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When it comes time to check our draws in Alberta, it is a very exciting time for me; it almost feels like Christmas.
It’s time to plan for the year’s hunts and to make the most out of every opportunity this great province has to offer. So when I opened up the page and it said I drew a bull elk tag in southern Alberta, I almost fell off my chair.
I had applied in this specific zone with my wife for six years before we were finally drawn. After speaking to lots of people on the Alberta Outdoorsmen Forum, I knew exactly where I was going to go and with who—a friend of mine knew the area very well.
My wife Brandie loves to come hunting with me all the time and this time it was going to be her turn to shoot a trophy for herself. What was about to happen over the next four days in this story is something I will never forget.
November 7th found us on our way down south where we had word that a big bull had been spotted and was grazing out in a meadow for the last two days. After pictures had confirmed that this was truly a bull of a lifetime, we decided we would defiantly be making a play on him—he was a big 6x6 with tons of mass.
After a sleepless night, we awoke at 5:00 in the morning and made our way to the approach where we would park and stalk in on the location where we had pinpointed the bull. Walking down the road, I could sense the nervousness of my wife; she was right in front of me the whole time but looking back to see how far I was behind. She had her 30-06 ready to go if we were lucky enough to spot the bull.
I told Brandie, “Up on top of this hill, we are going to come over the top and the bull should be out in the meadow.” Sure enough, just as I crested the hill, I could see the ivory tips of a 370-inch bull.
“Babe, there he is.” But just as fast as I saw him, he saw us and of course, he started to get antsy and took off slowly.
“Get under the fence and get up there,” I said to Brandie, after rolling under the barbed wire. We were starting to get very excited and were defiantly not being quiet. I thought for sure the bull was gone.
But just as soon as we got high enough on the hill, there he was, standing there like he was a painting up against a poplar background.
I quickly put the shooting sticks down for Brandie but they were too short and she couldn’t see the big bull. I fumbled around and got the sticks high enough and now the bull started to trot away at a fast rate. Now, you can imagine how she felt as she tried to bear down on the bull 30 yards from the bush line. She told me, “I can’t do it babe, you take him.”
There wasn’t a second of hesitation, as I rested old Meat-in-the-Pot on the shooting sticks and found my scope crosshairs on his shoulders. I slowly squeezed the trigger and found the mark perfectly. The bull spun around and I hit him again with one more 165 grain Hornady bullet.
I could tell the bull was hit hard, so I ran as fast as I could with Brandie up to the treeline where I found him laying and in disbelief, he was bigger than I thought. This bull was a huge monster 6x6 with 9 1/2 inches of mass on his circumferences.
I am blessed to not only have my wife as a hunting partner, but to have her there on this once-in-a-lifetime bull. After many hugs and high fives, it was time for pictures.
The only bad part of this whole story is I have to wait another six years to try to get my wife her bull. She says next time for sure, she won’t have ELK FEVER! ■
For previous Reader Stories click here.
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