Everyone has a bucket list right? I've been very fortunate in life to see and so some cool stuff. I've checked several off my bucket list, but one has stood out and seemed to be my albatross................ELK! I guess that's really not fair. I've passed on several smaller bulls when I started this journey not knowing what I didn't know. Any elk with a bow is a trophy, but in my younger days I was caught up chasing a score. I've since learned as long as the animal is mature and the experience is memorable it's worth of the shot. So, September 7th I set out on a road trip North and West with two great friends to chase my elusive albatross with a bow during the rut for the 6th time. Little did I know just what was in store for me. This trip was going to special regardless if an elk was harvested or not. This particular ranch is pretty close to invite only and has the highest privately owned peak in the US @ over 14,000 feet. I started in January getting ready for the hunt. By the time September rolled around I was down 85 pounds and doing between 40-60 miles a week on the bike and my feet with a pack on. Countless shots thru my bow, but I was confident up to 75 yards. I was like a kid on Christmas when the 7th rolled around.

The 7th we drove to Trinidad, CO to grab dinner, our license, and settle in for the night. We drove into the ranch mid-day on the 8th and were to start our hunt that afternoon after we meet the guides, settled in, etc. On the way to the ranch the main guide called my buddy who hunted the ranch last year stating one of the guides had been sent home testing positive for COVID and the ranch was having everyone tested. You could hear his displeasure over this as well as when he informed us we would have to be tested as well once we entered the ranch. My buddy is a practical joker and said all the guides had a pretty good sense of humor as well. So, we decided to stop off at a hardware store for some tyvek suits and masks to show them just how serious we were about staying safe from the RONA!



The guides got a pretty good kick out of it. The best was one of the guides thought the main guide made us put on the suits before we entered the ranch.

After getting settled in, we headed off for the afternoon hunt. It wasn't long before myself and my guide had a bull answer a lone bugle. Off the side of the road into the canyon we went. I realized two things right off the bat. 1) my guide was half goat as I about had to sit on my butt to slide down the side of the canyon we were going off in to keep up with him, and 2) I don't care how much you prepare or what kind of shape you are in the thin air at altitude will kick your butt. Anyway, we get into the bull's bubble with the guide 80-100 yards behind me calling. Instantly the bull bugles and here he comes. I can see him about 150 yards out coming to us. Around 80 yards, I can tell he's an immature 6X6. He gets to 22 yards and bugles right in my face. He keeps coming and gets 7 yards from me before he spooks a little I guess from my scent, but stops at 30 yards and bugles several more times. Not 5 minutes in the Aspens and a very cool experience already, but I had been down this road before. I had almost the same thing happen on my first archery hunt when I drew a tag in the Gila. I was wondering if I was going to regret passing this bull, but I wanted a mature bull. We watched the bull ease off while listening to another bull that sounded older head down the canyon to some meadows. We were pinned down by cows, so we couldn't move just yet. Finally we were able to try and climb back out of the canyon to the forest service road the UTV was on to try and get in front of this other bull. Again, I was reminded how my guide was part goat and just how thin the air was. Finally we get to the road, and I watch my guide run 1/4 to 1/2 mile up the forest road to get the UTV. Basically telling me he was tired of waiting on me to get my butt out of the canyon. However, I'm passed the prideful age and was happy to watch him drive up vs trying to keep up with him running up the road. We race down the road to the meadow, jump out of the UTV, and try to cut the bull off that was bugling headed to the meadow. We end up getting close, but end up in the middle of a herd of elk with another small 6X6 within 80 yards as shooting light is fading. The guide doesn't want to push it blowing the elk out of this canyon as it's our first hunt. Couldn't fault him at all.



We were done for the night, but what an experience for the first hunt. I could tell right away having the road system on this ranch was going to be a game changer for the way I was use to hunting elk before. However, don't be fooled. It was still some rough country. Pictures just don't due the beauty nor steepness of these mountains justice. We sleep at around 9000 feet. We would begin hunting around 10,000 feet up to 12,500/13,000 feet at treeline most days.

