Your Most "Textbook" Harvest

[el_jefe_pescado]

Well, I am officially bored out of my mind in the quarantine zone...

I thought it would be cool to hear some stories of everyone's most textbook/memorable harvests. It doesn't have to be western big game or even you biggest animal. It could be deer, ducks, turkeys---whatever. I'm looking for the kinds of hunts where its seems like the critters read the script and you couldn't have drawn it up any better if you tried!

Here's one that comes to mind:

In 2018, my brother-in-law and I were getting ready to head off the mountain after a long day of chasing September bulls here in CO. During the last 15 minutes of shooting light we found ourselves in a small bowl of interspersed aspens and lodgepole pine. As the light faded, we heard the most lazy, pathetic bugle coming from the other side of the opening. At this point were less than a half mile from home and in total disbelief. Nevertheless, I responded with a bugle of my own and immediately saw eight cows pop out of the timber on a bee line for our position. Bringing up the rear was a small 5 point, intent on establishing his harem. The thermals had just switched in our favor and this allowed the cows to pass by us at 8 yards without a worry in the world. I was at full draw when the young romeo came sauntering through a patch of golden aspens and (as cheesy as it sounds) I thought to myself "this is like something out of field and stream magazine". I stopped him with a mew at 28 yards and let the arrow fly. It hit him perfect and the bull died within 20 seconds ON the trail we were heading for. A few buddies and a few hours later we had the bull off the mountain. That hunt was by no means "textbook" in elk hunting terms but some days I would rather be lucky than good!

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

The bull in my avatar. We were mixed up with three different groups of bulls (and some cows) in thick timber. After an hour of almost's I had a 5x5 coming in about 60 yards out, with a cow at 30ish yards. Then this big 6x6 bull sauntered in from my right, about 25 yards out. I was shooting a longbow.

I distinctly remember thinking "I need that cow to get out of my sight so I can draw" and she shied away from the bull behind a big pine tree.
Then I thought, "Now if he'll just turn his head away" (he was broadside)... and the bull gave two chews on his cud, licked his chops, and looked the other way!

I hit full draw, and there was a sapling blocking his heart and lungs, so I leaned left about 6 inches, verified my sight picture, and let it fly. Ever seen 5" feathers spin an arrow in slow motion all the way to the heart? Textbook.

 

[Theringworm]

My bull moose in my avatar ended as it was drawn up. First trip to Alaska. Killed it within 45 minutes of the hunt on the first morning. I still can’t believe it went down the way it did.

Here is my post about it. It’s a long read but my most memorable hunt to date.

My Alaskan Moose Hunt

This is a cross post form another forum (THF) that I participate in, but I have had many people on here that knew I was going on this hunt so I wanted to report back on my experience. This journey all started about 2 years ago when I had registered to attend the 2018 SCI convention in Las...

www.rokslide.com

 

[el_jefe_pescado]

The bull in my avatar. We were mixed up with three different groups of bulls (and some cows) in thick timber. After an hour of almost's I had a 5x5 coming in about 60 yards out, with a cow at 30ish yards. Then this big 6x6 bull sauntered in from my right, about 25 yards out. I was shooting a longbow.

I distinctly remember thinking "I need that cow to get out of my sight so I can draw" and she shied away from the bull behind a big pine tree.
Then I thought, "Now if he'll just turn his head away" (he was broadside)... and the bull gave two chews on his cud, licked his chops, and looked the other way!

I hit full draw, and there was a sapling blocking his heart and lungs, so I leaned left about 6 inches, verified my sight picture, and let it fly. Ever seen 5" feathers spin an arrow in slow motion all the way to the heart? Textbook.

that's what I'm talking about.

