2016 Oregon Archery Elk Hunt

One word to describe the 2016 Oregon archery elk hunt, success.

It started a little different than the year before, with the guys meeting me here in Northern California. Two of my uncles and my Dad showed up on a Thursday afternoon ready to pack everything and get going. I had all the food and drinks packed up. My hunting gear, camping gear, etc. All in containers and ready to be packed. See this year we would take my trailer up to Oregon. This allowed the guys to make great time on the first half of there trip. And cut down on how far we would have to tow the trailer. Thus saving money on gas and allowing everyone a little comfort.

After packing was complete, we hit the road Thursday afternoon. The plan was to drive as far as we could before finding somewhere to sleep on the way up. We wanted to get to camp one full day before opening day. Based on last years experience, we wanted to be able to get to camp, relax and get everything set up and shoot our bows. We wanted to limit any excuses we might have for not putting an elk on the ground. We also knew from trail camera picks, that there were a lot of animals in the area. So we expected opening day to have a lot of activity. And boy were we right.

The plan worked perfectly. We got into camp on Friday morning. This allowed us to have camp completely set up before the rest of our hunting party pulled in. We had everyone in the party in hunting camp by late Friday afternoon. Every one of us filled with that joy that only comes with opening day. We sat around the dinner table that night and put a game plan together. I was going to head to the "Door Stand". This is a stand location that has been around for some time. And has always proved to be a successful spot every year. I was more than excited for the opportunity to hunt this location. I came into camp this year with having shot my bow a ton. I bought the new Trophy Ridge React trio sight and had it sighted into the 10 ring at up to 60 yards and having shot it at up to 80 yards. As always, I set my perimeters for the hunt before heading out on opening day. I would shoot at any legal elk inside of 60 yards. It needed to be a shot I was comfortable with. Most likely broadside. Because I have never harvested a big game animal, I am really reluctant to just let one fly. I want to be completely aware of what is going to happen. I want to leave as little to chance as possible. The last thing I want to do is to shoot an animal and not be able to recover it.

The morning of opening day we all headed out. Making the hike into the woods under the cover of darkness. Climbing into our stands with only the light of our head lamp. Once I got into the stand, I nocked an arrow in my bow, set the bow on the rest and waited for sunrise. It wasn't too cold this morning. Just enough to get a bite in the air. But what it was, was quiet.  It stayed quiet for that first morning until about an hour after sunrise. Then I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned to the right and could see the legs of an elk through the trees. I turned my camera on, spun the lens to point in the general direction of the elk and then grabbed my bow. With my bow in one hand and my range finder in the other, I watched three legal elk walk through shooting range. From 48 yards to 62 yards. Looking back, I believe it to be a rookie mistake. See the first elk to come into range was a forked horn at 48 yards. But I was waiting for the third elk in line to step out. He was a decent size 5x5. So I let the 48 yard broadside shot pass on the forked horn. Then let a similar shot pass with the second elk in line that I believe to be a 3x3. But just as you would know it, when the second elk stepped out of the shooting lane, all three elk broke. The 5x5 took off and I never had a shot at him. The only time that I even came close to getting a shot was when they first stepped through the woods. He was quartering to me hard at 62 yards. Not a shot I was comfortable with nor a shot that I thought would bring him down. And just as quick as it started, it was over. It was a long walk back to the side by side. Wondering what the next seven days was going to bring.

So the second day came with a lot of excitement. Not for me, but my uncle. He had shot a spike elk at around 35 yards. It was moving quickly and quartering away from him when he shot. He was confident in his shot though. And me, knowing that he shoots his bow everyday after getting home from work, I was pretty confident in it as well. He got a hold of our hunting party on the radio and asked that we come in to help him track it down. We stayed on blood for hours and hours even though the blood was minimal. Trailing the elk for a mile or two. But just like that, it stopped. From the tracks that we found, it looks like he was still moving at a good clip. So we called off the search, and with our heads down, headed back to camp. That was a pretty somber evening. It was not to often that this camp lost an animal. And for any hunter that it has happened to, you can understand the disappointment and frustration.

