Dumb Luck!

Well I just finished a November archery elk hunt.  It is funny how things happen.  When the draw results came out I found out that I drew a tag.  I was all jacked up calling everyone telling them I drew an elk tag during the rut....then I looked at the regs and noticed I had written down the line below the one I wanted to put in for.  Well I had a late archery elk tag and had to call everyone back and let them know it wasn't that great after all.  Well after a long coues deer hunt and no success on the bucks we had scouted out it was time to go out and try and kill a bull with my bow in November.  I heard where a good bull was hanging out and decided to go and try to find him.  The first morning of the hunt my brother in law, Win Wright, and I were up glassing and within ten minutes had found three bulls one of which was a decent six by six with sweet little kicker on one side he was headed right for us so I snuck down in the trees and got in as close as I could.  I was forced to take a long shot and missed.  I was disappointed but thought I would have never even release and arrow on this hunt.  That evening we glassed up another group of elk but no bulls.  This particular herd  is one that will come into play later in the hunt.  The next morning found us right back in our glassing spot and immediately we found two of three bulls that we had seen the day before.  One was a small 6 by 6 and the other a small 5 X 5.  I had told myself before the hunt if it has 6 points on both sides I would give it a go.  We watched these bulls until they were bedded and off I went on the stalk.  Closing the gap to 140 yds and was in perfect position to close it another 100 yds when a truck pulled over the hill and a couple of hunters got out and scared them off.  That is hunting I guess and I really couldn't help that the elk were bedded on the side of the road.  The evening of the second day Win and I decided we would try and find the big bull that was supposed to be in there from a different angle.  Once again with in 15 minutes of sitting down I had elk in the Swaros.  The silence broke "oh my gosh look at this T.C."  quickly I ran over to the spotting scope and Win and I were galking and putting a plan together to kill this bull.  Well darkness beat us to the punch. The next day that I made it up hunting my brother in law Jay Wakild showed up as he had drawn the tag with me.  My dad Kevin got a tip on an awesome bull (thanks to Burnt Timber Outfitters) and we were off first thing in the morning after him.  Within 15 minutes we located him and were at 46 yds and he was bedded down.  Jay quickly put an arrow in and the bull stood and the arrow was flying.  Clean miss!!  I think Jay had a little buck fever as it was only his 2nd big game hunt.  After this I told Jay I wanted to go after the bull we had seen the weekend before and off we went.  With in about an hour of the hike I located the elk.  Oh yea this is the same heard as we saw on the morning of the first day.  The bulls must have been hiding that day.  Jay and I put a short 3.5 hour stalk on them and found ourselves in the middle of the heard as the fading light was approaching.  The cows were talking to each other and the young bulls were fighting.  One particular 6 by 5 caught my attention as he chased off all the smaller bulls.  Searching everywhere for the big one he was no where to be seen.  A few of the cows had moved into a range of 88 yds.  I told Jay if he makes it to those cows I will take the shot.  About 10 minutes later the 6 by 5 came at a sprint to make sure the cows were doing ok.  I quickly drew my bow and locked into my 90 yd pin and let it rip.  It felt great.  CRACK.  I said Jay I am pretty sure that I just smoked that bull.  The elk ran off to about 188 yds.  The bull was humped up bad and didn't move an inch.  The cows started feeding again an didn't really know what had happened as Jay and I were tucked away in the only cedar tree in the meadow we were in.  The darkness soon overcame us and we pulled out the flashlights and I told jay lets go see where I shot and see what we got.  No blood nothing.   Well we kept walking around for about 20 minutes in the area and all the sudden jay says here is your arrow.  It was covered in blood but the broadhead wasn't beat up at all.  I got nervous.  My first thoughts were guts.  However, in the back of my mind I thought that is really red blood on my arrow to have hit the guts.  Not wanting to bump him, we GPS'ed the location where I shot him and backed out.  First thing the next morning we went to the location of the shot.  On the way in you will never believe who we saw.....yup the Big One.....he eased out when we came into the shot location.  We headed out to the spot where he had stopped and then I got the confirmation I needed.  Where Jay and I had watched him stop and stand still the night before there was a pool of blood about 2 ft in diameter and it was good blood.  I was feeling a lot better now.  From that point on it was a steady stream and approximately 500 yds later there he was up under a tree.  At last my first bull. (only my 2nd Tag)  Who would of thought it would have been in November with archery equipment.  Like the title says Dumb Luck.  I put in for the wrong hunt. Although this bull isn't giant I am proud of him as it was in November with a bow.  A big thanks goes out to all who helped during the hunt.  Enjoy the Pics.