This year I burned my 14 non-res points and drew a type 9 archery tag for unit 38 in wyoming. I left Charleston, SC, picked up my buddy in Paducah, KY and we headed west with my trusty bowtech in tow.

that was the greatest elk hunt ive ever been on. but i did eat a tag sammich.

we got close to big bulls more than i ever have. actual hunting days were tues the 12 - sunday morning the 17.

monday evening driving to a camping site we saw 2 herds out in a big meadow, one just cows, the other with a nice-ish bull with them. we checked the map, found a road over the hill behind them and down in another drainage where we knew they'd go into the timber, so we figured that's a good place to start tuesday morning.

tuesday: no bugles whatsoever. so we did the only thing we know to do, start walking. get a good wind and just go explore, cow calling softly as we go. found TONS of sign. even fresh piss with bubbles still in it. we meandered around through meadows, timber, finding sign everywhere until we ended up on top overlooking where the elk had been the night before. there was timber between us, but we had a terrible wind, so we didnt go busting thru the timber. had lunch up top and started back around towards the truck easign through the thick timber on our side.

we got a bugle shortly after. he must've heard the cow calls. not a big bugle, but it was something to chase. and it was close. so we crept slow and easy, and finally saw legs coming towards us at about 30 yards. never saw its head, so dont know if it was a bull or a cow coming to look for us. wasn't a big bull body, and no way i could shoot. but, we found elk!

following that herd we found tons more sign, a few wallows, trails, rubs, fresh shit, old shit, you name it. sat a giant waterhole/wallow for a while, nothing.

so we decided to back out with swirling winds, and go explore the unit a bit.

that evening we glassed some spots from the truck.

wednesday morning. again, no bugles, but we went back towards the big wallows and working up towards the bedding area from yesterday. never heard a single bugle, but the elk sign was so fresh we knew they were in there somewhere. sat water for a while. after lunch it was going to rain and started a bit. the road back here sucks ass and if it got wet we'd probably get stuck.

back to camp to get rain gear, regroup, and go up a gravel road instead of dirt. so we went north a few miles to a walk-in only road to avoid the side by sides. this area was super gentle terrain with a few roads running east/west with the overall terrain starting at the top on the south end on top of a giant meadow, sloping down as you go north down into a drainage. lots of small meadows dotted the timber. some thick bedding, some thin.

wednesday at 5pm, about halfway up the large meadow, we hear a bugle maybe 200y away, and its a growling, deep bugle. game on! we take off, get close to the treeline, and call. nothing. but there's another bugle, this time still a couple hundred yards further. i thought the bull had moved, so as i was talking to my buddy Tye, i didnt' hear the original bull still right next to us let out a super soft bugle. Tye heard it but i chose to ignore him and thought he heard an echo of the bugle i heard. so i head off towards the distant bugle, but go too fast. i rounded a little corner of timber and instead of hugging the treeline, i stepped out into the meadow too far, and in a little pocket, 60 yards away is the first bull, a 330+" white horned, long beamed big bastard. he of course sees me and goes back in the timber.

oh well, 2nd bull is still bugling. we ease closer right at the edge of the timber, he is above us as the meadow goes from us uphill to him. so we can't see him but he sounds 100-150y away. he has a big, deep, badass bugle. we call, bugle, and wait. he goes silent for a while and we got impatient. we loop around to get on top where he can't see us or wind us, and creep in. by this point we may have 20 mins of light left. up top there are a few sparse trees we use for cover, and finally see him. but he sees us and starts heading for the timber. cow call, and he stops immediately and turns around, then just starts feeding.
This bull is "Wide Load". He is the widest bull i've ever seen. long, curling fronts, long beams, super wide, dark horns, ivory tips. he is unbelievable! he is also 200y away with nothing between us but grass. We open the montana decoy and cow call. he doesnt' care and just feeds. so i say screw it, and start crawling across the meadow towards him. if he's gonna feed with his head down, he's not looking at me.

i crawl for a bit, and when i sit up to relocate him there is now a large group of maybe 10 cows out as well and he is feeding towards them. no way i have time to make it to him, and the cows will see me, so i just glass him for a bit. the original bull (we think) is down behind him in the timber and i hear crashing down there like he's rubbing a tree. This ticks off wide load and he throws his head back, whirls around 360* and rips a thunderous bugle. it was the most awesome thing ive ever seen elk hunting. then he tears ass down into the timber and all hell breaks loose. crashing and thrashing, cows running, chaos. it was basically dark by now in the meadow so super dark in the timber. if i had more light i woulda sprinted over there and tried to arrow one of them if they were distracted. oh well. we found big bulls! on the walk back to the truck we heard a 3rd big bugling bull that chuckled with every bugle. so "Chuckles" was also in the area. Now for real, game on!