So day three started like any other. I stayed persistent and headed back to the door stand. All the time thinking back to the year before when I only saw three legal elk all trip. And I had seen three legal elk on the first day this year. I was completely inside my head. I liken it to a baseball player that is in a slump or a golfer that can't get his putter together. But, the one thing I did know was if I was going to get another chance it was because I stayed persistent. So I got up early, got back into my stand before dark, and sat there. I sat there for a couple hours with nothing other than a grouse in the trees making all kinds of racquet. Finally the grouse left and the quiet returned. Just as I got comfortable, I could hear something behind me. I turned around in my tree stand and saw a small herd of elk heading down the mountain at a trot, towards me, between the trees. This is a completely different direction then a couple days prior. I sat up, grabbed my bow and turned. I could see a big bodied elk coming through the trees first. It was a very large cow elk, with a yearling following close behind. Then another cow elk. At this time I was back inside my head. Asking my self how I could have this perfect opportunity and there be no legal bull in the group. Then another cow elk. Then, horns. I saw that he was what we called a trophy spike. A spike on one side and a fork on the other. I looked left and ranged between two trees that I thought they would be passing through. 30 yards. I turned around again and tried to look deeper in the group. I wanted to know if a larger bull was in the back of the pack. No such luck. I turned to the left again and pulled my range finder up at the same location between the trees as the first elk came through. 32 yards. I had already anticipated cow elk, yearling, cow elk, cow elk, spike, shoot. And as they came through I saw the first cow elk, but no yearling. Another cow elk passes through. I look out of my corner of my eye and see that the yearling is now behind the spike bull and picking up speed to catch up with its mother. This is my luck, the yearling is going to be side by side with the spike bull as it passes through my shooting lane and I won't get a shot. I see the spike step through the trees and into my shooting lane. And my luck turned. The yearling was near the spike, but shorter and near its hind quarter. I saw the his closest front leg step forward and I let an arrow fly. The rest of the elk ran for about 50 yards. The spike is stopped dead in his tracks, but not moving. Just looking around. Almost like he was asking himself what had just happened. The cows were now calling for him. Asking him to join back in the heard. He tried. He walk off towards them. At this time I was freaking out. I remembered my uncles bull from just a day before. But I couldn't get a second shot off. The other elk were in the way. Then it happened. He falls! I had never heard an animal that large fall. It sounded like we had fallen a large tree. Rattling the forest around it and shaking the ground. I stood tall in my stand. Raising both my arms and my bow to the sky in victory! There would be no need for tracking this one. I could see him. He was on the ground. Head squeezed between two down logs. But I could also still hear him breathing. The other elk had left when he fell. He was all alone and taking his last breathe. I had heard how strong elk where. How large bulls could have a punctured lung and live. But not this one. He was right there. Right in front of me. Then after about what seemed to be ten minutes, the unthinkable happens. He stands back up. My heart dropped. I had seen the puncture wound before he fell on both sides. It was a complete pass through of both lungs. What I thought was a perfect shot. And not only is he standing again. All of his vitals are behind a tree. I range his rear at 50 yards. I have a second arrow nocked and ready. I just need him to turn. Then he does it. I pull my bow up and let another one fly. I hear it hit and see him jump. It was another shot through the lungs. Now he had jumped and started to run. He made it about 30 yards back towards the stand and he fell again. I can hear him breathing very hard now. Gasping for breathe. Then, silence. I had reached my goal. It was real. I had harvested my first big game animal. After missing a mule deer with a rifle when I was 13 years old, I had finally harvested a big game animal at the age of 40. It was a long road. I often think of all the years I didn't go hunting. Those years I didn't get a chance to sit in the forest with just my thoughts and a game plan to harvest an animal. And I often look back with regret. I accomplished a lot in those years. But for whatever reason, I still feel like I missed something. There are not too many words that can describe feeding your family with an animal that you brought home. Or the joy that comes with bringing the head back into camp. It is something I will never forget.