HIDE AND SEEK ELK
Wapiti aren’t easy to find, but here’s one hunter’s all-around game plan for closing the gap on North America’s best-tasting big game animal. STORY AND PHOTOS BY SCOTT HAUGEN
D
uring archery elk season a few years back, I arrowed a dandy bull on opening day after calling it in from a long way off. When I first saw the bull, I figured I didn’t have a prayer of it coming to me. I thought I’d have to stalk my way to it, hoping to get within bow range. But with the first loud cow calls I made, the bull lifted its head, bugled, and started trotting my way. The big six-point was over 800 yards away, feeding on the edge of a cow herd numbering more than 30 head. I kept calling and he kept coming, right into my lap.
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American Shooting Journal // August 2022
At 40 yards, the shot was straight forward, on level ground, and I’d already ranged nearby bushes and trees just in case. But in the end I didn’t need them. The bull didn’t make it 75 yards before piling up after the arrow penetrated the bottom of both lungs and the top of the heart. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. It shouldn’t have. But it did, and I was elated. That night I made a post on social media, sharing my proud moment with fellow hunters. Many congratulated me, but one gentleman’s comment stood out. “That didn’t take long!” was all it said. It wasn’t derogatory, just to the point. It didn’t rub me the wrong way, but got me thinking about the time I had invested in the hunt. What went through my mind was
something like: “Well, if you consider that I ran multiple trail cameras in this area for over a year, hunted more than two months for sheds with my dogs where we covered miles each day, physically scouted for bachelor bulls as well as cows
