There is something special to me about the challenge of hunting elk in the steep and rugged terrain of the wilderness, and for the past few seasons I have been drawn to the uphill battle of putting an arrow into a mature bull elk in the Eagle Cap Wilderness of NE Oregon. This year I had a short 4 day trip planned the day after Labor Day, I was supposed to be accompanied by a good friend of mine for the first two days but a change in work schedules wouldn’t allow him to come along, so I’d be going solo. Hunting the wilderness is always difficult but going at it alone always seemed to up the ante, I have made several hunting trips into the wild alone but the solitude adds just one more element to battle.
So off I hiked from the trailhead early Tuesday morning in the light of my headlamp, it was early in the season and temperatures were warm during the day but the cool early morning air was a sure tell that Fall was just around the corner. I made quick work of the 3 mile hike up the mountain to my base camp overlooking the two basins that I’d be spending most of my time in. 
It was still fairly early in the morning so upon arrival I quickly dropped my camp, grabbed my daypack and headed up the ridge to my favorite glassing point to catch some elk before they went to bed up for the day. As soon as I sat down I spotted a few cows feeding across the open hillside at the head of the basin, after watching them for almost an hour it didn’t appear there were any bulls with them. With 4 days to hunt, I decided I would hike to the very top of the mountain that afternoon and glass down into both basins for the evening to get a feel for what was going on up there and see if I could glass up a good bull to go after in the morning. Perched up high in a rock outcropping looking down into the basin it didn’t take long for me to glass up a group of cows and calves in the timber, it was late afternoon and I knew they would soon be up to feed so I held tight in my position to see if there was a bull bedded down with them. As the sun began to sink down into the western sky, the group of cows began feeding across the hillside with a no bull in tow. As the evening wore on I began to move down the ridgeline slowly heading back towards my camp, glassing into both basins looking for more elk. Just when I thought the small group of cows would be the only elk I saw that first evening a bugle ran out from the creek bottom below. From the sound of his bugle I guessed him to be a good mature bull and definitely worth hustling down the mountain to get a closer look. As I began to make my way to the creek, his bugles began to intensify, knowing there was a wallow in his general direction I could only assume he was down there rolling in the mud and thrashing the willow trees that lined the banks. As I reached the creek bottom, I could see cows milling across the hillside in front of me less than 100 yds and the bull was just up the tree line, in the creek bottom out of sight. I was able to slowly creep in and close the distance to about 60 yds. from where I thought he was, but before I could reach the spot I had picked, out walked a mud covered big 6×6 following his cows moving across the hillside. As my heart pounded I quickly ranged the walking bull, and drew my bow as his head went behind a small tree. As I came to full draw and the bull cleared the trees I cow called to stop him, my soft mew immediately got his attention and he stopped broadside looking down the hill in my direction. All preparation leading up to this season boiled down to this moment in time, I tried my best to calm my breathing and check my nerves but the excitement was too much for me to handle. In the heat of the moment I rushed my shot and my heart sank as I watched my arrow arcing through air and fall short of my target, an immense feeling of disappointment overcame me as I watched the fletching of my arrow bury in the dirt just under his belly. The perfect opportunity and I blew it! With light quickly fading, I watched what would’ve been my biggest bull to date, sprinting off into the distance and out of sight with the rest of his harem. My head hung low that night and the trip back to camp seemed to take just a little bit longer than usual, replaying the events that just unfolded over and over in my head and made for a tough night of sleep.
The next day I spent scouring both basins from dawn to dusk without a single bull being spotted or bugle being heard. I wasn’t too surprised given the fact that the bull and his harem made quite the exit out of the country I was in, after missing him the evening prior. Having hunted this area the past couple years I knew how the elk moved from basin to basin and I kept high hopes that another bull and his herd would push into the area I was hunting. Day 3 I awoke well before daylight with a new refreshing outlook that today was going to bring some excitement. After having some hot oatmeal and dose of caffeine I was ready for what the day had to offer. As the sun began to unveil the rugged mountainous terrain above camp I started making my way slowly up the ridge above my camp, periodically glassing into the timber and open pocket meadows. I hadn’t gone more than 200 yards when I spotted two bulls feeding on the open hillside across the basin and all the way at the top of the adjacent ridge. The two bulls both looked to be fairly large and definitely worth the climb to the top. I picked a few land marks to distinguish their location and began the trek up the mountain, it took me just under an hour to make my way up to where I last saw them.
