Archery season

salmonriverjohn · Aug 21, 2012

Well folks, the season is upon us! I for one, am like a kid the week before Christmas. My sons and I will start here on the coast for these big rain forest Elk. I'm sort of caught in a nice little conundrum though. I have the fortunate opportunity to have been drawn for a Mount Emily "any bull" tag:woot: The tag allows me to hunt in any general season unit state wide, while also being one of fifty two that hold a tag for a unit which is managed for trophy bulls. OK, so here in lies the conundrum, my brother, who has also drawn a tag for Mt Emily, is beside himself that the very real possibility is at hand of me scoring here, and (in his eyes) wasting the the coveted tag that I hold for over there, hmmm. He has a point. I know me, if I get the opportunity to take a fat, tasty young bull here, I'm going to let fly.

So in a nut shell, there it is. What would you do? What a cool position to be in, two weeks over east in the mountains VS two weekends here with a fat herd behind the house. Decisions, decisions.:biglaugh:

To all my sliverslinging brothers and sisters, good luck and shoot straight!

Spray-n-pray · Aug 21, 2012

I have been gearing up for archery all year. It will be my first time hunting this method, so I expect to learn a bunch, even if I don't fill my tag.

To answer your question, your "problem" sounds like a great one to have. A friend of mine gave me a great piece of advice on bowhunting. He said, "Don't be picky. If you get a shot at an animal, take it. You might not get another one." In the units I will be hunting, cows can be taken with a bow, and my goal is to put meat in the freezer. I would prefer that trophy rack on the wall, but on the other hand, that unfilled tag isn't very filling. That same friend also told me, "I've eaten cow. It tastes surprisingly like bull."

Anyways, I can't wait to get out in the woods!

salmonriverjohn · Aug 21, 2012

Win, lose or "draw" the time spent will be grand. And your friend has given you sage advice, any Elk is a gift. Momma and two of the daughters took their elk last year via lead poisoning, while one of my sons and I ate tag soup.
It wasn't because we passed up lesser animals, it was getting the right shot that did me in.
I'm not picky at all, and that's what has my brother edgy. I'd still go with him though to call, pack, cook and in general love every minute of it. I'm telling you what though, every time we eat from those Elk the lady's harvested last year, I still can't help from saying how chewy or tough they are,,,, between tasty mouthful's

.

BigBull 301 · Aug 21, 2012

Why apply for a limited draw unit if you're not going to hunt it???

Somebody else could have drawn that tag and been tickled pink, and actually use it.

salmonriverjohn · Aug 21, 2012

I fully intend on hunting it Mr bigbull, but you need to ask yourself this question, if you lived in major Elk country and had planned on hunting east for the last two weeks during prime rut, would you give up the first two weeks at home? Take a look at member USMC's posts, those pics of those bulls, their not much more than a rifles shot behind my back door.
I suppose that its my fault that I didn't preface my post with the point that I haven't hunted at Emily since my father died of a stroke. We had hunted as a family there since I was a kid and could carry the toilet paper behind him in the woods and not let it get wet. That was around a half a century ago. My brother asked if I wouldn't consider going back there again, I replied that it would take around ten years to build enough points to draw a tag. His reply, you aint getting any younger old man, its now or never. We applied with no preference points and drew first time,, go figure. To answer your question, yes, I fully intend on going, but taking a trophy isn't what I hinge my measure of success upon. I've harvested more Elk than I can honestly remember, I've been blessed and I know that.
Perhaps that doesn't answer your question, but look it it this way, would you give up an additional two weeks in the woods during a legal hunting season when you had every opportunity to do otherwise? Just asking. Good luck if your heading out this weekend bigbull, I'm damned excited myself!

nwwoodsman · Aug 25, 2012

Forget the whole coveted tag thing. Go to whichever area presents the best chance of fullfilling your own hunting goals this season. If it's meat, go where the most elk are. If it's getting a trophy rack, go where the trophy bulls are.

salmonriverjohn · Aug 26, 2012

As I was reading nwwoodsmans reply, honest to God my phone rang, my son just took a nice 6x up behind the house!!! Gotta go folks, get the packboards and gear, the packout begins, WAHOOOOO!

nwwoodsman · Aug 26, 2012

salmonriverjohn said:
As I was reading nwwoodsmans reply, honest to God my phone rang, my son just took a nice 6x up behind the house!!!

Glad I could be of assistance. If you'd like to part with any of that back strap or tenderloin as a sign of you're graititude I would be obliged to accept

salmonriverjohn · Aug 26, 2012

Update. So here's the rest of the story, NWFA Member "USMC", AKA Brad had spotted the bull from approx 50 yrds. He shed his pack and prepared to take a shot as the bull past his position. The bull stopped and laid down at which time Brad stepped forward and took the shot, penetrating both lungs. As the bull jumped up he sent another, striking him in the spine which fell him there.
After he and his brother were preparing to eviscerate the animal, another group of four hunters approached and stated that one of their members had hit the animal a half hour before and that they had waited approximately 20 minutes and then began tracking. As most archery hunters know, this is the way its done, you take the shot and let the animal die to blood loss, unlike a hit with a bullet which kills through a combination of bone breakage, blood loss and shock, an animal that's hit with a broadhead generally should be given some time and not be spooked further as it will go the minimum amount of distance before expiring.

Although Brad had indeed killed the bull, after examining it, all agreed that the first arrow had been a fatal shot and that was the reason it had laid down as he watched.
What could have turned into a heated event was turned into a good one with Brad congratulating this young man on his first big game kill with hugs and handshakes all round. He was a young first LT. in the Army that had came through the enlisted ranks first, and he and his hunting comrades all were very good folks, once they heard that Brad and Steve were both military also (Brad is a former Marine, and Steve is and active EOD bomb tech) it made it that much the better.
All's well that ends well, and this wouldn't have been Brads first Elk anyway.
Congratulations to this young man on his first ever Elk, and a damn fine bull too :s0155:

DieselScout · Aug 26, 2012

I don't need the meat, so the life and death of my family isn't dependent on getting an animal. General season hunts come every year, but rare tags don't. I'd take advantage of the rare tag since you've got it. Just my 2 cents.

Also, that is a great story, all too often situations like the above can turn bad. It's very nice to see one turn out so amicably.