If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.
Rachel Carson
The walls of the Black Oak Outfitters guest house were filled with the laughter and excitement. I was self proclaimed den mother of fifteen year old Alexa, and Mikayla, fourteen year old Elizabeth, thirteen year old Victoria and ten year old Lexi. Mikayla had harvested her blacktail doe before I had arrived and the other girls were wound up with anticipation of their first hunt for blacktail deer.
Hunters Victoria and Alexa, Mikayla was observing.
The hunt carried a “The Good Old Days” theme and was complete with Jack Lewis’s 1914 Model T Ford Roadster. Gary Lewis, host of Gary Lewis Adventures, James (Elizabeth and Victoria’s dad), Jim Harris our photographer, Mikayla, and our hunters Alexa and Victoria were ready to go all dressed in clothing that was reminiscent of what our grandparents would have worn complete blaze orange.
When the darkness faded to light, we made our decent down the small draw. As we all sat and glassed for deer, the poison oak bushes came to life before our eyes. Alexa had a beautiful buck on alert broadside for well over 15 minutes. Unfortunately, she did not have a buck tag. The does he was trailing remained safely tucked into the heavy oak, safe from rifle range.
Shortly after, I spotted a lone doe bedded down; we devised a plan and made our stalk. Everything went perfect. Alexa got into position and was ready to take the shot, but when the doe stood, she proudly displayed her backside revealing herself as a Whitetail doe. Watching the doe disappear into heavy cover, we had all shared the excitement that Alexa certainly must have been feeling.
Hiking out of the draw, the girls, me included, were thrilled with the two close calls that we had so early in the hunt. Down into another draw, thick with poison oak, we spotted several small groups of blacktail doe feeding together. Alexa and Victoria were able to spot, stalk, and fill their tags within minutes of each other.
Alexa and her first blacktail doe.
Alexa and I packing her doe down the draw.
Later that afternoon, it was time for Lexi to hunt her first blacktail doe. Filled with anticipation, the ten year old climbed into my truck along with Victoria. Lexi talked about her fears and I sat and listened to her and thirteen year old Victoria discuss the upcoming hunt. It was one of the most memorable moments of my life hearing Victoria, who is now an experienced hunter having successfully harvested her first deer earlier that morning, talk to Lexi about what to expect, how she is going to feel and most importantly letting her know that she is going to do great.
As Lexi headed into the green valley, Victoria and I stood on the sidelines silently cheering her on. Gary took Lexi into the field where she practiced her trigger squeeze until she could break the trigger on an empty round five times without disturbing the penny that he had laid on the barrel. Minutes into her hunt Lexi filled her tag on an antlerless blacktail.
When Lexi returned, she was greeted by her mom, new friend Victoria and me. We were all there for her to share her hunt success story with. Everything had gone perfectly, spot, stalk and now she is now an experienced hunter, just like her friend Victoria.
The next morning it was time for fourteen year old Elizabeth to hunt for her first blacktail buck. We spent the morning glassing the heavy poison oak for bucks when we spotted a small spike and a nice forked horn buck. Elizabeth, taking aim, she put the buck down in poison oak that was well above our heads. This was going to be an interesting recovery. Luckily for everyone who participated in the recovery, no one got poison oak and Elizabeth got her buck.
Elizabeth and I with here first blacktail buck.
The memories made on this trip will last for generations. It gives me a great sense of fulfillment that someday Elizabeth, Victoria, Alexa, and Lexi will tell their own children about this very weekend and how they harvested their first blacktail deer. The hunting legacy will continue on through these girls.
The weather had indeed cooled off overnight and a storm was brewing. Leaving spike camp at daylight, the morning was quiet and the bulls were still not bugling even with the drastic change in the weather. Setting up near a bedding area, I called for about an hour with one bull responding, and on private land. No go there…
It was cold and rain had begun drizzling from the sky. I knew that I had to use the change in weather to my advantage and try to locate an eager bull. Moving down the draw towards a weep, the massive bull startled me as he ran out from behind a tree and circled around me. This bull had come in silently to my call.
He stopped roughly 80 yards away, barking at me. I barked back and followed up with some soft cow calls. As he moved down the draw and out into the open I made my way after him as quickly as possible. At 60 yards he stood in the open waiting for me, staring in my direction finally bugling, chuckling and even barking occasionally. I had to be cautious in trying to close the distance a mere 10 yards to place him within bow range. Taking advantage of his nervousness, when he would spin around or consider taking off, I would close the distance.
