I was pinned down at 30 yards with my cameraman Josh Schull as we stared eye to eye with what could possibly be the new World Record Pope and Young Tule Elk.  The waiting game was on, all I needed was for him to turn broadside to give me a clean and ethical shot at his vitals.  My window of opportunity was closing fast as we had cows converging in on us at 10 yards and it wouldn’t be long before they busted us.

            Going once……..Going twice…….SOLD to bidder 952.  This past February I attended the National FNAWS show and purchased the tag and the opportunity to hunt Tule Elk on Grizzly Island, with all the proceeds going back to the Tule Elk and habitat.  With Pope and Young now recognizing the Tule elk as the 29^th Big Game species in North America I dreamed of the opportunity to hunt this magnificent creature.  With only a couple animals away from an Archery Super Slam the Tule Elk became #1 on my list of challenges with a bow.  So in late July I boarded a plane in Minneapolis with my good friend and cameraman Josh Schull of Wild Excursions and we headed for San Francisco, California.  After spending the night in the Bay City we headed one hour north to the hunting grounds on Grizzly Island where I met up with my guide Cary Jellison along my longtime friend and guide Brent Sinclair.

            Once I arrived on the island I was taken back by the outstanding ecosystem Grizzly Island has.  The island is rich with a diversity of animals including; song birds, hawks, owls, pheasants, ducks, otters, rabbits, coyotes, and of course the Tule Elk.  Grizzly Island which is made up of 8,600 acres and positioned six feet below sea level, was once drained and cultivated for farming until the Department of Fish and Game purchased it in 1950.  Today Grizzly Island is home to 150 Tule elk, over 150 duck clubs, and is a cornerstone of conservation in Northern California.

            When my hunt started on August 1^st it didn’t take us long to start locating elk.  On the first day we counted nearly 50 elk with 15-20 of them being bulls, none of these bulls had the age or size we were looking for.  We continued to see large numbers of elk over the next few days with a few bulls looking like they might be shooters.  This is when my guides reminded me, “Walt be patient”.  The elk where still in the pre-rut stages and any day the “big boy” could appear out of nowhere.  This was the funny thing about hunting Grizzly Island the elk would just appear and disappear into thin air.  When you first look at the island it looks like a flat field covered with grass, but on Grizzly Island “perception is not reality”.  The island is covered with tall grass and reeds reaching heights of ten feet or more and along with the many depressions and ditches it makes it ideal for elk to disappear.

            As we headed back to camp on the third night we spotted a very good bull only 200 yards from camp and less then 100 yards off the road!  Could this be the shooter I was looking for?  He was a beautiful 7x7 with heavy antlers and very distinctive G1 and G2 that were almost touching.  With light fading fast we would have to sleep on the anticipation of finding this bull again in the morning.

            I had high expectations as the sun started to illuminate Grizzly Island the next morning.  Our goal was to locate the bull we spotted (which we named “Morris”) near camp the night before and get a better look at him.  It didn’t take us long to spot “Morris” with a large herd of cows and looking very impressive.  But when Cary and Brent looked over him closer they both agreed “Morris is a great bull but we still have ten more days to hunt so I think we should let him walk Walt”.  So our adventure continued on Grizzly Island for a bull that Cary had spotted and taken photos of earlier in the summer while scouting and named him the “Devil Bull” because he had devil points on his brow tines.

            So for the next four days we stuck to the game plan and continued to glass as much country in the morning hours as possible before the mercury rose and the heat waves made it impossible to glass.  The mornings were crisp but the temperatures would climb into the mid to high 80’s everyday with south winds 20-30 mph.  This was a trade mark of Grizzly Island; the wind never stopped blowing, never!  Even when the sun would go down and the stars would come out, the wind still continued to blow.  There are good and bad factors that come with the wind.  One, it was going to cover up any noise we made while putting on a stalk; two, we won’t have to worry about the wind swirling and the elk winding us.  The bad thing; it was going to make it difficult but not impossible to make a longer shot if I needed too.

            After a week of glassing and covering every corner of the island we finally spotted the bull we were looking for, “Devil Bull”.  This bull was the total package he had mass, length, width, and many crown points.  Cary confirmed it by the photos he had taken earlier in the summer that this was the “Devil Bull”.  We had a perfect opportunity to compare “Morris” and “Devil Bull” to one another since they were hanging out in the same field and competing for the same cows.  It became a unanimous decision that the “Devil Bull” was a worthy competitor so we started forming our game plan for the following morning.

            That night was short and my sleep was light as I waited for the opportunity to put a stalk on this Tule elk we called the “Devil Bull”.  Once the sun was up we found our challenger close to where we left him the night before.  Everything was looking good, he was in an area that would give us good cover for stalking, the wind was calmer than usual, and I was mentally ready.  There was one X-factor though; he had a large number of cows and spikes around him adding to the level of difficulty.

            “Ok, this is it Walt, Let’s do it” Brent said.  Cary stayed back and watched from a distance and helped guide us through the long grass as Brent, Josh, and I closed the gap between us and “Devil Bull”.  As we got closer to our target we looked back at Cary and he signaled to us that the bull was less then 100 yards away.  Brent gave a few cow calls followed by a couple bugles and the “Devil Bull” responded with a deep raspy roar.  Now that we had his attention Brent backed up 75 yards directly behind Josh and me and continued to call.  With each call Brent made the bull worked his way closer until we were staring eye to eye with the “Devil Bull”!

            With the bull staring at us and trying to figure out what we were, Josh was capturing all this footage over my shoulder.  The waiting game was on, all I needed was for him to turn broadside to give me a clean and ethical shot at his vitals.  My window of opportunity was closing fast as we had cows converging in on us at 10 yards and it wouldn’t be long before they busted us.  As the bull started to turn broadside I drew my bow and rose up for the shot but was busted in the process, and the bull ran off.  Since the bull didn’t wind us, and there were still cows within 30 yards of us I crouched back down again hoping he might come back in for a second look.  With Brent watching all the action unfold from behind us, he made a game saving play by bugling at the bull and stopping him in his tracks.  As the bull looked back in our direction for the source I was able to range him, draw, and rise up to take aim.  The “Devil Bull” was positioned perfectly broadside at 75 yards and as I settled the pin on his vitals I released the arrow striking the bull through both lungs!

            As we watched the bull fall down a sigh of relief came over me knowing that everything had worked out perfectly!  The “Devil” was dead!  This bull was the total package weighing in at 850 lbs and challenging the current Pope and Young World Record Tule Elk.

            Special thanks to all that helped me make this hunt possible.  My guide Cary Jellison for all his hard work, efforts, and diligence he put into this hunt.  Brent Sinclair for acting as an assistant guide and accompanying me on all my hunts for my Super Slam, and to Josh Schull of Wild Excursions for capturing this once in a lifetime hunt on film.  Last but not least the California Fish and Wildlife for making a hunt like this possible.