As I approached their last location the excitement began to build, I nocked an arrow and slowly surveyed the area looking for sign of either one of them. I found the tracks of one of the bulls that led around the corner and into a bedding area, unable to find any sign of the other I decided to slowly make my way around the corner to locate one of the bulls. As I made my way around the ridge I could slowly see, across the basin on the opposite hillside in the old burn timber, two elk making their way in my direction. I put up my binoculars and confirmed to spikes headed my way. With the elk across the canyon and a bedding area below me I decided to set up and do some calling to try and locate the bull I had spotted earlier. I grabbed my EFT Double Reed and began some soft cow calling, after my very first sequence a bugle rang out from across the ridge just above the spikes I had spotted. Still quite a ways off I moved down the ridge I was on to get a better vantage point to see if I could glass up the bugling bull. I moved down 
about 50 yards and spotted a cow making her way down towards the spikes, knowing the bull was right there with her I let out a few more cow calls to pin point his location. Just as I finished my last mew I saw out of the corner of my eye movement just below me about 80 yards….elk legs moving quickly through the timber coming my way! I ranged a tree in that direction at 50 yds. and just as I put my range finder down, that elk bugled! As it crossed behind the tree I had ranged I drew my bow and out popped a nice 5×6 trotting up the hill right at me! With my bow at full draw I let the bull continue coming at me and he quickly made is way in my direction, mouth wide open and frantically searching for the cow I had portrayed to be. He finally stopped on his own quartering slightly towards me at a mere 10 yds! I aimed all my pins on his chest and released an arrow right into the boiler room, my broadhead entered just in front of his facing shoulder and blew through the other side, breaking his offside leg bone. The bull quickly wheeled and headed across the ridge and for whatever reason he stopped in his tracks, turned and started running back in my direction. I grabbed another arrow, ranged him as he stopped and shot him again, my second arrow hit just a touch back but it was more than enough to do the job. The bull didn’t go much farther before expiring in a small patch of pines on the steep hillside. Overwhelmed with excitment in the midst of pure chaos I had to sit down for a second to regain my composure. I asked myself repeatedly “did that really just happen?”
I had such an incredible feeling of joy and accomplishment as I approached my bull and put my hands on his ivory polished antlers. A goal I had set for myself to take a mature bull elk in the wilderness on a solo mission had just came to fruition, and now the work began. I snapped a few pictures and began the daunting task of breaking an elk down by yourself, being ever so careful moving around the animal with my knife I finally had the quarters and head
hung high in a tree as the sun faded on the day. My plan was to hike one hind quarter back to camp, grab my keys and head to the trailhead. I reached the trailhead just after 1am, loaded my pack in the pickup and headed for home to put the quarter on ice. I took a quick nap, called a good friend of mine and employed him to help me pack out the rest of my bull the next morning. With the temperature dipping down into the low 30’s at night I knew the meat would be just fine hanging on the hillside until we could return. The trip back up the mountain was a tough one, running on very little sleep and sore feet from hiking the hills and already packing out one quarter, I knew this would be a rough day, turns out, I was spot on! Taking the two front shoulders, head, backstraps, neck meat and the rest of my camp with two guys 4 miles back to the truck was brutal, but a trip I would do over and over again. The weight of that pack out hurt every step of the way, but seeing the shadow of those antlers strapped to my back made it ever so sweet. I’m grateful for the opportunity every year to pursue the passion I have in my life for back country adventure, God willing I’ll get to do it all over again, next year.
Bryan Stone