Finally, the bull was within bow range but I still did not have a clear shot. Two branches stood in my way of having a shot at the bull and I just couldn’t risk having an arrow deflect. Silently I prayed for enough time to maneuver into a good shooting lane but my prayers went unanswered. When the bull had enough he wheeled around and took off down the draw never to be seen again.
The last afternoon…
I made my way back to camp still feeling the excitement from my close encounter with the massive bull. Eating my lunch I pondered where to spend my final afternoon hunting. The wind was swirling around the mountain making strategizing difficult. Honestly, I wasn’t sure where to focus my effort. The mountains are so big and I didn’t want to miss out on my final opportunity. Decisions, decisions…
Leaving camp in the rain, I headed to a rock point to bugle a draw that I had a trail camera located on all summer long. I had not hunted the draw over the course of the season as my trail camera had only produced photos of three bulls in the three months that I had it out. Not to mention that most of the other public land hunters were coming in and out of the area on a game trail that was located on this very draw. In fact, that morning, my dad called the draw in an effort to help locate a bull on his way out to get the mules without any luck or response from a bull.
As soon as I let my locate bugle out, a bull responded with a scream. Game on!!! Finally, I had received the aggressive bugle that I had been waiting all season for. The bull was over a mile away, so I silently closed the distance knowing exactly where he was.
I set up two decoys and began a calling sequence hoping that the bull would drop down the ridge far enough allowing him to see my decoys and come within bow range. The wind was bad, it was blowing straight up the draw so I had be extra cautious where I set up as to not have him catch my wind. The bull came down and stopped at about 80 yards bugling occasionally, but he was mostly listening and waiting as these smart old bulls often do.
I knew that he was not going to come any closer, so I grabbed a decoy, slipped off my boots, and coated myself in an entire container of Elk gel to help mask my scent. Putting Under Armour’s scent capture technology to the test, I was going after this bull with the wind blowing straight to him in a desperate attempt to make something happen.
As I made my way silently up the open draw, I placed my decoy in front of me with the expectation that I would be seen by the nearby bull. I was right. Just as I crested a small rise in the ridge, there stood two bulls, one a spike, the other unknown, and both less than 40 yards away. Silently I stood there hoping that the bulls would not charge me or bust out of there as the wind was blowing right to them. After a few moments, they lost interest and walked off, the spike going to the left and the unknown bull going to the right.
The unknown bull then let out a locate bugle from the top of the next ridge. Back in the game, I folded up my decoy and continued my bare foot pursuit of the bull. Not wanting to cow call or bugle to re-locate the bull, I stood at the top of the ridge listening for a clue as to where the bull had gone when I heard what I thought was two bulls fighting.
Seizing the opportunity I moved quickly towards the noise and snuck up on the massive bull while he stood thrashing in a wallow flinging mud with his antlers. Taking a few moments to turn on my video camera and zoom in on the bull while he was looking directly at me (note beginning of video below) I was able to capture the ending of this extra ordinary hunt on camera.
Having no shot on the bull’s vitals, I waited for him to continue thrashing in the mud to make my move into position for a broadside shot. Everything was perfect, the bull stood broadside with his head behind a tree unable to see me. His vitals were perfectly exposed, ranged at 41 yards. It’s go time!!! Just as I begin to draw my bow he stepped out of the wallow and slowly moved up the ridge completely unaware of my presence.
Ugggg, you have to be kidding me!!! I ranged him again, 52 yards, still within range and he moves again. This time, I’m not so lucky and he spots me moving and I no longer have a shot on his vitals. The bull continued to move calmly up the ridge and out of range.
As my luck would have it, just as I took after the bull again, my dad shows up with three mules heading into our spike camp. The bull took off and I never saw him again. My dad hadn’t seen the bull and probably thought I was crazy running around the mountain with an arrow knocked, no backpack or boots on as I had been in stealth mode. It had worked, kind of…
I am still losing sleep at night as this bull was a magnificent 6x6, roughly 50 inches wide, I’m guessing 315-330 inches. I have a trail camera photo below of the bull I believe him to be. He is one of three bulls that were captured by my trail camera on that ridge.
