For an avid deer hunter who is used to absolute silence in the woods during hunting season, hearing elk bugle back and forth across the Gospel Hump Wilderness in North Central Idaho was certainly eye opening.  For the past three years, my dad and I have spent a week riding horses into the wilderness, hiking up seemingly endless mountains, and doing everything we can possibly think of to get close to big elk. 

The past two seasons, we have gone during firearm season, and we have had great success, finding big elk, and filling the freezers with meat to last for months.  This year we decided for a different challenge….bow hunting. That means up close. For the rifle hunting, we prepared for taking shots up to 300 yards, for archery, 30 yards tops. A real challenge!

The day we rode into camp, it was 90 degrees…a heat wave for Idaho in the fall….8 days later it snowed.  And we think weather in Northern Michigan changes!!  Anyway, we dealt with sun and heat for the first three days, but after a long hike I had a chance….a bugle, and then before I knew it…a big bull elk with in 20 yards. I would like to say that the trees in the way didn’t give me a shot, but in reality I was just way to nervous to shoot. The arrow tip was shaking, my hands were shaking, everything, except the elk seemed to be shaking. I decided to pass….or my nerves decided for me. In the evening that day, I had a chance on another bull and was successful at 16 yards.

But that wasn’t the closest we got, nor was it the biggest bull my dad and I saw. On the last day of the hunt, with Dad ready, a monster 350 class B&C bull elk walked within 8 yards of him, but he decided to let it go, perhaps for next year?

By the way, I shot the video while hiding behind a small bush so it’s not the best, but you can see how much I was shaking just holding the camera!