 

[Bagel_7]

My father in law's first big game animal was a text book stalk. It was our last day to hunt in WY and that morning I had shot a buck. So we processed my buck and got back out to hunt the 2nd half of the day for him. We start driving the two tracks and when we'd come to a rise we'd get out and glass in all directions. We had stopped and in an area of BLM and went opposite directions. I start glassing and eventually I find a group of 30 antelope with a few bucks in it about a 1 to 2 miles away. I grab my father in law and show him the group and I talk him through my plan for a stalk. We have to cross a meandering stream that is deeper than either of us want to cross as its been in the low 30's all trip and has snowed or rained all 3 days of our hunt. We follow the stream for a bit and find a small concrete bridge. Which makes us both happy as we don't have to get into the stream. From there we are able to follow a small dip in the landscape, probably and old creek bed, and get within a few hundred yards. As we are moving through the creek bed we come across a group of mule deer does and fawns. We stop and I curse. If they spook towards our bedded group of antelope they will likely bolt as well. Eventually the mule deer spook but away from our antelope which was a lucky break. We get to the hill I know they are bedded behind and I tell my father in law when we get to the top we will crawl to the ridge and peak over. There is a strong cross wind and I tell him it will change his bullet directory and to account for it when he sets up. We get to the top of the ridge and I can see all the antelope still bedded maybe 120 yards away. I set up my tripod for him with a pig saddle to rest his gun and told him to wait until one stands. From there I sunk back behind the ridge and didn't see the shot, I didn't want to have both of us visible above the ridge. After a few minutes he takes a shot and I jump up and start glassing. Somehow I immediately get on the buck he shot and I can see its losing blood fast. It runs about 20 yards and falls over. After I begin gutting it I can see he hit the bottom of the heart. It was a perfect shot and a great stalk for his first big game animal.

 

[Mosster47]

My dad decided to try elk hunting in 1986. I was three at the time. He borrow his dad's 30-06. He had absolutely no idea what he was doing. Drove about an hour and a half away after work one day. Just decided he was in a good place, pulled over, walked about 200 yards into the wood, sat on a stump, lit a cigarette and about 30 seconds later killed the third largest Roosevelt bull in the state of Oregon at that time. It scored 338 after it dried with deductions. That score isn't anything crazy anymore, but it was a huge deal at the time. He ended up being a great elk hunter and passed unexpectedly in 2003.

I was about 10 years old and it was the inaugural turkey season in Oregon. We had absolutely no idea what we were doing. We drove to a spot we knew had a lot of oak trees about 90 minutes from our hourse. We parked, I jumped out, hit the slate, gobble, called it in and my dad bagged it. 10.5" tom.

They stopped running bears with dogs in the early 90s in Oregon and by around 98ish the bear population was growing pretty strongly. My dad bought his first bear tag and when he got home he joked with me that we'd just go kill one the next day. So, the next day we were driving to an area that we knew was freshly logged and we were going to glass it all day. We got about a mile off the pavement and a bear crosses the road in front of us. We bail out and get about 20 yards into the trees and it's just standing there broadside about 50 yarda away.

My dad caught two different 22lb steelhead on the South Umpqua river. The first time he was getting his baitcaster setup before they launched the boat and he hooked it. That was 1987. The second time was in 2000 and it was the same situation.

Needless to say, my dad was one lucky SOB. I've been really successful at filling tags, but the things that would just happen out of the blue for that guy was nuts. This was all on public land also. There are way more of these gimme stories involving him as well. He definitely put his time in, he was always in the woods or on the water, it was always just a little too easy for him though.

 

[el_jefe_pescado]

My dad decided to try elk hunting in 1986. I was three at the time. He borrow his dad's 30-06. He had absolutely no idea what he was doing. Drove about an hour and a half away after work one day. Just decided he was in a good place, pulled over, walked about 200 yards into the wood, sat on a stump, lit a cigarette and about 30 seconds later killed the third largest Roosevelt bull in the state of Oregon at that time. It scored 338 after it dried with deductions. That score isn't anything crazy anymore, but it was a huge deal at the time. He ended up being a great elk hunter and passed unexpectedly in 2003.

I was about 10 years old and it was the inaugural turkey season in Oregon. We had absolutely no idea what we were doing. We drove to a spot we knew had a lot of oak trees about 90 minutes from our hourse. We parked, I jumped out, hit the slate, gobble, called it in and my dad bagged it. 10.5" tom.

They stopped running bears with dogs in the early 90s in Oregon and by around 98ish the bear population was growing pretty strongly. My dad bought his first bear tag and when he got home he joked with me that we'd just go kill one the next day. So, the next day we were driving to an area that we knew was freshly logged and we were going to glass it all day. We got about a mile off the pavement and a bear crosses the road in front of us. We bail out and get about 20 yards into the trees and it's just standing there broadside about 50 yarda away.

