Bow Hunting Short Story

A Hunter’s Dream Will had grown up hunting with his father and felt that he had the sport down to a science. Hunting for both food and sport, his rifle had brought down even the most wary of prey. With the coming of a new season; however, a new challenge had arisen: bow-hunting. Setting off into familiar mountains with an unfamiliar weapon, he began his hunt for a male, bull, elk. It was here that his whole perception of hunting changed. While sitting in his tree stand over a wallow, a spring dug up by animals, a massive bull wandered in to get a drink and initiated a single moment, lasting seconds, which he would never forget. Leaving their truck at the base of a giant canyon, Will and his father gathered the gear that would be essential
25 feet off the ground, was his tree stand he had installed the previous week; however, before he could go up he needed to erase his scent from the area. The wallow itself was about a quarter the size of a football field and was littered with the tracks of various animals. Taking a lap around, Will sprayed female elk scent about every five to ten feet until he was back at his tree. Using a rope hanging from the tree stand he pulled his backpack and bow up to the stand, and then climbed the giant pine himself. Once in the tree stand, he strapped himself into the seat, 25 feet is a long way to fall. With the sun cresting the mountain behind him, Will fixed his gaze on the surrounding forest, watching and listening for the arrival of his prey. Hours passed in the tree stand and the forest had stayed silent. From far away, Will’s first sign of elk came. Bull elk use a loud call, a bugle, to ward off other bull elk and this is what Will heard. Across the canyon at least five bulls were bugling at each other, at this sound Will’s anticipation heightened because this meant the elk were moving. Goose bumps accompanied the chill he felt down his neck. Sitting up straight in his tree stand, Will notched and arrow into his