Oasis Outback |||| Hunters Corner

Luke’s Hunt

Luke’s Elk Hunt

by

Luke Teague

It has been my bow hunting goal to take an elk (Cow or Bull) with my bow for the last five or six years. Every bow hunt for elk prior to this year has proven unsuccessful. During the third week of Colorado archery season my father and I once again drove north to southern Colorado for what we hoped would be a successful elk hunt.

We arrived and set up camp. Over the next two days Dad and I decided to explore the roads in the area. Armed with only our binoculars we set out. We drove and scouted for sign for about two hours and decided to return to camp and take a nap. About a mile before we reached camp Dad spotted something in the bottom of a canyon. After glassing for several minutes we spotted a 4 by 4 bull grazing in a clear cut. After several minutes we decided that I would go back to camp and get my bow while he would stay and keep an eye on the bull. I hurried to camp and back again in record time. Dad and I decided that I would walk straight down a draw until I was below the bull and stalk uphill for a hot. He would stay and watch the bull and signal if he left.

After 30 minutes or so of sneaking down the draw I arrived to the clear cut only to find no bull. I thought for a minute and decided to walk farther down and turn uphill in hopes of bumping into the 4 by 4. I turned down hill and walked 50 yards or so when all of the sudden I heard a noise to my left. I turned just as a cow trotted into the open and 15 yards. With an either sex tag burning a hole in my pocked I knocked an arrow. When I looked up a big 6 by 6 followed the cow. My heart rate raced as I tried frantically to attach my release to my string loop. This is usually not a hard task but today it was. I closed my release with out attaching it and then turned back the way she had come. The bull did a 180 degree turn and stopped behind a tree. I finally connected my release to my loop and raised my bow in preparation for a shot. As I raised my bow I pulled the trigger. There was just enough tension on the string to lob my arrow halfway in between me and a once in a lifetime bull standing at 20 yards. Idiot right? The bull stood still as I fumbled. Discouraged I had no trouble re-knocking and re-connecting my release for a second chance. The bull stood for a few minutes trying to decide what was going on. I figured there was a 99.9 % chance he would follow his cow to the left were there wasn’t a shot. After a few tense minutes I watched as he decided to go right. Without hesitation I leaned against the hill behind a tree and drew. As I sat up the bull came into view at twenty yards. Perfect! I touched the trigger and the arrow buried a little too high but in the right spot for a high lung shot. The bull trotted slowly to the timber and stopped. I held my breath as he looked arrowed The bull finally eased off down the draw.

I breathed a sigh of relief and started back up to Dad. We decided to wait about an hour and a half before looking for the bull. As we started down we stopped to pray asking God that the bull was down. We arrived to find no blood. As Dad looked for blood I walked slowly down the draw where I had last heard him. i had walked about 30 yards when I saw horns over a dead fall. There were moving! I squatted down and motioned to Dad. After watching him for several minutes the bull got up. I was ready and put another arrow into him. The bull trotted about 100 yards where he bedded down again. I dropped down and circled under him and came up to the downhill side of the bull. Dad crept up and put the final arrow in. The bull unofficially grossed 300 inches.

I have never had a hunting experience that ended this well. This hunt has been way beyond my expectations. Taking an elk with a bow is finally a reality and I couldn’t have done it without God and my dad.