I was very fortunate to draw an archery elk tag in WY in 2007. After a long summer of scouting and awaiting the upcoming season I was able to acquire a vast amount of knowledge about both the elk and the public ground I was going to be hunting. It has always been a dream of mine to harvest a mature bull elk on public land. My brother accompanied me on the first two days of the hunt and on Labor Day I was out on my own in search of a bull. We had seen decent bulls the day prior in the ares. I set up in an open meadow in late afternoon and decided to wait for the bulls to start moving and bugling. About an hour before sunset I began a series of cow calls and was able to spark this bulls interest. Unbelievably I was able to pull this herd bull into bow range and make the shot at 18 yards. The Wac'em triton made excellent contact breaking two ribs in the process and held up well. The bull went only 50 yards before tipping over. To top it off this was a bull my brother nicknamed "Chuckles." He rarely lets out a full bugle but rather just chuckles. My brother had a few close encounters with the bull over years prior but the bull seemed to outsmart him! When he tipped his massive rack back and chuckled at such a close range I couldn't believe I would get such an opportunity! As I sat next to my enormous trophy I realized the true rewards our country has to offer. It was a dream come true! My bull grossed 373"!
