Took my first Elk this year (cow). It would have been a really nice branch bull if my setup would have been a little better. I found a great little water hole and sat on it till late afternoon. At about 6:45 the forest on the other side of the water hole sounded like a tank was coming through the trees. A few seconds later 2 cows popped out and were practically running to get a drink (I wasn' t expecting this). When the first cow was bent down to take a drink I drew on her hoping a bull would be close behind and could opt to shoot either if the opportunity arose. Just as she finished her first drink she looked right at me and hopped backward about a foot and stared at me head on for about a nanosecond before I let her have it with a 100gr Muzzy at 35yds. A shot I was happy to take but if my setup would have been a little better I could have had a crack at the bull that came in a few seconds after I shot her (a 5x that was big burly and obviously pissed I had messed with his cow) After making some real agressive postures about 50yds away he walked off to investigate what exactly it was I did to his cow.
At about 7:15 we followed the blood trail to it' s end about 75 yds away. No cow! By now it had just gotten dark and I was worried I blew it by shooting the cow head on. Fortunately we heard her death wallows about 20-30yds away in thick timber. We had hoped to get right up on her so I could finish her off with another arrow. As my buddy and I were walking with our flashlights (and myself walking with a knocked arrow very worried about a pissed off bull still possibly close by) my buddy steps right in front of me to get around a tree and almost steps right on top of the elk! At that moment all hell broke lose. I felt the earth shake in front of us. As my friend jumped/fell backwards I almost stabed him in the back with my knocked broadhead. Totally unable to see what it was that was thrashing around in front of us we both crabwalked backwards about 5ft. all the while scrambling to reattach my release to the loop (I pulled the trigger in all the excitement i guess).
Finally, after we were through cleaning our shorts and confirmed it was my cow unable to stand and thrashing around making all the noise and not a bull or a bear charging us. We sat quietly for about 10 min and snuck up on her to finish her off to find that she had died probably right after we pushed her.
My shot had penetrated one lung and grazed an artery. Not quite the double lunger I had allways pictured I would get. The end result however was the same (a dead elk and some great backstrap).
I learned a hell of a lot Elk hunting this year. I already can' t wait to put those lessons to use next year! What a rush!!!!