The 3 hour elk hunt - 2017 Montana bull

[Ryan Rothhaar]

For one reason or another I never got around to posting about my 2017 elk hunt at my hunting buddy's camp in Montana.  My friend John is a serious elk hunter, he plans on one a year for winter meat, and has killed a slew of elk over the years with a longbow.  He has done me the honor of giving me an open invitation to his camp whenever I want to go out there.  He and his wife pack a really nice camp into the National Forest on their mules, then he hikes in to hunt, pretty much spending the month of September in elk camp.

I drove out the beginning of the 2nd week of September last year for a two week hunt, to start on the 11th.  John had been starting to hear good bugling that week, and the bulls were starting to wallow good, but the hot weather in the 80's was keeping them mostly nocturnal.

We hiked in the first morning and shot a few arrows around camp preparing to hunt the afternoon.  John dropped me off at one of his sets overlooking a wallow and then slipped down the hill a few hundred yards to watch a meadow, cow chirping few times on the way out.  I heard a couple of bulls bugling quite a bit down by John's meadow as the afternoon went on, and I figured he was into some elk.  About an hour before dark I heard an elk coming through the dark timber above me, towards the wallow, but I didn't take my bow off the hanger, figuring a cow was coming to drink.  Glassing into the thick spruce I caught a set of elk legs moving..... then a pretty good set of horns ducking under a branch... now things were getting interesting!

I took down my bow and got an arrow on the string.  The bull poked out of the timber into the opening and I could see he wasn't a monster, but a nice bull, just making a 6x6.  Now I've elk hunted enough to know not to look a gift bull in the mouth, so to speak, and John's area can see significant wolf pressure.... and the elk disappear for a couple weeks when the wolves show up.  A nice bull on the first day looked good to me, so when he walked by at 15 yards I gave him a big Snuffer behind the front leg.  As he whirled to go I could see only the feathers were sticking out on the entry side then he was in the dark timber.  I heard him make a little circle up the hill then go down.

I slipped out to our meeting point and waited for John.  I listened to his story - he had been near the bugling elk but didn't see them.  I then asked him if he wanted to go find a bull!  Easy elk are kind of rare up there, so he was a bit skeptical.  I showed him I was missing an arrow, then he believed me. We followed a heavy blood trail about 60-70 yards thru a spruce jungle to where I heard the bull crash. 

I have been shooting a 68 in R/D takedown longbow that John built for me, about 57lbs at my 29 inch draw.  Aluminum arrows, 2215's, and big Snuffers, for an arrow between 550 and 600 grains. The arrow must have pulled on thru and flipped away as I never found it in the thick spruce despite looking for it the next day when we boned and packed out the elk.

We packed the elk out (on our backs, evidently the mules were on vacation ) the next morning, got the meat back into town and in the freezer, then hiked back in the next morning....I was on cook and bottlewashing duty the next two weeks.

I wish I could say I helped John pack out a bull, but it started snowing the second day we were back, and never stopped till spring, pushing the elk lower.  To make things worse a pair of wolves moved in on my bulls carcass and the elk left that drainage for safer pastures.

Picture to follow... though I'm the guy behind the bull, this is all thanks to my buddy John, a better hunting partner a guy could never have.



R

[Basinboy]

Big congrats Ryan!
I'm hoping for a first day bull in a few weeks 

[Quickblood]

Always a pleasure reading your posts Ryan!  Congratulations on a great bull, and thanks for sharing your experiences!

[Trenton G.]

Awesome story and great bull!

[rraming]

Congratulations!

[snakebit40]

Stuff dreams are made of (at least my dreams). Congrats on a great bull and hunt!

[KSdan]

Congrats. A dream for most of us. . .

Dan in KS

[kennym]

Way to go Ryan!!beautiful bull!

[Wannabe1]

Great story and bull! Thanks for sharing that. TW

[Scott F]

Of all of God's critters on Earth, only humans like Snuffers; elk certainly don't...
Thanks for the story and congrats on that bull.

[arrow30]

that's what ya call...(getting it done)  congratts! Ryan 

[drewsbow]

great story thanks for sharing , getting pumped for September in Idaho huntin elk with my friend Nate. 

[Hopewell Tom]

Nice work, good to hear a good news story from you.

[jeff w]

Glad you shared this.  Congratulations on a beautiful bull!

[Hud]

Congratulations Ryan on a fine trophy and hunt in MT. Great picture and story.

[sneakybow]

Absolutely correct,  you never look a gift bull in the mouth! Congrats.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[SAM E. STEPHENS]

Well done , only a few more weeks until I head out. And I would fine with a day one bull...

,,Sam,,

[mj seratt]

Excellent!  Thanks for the story.

Murray

[PICKNGRIN]

Awesome!  I have always wanted to go for elk!

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Congrats Ryan!  Great bull and your story is just in time to get people excited about the upcoming season.