Day 2 started out with much anticipation after the hunt the afternoon before. Elk were bugling almost right after we parked the UTV. We started working our way up the canyon with the elk leaving the meadow below us. It was apparent by all the sign the elk was just head of us with the fresh tracks and droppings. As we are working our way up stopping to glass and do a location bugle I notice a light spot almost directly across the canyon from me. I put my binos up and instantly see elk. I'm in no mans land out in the open, but let the guide know as quite as possible there are elk everyone on the side of the canyon across from us. We freeze and watch lots of elk feed in and out of the aspens. The guide and I are maybe 10 feet apart as one cow and calf turn to walk down the into the bottom of the canyon and start feeding towards us. I think she is going to walk between us before she turns and gets downwind at 4 yards. She spooks, but I guess since she was a younger cow the rest of the herd just kind of look at her and go back to feeding. Eventually she circles back and gets in with the herd to keep feeding up to the top of the mountain. During all of this there are several bulls around us bugling, but we can never find a bull with these cows. My guide tells me to get ready that he's about to blow a challenge bugle and if there is a bull with them he's about to come running. Ends up there's no bull with these cows, but we have a bull answer us that's 200-300 yards to our right as this herd is to our left.

As we are working to the elk that's answering us on our right we have another bull bugle that sounds close. I ask my guide how close is that bull. He says 100-150 yards. I'm thinking OH $&*! we better get set up. He keeps walking. I'm thinking what the heck about the time we both see the bull coming down into the canyon with us about the same elevation. He looks big to me, but the guide motions to me that he's too small. We stay motionless as this bull works in where he last heard us call. He gets to 38 yards before he knows something just isn't right. He never gets our wind nor spooks. He just kind of eases off, but another close encounter with a small 6X6.

After he is out sight we work our way up to the bull still bugling on our right. Get set up again with the guide behind me calling 80-100 yards. Like the afternoon before we get an answer, and I can almost instantly see a buddy. Again, I can tell he's a younger bull. I'm in some really thick stuff with maybe a 20 yard shot at best if a bull comes in. I'm just off a game trail this younger bull decides to take as he comes in to investigate. He comes by me close enough that he almost brushes up against me as he walks by. Again, he gets downwind and spooks. What an experience though. I could tell there were more elk up on the side of the mountain where he came from feeding. I could also see one was a bull with cows. I get my guides attention as he's walking up and explain what is going on. He tells me there's another forest service road between us and the elk. He says I need to try and get as close to that road as possible; and he will set up behind me to call again.

I get setup about 5 yards off the road with a big aspen between myself and the road. Just to my right is a big opening where if an elk walks down the road I have a clear shot. Almost as soon as he calls, we get an answer and he comes elk. I can tell the first elk is a spike. The spike drops down on the road, walks by broadside at 5 yards just like I hoped, and then drops off the road headed to the calls. As he's dropping down, a bull bugles at less than 30 yards above me. I can tell it's a bigger bull, but I don't know how big. As all of this is going on, there is another bull that sounded like he was over the top of the mountain that has now worked into our canyon coming to our calling from my left as I'm facing up hill looking at this road. The spike and the bull close that bugled is working from my left to right headed to the calling. The bull that's close finally hits the road and bugles broadside at 5 yards!!! Just as he bugles the bull I've been listening to from the left SCREAMS and is 100-150 yards up the road from this younger bull. The young bull looks over his shoulder and instantly bolts the other way. I know this one has to be what I'm looking for. The problem is I can not see up the road to my left. The big bull keeps coming down the road looking for the cow calls coming from my guide. He gets to about 30 yards behind the big aspen blocking my view of the road and decides to try and get downwind of the cows. The guide couldn't keep paralleling the road to pull him down the road and in front of me since the spike was almost in his lap behind me.

As soon as this bull comes off the road and the same elevation with me, I can tell he is BIG. The only problem is I haven't ranged anything to my left or behind me anticipating all the elk coming from above me and down the road. MISTAKE!!!!!! The bull stops broadside just to my left. I can not see his face, so I try to pick up the rangefinder to get a distance.........38 yards! Chip shot other than his leg is back, so his vitals are covered. However, I couldn't draw at this point if I wanted as the bull has me pegged. He saw me move to range him. We have a staring contest until he decides something just isn't right. He jumps just out of my view. At this point, he won't get any closer but still bugles. He continues to bugle as he moves off, but he isn't spooked to bad. I never got a great look at him, but based on his 5ths I would guess 330-350ish range. What a cool experience, but at the same time I played that over and over all day wondering what I could have done differently.

By now it's getting close to midday with most of the elk bedding due to unseasonably high temps and not much activity until the afternoons. We work to the top of the spine we are on. My guide says he knows a good bedding area and wants to see if we can get close and pull one out of bed. We have a few bulls answer us from beds across the next canyon over as we work to the bedding area, but nothing is close enough to go after. We ease into the area he wants to call. Again, I get 80-100 yards in front of him to set up. He starts a calling sequence and just like before he comes a bull. This time the bull comes in silent to check the cow calls. The guide never sees him and lets out a bugle. Almost instantly this bull high tails it. He was a smaller bull and didn't want his butt kicked I guess. That was it for the morning hunt. We head in for lunch and naps.




