As the 2011 Archery Season approached & progressed, I was once again faced with the reality that I didn't have near the time to spend in the woods like I hoped for. I have been working in North Dakota since early spring & I was 2 weeks out from my wedding, with lots of things 'to do'. I arrived in Colorado with 1 week of archery season left, but had to finish packing & loading all of my soon to be bride's apartment & belongings. After getting most everything packed up I made it up to my new honey hole location. This was my 2nd year hunting it. I woke up & got my gear together before light & realized that I only had 2 days of season left before 2011 was in the books. Even tho I am really selective on the animals that I am willing to take, given the VERY tough time constraint of the season ending & a VERY anxious fiance & family waiting for my return to finish setting up for a wedding; I told myself that I was going to take the first decent bull that I could get a shot on.... The good part was that I listened to bulls bugling all night long, so I knew that there should be some good rut activity once it was light out. As it started to get light out I honed in on what sounded like the most mature bugle on the mountain. Sure enough, once it got light enough to start scanning the mountain I spotted the source of the bugle that I had been keyed in on. It was a really good bull, probably the herd bull for the area, because he had about 20-25 cows that he was working across the valley by himself. They were probably a good 1/2 mile away, but I was determined to find my way into their path & get a look at this bad boy. I watched them for a good 30 min. to try & figure out where they might be heading for. Once I had an idea, I was off to the races to try & get in there before they did. I got over into the valley that they were heading for & waited for them to start coming over the ridge towards me. Sure enough the cows started pouring over the top right down towards me. They were scattered from 120 - 200 yards away at this time. Little did I know that once these ladies showed themselves in this valley, I was not the only one waiting for them. 3 other bulls caught wind of the cows & start bugling up a storm. It didn't take any time at all, for this herd bull that I had been waiting for, to realize that pushing his ladies into that valley wasn't a great idea at all. So he came flying over the ridge to circle up his cows & take them right back over the top into the next valley instead. This was the first good look that I got of this herd bull, that I had been keyed in on since the early dark hours of the morning. He was a really nice 7x7. Really unique tho, his swords were his 5's instead of 4's, so he still had regular whale tails looking like a 6x on the back. I wanted him bad !!!! After they all cleared the ridge heading into the next valley over I was on my way after them. As I headed up the hill it started to sound like a choir of bulls chiming in on every single bugle I heard. I got over into the valley & started working my way thru the dark timber towards the unmistakable sound of the herd bull's bugle. He had all of those cows with him so I knew there would be a lot of eyes, but I had no I idea what I was about to see. As I worked my way thru this valley towards my monster bull, I soon realized that there was about 12 bulls contending for a piece of his harem. I got to watch bull after bull come in to try & steal a cow away, which likely ended in a mis-matched fight with the bull I was after. As all of this contention for love was unfolding around me I used it to my advantage to get step by step closer to my target. It was a complete war zone with all the bugling of over a dozen bulls, about 25 cows chiming in, crashing of horns echoing in the trees & me & my bow were right in the middle of it all. I tried time after time to get a shot on this monster, as I closed in from 150 yards to within 40 yards, but I just couldn't get a good shot thru all of the thick timber. Frustrated that I couldn't get a shot & reminding myself that I had limited time to be hanging out in the woods & a lot of wedding details to tend to, I figured that I should take the first good bull that gives me a shot. The next bull that came in for a chance at stealing a lady, got run off by the herd bull & came by me in a clearing at about 30 yards. He looked like he had good mass, not real great beams, but he had his 6x split. He was downhill, quartering away (chip shot pretty much) so I let my arrow go & it flew true hitting him right in the boiler room. He ran about 40 yards down the hill to the creek & piled up. I was pretty darn excited, especially since it was the 2nd to last day of season, my 1st day out & only 2 hours after the sun came up!! I was thrilled for about 2 minutes, until that monster 7x7 herd bull came into a clearing about about 15 yards away & stayed there for the next 45 minutes bugling his head off. It took an awful lot of patience to not nock another arrow & put the biggest bull I've seen in the wild on the ground. But I somewhat reluctantly resisted & let him walk for another year. In hopes that he will still be around next year & hopefully only bigger. Had it not been for the 'hurried' sense of getting my bull on the ground & getting to Nebraska for a wedding, I would likely have had my shot on that monster, but none the less I can't complain about how things unfolded that morning. Being right in the middle of that chaos of bugling bulls & cows running in every direction, is an experience that will never be forgotten. I just hope that I can replicate it several more times in the years to come. After I packed my bull out that Saturday morning I headed down the mountain to leave for my wedding. I married the woman of my dreams on the following Saturday & that capped off the best week of my life !! It doesn't get much better than that!

I Thought I Loved You Then...

We were married on October 1, 2011 in Wood River, NE at Babel's Barn. It was a beautiful and perfect day filled with lots of laughter, tears, and love. Here are just a few pictures from our awesome photographer Sara Hasstedt. ( see her blog here ). More to come!