It was the fourth morning of our cow elk hunt near Williams, AZ and the elk finally started to bugle in earnest. We had heard some near a pond, but the elk had gone nocturnal, drinking only at night (in spite of a sliver of moon). We tried being at the pond well before sun up and had no luck running into the elk. My hunting buddy and I noticed this herd had a pattern of traveling between two ponds and eventually bedding in the middle; so Monday morning we decided to forgo the ponds and head to the middle area. My buddy went one way and I veered further West.
Soon I heard the most bugling I've ever heard. As I closed the gap, I had to climb a hill and made sure to attack it with the wind in my face. Near the top of the hill, I spooked one of the bulls I had been hearing. He ran toward the other bulls, and I followed slowly. Within minutes, I saw two bulls, a lop-sided racked one and a spike, walking together no more than 50 yards to my right. I then saw a very big bull with a cow 115 yards in front of me. I could only see the cow's head, so I sat down and hoped for a shot. Of course, when I sat down, I couldn't see her at all. I decided to just sit there until I could get a shot at the cow.
The big bull started beating a tree with his antlers, and the other two bulls followed each other all around, bugling often. A fourth bull bellowed from my left. I never saw him, but he sounded like a monster. The cow remained hidden, but I heard much cow talk. Pretty soon, I noticed that the whole herd continued to walk away from me, so I got up and followed carefully. As I walked after them, I noticed an elk body in some thick trees about 30 yards to my front left. I stood still and waited to see which elk it was. It must have heard me or seen me, because it broke and trotted toward the other ones. It was the cow, but I had no shot. She must not have smelled me, because the whole herd remained there.
I started approaching them again and decided to sit against a tree, hoping for a shot. Shortly, the spike meandered within 12 yards of me. I was shaking, thinking he was going to bust me (or step on me!) But luckily, he wondered off to the right. I saw the big bull about 100 yards straight ahead of me bugling away. And then another elk walked to the right of him, heading straight my way. I trained my scope on it, and yes, it was the cow! I aimed at her center of mass and squeezed the trigger. The Gold Dot did its job and she fell flat, with no more moving save a single leg twitch.
The large elk stood over her and looked my way, then started sniffing around her. I ranged him at 91.5 yards. I waited for a few minutes but he didn't leave. Knowing that she was down for the count, I finally started approaching him, and he ran off. As I neared the cow, I heard my buddy call me from my left. He had been watching the big bull (but didn't see the cow) and hoped I didn't shoot him. I found out he was doing some of the cow talking I had heard, but no bugling.
Upon inspecting the cow, I noted the entrance wound in the chest just below her neck. I never found the bullet or exit wound because I used the "no gut" method on her. My buddy walked the two miles back to camp to get the atv while I proceeded to skin and quarter the cow. It was important to get the hide off her because daytime temperatures had been around 80 degrees. As I finished hanging back straps and quarters, my buddy arrived. I anticipated he would not be able to make it all the way to me with the atv, but he did, going most of the two miles over boulders and stumps, while avoiding dropping into canyons. Thank Yamaha for iron horses, because it was enough work skinning and quartering.
Rifle: CVA Optima Pro/2-7x Nikon scope
powder: 108 gr (84 weight) 777
bullet: 300 grain Gold Dot
sabot: crush rib
Arizona elk meets Gold Dot
what a great friend!
