During a hunting trip to North Dakota last fall I met quite a few characters, many of whom I recognized from emails shared among this group of friends. One of these was Terry Doll of Mandan, ND. A childhood friend of Doubletough contributor Bubba Enget, Terry at one point offered to be my “translator”, since the NoDaks were having trouble understanding my Southern drawl, but that’s another story.
Bubba recently passed along a press release from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation announcing their 2009 Great Elk Tour, featuring trophy mounts at stops across the country. Terry knocked down a brute in 2007 and his 397 1/8 bull will be representing North Dakota on the tour. Knowing there had to be a great story behind the hunt, he did not disappoint.
On Dec. 8th of 07 I had to go out to Dickinson for a work Christmas party so I figured I would just leave early that morning and spend the day hunting out in the badlands. So I headed out west not expecting much cuz I had already been been hunting for over two months without even seeing an elk. Anyhoo, I hunted all day, did a lot of walking and glassing and as usual I didn’t see shit. It was getting close to sundown so I started making my way out of the hills to get to my party on time.
I was driving down some oil field road and I saw some black spots about a mile and a half out and thought it was cattle but I decided to pull over and put the spotting scope on them just to make sure. HOLY SHIT it was actually a herd of about 20 elk and I could see there was a decent bull in with them but it was too far to tell how big. I was starting to think there was no fricken elk in this state. By this time the sun was getting pretty low and I didn’t know if I could get within shooting distance before dark but I decided I would give it a whirl. So I parked my pickup at an oil pump up on a hill and left my parking lights on so I would have something to walk towards in case it got dark on me. Then I just grabbed my gun and took off running.
When I crawled over the ridge where I last saw the herd the damn things were gone. I walked down the valley and up the next hill then I spotted them acrossed the next valley. When I topped the ridge some of the cows saw me and started to get a little jittery so I knew I couldn’t get any closer without spooking them. I put my range finder on the bull and he was 625 yds out. At this point I had to make a decision, either come back tomorrow and try to pick up their tracks or fling some lead out there. So knowing how far elk can move in a short period of time I decided to take a shot at him. I aimed about 3 feet over his back and let one rip. Nothing! So I aimed a little higher and shot again. Nothing! I put the cross hairs down lower and shot again. Nothing! Lower even yet. Nothing! Now I have to reload so I put in the only four spare shells I brought with me and took aim again. Boom! The bull jumped straight up and took off like he was on fire with the rest of the herd right behind him.
I squeezed off one more round but over the hill they went and I thought that was that. Then I proceeded to scream obscenities loud enough for every ear within the tri county area to hear me. After my barrage of choice language I decided to hike down the ravine and up to the top of the ridge thinking I would at least see which direction they were headed. When I trudged over the ridge I was watching the horizon hoping to catch a glimpse of the herd. Not a damn thing. Then I got closer to the edge and HOLY SHIT again. There the whole group was standing in the valley below and the bull was laying just a little above them part way up the hill about 150 yds away from me. I dropped down, crawled to the edge, and put a round right in his front shoulder. He jumped up and then tumbled about 30 yds down to the bottom of ravine. Then the bastard popped up again and started walking along the sidehill so I jacked my last shell in the chamber and put another one right behind his shoulder. Finally he plopped down and the deal was made.
By this time the sun was down and in December that gives you about 10 minutes before you can’t see shit so I didn’t even go down to look at him. I was now about 2 miles away from my pickup in mountain lion country with no shells left and only a double-A-battery flashlight to make my way back. Naturally I was a little nervous on the hike out in the pitch dark. Good thing I left my parking lights on or I would have had a hell of a time finding my way to the pickup.
After what seemed like forever I got back to the truck. Relief! I called my dad back home and told him I had an elk down. He asked if it was a nice one and I said yeah I think he’s pretty decent but I’m not real sure how big. Then I headed back to Dickinson and proceeded to tie one on at the Christmas party. The next morning my dad, uncle, cousin and a friend met me in Dickinson with a horse in tow. We headed back out to the badlands to retrieve the bull. When we got to the oil pump I had parked at, the sun was just coming up and it was still 5 below zero. We got our warm stuff on, saddled up the horse, and headed off into the hills. After the two mile hike I pointed him out laying in the bottom of the ravine. We started down the hill and those horns just kept getting bigger and bigger. When I finally got up to him I couldn’t fricken believe it. HOLY SHIT once again. This thing is a damn monster. So after a few pictures, some high fives, and a little knife work we were on our way out.
We drug him out whole so by the time we got to the pickup trail the old nag had all she could handle. Then the four of us wrestled him into the back of my truck and off we went. Later on I sent a picture of him to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and they said they would like to take him on their elk tour. So I figured what the hell. I have to let them have it for a year but they cover all the taxidermy costs. Now he’s on the tour and I should get the mount back some time in December. No big hurry ’cause I don’t have anywhere to put the damn thing anyway.
For more information on the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s “Great Elk Tour” and schedule for where you can see Terry’s bull and many other great trophies, visit their website.
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