Royal Outfitters Montana Elk Hunting

October 11, 2009

I knocked an arrow and on my knees did a mock draw a couple times and decided I was ready.  I had several recently, well used trails down in front of me and had picked out some  lanes and was thinking it could be an exciting evening.  Cold but exciting!  I had been watching a squirrel gather cones and had been listening to some coyotes off in the distance when I heard a muffled sound off to my left.

 I had noticed an old mine back behind me that had a nice hole and started to wonder if she was coming to check out this spot again for a den.  I stayed there and watched for her and her cub for about 15 minutes and decided that I was not going to walk out in the dark without any form of self – defense so I started up the hill that I was on and looked down into the old mine. It would be an ideal spot for her and her cub to den.   I plan to go back with my bear spray and my new Judge pistol-it shoots a 45 long colt and a .410, to see if there are any tracks around that old mine.  It would be pretty cool, if I am right.  Maybe not but it will be fun to see.

 On my way back to the vehicle,  I stopped and watched 6 mule deer browsing.  The wind was just right and they were only about 70 yards away.  They never saw me, so I just watched them.  It was pretty cool!

The experience of a life time! And many more to come, I hope! Darren ,Greg Raff and I headed out to go archery hunting in an area that had been hot! We parked our green coloonga ( Toyota land cruiser) before the meadow and hiked across the bottom and because of the breeze and other factors we decided to head to our left.
Right away, we spooked off an elk and it took off to the right of us. There is no way it had smelled us but it did see our movement and it was out of there. After hiking another 7 minutes or so, another elk down wind of us caught our scent and off it went. We were definitely in the elk, and there was sign all over. Very cool! Exciting!
We then heard some wolves howling off in the distance, they have such a unique sound but we were elk hunting and when Darren suggested that we try and call them in , I was not very impressed. ? We listened to them for while, Greg R tried to get the video camera to pick up their howl but it was too low of a pitch and nothing audible was on the video when we later listened to it. Darren was pretty excited about the wolves and suggested again that we try and call them in, by then I was thinking, oh great, so much for elk hunting.
I told him that we were here to hunt the wily elk not the wolves, our season here for wolves had not opened yet. He grinned and looked a little irritated at me and we started hiking again. I had to make a stop, so Darren and Greg R. went ahead a ways and I then heard a moose calling. They sound so funny, they sound like they are sick to me but I could hear it as it moved off. I always like to hear or see any kind of wildlife, it is what makes being in the woods so great.
The wolves continued to howl off and on during this whole time, they were pretty cool to listen to. The terrain was pretty thick but there were lanes for shooting and I was always trying to think of what I would do if we had a bull come in.
I am not sure how it all went, exactly, but Darren decided he should bugled and we heard an elk off in the distance answer us back and he sounded very interested so Darren told me to go up about 60 yards from them and to get set up. It was a tough spot to set up and I wasn’t sure if my position was right or not but Darren bugled again and I heard some cracking off to my left about 60 yards or so. I knew that this one was one of those satellite bulls that I had heard so much about back at hunting camp and my heart was pumping so hard that I was sure if anyone had been even half way close to me that they would have heard my heart beat.
I saw movement behind a clump of aspens or some type of brush or trees and saw the body of an elk coming and knew that I had better pull back my bow. I didn’t know how much time I had and after listening to all the stories I have heard at hunting camp, I knew that I needed to be in full draw while I had the chance or I wouldn’t get another opportunity. I went to pull back and I couldn’t do it, I was shaking like a leaf. I tried again and still couldn’t pull back the darn bow. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. Panic set in and I knew I had to get a hold of myself, so I did and then remembered that because of a shoulder injury that I had in my 20’s, that I had to pull back a certain way . I relaxed and pulled back to full draw without a problem. Boy, was I relieved!
About 17 yards ahead of me, I could see the antlers of this elk coming towards me , it had a lot of points and I knew it was a legal bull so I now changed my focus to the kill zone or tired to anyway. He was incredible to watch, he stepped forward into my lane but he was facing me and stopped and stood there looking down the path.

The sun was shining off to my right and he was looking and looking. I was hoping that Darren would call again but it was silent in that direction. I kept thinking give me a broad side shot, step forward and to your left you big beautiful animal… step forward….. As I was looking for the kill zone, I realized that I wasn’t looking correctly through my peep site so I did. I only had a frontal shot and I knew that it wasn’t a good shot so I waited and at that moment his head came forward and the elk spun and was out of my view in a matter of seconds. I could see him back behind the brush, trees or whatever they were again and he stood for awhile but there was too much brush and small trees in front of me to have any kind of a shot. He was probably 25 -30 yards away and he slowly walked off.

The adrenaline rush was amazing! It felt like there was something coming out my ears. It was probably the most exciting thing that has happened to me since my close encounter with a grizzly bear in Alaska back in 1987. All I can say now is that I am hooked and it was an awesome experience.

Deb Dunham

Mick’s First with a bow

Originally uploaded by royal.outfitters

The morning stillness was shattered by the bull’s bugle. Pat, Dave and I glanced at each other. That bugle sounded too perfect. Was it man-made? It came from a direction we didn’t expect! Pat turned and bugled back, almost imediately the bull answered. As we searched for any sign of movement, Pat hissed, “It’s a bull. He’s coming. Get ready!”. The bull angled his way toward our set-up. Pat (our guide) and the bull screamed at each other, dueling back and forth, raising my heartbeat and adrenaline level. “Take a couple of deep breaths.” I told myself. I drew as the bull passed behind a small pine, hoping he would be drawn into one of the shooting lanes we had ranged. The dueling continued, loud then soft—cow calls—calf mews—–bugles———Pat used his years of experience and dozens of hunts to coax the bull closer. As the bull walked through a narrow lane, I thought about shooting——– but remembering one of the guides advice, “ Be patient, a lot of hunters hurry their shot.” —I held my draw The bull passed thru one more lane without stopping———my arms were quivering from the strain of full draw————he disappeared behind some blowdown and pines———I let-off—–whew! I regrouped and redrew just before he reappeared. “Now concentrate on a spot ———don’t look at the horns————concentrate!” As the bull circled to the down wind side, he stepped into a wider opening. I knew this was going to be my best opportunity for a shot. When the bull was centered in the shooting lane, Pat cow-called stopping him perfectly just as my 20 yd. pin settled. In an instant the arrow was released and a milli-second later hit “the spot”. Now it was time for my knees to quiver (shake is more like it)———Pat whispered, ”Good shot!”—-Dave added his congratulations, and I thought to myself, “WE DID IT!”. After a 30 min. wait, we followed the short blood trail and I got to lay my hands on my first bow-killed elk.

The older I get and the longer I hunt the more I realize that my best hunting memories & experiences all included good people. It has less to do about being “successful”—more about who you shared it with— the friends gained —- stories told —experiences shared—there is a bond. So thank-you Darren & Deb, Dave (hunting partner—-brother-in-law), Pat, Ben, Sonny, Bob, Kim, Dave, Russ, Tim, Dean and hopefully the future of Royal Outfitters Adair, Dawson , Dexter , and Drew. I can truly say there is nothing quite like sharing the experience of bow hunting elk. Thanks again to Darren & Deb, and Royal Outfitters.

Mick