Chelsey Holcomb 2014 Idaho Elk Hunt

Chelsey Holcomb gets her elk

No shit there we were....

sitting quietly on a crisp Wednesday morning in Idaho when we heard him bugle. Brock thought the bull elk was moving away from us so we decided to walk up the draw. I knew we were getting close when we could hear the bull rubbing his antlers on the branches just ahead of us. When we finally laid eyes on him we were approximately 50 yards away. We were in the shade and decided to wait....let's see where he goes and what he does.

After about 20 minutes we snuck closer while he was still making noise raking the trees. We had to sneak through heavy brush and fallen trees so it was slow going. After getting within 30 yards of him we decided we were pushing our luck going any farther. Amazingly, he hadn't moved the entire time and was still raking the same tree! Brock looked over at me to make sure I was ready. I was so ready. My arrow knocked and my breathing under control......I waited for what seemed like an eternity.

Finally, the monster bull began to move and the time was right to pull back so he wouldn't see me. While I was pulled back he took a few steps, bugled, and looked right at us. I thought we were had. I thought for sure he was going to spin out of there and take off through the trees. Our cover, combined with the shade and camo paid off bi time, because after about 10 seconds he took the few more steps I needed from him. There he was broad side at about 20 yards and I took my shot! It flew beautifully! He turned and ran out of sight. Brock turned and looked at me..... I NAILED HIM!

Then I lost it.

Completely.

The tears flew and I really thought that I was going to hyperventilate. We (more like me, really) had to sit for about 20 minutes to collect myself. When I was finally prepared, we decided to go to the spot he was shot to see if we could find any blood. We couldn't see anything, but didn't want to risk jumping him in case he was still alive so we waited a bit longer. After some time we walked the direction the bull had gone. We found very little blood and I was starting to panic. But, just as I was second guessing my shot we heard him coughing and spotted his horns. We waited a little longer just to make sure. When we walked up on him he was already getting stiff! SUCCESS! He was so much bigger than I had thought!

I am absolutely thrilled and could not have asked for a better hunt. We only had to pack him a quarter of a mile, but it was uphill. I packed out both front quarters, a hind quarter, and the back strap and tenderloin all by myself! I am pretty proud of myself!

Chelsey Holcomb

Southern Idaho

2014

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