Taking the time to turn on and zoom in my video camera may have cost me precious seconds that I could have used to put an arrow in the bull, but I have no regrets. I captured the thrilling part of my hunt on camera; the bull was ranged, broadside and ready for me to make an ethical shot. If I could do it over again, I would pray for the bull to stand in the wallow for 7 more seconds…
This year, I was gifted with the thrill of fair chase, do it yourself hunting, both solo and with my dad at my side. Having had the opportunity to harvest countless cows, spikes and five branch bulls in pursuit of a big mature bull on public land, no easy feat; I was finally given the opportunity to chase after my dream bull. That is what keeps all of us public land hunters coming back every year. It just doesn’t get any better than that.
My dad and I enjoying the view.
Packing out camp on Otis, Chester and Fury.
Gear List
Under Armour Clothing for Kristy and her Dad
Camo Evo Cold Gear Pants
Camo Evo Cold Gear Hoody
Camo Full Zip Hoody
Quest Jacket & Pant
Women’s Camo Glove
Hurlock Glove
Camo Active Beanie
Speed Freek Boots
Hitch Lite Cushion Boot Sock
Early Season Ridge Reaper Jacket & Pant
Camo Armourloft Vest
Swarovski Optik
EL 42 Swarovision Binoculars
65mm HD Spotting Scope with 20-60x Eyepiece
8x30 Laser Guide
Misc. Gear
Bugling Bull Game Calls- Remedy & Mellow Yellow Mama Diaphragm, Select-A-Bull Bugle, Who's Yerr Daddy
Elite Archery- Hunter
Spot Hogg Real Deal Sight
Victory Arrows
Tight Spot Quivers
Ripcord Arrow Rest
Wilderness Athlete Performance Bars, Energy Gel, Energy & Focus Drink Formula, Protein Plus
As a kid I used to laugh at my dad when he would pop in a VHS tape watching Elk being taken on camera while practicing using his rubber band cow calls and grunt tube in our living room. His eyes would bug out, face reddening from blowing on the old calls making for a comical evening. At that point in my life I had no comprehension that what he was practicing would actually draw in a fervent bull Elk during the rut.
I watched my dad’s living room practice sessions pay off during a public land, DIY Elk hunt in Idaho. I was 13 years old when my dad used his old school bugle to chuckle in a spike and 5x5 bull Elk. The 5x5 came in screaming, chasing off the spike, and angrily charging towards us when my dad shot him from roughly 30 yards away.
At 13 years old, watching this bull come in screaming changed my life and lit the fire for my love of Elk hunting.
I was proud to lead out Sam (the mule) who was loaded with the beautiful bull that my dad and I had taken.
Since then, I have always looked forward to final days of archery Elk season that typically hold the promise of frenzied bulls aggressively seeking cows. Having passed on countless cows, spikes, and four young branched bulls already in the season, I had only nine more days to put a mature bull on the ground, no easy feat, especially on public land and DIY.
Nine days…
The temperatures were nearing 80 degrees every day. The hot and dry conditions were limiting hunting hours to the first and last thirty minutes of daylight. With other public land hunters targeting one of my best areas, dad and I decided to walk in to another one of our better spots under the cover of darkness.
Waiting for daylight to crest over the horizon, we glassed from the timbered edge into a large feeding area with the hopes of spotting a big bull on his feet before returning to his bed. The plan was perfect. We spotted two bulls right away, a spike and a young 3x3 branched bull.
Wanting only to get some video of the bulls, my dad set up on the edge of the timber doing a series of cow calls. The two young bulls came in silently, literally running past me at 40 yards making their way to my dad. Had we not have known the bulls were there we would have probably been run over by them. Somehow, along the way I accidently deleted that video clip of the 3x3 running past me. Video or no, it was a fun experience.
While we were hunting this spot, the other public land hunters had spooked a nice 5x5 off of one of the wallows where I had a tree stand hung. I avoided hunt this spot in the mornings as the wind blows right down to where the bulls bed and come to water. You can see from my trail camera video that when these other hunters headed down towards the wallow, the bull gets nervous, looks around and decides to get out of there, fast.
Eight days…
Dad and I hunted together in the morning without much luck. The bulls weren’t bugling and the hunting pressure was intense as there were at least two other groups of public land hunters after the same Elk as me. Dad had a trade show to attend, so I was on my own for the next three and a half days.
