I was fortunate enough to be drawn for a first week firearm bull tag. I left on Friday and checked in with the outfitter then headed to the hotel.
I met my guide Saturday morning and drove into one of the old coal strip mines. We called with no response. Later in the morning we were walking along a path when I noticed an odd brown rock with trees around it 20 yards away on the hill about the same time the guide informed me it was a cow elk. After being deadlocked for 5-10 min she began feeding. We saw another cow and a calf with her. A couple weeks prior an archery hunter missed a bull that had two cows and a calf. It was pretty thick so he could be anywhere. I finally spotted the tops of his antlers as he walked into the thick KY brush. We circled around but they disappeared for good. The rest of the afternoon was slow.
The next morning we met at the same location. We pretty much followed the previous day’s agenda. We began hiking into the area where we saw the bull and could smell where he had been and eventually saw some fresh tracks. We made our way with the wind in our face. We rounded a corner and the guide exploded with, “there’s the bull!” He was feeding on the same hill almost exactly where the cow was the day before. He began running a sapling until it began glowing in the facing sun. He was facing away and at an upward angle. He continued to work the small tree until the top folded. My guide tried using a cow call to get him to turn but it only yielded a quick look back and then he returned to his business. We ranged him at 160 yards and continues to wait for a shot opportunity.
As we watched for what seemed to be an eternity, but in reality was around 10 minutes, I would feel my heart rate accelerate followed by a few left leg shakes. I just needed him to take two steps to the left. Finally the bull took two steps and I squeezed the trigger on my Tikka and the bull disappeared into the tall brush, falling straight to ground and began rolling down the small hill. He came to a stop at the bottom and was clearly expired. We began making our way to him as we celebrated my first elk.
We made it to him and verified he was dead and celebrated once more. He was a respectable bull and I was thrilled. The guide noticed something sticking out of the crease where his next and shoulder meet. At first we thought it was a stick but upon further investigation we realized it was an arrow. We began field dressing and making arrangements to get him back to the truck. Luckily it was right off of a path so we could utilize a side by side.
Here are some pics. He’s not a state record but I am super thrilled with him and can not wait to grill some steaks in the near future. I was shooting a Tikka T3 that JES rebored to a 35 whelen. The Barnes 200 gr TTSX did its job without damaging a bunch of meet.
Last edited by JSmith62198; 09/28/20. Reason: Fat fingers
Beautiful bull, congrats! Missouri is having its first elk hunt in modern history this year. Our elk are descendants of the Kentucky herd. Five lucky tag holders are gonna make history in the Ozark timber this fall. It was exciting to apply for a resident elk tag this year. Bear hunting is supposed to kick off next year and that will be cool too. I have both elk and bear in my stomping grounds and see both occasionally. Now if I can get a tag...
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
