Well I can honestly say that the July scouting trip paid off. I hung several cameras and cleaned shooting lanes to hang a tree stand while on that trip. I got tons of elk pictures! First morning I hunted one of the spots and saw two elk out of range. We decided to spike in 2 miles that afternoon. By the time we got camp setup it was 4pm. I cleaned up in the creek and headed to the best looking spot I had found back in July. I pulled the sd card from the camera and hung my stand. It was 5:45pm. I scrolled through the pics and my jaw dropped. Three cows and a nice bull had passed at 3pm!
As I looked through the pics there were a lot of elk using that trail. I saw nothing that evening but knew it was just a matter of time. The next morning I climbed in the stand at 5:45 and waited on daylight. I sat till 10am and saw nothing. I went back to camp, ate and looked through the pictures again. All hours of the day the elk were passing so I hurried back and was settled in at noon. As the clock ticked and the hours passed I began to wonder if anything would show. I did a few cow calls and I look left and there's a spike bull at 35 yards! He left without getting closer. I made a few more cow calls and waited. I heard something and here comes this good bull. He came right to the crossing which was 13 yards. Man is this really happening? I ready myself and he never stops so I follow him and next thing I see is my arrow drove nearly to the fletching right behind his shoulder! He runs about 60 yards then all is quiet. I wait 30 minutes then sneak out and hurry back to camp to tell my buddies. Since I didn't hear him crash I decided it best to wait till daylight to track. This morning we all went in and there he was laying where I last saw him!
Shot him with my girly 47# Palmer Longbow.
Goldtip shaft with 250gr up front. Magnus stinger 150gr 2-blade 520gr total arrow weight. I am very blessed to say the least and to be with great friends. Colorado public land DIY
The hole we found him in