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Friends by Jason Thorne

Bow hunting in eastern Oregon is one of my favorite seasons, brisk mornings' warm afternoons and still plenty of daylight to satisfy even the most regimented of schedules.

The phone rings late one night, its Denny he hasn't gotten an Elk yet and the last weekend is upon us. I agree that I will go with him and help him by calling the elk so he can get one. 6 am rolls around I'm outside sipping on hot coffee in the early morning chill watching the Dew on the grass dry... Waiting...

7 am nothing.. I called Denny just to make sure he woke up. Who wouldn't! Its Bow season! He's on the way had battery problems. Coffee is gone, most of the morning dew is dried up already and I am thinking NO WAY are we going to get in the Elk! They will be bedded down already...UGH! This is a waste of time I can be doing so much more than running around looking for sleeping elk!

But after all we were friends. That's what friends do... Help each other especially in a small town.

You see I grew up in Seattle. You didn't ask and you certainly didn't tell... But this is my kind of place..God Country so it has been coined and I can attest if you have never hunted or even visited here you must... It's perfect.

So, we get up on the mountain just outside of town I'd never been up there so why not.. We drive down the road and stop just short of a meadow looking into the rising sun. SHHHHHH Denny whispers did you hear that?
No! I whispered back.

He says there's a bull bugling and screaming on the hill side 500 yds away...

NO WAY! Are you kidding its almost 70 Degrees already and it's not even 8 o'clock!

So we pull over and get out and try to grab whatever cover we can in a sparsely treed grass field of Golden waving grass, in FULL green camo we must have stood out like we had a flashing neon sign above our head!
LOOK HUNTERS ARE HERE DON'T MOVE!

So, as we are sneaking up to a downed tree I spot him... a magnificent 6x6 side hilling away from us. Phew! I whispered!

I thought for sure we were going to get busted before we took out first 3 steps.

So, we get ready Denny gets his face mask on and I set up behind him 40yds... Bugle Bugle...Grunt Bugle... NOTHING! That bull wants nothing to do with us. Cow call...

Mews...Mew... chirp... We hear another Bull Bugle 15 yds to our right! OH CRAP! We look just beyond the bushes and there is a satellite 5x5 with about 8 cows... They Bust us and head off into the sunlit draw at full speed.
CRAP! Denny says... Raises his voice a little thinking we were done.

Well...NOPE!

That 6x6 decided he was going to try to go over the hill away from us... So we sit watch and listen..
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Some of the most exciting 5 minutes I have ever experienced in my life... as I am glassing the hillside I saw something that caught my eye. Since At that time all my senses were on overload I could have spotted a chipmunk @ 300 yds!

The whole horizon raised up 5 feet! I shoved Denny back down and said LOOK! ELK!

He started glassing just as the Lead cow headed to our right on the horizon. Then she turned downhill RIGHT TOWARDS US! Oh Lord I thought what now? We were not in the best spot or position for this to be happening! We watch for what seemed like an eternity, Lead cow, cow, cow, spike, branch bull, cow, cow, and branch and in true fashion bringing up the rear the HUGE 7X8 Herd Bull!

I know I can hear Denny saying something behind me.. But my ears cannot get past the heartbeat in my head.. Oh my God! There's 20+ Elk running right at me! The sound was deafening... Hooves clattered on the crisp dried grass... every once in a while you can hear the lead cow chirp like she's giving a play by play.

Closer...closer... OMG!

Denny can you see this?? I'm wrecked by this time. So, as anyone would have done... well no, but it sounded good before I let out a cow chirp... What happens next could only be compared to an Ice hill in Seattle once one slides they ALL slide! The lead cow spots me/us I'm pretty sure just me since I'm the genius that chirped at her... In a hail of fur-grass-dirt-snot and everything else within 3 yds showering us they darted like they were on rails.

All of a sudden I'm looking at a spike running at us.... Then I hear the all too familiar THWAP! Of a bow string, I see the Arrow fly right through the spikes antlers... I hear a mutter from Denny... Not what he had expected... By this time sweat is dripping in my eyes... I have NEVER been so close to Elk in my LIFE!

Cow, cow, spike, branch bull, cow, cow........ HERD BULL!

I held my breath for what seemed like an eternity... Ba-thump...Ba-Thumppppp... My heart is pounding so hard it's taken over all my senses... I felt like I sat there for an hour... Watching this Herd Bull in slow-motion calmly walk towards us... then all of a sudden THWAP!!

Arrow flies and goes right UNDER the Bull... He jumps and whirrs around and takes off through a brush pile a bull dozer couldn't have moved but he did! Gone..
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I looked at Denny... he looked at me and smiled
Thanks! He exhaled... Thank-You!!! That was awesome!
That's what friends do I said as a slumped down on the grass still out of breath and dripping in excitement sweat... WOW!

OK, let's go they went down that draw!

UGH! I said pulled myself up and off we went.

Part 2:
The land of 1000 Elk!

Stay tuned!