I don't post on here too often, but simply have to brag about my brother's first (and maybe his last) elk.
My brother is coming up on 71 years old and is the type of person who helps everyone he can, gives without question, and does everything the right way - truly a stand-up gentleman. When it comes to the outdoors, he did all he could to help me catch my first fish, take my first rabbit, quail, javelina, deer, etc., etc. He was there when I harvested my bulls. He's had a few archery and general season elk tags over the years, but his shoulders got to the point he couldn't pull back a bow. He knew what he wanted and a long while back he made a decision to apply for AZ early bull and nothing else.
Fast forward 20 years later - he (and me much of the time) got blanked season after season. When Covid hit he decided to kind of lock himself in a little family bubble with focus on taking care of his new granddaughter. His body started to go down hill with various ailments to the point that even just walking over flat surfaces is a struggle let along hiking in the outdoors. Well...20+ bonus points later and he finally draws an early bull tag!!
I was tickled to death for him, but he quietly let on to me that he probably wasn't going to go. Months went by and the outlook didn't get better. If he turns in the tag he gets to keep his bonus points, but in his mind he knew his body was probably not going to get any better. I agonized over it for months. I kept telling him - we'll sit water; we'll sit on a stump; we'll road hunt; just pull the trigger and I'll do the rest; yada, yada, yada. Nothing seemed to spark his interest. I had a friend draw an archery tag in the same unit and I had him give me reports and pictures of what he was seeing. I'm not sure if that finally got to my brother, but 7 days before opening morning he calls me and says, "What do you think?" My response..."LET'S GO!!!"
We camped a little higher in the pines, but on my friend's advice we were in the "cedars" opening morning. Sure enough there were bulls, but mostly at 500 yards out or more. My brother isn't that type of shooter. When the bulls decided to bed they wasted no time in negotiating a half mile or more in mere minutes and we simply couldn't get into position for a good shot. Second morning was the same. I tried to get my brother into a better position, but we still only caught glimpses of elk and most were still a ways out there.
Second afternoon of the hunt a big herd of sheep camp through camp. Several hours later a lone sheep walked into camp and simply stopped and stared at us like it was trying to tell us something. It was injured and after a short time limped off into the woods. It was about time for us to drive off to the cedars for the evening hunt but my brother and I agreed I should drive down the road first to try and find the sheep herder and let him know he has an injured lone animal out here. I couldn't find the shepherd so hurried back to camp knowing we had to start driving. My brother later admitted that the he felt that the lone sheep was a message from our late dad saying, "hey - go this way." Well, that slight delay was just enough - right before we got into the truck we heard a single, distant bugle off in the direction of the sheep. We both looked at each other and agreed - let's hunt here tonight.
We tip-toed out of camp and I started cow-calling. The distant bugle continued, then suddenly a yearling and a cow came running out of the thicks and stopped maybe 40 yards from us. I let them drift off a little then saw two more cows come in, then a bull! My brother set up on a small tree trying to line up on the bull. It was maybe 80 yards out, but it was such a thick jungle of trees and other vegetation that he couldn't get a clear shot. I snuck back behind my brother maybe another 25 yards and kept calling. We would catch glimpses of elk hide, but still no shot. We were facing mostly south, and meanwhile a second bull continued to call from the northeast, then a 3rd bull's bugle was getting closer from the west. I kept hoping my brother would get a shot. What we didn't know was a 4th bull was approaching quietly from the east. He couldn't have been 60 yards out when suddenly he lets out a bugle right in our faces! Again, my brother was facing mostly south and this 4th bull came running over a small rise and comes to a screeching halt maybe 30 yards behind my brother. Truly one of those OH CRAP moments when a bull you never knew was there is suddenly galloping and screaming and right on top of you! I watched my brother come off that tree and try to rotate almost 180 degrees to face the bull. His body hobbled to get into position, but now he's standing on shaky legs and rifle held up and off-hand. I could see parts of the bull, but had open view of my brother so I just stared. No shot - too thick and the bull is covered up. The bull started to drift off so I continued to call. Now I can't see the bull at all but I can see my brother trying to stay afoot with rifle up. I took my eyes off my brother for a second with attempts to find the bull, then...BOOM!
At around 45 yards my brother found a window and squeezed. I saw the bull race off then disappear. I thought, "did he disappear because he dropped, or did he disappear because of the thick forest? Seconds later I saw an elk body moving again even deeper in the woods. That was the "oh no" moment of uncertainty that often hits us. Was it a good shot, or no? I looked back at my brother and he was moving faster than I had seen him move in years. Bull Fever kicked it and it was all I could do to catch up to him and remind him that we just needed to sit and wait for a few. We tip-toed forward and with binos up. I caught a view of what could have been either elk hide on the ground, or rocks. I scanned a little left with my glass then picked up some horizontal antler tips. The pats on the back and hugs commenced!!
Only time and the Good Lord will determine what the future holds, but if my brother decides to call it a hunting career now I can't think of a better way to end it than with his first elk!
Awsome…… great story! Congratulations to your brother and you for sharing the experience ! memtb
You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong." -Bob Hagel
“I’d like to be a good rifleman…..but, I prefer to be a good hunter”! memtb 2024
Thank you all for the kind words - I really appreciate it! I'll say, it was a little weird getting a call from my 90-year-old mother saying, "thank you so much for taking your brother hunting. He was so happy!" My brother is much older than me - to the point that he treated me like a son and took me on countless numbers of hunts. There were times where he didn't even raise his rifle just making sure I got my shot. It was really great to return the favor!!
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/X0n16mr.png)
