Great hunt stories Bill and very touching regarding your hunting buddy who passed away.

Great stories Bill. Looks like you guys have got it down.

billbelshe, Excellent! Thanks for sharing with us.

Here is a photo of my first elk. Hopefully the picture comes through. If the picture goes through, I will get back on here later and tell the story of the hunt.

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That's a great first bull, now how about a story?
Oh yeah, and welcome!

Awesome first bull! Can't waite to hear the story.

In 2007, I was hunting in the San Juan National Forest, northwest of Pagosa Springs. This was my 3rd time out in CO hunting elk. The first time was in 1997 during archery season and I had not a clue as to how to hunt elk, but still had an unbelievable time. Saw some elk but nothing close enough to shoot. I went again in 1999, this time with a rifle and again was skunked. In 2007, I drew the first rifle season and had an any elk tag. The first day I had 9 cows within 40 yards and passed on them even though I was wondering if I would regret the decision. On the second day of the hunt, I was walking up a hill when I smelled elk, that real musky smell. With the wind in my face, I began to slow down and glass in front of me. After some time and the sun begining to go down I decided to turn around and go back to camp. I was about 1/3 of a mile from camp when this bull stood up in front of me at 20 yards. Before I could get my rifle up, he jumped and ran down a rock slide. The slide was at about a 45 degree angle. Just floored me how he disappeared in seconds. I could hear him run down through the forest below me, so in a desperation attempt to stop him, I began to make cow calls with a "hoochi mama" call and I heard him begin to slow down. I then just started walking at him and I heard him slow down to a walk. I kept calling and walking, when I came to a clearing and saw him standing at about 120 yards away. With nothing to rest my rifle on, I tried to make a free hand shot. I was out of breath and my heart was pounding in my chest. I gave myself what seemed like 10 minutes to calm down, in reality was probably 30 seconds or less. I made my shot and he dropped in his tracks. The shot, I'm embarrassed to say, was high and to the right, but it went in his neck and dropped him. I had to go down and shoot him again to finish him off. The good part was that after all the walking I had done, I shot my first elk ever, a 6x6, less than a 1/3 of a mile from camp. My buddies and I packed him out in one trip. Here are a couple more photos.

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Great story and thanks for sharing.

jeffsays,
Thanks & Welcome to BGH!

+1