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February 2025
Story by Mark Turner
State: Oregon
Species: Elk - Roosevelt

It wasn’t until my late fifties that I decided to take up bowhunting. I have hunted most of my life and taken my fair share of bulls. However, it was always with a rifle. Also, Oregon’s September bow season is problematic for me. Since my brother and I run a logging company, September is high season. That means a lot of hard work and long days. We are always trying to finish up certain jobs that need to be done before the rainy season starts, basically only leaving evenings and parts of the weekends. In Northwest Oregon, the rains usually start in earnest sometime in October and don’t end until sometime in June.
 
The one thing I have in my favor is that my brother and I own a sizable property that is literally within walking distance from my house. For several years, despite putting in considerable effort, I kept coming up short. I would zig, and the elk would zag. I would go this way, and they would go that way. Once, a raghorn was within 20 yards, but the brush was so thick I knew there was no use in taking a shot. There were multiple opportunities where I just couldn’t get within the 50-yard limit I had set for myself. Then there were two times I started to draw back only to have the bull dart away before I could release the arrow. Quite frankly, I got frustrated enough that I considered giving up bowhunting all together. After some soul searching, however, I decided to invest in a quality bow and put forth a lot more time and effort into practicing shooting. Still, after numerous years of chasing elk around with a bow, I had yet to actually shoot an arrow at one. That finally changed September of 2024. It was a rare rainy September morning.
 
Since it was too rainy to work, it became a good morning to go hunting. As I was working my way up the hill, I spotted some elk on an opposing hillside. As I watched them through my binoculars, I could see several cows but no bulls. However, the hillside was so brushy that I knew I wasn’t seeing all of them. I knew there was an old road on the ridgetop above them, so I hot footed my way around them and up to that ridgetop. As I got up onto the old road, I started creeping slowly down the hill. I could hear something off to my right. As I moved a little closer, I could see the tips of some antlers moving by. I nocked an arrow and drew back. However, the
antlers simply moved out of sight. The brush was so thick that I couldn’t even see his body.
 
As I slowly released my bow, I thought, “I’ll probably never see him again.” Just then, he darted across the road below me! I nocked an arrow again and started creeping down the hill. As I came past some bushes, I could see him standing broadside 30 yards away. As I drew my bow back again, he almost seemed like a gift from God. As soon as I released my arrow, I knew he was as good as dead. Just then, he darted out of sight. Just as quickly, he darted back in front of me and then off to my right. Suddenly, he wheeled around and ran down the hill from me. Then, just as suddenly, he stopped and looked back at me 45 yards away. I knew he was done for; he just didn’t know it yet. All I could see was his head and neck. I nocked another arrow and thought, “I’ll just shoot you in the neck.” I must admit, it was pretty cool to watch the arrow fly and stick right in his spine.
 
He dropped out of sight, so I went down the hill and found him lying in the old road with the arrow still sticking out of his neck. He was only a 5-point; however, he was heavy horned and obviously a mature bull. He would later dress out at 460 lbs. I set my bow down on his chest and took a picture with my phone. Taking pictures of myself with my trophy proved difficult. I had to tie my phone up to a rather fragile bush and then tie it off to the side to get it kind of in the proper location. I had to take at least 30 pictures just to get a few good ones.
 
I finally decided that picture taking time was done. It was time to start taking care of the elk. Luckily, as the fog began to set in, my brother and another friend were more than happy to help me get him out. I didn’t realize until later that day that my bull had gone by the camera I keep on the property. He was only about 20 minutes in front of me. As he went by, he seemed to look straight at the camera. I am sure he had no idea just how happy he was about to make me.