The afternoon hunt was pretty uneventful. We got one bull to answer us I think after checking 3 different canyons, but he didn't come running in like the others when we set up on him. I full expected him to try and run over me after the previous hunts. My guide told me the next day he was sort of glad we didn't have another hunt like the other two as the other guides were starting to get a little angry as much as we had been in the elk and as rough of a time as they had been having it. We did eat good that night before bed. Chef was top notch!

Awesome write up so far, on the edge of my seat waiting for the rest of the story!

Very cool story and pics. Congrats sir

Anticipation brewing. Keep it coming.

The morning of Day 3 rolls around with just as much anticipation. The first two days the guide and I had hunted the same canyon or pretty close to it. He decided to go South of the headquarters where we were staying instead of North. He told me it had been two years since anyone had been in this canyon hunting. I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. Once we got in the canyon and on feet I understood why. It was steep and rugged. Again, I didn't know if this was a good or bad thing as I took it after seeing the terrain they wouldn't bring most clients in this place. The morning was pretty slow as we continued to create distance and go up in elevation. I don't recall hearing a bugle until around 9AM or so. We did spot a couple of small bulls on another mountain range across the canyon from us as well as one heck of a mule deer. My buddy and his guide had spotted this mulie the night before. They estimated him over 30" wide and in the 180-190s.



The higher in elevation we got the more sign we started seeing. Around 9 or 9:30 the guide could tell my tongue was dragging. We were over 3 miles in from where we parked the UTV. He showed me a bench in this huge canyon where the mountains made a bowl with a meadow in the middle of it with some steep dark timber surrounding it. He told me he was sure some elk would bed in this dark timber and thought we should go check it out. He says it's another 1/2 mile or so up this forest service road but still some decent elevation change. What are my thoughts? I said, "We are this close. We might as well check it out!" When I say it was steep off the side of this road as we went up, it was steep. All I could think was please don't let a bull bugle off in the bottom of that. He will need a helicopter to get me out of the bottom if we bail off in it. We finally make our way to within 100 yards of this meadow. The guide lets off a location bugle and is instantly answer by two bulls in the dark timber he showed me on the map above the meadow. GAME ON! We go get set up on the edge of the meadow with the meadow in between us and the bulls. There's maybe 20-30 yards of time around the edge of this meadow on this bench with a STEEP drop off all around it. I get set up on a game trail with a big aspen in front and behind me. I don't want to be on the edge of the meadow because I know I'll never be able to draw if a bull gets in the meadow with me before I see him. The meadow is a few hundred yards long and wide. Just to my left where I'm standing is an opening in this line of trees surrounding the meadow giving me a clear shot and view of the meadow. If a bull comes from my left, game on. He will come by me broad side as there is another HUGE aspen at about 20 yards he will have to come around, or so I think! If the bull comes from my right, I know the guide will move to my left to pull the bull across the opening giving me a clear shot. As the guide starts calling, these two bulls start SCREAMING and tearing up the side of the mountain they are on racking and breaking trees. I can tell by how the guide is moving behind me he has no idea which bull is closer or which one will make it to us first. One bull is almost straight across the meadow from me on the mountain, but just off to my right. The other bull is about 300-400 yards from him on what seems to be his same elevation but to my left. The guide and I entered the meadow from my left on the forest service road. Finally after several tense minutes, it's apparent the bull on my left is coming. I can hear the guide slide down the tree line to my right to pull the bull across in front me. I see the bull I think about the same time the guide does as he comes into the meadow from the forest service road just above where we entered. I can instantly tell mature bull. No doubt in my mind a shooter. They guide and I both think he has cows with me when we discuss how this unfolded later. However, it might have just been his calls echoing off the canyon walls. Either way, the guide bugles when he sees the elk to challenge him thinking he has cows. OH MY GOD! When I say this bull gets pissed, screams, and comes on a dead run it's an understatement. It was something else, and what I've dreamed about for years. He comes on a dead run. He covers 150-200 yards in a hurry. I almost draw, but try and keep my composure. I'm glad I didn't draw as he stops about 50 yards out and behind this big aspen to my left to survey the situation. He looks around for few seconds and then starts coming again. At this point, I have ranged a small aspen out in the meadow to the right of this big aspen. I know when he steps out from around this big aspen he will be inside of 25 yards. Just as he's about to clear the aspen I draw and go thru my entire progression. Everything at this point is in SLOOOOOOOOOOOW motion. I make sure my bow is level. I make sure my nose is pressed against my string. I make sure my thumb is behind my neck. I make sure my peep is the same diameter as my sight. Deep breaths. At this point, I'm calm and expecting a broad side shot at 20 yards. I've literally dreamed about this for YEARS! Well, the bull had different plans. Instead of making left at the tree, he hugs the tree sort of bending around it if that makes sense and is walking right at me..............25, 20, 15, 10 yards and SCREAMS. I seriously thought he blew my hat off my head when he bugled. When he does this his head is raised exposing that 9"X7" rectangle for the frontal shot to his vitals. Again, this is all in slow motion. I instantly think about this, but my mind in those split seconds say he has no where to go but to his left giving you a broadside shot. Frontal shots are bad. You've seen way more unsuccessful videos than successful ones as well as all the stories on podcasts and magazines you have read. I seriously go thru this progression. As this is leaving my mind, the bull has lowered his head and is still coming. All I have now is a shot in his forehead. I keep thinking he's going to turn. He's going to turn. He keeps coming.