We spent the rest of the hunt chasing these 3 bulls. Thursday morning the bugling was very light. We did finally hear one that was down below us, that sounded like "pretty boy", the first bull. He didn't have a full bugle, just a growl and grunt. The wind was bad so we really had to loop around to get down to him, but he went silent and we didnt wanna risk bumping them in the timber. so we backed out for a bit and waited til the wind got stable for the afternoon.
-thursday afternoon we were back in the big meadow thinking they'd come back up top in the evening to feed. we were a couple hundred yards from where the action went down the night before, waiting on bugles, hiding in a little thicket....when all of a sudden 3 cows followed by 'pretty boy' ran right in front of us in the middle of the meadow. he stopped maybe 55 yards out looking at the cows, i had my bow but had no damn shooting lanes! we never thought an elk would just be out in the heat of the day in the middle of the damn meadow! i crawled under the brush in front of us and dropped down low where he couldnt see me, ran about 5 yards and popped up in time to range him as he walked away towards his cows at 58, he never even looked my direction, but by now he was already trotting towards his cows. no shot. they ran into the timber, and i guess bumped into the other herd of elk cause then the bugling commenced. 2 or 3 bulls were in there bugling their nuts off. we went up top thinking they'd make their way up, but after a while it was clear they were not, and were in fact going down.

so down through the timber we went. thick nasty blowdown timber so we went pretty slow. after while only one bull remained bugling, but he was fired up. we made it down, hit one of the roads, and he happened to sound like they were on the lower road below us, but since they were parallel roads, we hauled ass and caught up with the herd. we got close, he bugled, but i still thought i could move another 20-30 yards fast...i was wrong. there was a meadow connecting the two roads instead of timber, and they were in it. Me and Tye stopped for a second, he said chill, i said no we have to catch them, and i took about 3 steps when i spotted a cow feeding, but she was facing me. game over. she bolted, i bugled trying to draw the bull to me, but he followed his cows.

they didnt run far, maybe 200y and stopped. they never smelled us and only one elk saw me, so they calmed down pretty quick. we eased down to another little meadow, set up and started calling like a lost cow. then tye was breaking branches and i was bugling trying to draw him in. he came close, sounded like he was 40 yards off the meadow, but he wouldnt' commit to coming in. the timber was pretty dark by now so he had to come into the open for me to shoot. he just wouldn't do it. sounded like a dinosaur in the timber.

friday morning that herd had moved down the drainage more in the timber. with the thermals going down first thing, we couldn't go after them, but we heard another bull above us and getting closer. game on! as it turns out the water is down low. with the rain on tuesday they could be anywhere, now, dry again, they go low for water.

bull above us, bugling, screaming, chuckling, growling, and getting close! we eased down the road until we thought he was above us and off to the side a bit. didnt' wanna get busted again. our goal was to sneak in close to the herd then challenge him. we had just stepped into the timber, maybe 10 yards, when a 5 or 6 point satellite bull spotted us. we had no idea that bull was there. 50 yards. same thing, i start bugling, the elk are heading further uphill. the herd bull walks across my shooting late for a split second, but all i saw was his giant body. never saw his head, dont' know which bull he was. but his body was huge. after they left tye stayed low calling and i went up after them. i called the big bull back pretty close, but i couldnt' see him thru the thick timber.

we went exploring another meadow that supposedly had a creek at the bottom, looking for water. this was around noon. as we were easing down the well-used trail, we heard a short growl-bugle. we had bumped up a nice 6 point by himself. he came in to 30y to a cow call and stood broadside, but he just wasn't what i was looking for, since the herd bulls were playing the game, so i passed. he was a pretty bull but maybe 260-270"

friday evening was totally quiet with elk. However, we did hear a low bull moose grunting a few times. So we started sneaking in along one of the roads and found him, we watched a giant bull from about 120 yards slowly feeding his way along. That was a very nice bonus.

saturday morning, we took another road that was even lower down the drainage since by now we had found a bunch of water. bugles, game on! we circled around and got the wind, and started shadowing the herd as they headed up into the timber. since the thermals come down the mountain in the morning the elk head up. then when it warms up the thermals go up, and now they're already at the top.
we shadow this herd for over and hour and right at a half mile. we were creeeeeeping through the timber, i was determined not to get busted again.
we knew we were finally getting close, but he hadn't bugled in a while, and the cows were not talking at all. we were in a little thick section, couldn't see very far at all. little did we know there was a nice open section right in front of us, and thats where they were. If only we heard one cow call, one bugle, one noise....but none. i stepped around a tree and a cow happened to be feeding facing me at 25-30y....damnit.
i bugled, moved to get in a shooting position. apparently the big bull just stood there, but from my angle i couldnt see him for a tree, when he walked in my tiny shooting lane, and still through a bunch of tree limbs, he just walked across for a split second at about 35y. again never saw his head, dont know who he was. and that was it.

we heard one more bugle while we were up there, went after him, had to get within 100y of him but in the thick bedding timber, couldn't find him, and he stopped answering.

saturday we sat water, but never heard another bugle. sunday morning no bugles at all, sat water/wallows again, nothing. packed up and headed out.

we were into bulls, into crazy screaming, growling, chuckling, deep bellowing bulls. i have never hunted that many herd bulls before, and been in close on them. it was awesome! rookie mistakes, bad luck, little things here and there that if one little thing had been different maybe i woulda brought home meat. i am super disappointed i didnt kill one, but i certainly had opportunities, albeit tough ones with archery equipment. The only bad part is learning all the rookie lessons on a 14 point unit! But you don't really get this kind of experience anywhere else, certainly not on otc tags like i usually hunted in CO.

that was wyoming. wish i could somehow go back next week but oh well. with a rifle i woulda just shot wide load wednesday evening and been done. or one of the several quick opportunities i had. bowhunting is hard! guess thats what makes it fun.

i may never have that kind of hunt again, so i'm glad i got to do it at least once, and with a great friend there to share in the entire hunt was that much better.

Great adventure!

Sounds like a pretty nice week, to me...

Great story. Great adventure.

Sometimes you only get one chance, sometimes you dont even get that. Thats what makes the successful hunts even sweeter. How boring would it be if it was easy?
Thanks for sharing your hunt. I'm chomping at the bit, just a few more weeks.

I enjoyed your story - what an experience, even if it didn't turn out successful in the end. Thanks!