Short Hunting Story

The Story of My Hunt

This story begins 4 years ago in units 3A and 3C in the area around Snowflake Arizona. At the time I was 17 years old with a strong desire to be outdoors as often as possible. My earliest memories as a child were outdoors with my family. Hunting has not only been something we did for fun, but it was a lifestyle for myself and family members. My dad has always hunted and had taxidermied his first animals before he graduated high school. My father was now a business owner, but if he wasn’t working or attending to his religious duties he was scouting for an upcoming hunt, fishing, camping, or hunting small game and predators. Lucky for me, my father took us kids wherever he went. Thus, this lifestyle had passed on to me and became my favorite things to do and talk about. I enjoyed this quote from Dizard and Strange which says, “Hunting and gathering was the mode of existence our species depended on for most of our time on earth” (Dizard & Strange pg. 20). I feel like it has not only been like this for the people of the past but for myself as well. For example, I owned a four wheeler and would find places to shoot prairie dogs or hunt rabbits with my brother or friends. As I got older and learned how to drive I took those adventures to further places and discovered new territory near my hometown. I remember when I shot my first bird with a red ryder bb gun at just 6 or 7 years old with my brother. Back then I did not know the consequences of my actions, but I knew that hunting was something I desired to do for the rest of my life. 

At age 14, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes which brought new challenges to my life. I could no longer ride my quad into the desert to hunt rabbits without first telling my parents where I was going to be, and going through a checklist of supplies with my mother. But, with this new challenge came new possibilities. I decided that since I already had this disease I might as well use it to my benefit. Through a friend of mine I found a few different programs that helped hunters with disabilities hunt more animals. One program called Hunt of a Lifetime bought me a gun and paid for my father and I to hunt a moose in Canada. Another program called Outdoor Experience 4 All ran by Eddy Corona is a non-profit organization here in Arizona. It is a program that takes unwanted tags and gives them to wounded veterans and disabled children like myself. Seeing that a person only gets a deer or elk tag every 2-6 years in Arizona, I took this opportunity to get more tags and hunt more often. Additionally, I had been hunting archery since I was 13. This would become very helpful for me because not many disabled children or wounded veterans can shoot archery. This being said, I was able to get several coveted tags from these programs and go on but the one I will talk about is my hunt I have had in units 3A and 3C.

My hunt started many months before the opening day. I spent several hours every day shooting my compound bow and building muscle to the point I could pull back at least 60 lbs. I had shot an elk the year before pulling back only 45 lbs, but I wanted to have the additional power and range that comes from pulling back more weight. I have a Diamond Archery bow which has an adjustable weight and draw for youth hunters. I worked on my accuracy because I want to make the most ethical shot I can and have a successful harvest. In the book written by Potzwise on page 68 he says, “There is a sacred moment in the ethical pursuit of game, it is a moment you release the arrow or touch off the fatal shot. As a hunter: You have made a decision to kill the animal you have pursued, you must be confident that the shot will be a good one, and you feel right about taking an animal you respect.” I think there is wisdom in all aspects of this quote, I think he makes a good point by saying, “you are confident that the shot will be a good one.” As a hunter I never want to wound an animal and force it to suffer. I have too much respect to let an animal die in that manner, although it does occasionally happen. Thus, I practiced each day to increase accuracy so when the time came I was ready. I also spent many hours practicing my cow elk calls and bugling in hopes that the rut would start while the hunt was open. Another way I prepared for my hunt is by scouting the area long before opening day.

My father and I scouted extensively for several weeks before the hunt, and after school I would find a hill to glass off of. Being in a drought, there was very little water and I knew water was the key for killing an elk. As I scouted, I found several mature bulls that I wanted to harvest but just a few days before the hunt they disappeared and could not be found. Around the same day my dad and I found a pond a few hundred yards off the road and my dad suggested it would be a good place to be on opening morning. He had another hunt in unit 1 and would not be able to help me, but together we made a plan of where I could sit and glass.

On opening day I woke up long before the sunrise and drove to the area I wanted to hunt. I hiked up the hill overlooking the pond with my backpack, calls, binoculars, and bow. I did not know what to expect, but just before sunrise I heard an elk bugle from the east. I glassed in that direction and could see a mature bull chasing 15-20 cows across a huge meadow towards me. They were still 800 yards away but I knew they were coming to the water. I watched this majestic animal chase these cows to the pond underneath me in just 10 minutes and realized how quickly they can move. The pond was still 200 yards from me, so while the elk were splashing in the water I got off the hill and made my way towards them. I got 80 yards from the pond just before sunrise, but could hear the bull pushing them further into the cedar trees. Before I knew it I heard another bull bugle off to my right. Then another to the left, then another straight ahead of me. The elk were rutting and I was right in the middle of it. My heart was racing as I decided what my next move would be. “Here, the ethic of “fair chase” figures prominently. Armed only with a simple bow, the hunter is positioned in a much closer relationship with the animal”(Pg. 212 Kowalsky). At this moment I realized that I loved bow hunting because of the greater skill and closeness it requires. I decided to keep following the elk with the cows because it was a big bull. I snuck into 100 yards from the bull and saw that it was a HUGE 5 point, it had everything you could want as far as antler size. It has great mass, long thirds and a big “whale tail” on the back end. I took a picture with my phone but could not get any closer with all the cows around him. They had moved north of the pond into a little meadow with no trees surrounding it and were slowly moving even further north. With all the elk still bugling around me I decided that my best move was to get ahead of the herd. I made a big loop to the west and traveled back to the head of the meadow where I expected them to go. I found a spot in a thicket of trees and a cow called. He bulged back and started towards me. I could hear him getting closer and eventually could hear his footsteps.He was 20 yards from me, but behind a few cedar trees. I bugled. He came running up and I drew back my bow, all of the sudden he stopped. He was less than 10 yards, but behind a cedar tree and was silent. He turned and bolted. I have no clue what happened! Did he smell me? Did he see me through the tree? I had no idea. But, some of the other elk were still bugling around me so I decided to try and get a look at them as well. I followed the closet bugle which was only 100ish yards from where I had just called in that other bull. I came over a little hill and could see its antlers over the top of a cedar tree. Again, it was another mature bull but this time a 6 point with smaller points all around. This time I would just sneak up on it. So, I checked the wind, took off my backpack, and started my sneak. I got 40 yards from it and it started walking in the opposite direction. I tried to catch up but it was moving fairly quickly. So, I decided to go get my backpack and try for another bull elk. In this hunt I saw several bulls that would go 330 – 350 but after a few days of hunting in that same location I found a bull that would measure 380-400. It was one of the biggest elk I had ever seen up until that point and I knew I wanted to chase him. Although killing a big mature bull would have made me very happy, I have come to know just as Potewitz says, “any animal taken by ethical hunting is a trophy” (pg. 94).

I hunted each day before and after school to try and fill my tag. I tell this story because when hunting many things are out of your control, but the things we do have control over, we should make the most out of it. We each need to be ethical and respectful in our approach to hunting game. I believe that many life lessons such as patience, dealing with the low times, and hard work come from my time hunting animals in God’s creation. 

Citations

Posewitz, J. (1994). Beyond fair chase: The ethic and tradition of hunting. Falcon Press.

Dizard, J. E., & Stange, M. Z. (2022). Hunting: A cultural history. The MIT Press. 

Kowalsky, N. (Ed.). (2010). Hunting: Philosophy for everyone: In search of the wild life. Wiley-Blackwell.