Bedded Dreams | Archery Elk Hunt

I originally planned this hunt with my friend Quade, who later found out he would be helping his father in law on a once in a lifetime Montana Moose hunt the same weekend we planned to head into the backcountry for elk. This meant I would be hunting solo for the weekend and Quade would join me later on that week after moose hunting. I loaded up my gear and tried to go light as I would be backpack hunting. 

The first afternoon I packed in camp and did some glassing. I was surprised to see the amount of hunters in the backcountry, but wasn’t discouraged. That evening I spotted a couple elk, but they were too far to determine if they were bulls or cows, but being mid September I assumed if there were cows, there should be a bull around. The next morning I headed out in the direction where I had glassed the elk from the evening prior. I was greeted by horse hunters in the dark that passed me on the trail, but I had hopes that we were not heading to the exact same area. That morning was windy and I didn't hear any bugles. I reached a glassing point where I could see where the elk disappeared the previous evening but did not spot any elk. I worked my way through different timber pockets to look for sign and figure out where the elk were. After a slow day I hiked to a different glassing point to see if I could spot any elk to pursue for the next day. That evening I spotted a small herd a couple miles away that appeared to have a mature bull with them. I was encouraged and excited to have a game plan for the next day, but knew I had to get up considerably earlier to beat the hunters on horses. 

That morning I got up at 3:30 AM and hit the trail by 4:00 AM. It didn't quite feel like your average backpack hunt, but I knew I had to do it if I was going to get first crack at these elk. While I was putting down some miles on the trail I was pleasantly surprised to hear some bugles. I was still about a mile or so from where I had watched the elk herd from the previous evening glass, but I wasn’t about to walk past elk bugling in the dark. They were close to the trail on a mostly open ridge side so I was going to have to use the darkness to get close and hopefully be in range of one when the sun came up. The herd was scattered all over this ridge and there were  multiple bulls. I started working my way to the growlest bugle I could hear. As the sun came up I could see a bunch of cows and a smaller five point bull. I was using some calls, but they were in such open country it was going to be hard to convince the herd bull to come. The five point did come in to 40 yards along with ten cows, but I passed on him as I could see a decent 6 point bull 150 yards behind him. I tried calling, but the big bull wasn’t going to come. I attempted to stalk in closer every chance I got, but as the sun got higher I could hear the horses coming up the trail. They could also hear the rut party going on and started calling. It was now daylight and the elk were working their way up and over the ridge as they could see the horses down below. I followed the elk to the top, but they were long gone by the time I got up there. The horse hunters had circled around the ridge and were below me now on the backside of the ridge. I decided to sit down, pull out the spotter and see what happens. I watched as they spooked a sow with two cubs out of timber, but no elk. I was in a good vantage spot so decided to eat some lunch while I glassed and tried to locate some more elk. 

As I was posted up glassing more and more horse hunters came riding in. There was a horse or horses on almost every ridge and every direction. As discouraging as it was I was able to glass a herd of elk bedded down in the timber about two miles away and there were no horses headed in their direction. With these elk being my only play for the afternoon I started hiking that way. My original plan was to sit at the bottom of the timber and hope they fed out in my direction, but when I got to the edge of the timber I could hear some bugles coming from the timber. I knew if I could keep the wind right I might have a chance at getting in range of these elk so I started heading up through the timber. I went slow and glassed ahead of me to insure I didn’t spook any elk. My windchecker was constantly out as I crept closer to the sound of the bugle. Once I figured I was pretty close to the bull I dropped my pack quietly and nocked an arrow. There was a small bench above me and I slowly stalked up and over the edge. From there I could see antler tips. I honestly could not tell what I was looking at or which direction the bull was facing because of the tall grass. All I knew was that this bull was big and a for sure shooter. 

I grabbed my rangefinder and tried to get a read off his antlers, but with the grass it was tough. I ranged the tree he was bedded under at 36 yards and got ready for the shot when he stood up. As I waited the bull ripped off a couple of bone chilling bugles from his bed. It was so cool to experience a bull at this range in his bed. About 150 yards away I could see the rest of the herd moving around and could hear some other bulls in the herd, but this bull was bedded off by himself which was a perfect scenario for me. I knew my best shot opportunity would be when the bull stood up. I waited about 15 minutes when I started seeing the bull rise to his feet. As the bull stood up I drew my bow, but the bull was facing straight away from me. I tried to take a step to the left to see if I could get a quartering away shot, but it was too tight. After what felt like forever the bull turned to the right broadside and offered me a perfect shot. I settled my pin and let it fly, watching as my arrow disappeared in his side as the bull swung around to the left. The bull had no idea I was there or what had hit him. The bull ran 20 yards and stopped. I did not have a clear window to shoot through and I didn’t want to risk spooking the bull. I patiently watched and waited as the bull tipped over right in front of me. 

I went and found my arrow that made a perfect pass through and could see my bull laying there. I could tell he was big but did not know how big. This bull has it all. He was a big 7x7 with great mass and long main beams. 

The work really started after that. Taking trophy pictures is always tough alone, but I did what could then got to work breaking down the bull. As I was quartering the bull the sow and cubs I had seen earlier that day walked right up to me at 15 yards. I shouted and they took off, but now I had to worry about the bears getting to my meat. I took a load with me that night along with all my gear. As I was loading up a huge rain and lightning storm blew in. I only had my rain jacket with me since I packed a little too light and got absolutely soaked that night hiking back to camp. I was in the furge of hypothermia as I was shivering half the way back. I quickly stripped down once I reached camp and climbed into my down sleeping bag. I was able to warm up and get some rest that night. The next morning I was in a bind. I only had one set of clothes and they were soaked. I started a fire and began to try out everything. Quade was due to show up that morning at the trailhead, but there was no way I could get there with the sloppy conditions and wet gear. The whole morning was spent drying clothes and boots. I was going to try to wait for Quade to go back in for the next load of meat, but the bears from the night before had me worried. Once my clothes and boots were halfway dry I loaded up and headed in for the next load. I was pleasantly surprised to find the bears had not got to any of the meat. I got back to camp that night in the dark to find Quade sleeping. I had to wake him up and show him the bull. We talked about the hunt and then went to bed. 

The following morning Quade and I headed in to get the last load of meat to camp. It was another rainy day but we got all the meat deboned and back to camp. From there we loaded up camp on our backs and the meat on the bike and cart. A couple hours of pushing the bike and cart down the trail we finally got the bull in the cooler. Grateful that Quade was able to help me pack out my bull and we didn’t lose any meat to bears or spoilage!