I haven't bow hunted since 1990. One of my memorable experiences was hunting north of Medocino CA not far off the coast and came across a bear. We surprised the hell out of each, not sure which one of us screamed louder and turned to run faster. A couple of guys I was out with that day watched the whole thing from a distance, and of course like good hunting buddies, just let me walk right up on the bear. The only thing we got that day was a good laugh and a some cheap beer.

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The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody

I got my second elk on the 4th of Sept. Hunted hard for 4 days in record heat and a lot of smoke. I didn't think I'd have a lot of time throughout the month to be in the mountains so I took a smaller bull (5x4) when he gave me an ideal opportunity. I called him in once but didn't have a shot. Waited until he was leaving and called him in again, this time he looped around into a perfect shooting lane. He stopped on a dime with my nervous grunt, absolutely broad side. The arrow made a full pass through and he just made it about 20 yards from where I shot him, 30 yards from where I stood. I hadn't ever witnessed/heard the full sequence of death before in such close proximity. It was pretty fast, but certainly a significant experience. My hunting partner was maybe 60 yards away looking over a different clearing as I was calling. We broke the calling sequence and he came over having zero idea that anything had happened. He was very surprised to see my bull. We only had to carry him about 1.7 miles to the truck, 2 loads total which is much better than the 6 miles and 3 loads I had to carry last year.

They weren't bugling much that early in the month but we did have one all worked up the day before. He bugled us in and I had him at 25 yards at full draw. He was a nice 6x6 but he was perfectly quartering to me so the front shoulder was not allowing me a clean shot at the vitals. After a minute of shaking and my heart pounding at full draw, the wind swirled and he crashed away through the woods. The vocal aspect of elk hunting is thrilling. This is my 4th year of archery elk hunting and I get a little better each year at finding elk and calling. It's certainly a thrilling way to spend some time in the woods and if/when you are successful, you get a couple of hundred pounds of lean "trophy" and sometimes a nice set of antlers and/or ivories.

I was fortunate to kill 2 elk last year, one bull and one cow in the late season. I drew both tags again this year so if all goes well, I'll have a year's worth of elk in the freezer pretty soon. I'll also hunt pronghorn, mostly with the rifle as my mom (63) is doing her first big game hunt ever this year and we'll start that in 2 weeks. Nebraska mule deer on my family's ranch will be my "trophy hunt" for the year. I've killed 3 elk and a pronghorn so far in my hunting "career" but never killed a deer. I think I'm sort of backwards in the usual hunting progression.