Before I get to the hunt a little background is in order. 13 years ago I was working for a rancher near Ft Davis doing day work and predator calling. When I graduated college and went back on active duty I had to leave the ranch and move on but the rancher and good friend told me he wanted to be to kill a big elk. At that time we had noticed a substantial elk heard in that area of the Davis Mountains...all free range. Well, fast forward 13 years....I'm finally able to put a trip together during the rut. I find a Marine buddy here in North Carolina to go with me (he had never been to Texas other than a layover and had never killed anything bigger than a duck) and we began our planning months ago. Last week we loaded up my Dodge and set out for a 27 hour drive from coastal NC to Ft Davis Tx. Our plan, while probably not the smartest, was to drive straight through and take turns sleeping to utilize every bit of the small leave window we had. So, we set out at 0600 and made it to Ft Davis at 1400 with a few stops in between. Dog tired, we decided to unpack the pickup and hit the range so we could get to it the next day. On the way to the range the rancher and an outfitter ran into us and decided to go to the range with us. (the outfitter was there scouting for hunts not associated with my hunt, but boy was I lucky he was there) On the way to the range they talked us into doing a little glassing on the way back to the bunkhouse. After the range (now 1530 or so) all four of us find the rim of a canyon and sit down in order to listen for bugle or cow calls. After a solid two and half hours we decide to hit another spot and glassed it for about an hour and just as we were about to leave I spot a bull across a canyon at about 1000 yards from us. The bull was head down grazing so the rancher and my buddy sat down right where they were while me and the outfitter game-planned a stalk. At this point, the sun had just fallen below the horizon and we were working with the last 30 minutes of light. Once we found a good vantage point that would still over concealment the outfitter began working his magic with the calls. The bull immediately perked up but did not come towards us. Instead he ran along the ridge a little high so he could get a good visual on us. I was laying across a rock and had him in my scope the entire time and when he slowed to a walk I put one high in the shoulder and he piled up right there with a rolls down the steep canyon wall. It was completely dark when we made it to him at roughly 2030. We worked on him for several hours and didn't get back to the bunkhouse until 0200 (mind you we've had very little sleep in the past 48 hours). I didn't expect to be finished with my hunt just a few hours into it. The bull scored 340 and was a 7x7. I couldn't be happier. Shot was made with a 308 from 400 yards.
