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"This was the year we had been waiting for.  Then tragedy struck our great nation..."

    The scouting trips were beginning to produce the type of bulls we had hoped to find. There was one bull in particular Travis had his sights set on from the day we found out we had gotten tags. John and Travis had named this bull Frog because of the fact that his bugle sounded similar to that of a bull frog. They had been watching him for the last three years and felt he would score over 400 points.

    We located Frog within a few weeks of scouting and Travis had a good idea where he would be when the rut started. The hunt was fast approaching. My constant hounding of Levi McClendon had finally paid off. He agreed to video and call for me on the hunt. The hunt was only a week away and the bulls had moved into their rutting zones. It was looking good for Travis and me.The Tuesday before our hunt was to start, tragedy struck our nation. The events of that day had left me stunned. I felt guilty about this upcoming opportunity while families of the victims mourned the loss of their loved ones. As a lot of other Americans did I proceeded on with my life with the blessings and encouragement of our President. Just one day after the attacks, Travis and I headed up to our spot to get ready for Friday.

    Thursday morning I went where I had anticipated to hunt on opening day, but to my surprise there wasn't much activity in the area. Back at camp we talked about our morning and what it had produced. Mine being uneventful while Travis' was very productive. I set out that evening anxious to find a bull for the following morning, but my evening was just about as uneventful as my morning. I was confused because there were elk there a few days earlier.

    As most of us archery elk hunters know, the rut can change things in a hurry, and in my case it had. That evening before the hunt, as Travis and I waited for John and Levi to arrive, we talked about two big bulls he had seen a few days earlier not far from where he was going to go in the morning. We came up with a plan for Levi and myself to go into the area in the morning and see what was going on. When John and Levi finally found us, they agreed on our morning plans. We all headed for a restless night of sleep. I said a prayer that night thanking God for the opportunity to hunt these great animals and to harvest a nice bull.

    The morning was finally here. It started with the normal good-natured ribbing Travis and I have given Levi for the majority of his life; and John looking at Travis and I wondering why we haven't changed in 15 years. Levi and I headed out to the spot. As soon as we got out of the truck and got ready, we heard bugling coming from up the hill. Not a bad way to start the hunt. We took off towards the bugling and soon   realized that the first bull we heard was not the one for us. Fortunately the bulls were going crazy that morning. We made our way towards what sounded like a mature bull. I got set up and Levi called him in. Once again, not what we were looking for. Levi and I soon found ourselves in a frenzy of elk with cows and bulls all around us. Suddenly a huge bull made his presence known. Levi said, " Oh my Gosh Stan, he is a monster." I quickly replied, "I'll shoot that one". We watched as this big boy pushed all the small bulls away from his harem. Luckily for me Levi was there to keep me sane. I'm not sure if I could have done it without him making me stay put in front of that old cedar tree.

    We had seen the big bull push a smaller bull through an opening right in front of us and it looked like he may follow that same route. We set up, guessed the yardage of the potential shot, and while waiting for the bull to come through the opening, I recalled John telling Travis and me to visualize a specific spot just behind the bull's front shoulder. When the bull entered the shooting lane, I picked the spot and released. The shot was true. The big bull lunged forward. After a short distance he started walking , but we felt the shot was well placed and he couldn't go far. As we sat there giving the bull time to lay down and stove up we couldn't help but wonder how John and Travis were doing.

    We got John on the radio and realized that we were less than 200 yards apart. A few cow calls back and forth and all four of us were together. After we had told John and Travis about our morning we asked about theirs. They had called Frog in. Unfortunately Frog had busted off his fourth and fifth point on the left beam, so Travis passed on him.

    Not long after our little meeting we all started on the blood trail. It was relatively easy to follow at that time. A short while later Travis spotted the bull bedded down, and to our surprise he was still alive. The bull had seen us as well and had gotten up. He looked like he was very sick and wouldn't go far. We all sat there for a while and decided that getting out of there for a few more hours would be our best bet. We marked the spot on the GPS and headed for the trucks.    

Travis' bull scored in the mid 360's and would have been a 370 plus if not for a broken third point

    Just a few minutes after we split up, we got the call on the radio that they had recovered Travis' bull and he was a dandy. Levi and I got to the spot where we had last seen my bull that morning. We started immediately on the last drop of blood we had marked. Unfortunately for us he had all but stopped bleeding when we had bumped him earlier. We were literally on our hands and knees looking for the pinhead drops of blood the bull left us to follow. After covering about 200 yards in an hour, Levi asked for me to come over his way. He was pretty sure he had the bull in his final bed. I made my way to Levi and sat there with him looking into the two big cedars where the bull had come to rest. I knocked an arrow and slowly went down to the big bull. As I rounded the cedar tree I could tell he had expired. Both Levi and I let out a few hollers of joy and relief before we contacted Travis and John to tell them the good news.

    The two bulls that Travis and I harvested that day fell within a quarter-mile of each other. It was a day like no other. None of us had ever experienced anything quite like it. To have two bulls of this size down on the first day of the hunt was incredible. We gave each other the congratulations and started the not-so-fun process of getting these huge animals back to camp.

    It was a sight to be seen after we got the bulls in the back of Travis' truck: over 765 inches of antler filling his truck bed. When we got back to camp the long awaited measuring tape came out. John, with his innate ability to score these big bulls accurately in his head, told me what he thought my bull would score. He also said he thought the bull would be in the all time top 10 for the Pope and Young book. John was right. After the 60-day drying period, my bull officially scores 402 4/8 gross and netted 395 0/8. That score had him fifth in the P&Y book and second in the Arizona state book. Travis' bull scored in the mid 360s and would have been 370 plus without the broken third. It was a day that none of us will ever forget.