest service offices in the area I wanted to hunt. Once I started going I would try and talk to every hunter I saw .... I wouldnt ever ask them specifics of where they were hunting or what they were seeing rather I would just ask them for general advice.

I started green .... I have never gone with anyone with any more experience than I have. It has taken me 5 years to kill my first one but I think that I now have a good grasp of what it takes to find the elk each year.

Congrats on the elk. I myself made my first trip to Colorado this August, but not to hunt. I was staying in Leadville and got to see a herd of 50+ cows and calves. I also saw a group of 8 bulls with a big 6x6 in it. I had thought about elk hunting, but now it is a definate thing to happen.

Great story and hunt.

congrats on the elk. nice pic!!

Congrats swilk!! That's an awesome story and it sounds like you earned every inch of horn and hair on that elk. I was in college in Colorado back in '03-'04 and I had just been there long enough to have my residency. So we all got to buy resident tags. I we hunted our butts off the whole season and no elk. We all did take mulies with our bow, but not the prize we really wanted. I know how hard you had to work on that trophy and the fact that it was DIY is even more awesome! Congrats on a true trophy.

WAY TO GO SWIK!!!, CONGRATULATIONS, that a great story and photo too!!thanks for sharing...turkey scout

Congrats on your Bull swilk! DIY is the only way to go IMHO, makes the whole experience so much more rewarding when you know you did it yourself!