Wednesday... I met up with my buddy after making our plan. We drove to the gate we needed to get behind and while unloading, a timber co truck pulls up to us right at daylight to let us know the helo would be spraying the fresh clearcuts with pre-emergent. We were parked in one of the clearcuts so, we had to load up our gear and bail. Pretty much ruined the day. Came home, grabbed a burger and met another guy that's hunting Oregon for the last year before he transfers. We hit some good places and called with no replies. Glassed a hill off in the distance (close to where we entered the land) and saw 6 elk. Oh well.

I've spent most of my days calling for others in hopes of them getting their 1st bull. Saturday, more of the same, just with my son, maybe he gets one. Somebody better get one since I typically hunt solo and I've been pretty successful. I have a few days set aside to hunt for myself so, we'll see how it goes.

Oh, I failed to mention that my legs are SORE. I entered the season probably in the worst shape I've ever started an elk season. At 51, I'm still going at it hard, it just hurts

I also received a new frame pack this week. Slumberjack rail hauler, really want to test this thing out. Along with that I got a new Nikon rangefinder, pretty good so far. Was able to range a stump in the misty rain yesterday at 40.

My hunting rig, lol. 27.5 Felt with some heavy duty tubes. I have a Trek 29er as well, but ride this.

Thanks for the updates, nice hunting rig you got there

Beautiful ground your getting to hunt. Good luck out there

Everyone's going to think you're a girl with those pink arras.

That or man enough to tote them... My wife chooses my colors every year so, I just roll with it. Last year she picked pink/white fletching. I shot at my bull with pink/yellow. Clipped a limb and missed. Grabbed a pink/white and drilled him, lol

My wife's color selection rocks!
0817, that's 8:17am for some of ya

Waiting on rest of story...

Hmmm... sounds like it's story time! Kodiak, we're waiting......

Love it...thanks for posting.

Too tired for typing, lol. My legs are shot. Finally resting at 9:30pm. Sipping my 2nd Mikes watermelon drink after boning out 2 shoulders and 1 hind qtr...

My arrow lost its lumenock but, got dirty

Ok, I feel like a friggin truck ran over me today!!! Story coming soon

The plan was to call for my son and let him kill his first elk. Long story short, he broke down in his friends POS truck on the logging roads about an hour from town on some lands with open access the night before and didn't make it.

I arrived at the gate I wanted to hunt and started down the road on my bike solo at daylight. As I was approaching a "T" in the road, I got off the bike to sneak up to the corner and glass a clearcut we saw a bull in earlier in the season. I'm walking probably 75yds from the "T" when a bull lights off, I'm like "hell yea, it's on". As I got closer to the "T" the bugles were getting farther away in the timber on the other side of the road. I held up and looked down the road to the right and realized I was busted... 2 cows took off across the cut, stopped and "barked" at me. I couldn't go after the bull. had a problem. The problem, I was at a property line that's illegal to cross.

After that. I bombed down the road to the left and went to where my buddy stalked the 4pt. Dropped the bike and walked the edges glassing and saw nothing.. I sat up in a good spot with a couple draws and called, no replies, nothing coming in. I hiked back to the bike and off I went. DOWN HILL the whole time, knowing coming out would suck and I'd have to push the bike up the hills.

Came to a spot with lots of clear cuts and reprod so, I parked the bike and hiked off the left side of the road a little bit and started glassing. This place was beautiful as far as elk country and I was confident. While glassing, I heard a bugle. It was just a little farther up the road, on the opposite side, and over a descent sized hill. Back to the bike and pedal up the road and go for it! So that's what I did.

I park the bike and hear another bugle and told myself, "time to get it on"... I then hear another bugle and it's farther away, and I think "damn things moving away from me". As soon as I thought that, another bugle. Opposite side of the hill I'm on. I start heading up through the reprod and have big timber up hill and on the right. As I top the hill, I realize the timber has been select cut and get a big smile. I knew it would be that much easier to find the elk. As I'm heading up, I hear more bugles and I'm digging it.

I jump into the timber edge and keep trucking. I'm persistent and aggressive when getting on the elk so, I'm focused and all eyes and ears as I head toward the bugles. I finally get to where I think I'm close and pause to scan. Movement ahead, moving left to right.

Pulled my binos out real quick to see "chocolate horns with ivory tips", the bull I've been looking for every year. I cow called the soft times. he stopped, looked dead my way and then continued from left to right out of sight.

I haul butt up another 30-40yds and can't see any elk so, I see a little road below about 20yds away. I jumped on the road, dropped my pack and beat feet up another 40yds. I found a small tree uprooted on the left side up a small bank. I hunkered down on my butt behind it. Another bugle, "hell yea"... Ranged a tree down hill a bit, 30yds.

I look and see an elk headed straight up the little road, straight to me. Grab the binos to see dark horns, excited for sure. I look through the root system and instantly think "damn", it's a friggin 4pt. Looked again and saw he was a 5x5, not the 6x6 I had first seen.

I decided that if given the shot, I would take it. I nocked my PINK Black Eagle arrow my wife chose with total confidence in her good luck she has given me. The angle I had with the roots was gonna give me about an 8yd shot. As the bull approached the 20ish yard mark I drew. Not sure if he saw the top of my bow move OR if the wind swirled but, he stopped and then ran to his left looping to some clear lanes in front of me. I cow called, he instantly stopped about 5yds behind, and right of the 30yd tree I had ranged. I keep my black gold single pin on 30 and that's where it stayed.

I put the pin center lung, squeezed the release, and watched my Green Lumenock track through the air, burying itself into the bulls body. I was like "that was badass" watching that arrow. On impact, the bull wheeled right and ran about 30yds while I cow called to stop him. He came to a slow walk, stopped and coughed a few times and bedded down roughly 40yds from impact. As I was watching him do that, 2 cows had popped out with the 6x6, they also watched his bed down. As the big bull followed the 2 cows away, he ripped off another bugle.

I watched through my binos. He put his head down after a minute and the I saw it come to rest a couple minutes later. A great animal, a clean shot, and I have been honored to hunt and watch these majestic animals.

I went to where the bull was standing when I shot, Ranged it at 34.6yds. Excited and knowing the daunting task of getting the bull out of the woods, I headed toward the bike making calls for help. As I talked to my main hunting buddy, I tripped over a dang snag and fell on my bow. Haven't looked hard but, I think all the parts are still there.