Let me stop here. If you're still reading this, you can tell I've done my research on elk. Been on lots of hunts. Read lots of books. Listened to lots of podcasts. Watched too many videos. If you have done this too, then you've heard the stories from guides and seasoned hunters on how if you are still and have a caller behind you elk will almost appear to look thru you trying to find the elk making all that noise behind you. I'm hear to tell you this is the truth. At inside 5 yards, this bull had ZERO clue I was there. I was eye ball to eye ball with him and could tell he thought I was part of that mountain. I have no clue how close he got. I wish I had it on video. Words will not do it justice, but it was CLOSE. He finally turned and when he did I let the bow eat. I guessed inside of 3 yards, but I think that's conservative. I felt like I could touch his nose with my left hand as I'm holding my bow at full draw. At this point, I couldn't tell you if I was still looking thru my peep sight. I don't even know if I was looking at my sight. I really don't know even as I type this. I just know it was CLOSE, and I let it go. Instantly I knew I hit front shoulder blade. OH $^%&!!!! Again, I've done my research. I know on elk you want to stay behind that front shoulder to not hit bone as you will not puncture it. I'm gifted that I'm tall and strong. So my bow creates a lot of energy. It's very rare I shoot an animal with my bow, and it doesn't blow right thru it. I can't even begin to tell you the sinking feeling having waited what seems like a lifetime to get to this point in something I've worked so hard for to see 6" of my arrow sticking out of his front right shoulder. I've also know from all my elk study that if you can get another arrow in them to do it. So now I'm in a mad scramble to knock another arrow and get around this aspen tree to get another arrow in him. All I can see is elk butt and antlers as he enters the aspens surrounding this meadow. I could tell during all of this that his front shoulder was broke as he was fleeing. As all of this is going on, I see my guide come out into the meadow not far from where the bull entered. I also hear the bull crash and can tell by the gargling/half bugle he does that the arrow punched the shoulder and got his vitals. The guide grabs me, says lets go sit on the road, and give him an hour. He told me he watched him crash a few feet from him as he almost ran him over. I'm still pretty nervous as all I can think about is if he gets up and goes off into that canyon it's going to be one heck of a pack out.

After what seemed like a day, we walk back to where I shot the bull. ZERO blood from where I hit him in the edge of the meadow to where he entered the timber. The good news is he is less than 20 yards inside the timber where he entered from the meadow. I can see him laying down almost instantly with his back/butt to me. The guide watches him for a few seconds and says he's not breathing, but I still keep one knocked and proceed with caution. This is how we found him.




It was obvious when we skinned him out I center punched the heart. Our guess is the bull was dead on his feet within a couple of steps. The guide said he has never seen one die like that in the V of two trees. It was obvious he ran in between the two trees then collapsed with most of his body weight wedging his front eye guards in between the trees. We thought we were going to need a chainsaw to cut him out of the trees. In fact, my guide got in touch with the other two guides to come help and bring a chainsaw. I told him you know how much crap both of us are going to catch if we don't have this elk out of the tree before they get here. He laughed and agreed. It took us 45+ minutes to get the bull out of those two trees. I now have a great appreciation for the size of these animals.

Picture after we got him out.