That night, I set up in the same feeding area that dad and I had called in the silent 3x3 and spike with the hopes of getting on a bull when he left his bed for the evening. Doing a series of cow calls and bugles a bull finally answered from his bed when he got up to go feed around 7:00 PM. Having less than thirty minutes to get this bull within range before darkness settled in, I set up the decoys in the feeding area.
Not one but two bulls came in, both hanging up around 80 yards and whining from below me wanting to come in closer but apprehensive in doing so. I didn’t get a look at these two bulls as my thirty minutes of daylight ran out fast. I made the hour long hike back to camp in the dark glad to finally have heard a bugle and feeling hopeful for the next day.
Seven days…
The trail camera pictures that I had been getting of mature bulls going to water to either drink or wallow were all in the morning before 10:00 AM. With 80 degree days it seemed the bulls wanted to get cooled off and muddy up to keep the bugs down before bedding down for the hot of the day. With that in mind, I left camp an hour before daylight with temperatures already so high that I was in a tank top.
I headed out with the plan to sit one of the wallows that had been getting used by bulls intermittently. At daylight I found myself less than 100 yards from a huge herd of Elk with one angrily screaming bull and a second bull letting out a traditional locate bugle. Unfortunately, the wind was in favor of the Elk. I had to back out of the area before they got my wind and busted me. The bulls quit bugling 30 minutes after daylight and bedded down on private land that I did not have permission to hunt. Knowing where the Elk were, I felt good about my chances for the next day as I also had not spooked them out of the area.
Six days…
Once again I headed into the same spot an hour before daylight. This time I dropped down below where the Elk had bedded on private land the morning before so that I could reach my tree stand before daylight. The plan was almost perfect. The bull dropped down to move his cows as they fed above me towards their bedding area at 90 yards. Unfortunately, he did not come down within bow range and the terrain was too open for me to make an attempt at a stalk without being busted.
I spent the remainder of the day at the wallow with the hopes that the bull who was now bedded on private land less than 200 yards away would get hot and come back to the public land side to wallow.
Five days…
With time in the season growing short, I spent the next morning trying to get a bull to locate without any luck. When the wind was right, I went back to the wallow where I had gotten into the herd of Elk for the past two mornings to check my trail camera. The herd had been in to water at midnight which confirmed my belief that the Elk were nocturnal except for the first and last thirty minutes of daylight.
Four days…
Oftentimes success in hunting comes from being in the right place at the right time. On day four, I was not fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time; my dad on the other hand who had just returned from his trade show, to hunt Mule deer had the luck that I wished I was having.
Heading up the timber ridge, daylight had just crested the horizon, when my dad accidently rolled a rock down the mountainside just as he spotted his first glimpse of the cow Elk in front of him. Some of the cows heard the rock roll and quickly made their exit out of the open feeding area and back into the timber.
As dad eased out into the opening towards a depression in the ground where a small weep was located, he saw the towering antlers. A mere 50 yards away the 6x6 bull fed in the small opening, oblivious that some of his cows had busted my dad making his way up the draw. The bull remained at 50 yards from my dad and within easy bow range for minutes until he realized that his some of his cows had gone AWOL.
In a fit of panic, the bull circled in a 50-80 yard radius around my dad silently picking up the remainder of his harem and moving them into the timber in a desperate attempt to locate his missing cows. Even with the bull in frenzy over his lost cows, he did not bugle or make a single sound in his efforts to locate them.
The photo below shows a magnificent 6x6 that had been living in that same draw during the summer. The bull my dad stumbled into just may be this very bull. I had picked the wrong draw to hunt on day four.
Three days…
Together my dad and I spent the day seeking out the 6x6 that he had encountered the day before. Unfortunately, we were unable to re-locate the herd and the massive bull.
Two days…
There is an old saying that if you are not discouraged then you are not hunting. Well I was definitely hunting and running out of precious time. The bulls had quit bugling, temperatures were high and optimism was becoming scarce on my part. I had to keep reminding myself that my luck could change at any moment.
Dad and I spent the day checking wallows for recent activity and game trails looking for fresh tracks in an attempt to figure out what the silent and nocturnal Elk were doing. The only thing we found on day two was three other hunters. Go figure.
During the heat of the day, Dad and I gathered up all of my trail cameras and tree stands packing them back to our spike camp. I would be spending the final day of archery Elk season solo as Dad was going to head out on the final morning to go back to town to get the mules so that we could pack out our spike camp the day after season.
