2005 KY Elk Bow Kill 11/25/05

For those of you who have been keeping up with my attempt to take a cow elk with my bow, I wanted to let you know that it all finally came together. It was in the early morning hours of November 25th that I awoke at 2:45am to begin my trip to elk country for the last time with my bow prior to the opening of KY elk gun season on December 3rd. Needless to say it was a sleepless night as I woke about ever hour anticipating the hunt and the outcome. As most of you know I was really wanting to fill my tag via stick and string and time was running short. I knew this was my last attempt and was hopeful that things would come together.

Shortly after the alarm sounded I staggered to the phone to call my camera guy (Kerry Elliott) to make sure he was awake and ready for the trip. Good thing I called as his alarm was going off when he finally answered and apparently it had been going off for some time, LOL! About a half hour later with everything loaded and ready to go, my camera man and I were headed to Elk Country with high hopes. The temperature outside read 15 degrees! Wow, it was going to be a cold day.

While I was hopeful that things would come together, I had already come to the realization that more than likely it wasn't going to happen with a bow. However, my very optimistic camera guy called it by saying "Today is the day, your gonna get one today". He even brought along his brand new skinning knife. "We'll see", I said.

Approximately 3 hours later, one stop at McDonalds for breakfast and one bathroom stop for "you know", we turned onto the dirt road that lead up the mountain to the hunting area. While on our long way up the mountain, I made the comment "I sure hope we don't run into any elk on the way in". Those words hadn't much more than left my lips then what did we see? You guessed it, a huge herd of elk feeding along the road. It was at that point, I didn't know what to do. I knew our best chance of taking an elk that day would be for us to get on top of the mountain. Therefore, I proceeded to drive slowly right through the middle of this herd and proceed on top of the mountain being careful to watch for elk running across the road. While continuing further up the mountain to be out of sight, we popped over the top of the mountain and right into.........another large herd of elk. At this point, I slowly backed up the truck a hundred yards or so out of sight and we waited for daylight to arrive. It was a very clear night and as we sat there listening for elk we could see dark colored animals moving in the strip mind in front of us and behind us.

When day finally started to break we eased out of the truck and gathered our gear. While doing so we could hear the meows of several cow elk and an occasional bugle. Once completely dressed with bow and camera in hand we glassed the two herds on either side of us. It was at this point that we realized that we were in a bit of a pickle as the elk had the advantage in that it would be tough to even move away from the truck without been seen due to the openness of the strip mind. We first attempted to move on the herd in front of us which ended shortly after one of the old cows barked and put the herd on red alert. The herd immediately started heading to a saddle on top of the strip mind and we proceeded to do the end around to get in position. As me and my camera man dropped off the side of the mountain to move around in front of this herd, we were immediately greeted with the larger herd behind us moving in our direction. After figuring out a way to get closer, we proceeded to sneak down a drainage ditch to a small flat that the elk were approaching. After glassing the herd for several minutes to determine their trail I noticed another very small ditch to my left that would put me in position for a potential shot due to a natural funnel that lead to the other ridge. The ditch ran down a small flat on the strip mine and was about as wide as I was and about as deep with fist size rocks scattered throughout the ditch. While my camera man stayed behind (too risky for both of us to attempt the move) I proceeded to belly crawl down the ditch very slowly for about 50 yards until I came to a deep hole in the ditch with a big flat rock. This was a perfect spot for me to set and be within 20-30 yards of the funnel. The lead cow was now about 100 yards away and on full alert as I'm sure she saw the top of my head as I crawled over the rocks in the ditch. She eventually proceeded to divert on the very outside edge of the funnel without me seeing her. I was thinking I had blown the deal during my crawl. However, it was at this point I realize I am again between the two herds as the other herd had moved back into view on the ridge to my left and were barking and meowing. The herd to my left had approximately 40+ elk and the herd to my right had over 70. I began calling on my "Hoochie Mama" cow call to try and settle both herds a little. Apparently it worked as the herd to my left moved off slowly and the herd to my right began moving my way and answering me. It wasn't long before a big 6x6 came into view about 100 yards out with several cows and calves just milling around with the old bull scent checking each one and pushing them in our direction. Once again I began to call, then for some unknown reason the elk started moving my way rather quickly. Due to my position in the ditch on the flat above the funnel I had now lost sight of this group of elk. They were getting closer to the flat and I couldn't see them but could hear them walking my way. Then all of the sudden I could see an ear sticking up just above the edge of the flat. Shortly after I had a calf and a small cow appear, standing near the ditch as I used my bow to help hide me. They both looked at me pretty hard but moved off without alarm after a few minutes. Then I could see another elk approaching (which turned out to be "cowzilla") coming up over the bank about 25 yards out. She too gave me the old "bad eye" before quartering down the trail a few yards. I knew this was a big mature cow and decided I had to make my move. As I drew my bow she caught my movement and turned to give me a complete broadside shot at 33 yards. I settled the pin on the spot with camera man looking on and concentrated on the shot. Upon my release I watched the white crested arrow tipped with a 100 grain Montec G5 act like a heat seeking missile and find its mark perfectly. In fact, I could see just the fletching sticking out of the sweet spot as she turned to run up the hill. Her half moon shaped run up the hill end in less than a minute as she piled up within view going only 50 yards. Needless to say, I was totally pumped!! I just couldn't believe that it all finally came together and then how thankful I was to experience something like this in KY. Given everything that I experienced to this point as part of the hunt, I wouldn't change anything though. It was truly a hunt of a lifetime for me. And to make it even better the entire event including the shot and recovery was captured on tape for me to share and remember this truly exciting hunt forever.

After rolling out a Volkswagen load of guts we loaded my elk into the truck which took some strong backs and filled up the back of the truck. We were lucky in that my elk went only a short distance and stayed on top of the mountain and also in that we had some great people to help us. I can't imagine what it would have been like had "cowzilla" made it to the bottom of the mountain and nobody to help. In the end six hours after the shot, we filled up four very large coolers to the brim with some great looking elk meat. Kerry and I took one more trip around the mountain videoing several elk and watched the sun go down on a fabulous day before heading home. What a day! Guys, I can't say enough about how much fun I had chasing these elk around the mountains in eastern KY. It was a hunt of a lifetime. I'm pretty sure I have elk fever now. Oh well, I will just add this to the list.

Also, if any of you guys are lucky enough to have a unfilled tag this year or get drawn in years to come please make sure to get someone to help you with your hunt.

I have some pics and eventually a video of the hunt (including the shot) but I am unsure as to how to post them.