Whether they’re in the woods or on the podium, Hoyt’s Pro Shooters represent Hoyt to the fullest. And Hoyt.com is the only place where you’ll find behind-the-scenes info about their recent success stories, their travels, their favorite Hoyt bows and accessories, and other details that any true Hoyt fan needs to know.
As a young kid early December was the slowest time of the year for me. The days seemed to drag on forever. School would soon be getting out for the fall break; yuletide carols would play continually at the mall and on the radio, and my favorite event of the year – Christmas – was merely days away.
As I grew older, my favorite time of the year shifted to a few months earlier. Now, as an adult, I feel my new magical time of the year approaching at a snail’s pace as the summer days shorten and start to cool. The green aspens leaves start to change to gold and red as they stretch across the rugged ridges of the Rocky Mountains. The ringing of elk bugles off the canyon walls signal the arrival of the elk rut. It’s in this time of the year that I feel – for a short few weeks – as if I’m as close to heaven as possible while still breathing.
2009’s elk season took forever to arrive, but my good buddy Adam Wells (Outback Outdoors Team member) and I joined up to “take the fight” to some high country bugling bulls in western Colorado. I arrived at the ranch late in the afternoon, and we spent the evening telling stories and getting our last-minute gear together for an early start the next morning.
Day 1 – We headed out early and I was first “up to bat” as Adam would be calling and our good friend A.C. would be capturing the action on HD video for our Webisodes (www.outbackoutdoors.net) and the television show “Hardcore Hunting TV”. We setup on a high glassing point overlooking two different bowls as the sun rose. We knew from past hunts that this area holds a lot of elk. It wasn’t long before the herd bulls started bugling challenges and warnings to the numerous satellite bulls looking to cut out a few cows. The satellite bulls squealed back as if to acknowledge the challenge, but lacked the courage to follow up on the threat. “Heaven on earth,” I remember thinking as we moved down the ridge to try and get into position to make a play on a dark-horned bull that was pushing his cows through a saddle. We spent the morning pursuing elk but never got close enough for a shot.
That afternoon found us back at another of Adam’s honey holes, usually full of rutting activity, only to find out that only one small bull and a few cows had found there way into this hidden oasis.
Day 2 – The next morning found us on another ridge watching elk move off of a mesa where they had spent the night feeding. They looked like ants as they piled off a pinch point and down into the draw in front of us. Adam let out a bugle to see if there were any lonely or lovesick bulls looking to protect their harem – or add to it. Instantly a bugle rang out just over the knob from where we were glassing. Trying to entice him into action, we cow called softly … his answered assured us he was on his way. We quickly set up in a small opening with a heavily-used elk trail parting the thick oak brush less than 20 yards away. Adam backed up into the cover behind us, cow calling as if a few cows were feeding away from the oncoming bull. A.C. was setup with the camera just over my shoulder, and I was knocked and ready – completely expecting this bull to take the well-used trail.
We could hear the bull coming through the oak brush and I took the opportunity to range a few key trees to use as yardage guides. To our amazement the nice 6X6 bull busted through the oak brush at a dead run about 45 yards away on a beeline to Adam’s sweet-talking. He was much further than I had been prepared for and I only had a split second to draw, cow call, and stop him in an opening after he had cleared some thick scrub brush. As if on cue, the bull stopped completely broadside and looked right at us. I estimated him at 50 yards, settled my pin, and released the arrow.
Let me stop and explain that I shoot my Hoyt AlphaMax a lot! I practice out to 80 yards and feel VERY confident at 50. I normally shoot anywhere from 25 to 150 arrows a day. Unfortunately, the bull was not at 50 yards (as my rangefinder later confirmed), but rather closer to 60.
My arrow sailed harmlessly underneath him and the bull sped off. He ended up about 18 yards from Adam but over 80 yards from me, and soon he bounded off and out of my life forever. I hung my head in despair but soon raised it as another bugle filled the cool morning air.
“Oh well,” I thought as we teamed back up and headed toward the other herd of elk that was working toward us from the opposite side of the canyon. There were three smaller bulls in this herd and all of them felt as if they were the “big dog” and were not shy to vocalize their opinions.
We tried to set up and call in one of these bulls, but they were having none of it. Lucky for us we had some cover, and we high-tailed it to a small opening where the trail they were following brought them right into our lap. As if in a script, two cows came loping into the opening less than 12 yards away. Seeing us, they hit the skids seeing – but the wind was in our face and they couldn’t tell what we were. As they finally passed by us at less than four yards, we could see a bull coming up the trail following a hot cow. The cow wheeled as she came into the opening and started to move away, but not before she led the bull into view of my sight window, as I was at full draw.
The bull, following the confused cow, turned – quartering-away – as Adam cow called. The call stopped her and made her look back, which in turn stopped the bull long enough for me to settle my top pin on his vitals and make the lethal shot. At the shot the bull jumped and left his cow immediately. Adam could see the bull was bleeding badly and we watched him walk sickly with his head drooping out of sight. We quickly taped the post shot interview and backed out of the area, giving the bull plenty of space. As we were giving the mortally wounded bull plenty of time, we had a chance to review the footage. We confirmed it was a solid quartering-away shot. Later that afternoon, we got back on the bull’s trail and were pleased to find a good blood trail. The bull was piled up in a heap less than 100 yards from where I shot him. I was elated to wrap my hands around his awesome antlers.
Colorado has the largest elk population of any Western state, and manages mainly for population and not necessarily quality. Although I would have passed on this bull in another state like New Mexico or Arizona, this was a great 4X7 Colorado bull … and I was proud to have harvested him!
Look for this exciting archery elk hunt along with Adam’s finale on an upcoming Webisode of Outback Outdoors (www.outbackoutdoors.net)