Funny you should ask Ryan, I wrote a little article for our SD Bowhunters publication on that very subject. This will make for a long post but bear with me.
THE CURSE
After 10 years of accumulating preference points here in South Dakota my buddy Tom Kostel and I finally managed to draw archery elk tags for the fall of 2006. We were very excited to draw the tags because we knew it would allow us to do our own scouting and it would allow us to hunt for a lot more days than normally is possible on our out of state hunts. Before going any further I feel I need to enlighten you about Tom and my prior elk hunting experiences. Tom and I and another buddy ,Leon Somsen, have bowhunted elk for at least eight years in Colorado and one year in Montana. Three of those hunts were guided hunts yet the sum total of our elk harvests was one cow that I shot back in 2001 on an unguided hunt. Other than that cow the opportunities for shots were few and far between. The list of things that went wrong were epic and it would take more than one small article to cover them all. The usual obstacles were present, unusually hot weather, too much rain, range cows/and or sheep ran the elk out , too many other hunters, etc. I am not sure how many times we were told by local hunters or guides “you should have been here last week” but it really wasn’t funny anymore. It frankly was getting difficult to convince our wives that we had actually even gone hunting based upon what we had been bringing home. Collectively we sometimes jokingly and sometimes not so jokingly referred to this phenomenon of elklessness as “the curse”.
When we found out that we drew the tags Tom and I each had a little different goal in mind. While Tom obviously wanted to shoot a nice bull he really wanted to get his first elk with a bow no matter what the size of the elk. I felt like this might be one of my best chances to shoot a good bull and I resolved not to shoot a small elk even if it meant going back elkless. We ended up having an absolutely awesome hunt! We were into elk almost every day. Just the opportunity to see and interact with all of those elk really helped us to become better elk hunters. I think we learned as much in that one season as we did in all our other elk hunts combined. I had the opportunity to pass on multiple cows and smaller bulls that were well within the range of my recurve bow. We also got to meet some great local guys who were elk hunting nuts and had them hunt with us part of the time when they did not have to work. They were not only a lot of fun but were very helpful in showing us around the hunting unit.
Because this was such a special tag both Tom and I had seen too it that we were able to hunt a large portion of the month long season. On day 14 or 15 of our hunt we got onto a big herd of elk that had at least two big six point bulls along with some smaller bulls and lots of cows. We were probably 150 yards or so away when we could go no further because of the open terrain. I crawled up to the last bit of cover and Tom dropped back and started cow calling. The two biggest bulls were pushing the cows away from us but a pretty nice 5 point and two spikes started heading directly for Tom’s cow calls. The 5 point eventually broke off and headed out with the rest of the herd but the spikes were just too curious about the noisy cow that they couldn’t see. The spikes ended up less than 2 yards from me. The problem was that I did not intend to shoot but I knew Tom was interested and I didn’t want to spook them. I was standing behind one little tree and when they cleared the tree there eyes just about bugged out of there heads. They tore off kicking up dirt right on me but stopped to look back after only going about 30 yards. I did not move a muscle. Tom continued to call and I could hear the two of them continue to walk in his direction. Then I heard them really tear out of there. Damn it!!! I figured they had scented Tom and departed the country. When I got back to Tom I found out that he had shot and hit one of the spikes! After a short blood trail we found a very delicious looking spike very dead. The even better news was it was in a spot where we could haul it a short distance with a four wheeler and load it up in my trailer. After getting the elk officially checked in and delivered to a locker Tom decided he better get back home to his family and his job.
While I was disappointed to see Tom leave I also felt it would be fun to hunt alone for awhile. So lets fast forward to the day in question Monday, September 25th. I arrived at my hunting spot about an hour before sunrise. I had barely gotten out of the truck and gotten organized when I heard one of the deepest growling bugles I have ever heard. I slowly worked my way towards the bugle waiting for shooting light before trying any calling. The temperature was 26 degrees and there was a layer of crunchy snow on the ground. When it finally got light enough to shoot I let out a series of cow calls. The bull screamed back and I could hear him literally running towards my position in the crunchy snow. I was totally psyched! He was in bow range almost immediately and it was then that I discovered that instead of elkzilla he was a raghorn 5 point. In the places we have hunted in Colorado this little guy would have been a herd bull and I would have definitely shot him but this was not Colorado. I let the 5 point walk and started heading up the ridge toward another bugle that sounded just as big. I tried cow calling again in a little while and the same 5 point came running back into bow range again. After finally getting away from the 5 point I moved in as close as I dared on the other bull. It was obvious the other bull was working himself up into a frenzy. When I felt I couldn't get any closer I looked for a place to set up and call. I could see a trail that looked like an obvious way for the bull to come if he responded to my calling. I got upwind of the trail and let out a series of cow calls and then quickly snuck downwind to a spot where I would have a 15 yd shot if the bull came down the trail like I hoped. The bull responded immediately with a booming growl of a bugle. I could tell from the breaking of branches and the crunching of snow that he was charging straight in. It was lucky that I moved downwind after calling or he would have come straight in on me giving me no shot at all. Unfortunately he was not coming down the trail that would give me an unobstructed 15 yd shot. Instead the bull was coming in at a stiff trot 25 yds away in a spot with thick vegetation. As he was coming in the bull was laying back his rack and shaking it back and forth. I suppose he was posturing to let the cows know what a good looking bull he was and to let any rivals know that he was one bad dude!!! All I can say is it was an amazing sight and something I will remember the rest of my life. I had been kneeling but I knew I was going to have to stand in order to get a clear shot. I also knew I was going to have to try to stop him in the one small opening which he was fast approaching. When the bull went behind a tree I stood up and brought my Robertson recurve to half draw. Just as he was entering the small opening I came to full draw and simultaneously made a cow call with my voice. The bull put on the brakes and turned to look for the cow. At the release of the arrow the bull took a half step forward but the arrow still buried to the fletch in the vitals. After the shot the bull took off running ... it was easy to follow his progress by the crunching snow and breaking branches. Within 7 or 8 seconds I heard a loud crash and then nothing. Up until that point I had been remarkably calm and focused. When I realized that I had just killed a nice 6x6 bull with my recurve I was overcome with emotion and started to shake. What should have been any easy track job did not turn out to be even though the bull only ended up 100 yds from where I shot him ... but that is another story all together. The bottom line is I found him and I got the meat and the cape out with some much appreciated assistance from the owner of the campground where we were staying. He is not the biggest bull I saw in my 20 days of hunting but you better believe he was more than big enough for me. I had the bull shoulder mounted and he hangs in my office as I am writing this story. Hardly a day goes by that I do not look up at him and get transported back to that magical day in September when the curse was broken!
By the way my other curse animal is a big muley buck. Fortunately I have a tag for the same special draw unit in Colorado that Joe Lasch drew. I will be hunting later than Joe so hoping to get some intel on his return. By the way I have a secret weapon for this hunt. I am using a different set of limbs for my Robertson Vision Falcon on this hunt. The writing on the limbs tell me these set of limbs were once owned by a fellow with the last name of Steadman. Bocote veneers, 66lbs @ 30", does any of that ring a bell Ryan?
Topic: What is your "curse" animal? (Read 887 times)