The angle of the picture makes him look huge. He scored 296". However, he could have scored 100" for all I care as long as he was mature. I couldn't have told you if he was a 5X5, 6X5, or what. All I knew when he come off that forest service road was he was mature. I don't think I'll ever get one that close again and truthfully don't know that you can get one closer. What a story I'll always remember and even more special it was my first and with a bow at that. It's in my blood even more so now than before. Hopefully, I'm blessed enough again to get invited back on this ranch.

The bull ended up not going off the side of the bench into the canyon making it an easy pack out. The guides were nervous the UTVs would get stuck in the meadow since it was wet, so we had to walk quarters about 300 yards to the road, or it would have been a 10 yard pack out. We did make it back to the headquarters around 1PM just in time for lunch. The guide and I put in 4.5 miles that morning and 2500 feet of elevation. I'd like to think I earned it.

Afterwards I asked two of the guides how hard the pack out would have been if that bull had made it off the bench into the canyon. They both said over a mile pack out to the closest road thru some of the nastiest blown down timber you can imagine. There's a reason we don't take many clients into that canyon!!!

The only downside to the entire morning was as I sat on the road I looked at my phone as saw where Dave had missed a bull at 20 yards around 8:30 that morning. I think the bull was 330ish they said. He said he just got excited and lost it just before hitting his release missing the elk over his back about 18". Being the great friend I am, I responded just shot one inside 5 yards. I didn't miss.

It was kind of funny listening to him tell the story about calling his dad who's a very accomplished hunter when he missed. His dad's response was, "How do you miss something the size of a truck @ 20 yards???" Later he texted him the picture of me with my bull and his dad responds, "SEE!" Pretty funny if you know Dave's dad at all.

Back at camp spirits are pretty high from my success. The chef is really amped up and asks if he can cook some of the backstrap from my elk. I'm like Ron White...............%*^& YEAH!!!! The chef and the guides must have thanked me a dozen times. I was kind of shocked by this and finally asked why. The chef told me in the last 40-50 hunters he's had maybe one besides myself that would share their elk in camp. This blew my mind. They must deal with some pretty terrible people. Isn't that what hunting is all about? Sharing with your friends? I mean it's not going to get any fresher, and I dang sure can't prepare a meal as good as a trained chef.

From the field to the table!




Pictures don't do it justice. Amazing hunt followed by an amazing meal with great friends!

So there I sat at Day 2 if you don't count my first afternoon hunt done on a 5 day hunt. I'm not complaining though, but I got to sit around waiting for my other two buddies to shoot their elk. I was going to go out with Dave the morning of Day 3 to spot and range for him, but I woke up pretty beat with a bad headache. Truthfully a blessing in disguise. Even though I really wanted to go I didn't want to be the reason he missed an opportunity at an elk. As fortune would have it, he shot a dandy that morning. Quartering away shot that he and the guide both thought was lethal. I'll let him tell the story if he wants, but we never did find his elk. We covered 6 miles of some of the roughest country I ever want to crawl around doing grids trying to find his bull. We did end up finding two pretty nice dead heads the guides let us keep, but not his bull. As we rode around with the guides in the UTVs looking for his bull all I could think about was the beauty God has bestowed upon us. I told one of the guides the ranger rides and views are almost worth the price we paid to hunt. Truly a magical place where I experienced a more than magical hunt that I couldn't have dreamed up any better with the exception of not finding Dave's bull. Our other friend never drew on a bull. He was being a little more selective as he's killed some nice bulls. He had a 340" bull at 40 yards the 3rd day I think, but just didn't feel good about the shot. So, he held out the rest of the hunt hoping to kill a bull of that quality.

Some random pictures from the hunt....

this picture doesn't do justice to how steep it was looking for Dave's bull.



We ate well.




loaded up and headed home.

What a Great trip that was!

Thanks bunches. Lots of bunches.

Wow! Congratulations! Hunt of a lifetime and incredible bull. Thanks for sharing

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and photos. Super trip.

Excellent story. Congrats on the hunt.

Beautiful bull! Congratulations.

Great story Russ, congrats.

Congrats on punching that ticket.

Wow congratulations, that was just awesome, thanks for sharing !

Great story! Congrats on a great bull!

Congratulations, very good trip and write up.

Thanks for sharing! What a story, congrats!

Awesome Story. Congrats!

Sounds amazing and congrats on a great hunt!

Read the story to my wife once i was invested. She loved how close the elk were to you. That is soo awesome!

Amazing write up and hunt! I was pumped reading this, congratulations on a phenomenal hunt and amazing bull!

Awesome! Thank you for sharing! Trip of a lifetime