The weather was due to cool on the following day by some 20 degrees and I went to bed that night hopeful that my luck would change on the final day of archery season.
Gear List
Under Armour Clothing for Kristy and her Dad
Camo Evo Cold Gear Pants
Camo Evo Cold Gear Hoody
Camo Full Zip Hoody
Quest Jacket & Pant
Women’s Camo Glove
Hurlock Glove
Camo Active Beanie
Speed Freek Boots
Hitch Lite Cushion Boot Sock
Early Season Ridge Reaper Jacket & Pant
Camo Armourloft Vest
Swarovski Optik
EL 42 Swarovision Binoculars
65mm HD Spotting Scope with 20-60x Eyepiece
8x30 Laser Guide
Misc. Gear
Bugling Bull Game Calls- Remedy & Mellow Yellow Mama Diaphragm, Select-A-Bull Bugle, Who's Yerr Daddy
Elite Archery- Hunter
Spot Hogg Real Deal Sight
Victory Arrows
Tight Spot Quivers
Ripcord Arrow Rest
Wilderness Athlete Performance Bars, Energy Gel, Energy & Focus Drink Formula, Protein Plus
The switch had been flipped…opening day of Oregon’s archery Elk season had been epic. The cows were mewing, the bulls were bugling, dad tagged out on a great 5x5 bull, I passed up a 4x4 bull. Week two of the season was off to a slow start. The rut had not yet consumed the bull Elk and once public land hunting pressure had set in, the bulls had figured out that they were being targeted. With more hunters in the area than I have seen in years past it was no wonder that the bulls quit bugling and coming in to cow calls.
With the bulls not cooperating, and unseasonably hot and dry conditions, I decided to sit in a tree stand over a wallow. The wallow is located in an area where I had patterned several large bulls moving through over the summer and was actively being used. This tactic worked perfectly as a young 3x4 bull came in to the wallow and stood broadside at 50 yards.
Unfortunately, the big mature bull that I was looking for did not come to the wallow. While sitting the wallow with only young bulls visiting, I had a big mature bull using a game trail down the ridge so I decided to move my stand with the hopes of intercepting this big bull on the move.
The vanishing bull...
I just couldn’t manage to be in the right place at the right time. While I was out of the wallow stand on the 3rd - 5th of September, two shooter bulls came to the wallow on two of the three days. The bull that had been using the game trail up and vanished on me. Sometimes a girl just can’t catch a break.
Taking some time to get out of the stand, dad and I stalked within 70 yards of two young branch bulls. There was no need to close the distance on them for a shot as I was still holding out for that larger more mature bull.
Warm weather conditions made many of the Elk nocturnal.
On the 10th of September, dad and I headed back to town and off the mountain as we both had to return to work until the 17th. On our way out, we just missed this bull but my trail camera did not. This guy was right above us and silent. Later in the season I had an exciting hunt featuring this monster bull, read my next blog to read the story and watch the video.
While we were off the mountain the following week, check out the photos and videos below of what we missed.
This nice bull was 50 yards from my wallow stand.
During the course of the week that dad and I were off the mountain and working, we did not have activity on my trail cameras. It was my understanding that there was quite a bit of hunting pressure from out of area hunters. The additional pressure had a big impact on their typical behavior and habits.
Gear List
Under Armour Clothing for Kristy and her Dad
Camo Evo Cold Gear Pants
Camo Evo Cold Gear Hoody
Camo Full Zip Hoody
Quest Jacket & Pant
Women’s Camo Glove
Hurlock Glove
Camo Active Beanie
Speed Freek Boots
Hitch Lite Cushion Boot Sock
Early Season Ridge Reaper Jacket & Pant
Camo Armourloft Vest
Swarovski Optik
EL 42 Swarovision Binoculars
65mm HD Spotting Scope with 20-60x Eyepiece
8x30 Laser Guide
Misc. Gear
Bugling Bull Game Calls- Remedy & Mellow Yellow Mama Diaphragm, Select-A-Bull Bugle, Who's Yerr Daddy
Elite Archery- Hunter
Spot Hogg Real Deal Sight
Victory Arrows
Tight Spot Quivers
Ripcord Arrow Rest
Wilderness Athlete Performance Bars, Energy Gel, Energy & Focus Drink Formula, Protein Plus
