I arrived on Friday afternoon in southern Oregon, surprisingly the temperature was almost the same as southern Oklahoma's  ..."hot." Within a few minutes the initial nervousness left and it was just bowhunters talking hunting, which is just what I like..(lol ) Over the course of the summer Tom has been very informative about elk hunting. I probably should apologize for asking a lot of stupid questions, but, I'm a whitetail hunter and elk hunting is an entirely different world to me. We spent Friday night just getting set up to hunt , we went to the range and checked our bows out, went to dinner and discussed elk strategies, and even overcame each others accents.

Saturday morning we were off to an early start at an area that Tom had recently seen a good 6x6 bull. We spent most of the day hiking around some of the most beautiful country I've ever hunted. After several encounters with cows...beef type cows, we decided to call it a day.

Sunday we arrived about 5 AM at another "secret" elk place, where we were joined by two of Tom's hunting friends.They had informed me it was "a little steep" After an hour or so of climbing straight up "with me wheezing and gasping the entire way" we arrived at a ridge, where we seperated into two groups to hunt. Tom and I steadily worked our way along the ridge, stopping to call at each "elky" looking place. By the end of the afternoon we had seen one deer. Being in a place with absolutely no oxygen content, I started wonder what I had gotten myself into.

Monday ... "elk day" ... I was starting to settle in for a long hard week of hunting, Im very stubborn. Monday morning we stayed close to the road until almost light, in order to glass some mountainside meadows before we went up to the ridge to hunt. Arriving at the ridge near one end of the mountain about 8 AM, we noticed fresh elk sign everywhere.After a brief time looking around, we decided to back off the tracks and eat something before continuing. Finding a nice "rock with a view" was no problem, Tom had apparently been here before.

After about an hour of eating, resting, and glassing "In a place like this, why hurry?"

Back on the tracks again, we hadn't traveled very far when we heard some crunching just off the side of the ridge, about 50 yds below us. Tom and I both knew what it was, as we both instantly froze. Tom cowcalled and a bull bugled instantly......cowcalling again resulted in another bugle, then, what I can only describe as a thunderous stampede sound...Apparently the bull had gathered his harem and gone over the mountain. Leaving me standing with my jaw in a dropped position. Thankfully, Tom knew what had just transpired and said "lets go"....we were tracking again within minutes. I had my first "elk in the wild" sighting when Tom signaled me and pointed them out as they were sidehilling down a trail several hundred yards below us, creating their own dust cloud as they went. I saw horns....not big, but horns.

Over the next few hours we played sort of a "cat and mouse" game which consisted of us trying to catch up and stay above them. Every now and then we were encouraged either by catching a glimpse of elk, or hearing the bull bugle. The intensity of the hunt was awesome...I have never hunted anything that made me think it was over so many times, only to have my spirit fired up again and again, by the bugle in the distance.

It was almost noon when we heard him bugle again from a bench just ahead of us, twice from about the same place.

Dropping off onto the bench, we cautiously worked our way to the bottom of a steep bank and stopped to call again. I guess the bull decided it was time to check us out, because he screamed a bugle right back at the sound of the cowcall. 

Tom told me "he's coming". 

Then I saw patches of tan moving in the parklike flat of the bench. In seconds, the bull was within 20 yds of me. I came to full draw as his head passed behind some trees, only to have him hang up with only one eye and one nostril in view through my peep. 

With a quick cowcall Tom stopped him in his tracks, and I took my shot. The next thing I knew was I had just taken my first elk.

My Mathew's Featherlight was not only easy to climb mountains with, it proved to be 100% effective on elk. The equipment I practiced with all summer for this hunt was a Mathews featherlight set at 67 lbs, Gametracker carbon shafts topped with 100 grain Thunderheads, and a Scott release. After seeing the effectiveness of this setup on this bull, I rest assured that I could hunt any game, anywhere with absolute confidence in my equipment.

After a few quick pictures, we spent the better part of two hours field dressing and quartering this bull..With the temperature above 70, we both realized it was just a matter of time before the meat would go beyond tender...I am very thankfull that we had reinforcements nearby. Kurt and Trent, (Tom's hunting buddies), arrived just in time with pack boards. Pack boards are wonderful inventions that make you think you can carry a lot more weight than you actually can. With all four quarters, and all the choice cuts we thought we had time to take, the four of us headed out for the road. This was very educational for me, having only taken deer in the past, I wasn't completely aware of the joys to come.

I was so elated by taking a bull on my first elk hunt that I didn't remember the proverbial saying "the work starts at the shot" Isn't it funny how nature has a way of reminding us of things we forget? Upon reaching a small mountain stream in a meadow about half way out, we decided it was time to rest. The stream was no wider than a good roadside ditch, yet, in a pool there was a small native rainbow trout. 

Rest seems to do wonders for aching muscles when surounded by scenery like this. After a short time, taking a few more pictures, feeding grasshoppers to the trout, and some hand and arm scrubbing, we started fresh again. The second half of our trek wasn't nearly as much fun as the first half. Almost all uphill, this was the test of fortitude that truly gives me a deep respect for elk hunters. Elk hunters that hunt afoot must love the sport, otherwise they wouldn't subject themselves to this. After climbing back up to the road, it was done.

We had just spent several hours, torturing our legs and backs, and never did I hear any of my new friends complain about packing someone else's elk. For this, I am deeply indebted to Tom, Kurt, and Trent. True hunters and sportsmen in every sense of the word. I have always strived to help other sportsmen whenever I can, and I always tell them "pass the favor along", well, now I have been repaid for all the times I've volunteered to help. I can only hope that these three elk hunters will be repaid , if not by me, then by other like minded sportsmen.

I spent the rest of my trip exploring my interests in a black bear, but it wasn't to be ... this trip

Again, I want to express my gratitude to my hosts Tom and Carrie, and to their friends whom made me feel like a part of their hunting crowd, Kurt, Trent, and James. 

Also, I thank my wife Kris for always encouraging me to "Go for it", not to mention all the work she does to help me hunt, more than I probably have a right to.

This "Okie" had a blast, 
fall/99, David Doughty