king' s outdoor world - Index

king' s outdoor world - Hunting Illustrated Magazine Dec/Jan 2008 - Coyote Crazy! - Index

PHOTOS AND LIVE PHOTO: AUTHOR
80
Y ear
after year
it was the
same; the
disappointment
of the dreaded
“Unsuccessful”
letters from
the Division of
Wildlife. I fi gured
that 2007 would not
be any different. I
didn’t know how
wrong I was.
F r o m
April 26th on, I trained hard by
running, hiking, using the elliptical
- anything I could to be ready for
my hunt of a lifetime! I took several
scouting trips to the mountain, more
so to learn the area than to fi nd elk. I
studied maps like I was getting ready
for an exam, I talked to every person
I could to fi nd out info about the unit.
On my fi rst trip I was so impressed
with the quality of animals that I
found, that it made it even harder to
get sleep. I lived on very little sleep
for two and a half months. These
bulls haunted my dreams nightly.
Ask my wife!
On my last scouting trip,
three weeks before the hunt opener,
HUNTING ILLUSTRATED.com
ShadowCamo Featured Story
THE CORTISONE
BULL
After a grueling hunt, the author
fi nally arrowed this magnifi cent Utah
bull which scores 398 gross P&Y
I was at my friend Mike’s house talking
about the upcoming hunt, sharing stories,
and even going to his friend’s homes to
look at sheds from years past. I was so
excited after an hour or so of visiting
with him that my confi dence level was
soaring. Then it happened. As I was
leaving Mike’s home, I stepped off of
the front porch and twisted my ankle.
An overwhelming feeling that my hunt
had just been ruined came over me.
My wife helped me to the truck and I
struggled to keep the pain down while
we drove the two-hour trip home. I was
just sick at the thought of my hunt being
5BOWHUNTING5
By Keith Johnson
over before it even
started.
The next week
and a half I could
not work out at
all, as the pain in
my ankle would
not allow it. In
hindsight, this
was good because
the ankle did heal
up relatively fast.
That week all I did
was shoot my bow.
The whole summer I only missed a
couple of days of shooting. I shot
20-90 yards and anywhere from 10-
100 arrows per day. I felt that I was
as ready as I would ever be.
A friend of mine, Adam,
fl ew in from California to join us on
the hunt. My wife went to pick him
up from the airport while I put the
fi nishing touches on our camping
outfi t. We left for the mountain about
ten minutes after Adam arrived in
town. He said that I was “tweaking”
over the elk pretty hardcore. I guess
he was right.
Adam and I got to the
mountain with about fi fteen minutes
of light left to scout. We ditched