- Details
- Category: Archery
- Published: Friday, 03 October 2025 19:17
- Written by Greg
Outsmarted
My 16-day Wyoming archery elk hunt sadly came to an end. While I had some close encounters; in the end I was outsmarted. The area where I hunted was completely bounded by private property, as is much of the land in Wyoming, so the elk knew where to hide when pressured and took full advantage of that safe haven.
One of many sunrises And one of many moon phases
The one thing that I cannot say is that I never had an opportunity to shoot an elk. Twice I had the chance to fill my tag, first on day one and then again on day two. But I chose not to shoot since it was so early in the hunt and I figured there would be additional close-encounter situations.
Day one - still frame from 1:53 of video They came to within 12 yards of me
And I was right, over the course of a couple of weeks I did get close and played cat and mouse with a few bulls but never got another shot opportunity. I either got busted by satellite bulls that were attempting to steal cows away from the herd or by alert cows or by swirling wind. The one time that truly haunts me is one particular encounter with a bull that I would have loved to have bagged. I was caught with my pants down...literally.
Cat and mouse with this bull Herd bull moving along with his cows up ahead
I've heard of stories like the one I’m about to share, which may sound like folklore, but this actually happened to me on Sunday September 14th.
It had been 40 minutes since first light, 6:50 a.m., and I had not heard a single bugle to this point. I grabbed my diaphragm call from my pocket and let out a bugle hoping to hear a response from an amorous bull. Almost immediately an elk bugled back, maybe 200 - 250 yards away!
A time using diaphragm W/O tube Backpack, bow, grunt tube
Up ahead about 30 yards at the crest of a small rise stood a small stand of pines. I made my way to that point and from there I could see across the open sagebrush flat for about 150 yards to where the timber began again. I figured the bull elk I heard moments ago was somewhere down in that thicket.
I took off my backpack and was preparing to unfasten my bow, retrieve my grunt tube and hat from my backpack when the urge hit to go to the bathroom. I figured I better hurry and get it over with before I got into a situation where I really had to go while sneaking in at close proximity to elk. Leaving my pack where it lay, I crept over to a pine tree about 20 ft away and dropped my pants to my ankles to relieve myself.
No more than 5 seconds had passed when I looked up and there through the pine bows I saw a bull elk headed right across the flat toward me!
See antlers bottom of screen, stood broadside 20 yd Day 2 - GoPro on bow, got within 10 yrds
I reached down, grabbed some toilet paper and literally did a half wipe, pulled my pants up most of the way, got down on my knees and started inching toward my backpack. I looked across the way and saw that the 6 point bull was on a steady march in my direction. With about 15 feet to go before reaching my backpack, I was now completely exposed without the cover of trees. However, out across the sage flat stood a lone pine tree 100 yards away where the bull would momentarily disappear as he passed behind it so I waited. My chance arrived…as soon as the bull vanished for those few seconds, I quickly scooched until I reached my backpack.
Unfortunately my bow was still strapped to my backpack but I was able to get the first strap unbuckled fairly quickly. I glanced toward the sagebrush flat, the bull was still coming -- my heart was pounding! But now my struggle intensified, the final strap was clipped down on the underneath side of the pack and I couldn’t for the life of me get it unclipped, although it probably was a delay of mere seconds. Amidst the frenzy I finally got the strap unbuckled and grabbed my bow. The elk must have noticed movement as he momentarily paused at 70 yards but fortunately continued forward...I was freaking out!
Frantically I removed an arrow from my quiver and that's the moment I was busted. The bull stopped dead in his tracks at 60 yards and stared directly at me.
From where I now crouched there were a few straggling dead limbs from a pine tree 15 feet in front of me that totally obscured any possible shot, I remained frozen in place. The stare down lasted for a solid 20 seconds. My head was spinning…I wasn’t sure what to do next and couldn't figure out where my mouth call was because I knew I had to do something quickly. Finally I spotted my diaphragm call sitting on my pack but as I reached for it the elk noticed the motion, turned and started to walk away. I made a couple of quick cow calls which caused the huge 6x6 to stop at 70 yards, but 15 seconds later he had had enough and left for good. I made a couple more calls to no avail and probably educated the bull because I was right out in the open. That's when I thought to grab my phone from the pocket of my pants and barely retrieved it in time to capture a little bit of video before the bull disappeared.
Still frame from 23 seconds of video Mature bull walking away for good
Who knows if I would have gotten a shot at the bull had my timing been a little bit different but I believe it would have happened. My location was ideal. I could’ve easily set up for a shot attempt if I would have had back those precious seconds lost because of my previous decision. In hindsight, had I stuck to my original plan, which was to unpack my bow, retrieve my grunt tube and hat, and then to fasten up my backpack, I suspect at about that time I would have noticed the bull heading across the flat towards me and would have had a different story to tell.
The good news is that my tag is now valid for the rifle elk season, something that played a major part in my decision to pass on bulls early in the hunt -- so here’s hoping that I get the opportunity to head back to Wyoming to rifle hunt next month.