My dad caught two different 22lb steelhead on the South Umpqua river. The first time he was getting his baitcaster setup before they launched the boat and he hooked it. That was 1987. The second time was in 2000 and it was the same situation.

Needless to say, my dad was one lucky SOB. I've been really successful at filling tags, but the things that would just happen out of the blue for that guy was nuts. This was all on public land also. There are way more of these gimme stories involving him as well. He definitely put his time in, he was always in the woods or on the water, it was always just a little too easy for him though.

Unreal. Sounds like you two carved out some awesome memories.

 

[5MilesBack]

September 9, 2013. I already had my base camp set up in my spot, but my dad had gone on oxygen that year and I went down 1 day a week to take care of the farm the best I could in only a day. It was a Monday and I wanted to get an evening hunt in so I left a little early. Got to camp, changed clothes, and grabbed my stuff. I drove to one of my favorite spots and started hiking in about 5pm. The clouds were dark and I knew I was going to get wet. That was the year we had over 15" of rain just in a two week period, and lots of flooding around the state.

So it's raining now and dark even that early. I had barely gone 1/4 mile when I hear a bull bugle several hundred yards away. So I scream back at him and then ran in. He bugles again but much closer. I did a little aggressive routine that I like to do and then ran full speed about 50 yards. As I was coming to a stop I heard him coming. I nocked an arrow and there he was.......coming right at me. We were in the middle of a bunch of dog hair aspens and one lone evergreen. He stops directly behind that evergreen at 17 yards and starts to tear it up. For a minute I kept trying to get an angle, but the aspens were thick and he would stop every time I moved. There was a 2-foot opening to his left and I was hopeful that he would turn that way when he was done. In the meantime all I could do was look at his long ski tip fronts, tall sword points, and those 18" 6th's thrash around against that evergreen. This was the biggest bull I had ever been that close to before.

All of a sudden he stops the thrashing and moves to his left........two steps into the opening at 17 YARDS! He's slightly quartering to me.....but more broadside than quartering. All I could think of was "don't gut shoot him in this rain". I was already at full draw and ready for this chip shot. All I could see through my peep was "tan".........no crease, no leg, no shoulder, no reference........just "tan fur". In my haste to avoid gut shooting him, I aimed further forward and released........and shot him right in the shoulder knuckle. Two inches left of there and he would have been piling up 30 yards away. Complete textbook setup with his full cooperation......and I pulled a Homer.

I followed his tracks about 150 yards and there found my arrow laying next to his tracks showing the beat up BH and about 2" of penetration. No harvest......or kill......but it was textbook, and I couldn't have drawn it up any better than that.

A very similar thing happened with the bull in my avatar........same kind of textbook setup as before, and even had rain as well.......but just a drizzle, and it was morning this time. But I used the exact same setup as the one in 2013 and I saw his legs coming through the timber. I came to full draw and he walked into my sight pins and stopped in the same angle as the other one. I released as soon as my pin was on him, and he was down 2.5 seconds later. This one hit "just left" of the knuckle. I really need to figure out how to aim further away from that knuckle.

 

[FLAK]

Turkey, Talladega National Forest Alabama. Got to the woods late, around 8 or so.
Sat down in a likely spot, scratched out a few yelps. Heard a gobble off to my left
and looked. He was running to me, killed him @ 8 steps. Back at the truck @ 8:30.
Should have bought lotto tickets with 8's.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

My buddy's bull from last year. Day 3 of OTC Archery in CO and we had just completed a demoralizing morning bugle session with some other hunters. Feelings of dejection were shared silently among us, as we had also missed an opportunity on a big bull the evening prior. After a solid nap session we headed to our plan B spot as soon as the thermals started to change for the evening.

Credit for the next part goes entirely to my friend. We set up at the bottom of a draw in picture perfect Elk country of mixed Aspen and Pine with open meadows and nearby creeks and wallows. My buddy sets up and hits the bugle one time. Immediately he gets a response from up in the draw. This bull came in almost too fast for my friend to transition from bugle to bow and nock an arrow. As soon as he is at full draw he hits a cow call from his mouth reed and the bull stops broadside at 20 yards. Perfect shot sealed the deal and we got back to camp late that night after field dressing. One of the coolest things I've witnessed on a hunt and I would consider that to be a text book fall Elk Hunt. What made it cool was that it happened so fast and was played perfectly on very short notice.

