For Pete Harmon, bagging a 500-pound bull elk with a bow and arrow put the finishing touches on the trip of a lifetime.
Harmon and fellow hunter Keith Plaisance drove 2,100 miles to Cascade, Mont. for the trip. Tired but excited, they began hunting the mountains near Cascade and located four active wallows that the elk were using. On the third day of the hunt, they returned to the wallows and set out a 3D cow decoy at the location.
They began calling – mixing cow calls and bugles.
“After an hour, we got our first bull response,” Harmon said. “We started seeing elk emerge from the dark timber about a half-mile away and they began to feed on the long grassy slope, still a long ways from where we were set up. We continued calling, mixing it up with cow calls, bugles, roars and chuckles. As we were calling, I heard something coming fast towards me making a lot of noise.
“It was my guide on a dead run.”
As the guide ran past Harmon, he yelled out, “They’re coming!”
As Harmon scanned through the trees, he finally saw movement. In a matter of seconds, he was staring at the broad side of a bull elk about 60 yards away.
“I moved slowly to my right for a clear shot at the bull. I put the pin six inches above his back and let the Easton Infused #340 arrow with a QAD 100 grain Exodus 1.25 broadhead fly from my PSE EVO bow. The shot was true, hitting him through both lungs, and he ran from the hit. The bull ran approximately 70 yards and piled up.”
Celebrations and high fives were in order as the group admired the trophy lying at their feet.
“The real work began when we had to get the 500-pound plus bull elk off the mountain and clean the animal,” Harmon said. “Great big thanks to my hunting buddy, Keith Plaisance, for inviting me on this once in a lifetime experience.”
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