king' s outdoor world - Index

king' s outdoor world - Hunting Illustrated April/May 2008 - Index

66
well. Trying to stay calm, I closed my
eyes and envisioned a T-Rex dinosaur
stalking in. I was now standing with
my release clipped to the serving,
frozen in position, wondering which
side of the stand he would come in on.
I heard the sound of footsteps behind
me and caught sight of a small cow elk
out of the corner of my eye on my left
side. She was cautiously advancing
to the water’s edge. I knew this was
one of his cows and my heart started
racing. Very slowly, three more cows
followed and joined her at the water.
Eyes closed, I concentrated
on breathing slowly, in and out.
Suddenly, the most blood-curdling
scream I have ever heard in my life
erupted from less than ten feet directly
beneath me. It was immediately
answered by the other bull that
was now at about the same location
where I had heard the very fi rst bugle.
Relieved that I had not instantly
died of fright, I kept telling myself
to not look down at him because
seeing his antlers would mess up my
concentration, but I couldn’t stand it
any longer.
I turned my eyes slowly as
far as they would go in their sockets,
then inched my head down. All I saw
were the two end tines on his right side.
They were massive and each looked to
be about eighteen inches long. That
was enough; all I could think of was
that he was a King’s Outdoor World
Calendar Bull! He walked out fi fteen
yards in front of me and drank. I heard
the long deep sipping as he fi lled his
belly, but couldn’t take a shot because
HUNTING ILLUSTRATED.com
there were pine boughs
in the way.
Suddenly, something
spooked him and he
bolted. My heart sank,
but he only went a short
distance. Not wanting
to leave his cows, he
stopped next to them.
I now had a forty-yard
broadside shot and he
was fully preoccupied
with the other bull that
was closing in. I took the
opportunity to draw, but
it was like I had lost all
of the strength in my right arm. Finally,
after a desperate struggle, it broke over.
The bull let out one last mighty roar as I
aimed and released.
The shot felt and sounded good,
but I was too excited to see the point of
impact. The bull and his cows shot out
across the open mesa. It was one of the
most agonizing minutes of my life, as I
prayed like crazy for him to fall. When
he had covered about eighty yards, I saw
his back end hunker ever so slightly.
Within seconds he stumbled and my heart
stopped. I was going to get this one!
Finally he folded and dropped. There
was a few seconds of kicking and then,
silence…I just kept whispering to myself,
“Oh my God, I did it!” I waited until dark
then climbed out of the tree and walked
slowly out to him with my little mini-mag
fl ashlight illuminating the way.
In the silence of the night,
with only the sound of crickets and
the pounding of my heart, I reached
his motionless body, bent down and
gingerly caressed his side where
the arrow had entered. I made a
double lung shot and the arrow had
completely passed through the body.
I felt so honored to have been able to
engage this magnifi cent animal and
win.
On the way back to camp
to gather the reconnaissance team,
I picked up my husband from his
hunting spot. We arrived at camp
and he announced to the guys, “Guess
what, Debra shot a bull, but there
isn’t much of a blood trail.” There
was an audible moan until he added;
“He only went a hundred yards
before he dropped.” They were all
very relieved. I had a newfound
respect for Gary’s offbeat hunting
tactics and God’s way of answering
prayers. As everyone bustled around
camp collecting everything needed to
retrieve my trophy, I went over to my
friend and gave him a big hug and a
kiss as I thanked him for messing up
my hunt the night before.
My 6x6 bull elk scored 388
7/8 Safari Club International, 376-
5/8 net Boone & Crockett and Pope
& Young. He is the highest scoring
typical Rocky Mountain elk ever
taken by a woman unguided with a
bow on public land.
fl ashlight illuminating the way. bow on public land.
The author holds
the rack to one of the
biggest archery typical
elk taken by a woman.