 

[timekiller13]

Whitetail buck I shot last season on public land. Hiked in to a beautiful river bottom. Found a fresh rub line and scrape line, trail crossing with fresh tracks, wind was blowing straight from bedding to feeding area. The spot screamed "Big buck." I climbed a tree at 1400, at a 1508, a large 8 PT strolled right by me at 50 yds. Dropped him with one shot.

 

[MatthewNich]

Whitetail hunt in Mississippi. Found a secluded spot on a big piece of private property that I have access to. Lots of pressure, so I found a nice spot that looked good. Hung a game camera, found some good bucks. Hung a stand with only one wind available, SW. Waited all season for good weather, and correct wind. Never went in there until I got the wind. Waited till the afternoon so wouldn't bump the deer out walking in that morning. Got in my stand at 1 pm, right around 4:45, stud buck walks out, 30 yards. Punch him right in the heart, he runs 40 yards and topples over. First sit on the stand. Do the little things right and it pays off!

 

[Beendare]

In 4 decades of bowhunting....I don't think I've ever had a textbook kill....but I have had plenty of situations that should have been Textbook go entirely wrong!

My only 1st day elk kill was on a solo OTC hunt in CO. I was supposed to meet some buddies and pack in on horseback but had problems getting my license with those old Conservation certificates [remember those?]

By the time I got my license it was too late to meet my buddies so I drove up to a spot on the Mountain to camp vs getting a motel in town. I bombed off the hill 2 hrs before dark as these were steep canyons with no roads in the bottoms...and camps every 100yds along the ridge road. I wanted to get out in front of the hordes before light- grin.

I found a really elky looking spot right as it as getting light, unfurrelled my decoy and starts calling. Sure enough not 2 minutes later 2 bulls come peeking up and circled in transfixed on my decoy the whole time. I drew and shot the one bull frontal at about 12 yds...buried the arrow to the fletch. I could see blood shoot out forward like a gusher as he turned.....poleaxed was more like it, I had only seen an arrow do that one other time.

I had that bull out by dark....

 

[nowen22]

Me and my brother drove 10 hours through the night to get to our spot in SD at first light opening day. Pulled in on no sleep, couple of redbulls a piece, and a bag of sunflower seeds gone. 1st 5 minutes of shooting light we spot a great muley pushing some does at 200 yards. My brother had a rifle tag so he decided to shoot that buck. perfect shot. Dropped him. I had an archery tag so we decided to walk down the ridge for a minute and wait to see what was moving. 30 minutes later we had a whitetail buck come cruising through 30 yards below us. I couldn't pass it up and that was that!

A couple years later, we are hunting elk on an OTC archery unit in Utah. 1st day of elk hunting on Sept 7th we decide to go to a new spot. Start calling an hour before dark and get a response. Close the distance, sneak in to 50 yards while he raked a tree and my brother made a good shot and that was that. One week later we go to the same area where we found a small wallow the week before about 100 yards from where my brother killed his bull. Nothing was talking but when we got up on the wallow, there was a bull laying in it. He stood up at 55 yards and I shot that one. About 3 hours of total hunting between the 2 bulls. That will probably never happen again!

 

[Northpark]

The most “textbook” hunt I’ve ever had was the biggest bull elk I’ve killed. I drew a 1st rifle either sex tag here in CO a couple years ago and hunted day one and two without seeing a shooter bull. The evening of day two my buddy and I decided we would take the evening to just glass from the truck. About 30 minutes after we started glassing we found a 6x6 bull and his cows above tree line about 3 miles and 3000’ above the truck. We watched them the rest of the night until dark then boldly declared we were going to go up there and kill him in the morning. Well we got up the next morning about 430 and made the 2 hour hike up 3000’. We hit timberline about 15 minutes before shooting light and caught our breath. As it got light out we made our way through the krumholtz spruce for about 200 yards. Suddenly a cow poked her head over the ridge at 500 yards on the other side of the draw. Right where we left them. I got down on my pack and got ready as the bull came over at a steady walk. I shot him at 305 yards just as he turned 10 minutes after shooting light just like we said we would. One shot instant lights out. Took the two of us to til 3 that afternoon to get him off the mountain.