06/09/2026
"I arrived just before dark and set up camp. With all that had happened, I felt much less prepared than normal. Four a.m. came early, but we were off to the trailhead to hike in. About ten minutes up the trail, noticed my quiver had come loose. This was not good, so I headed back to the truck to find a tool to fix it. I finally caught back up to Jon just before daylight about a mile up the mountain.
It was before shooting light, so we worked our way up the draw to get closer before setting up. We paused just as it got light enough to see...
I waited for a few minutes then bugled again. All of a sudden, I heard a bugle up the ridge directly behind me. I looked up and saw a cow and a calf coming straight towards me. About 50 yards behind them was one of the biggest bulls I have seen in this unit! As I lowered my rangefinder and looked up, the lead cow was staring right at me! I thought for sure I was busted... I drew my bow. Thwack! The bull spun around and took off....
There is no way to explain how adrenaline hits you after releasing an arrow on an elk! In all the years we've hunted this area, we have never taken two bulls in a season, let alone on the same day within 100 yards of each other! It was crazy that I only hunted for three hours in 2025 but harvested my biggest bull to date. After such a difficult year, it all came together, and it was a year like no other!" - Kenneth Cain & Jon Horne
Read the full story on p. 94 of this month's edition of the Huntin' Fool Magazine.
