A Historic Run: Filling Tags in Just One Day

My nephew Sam Niziolek knelt in front of a small spruce, a Wyoming bull elk towering over him. I laid flat on the ground 20 yards back, watching as Sam dumped the string. The arrow flashed across 15 yards of air and centered the bull with a whump, where the dark mane transitioned to tan. Game over.

Two hours earlier, Sam and I had stood at a cliff edge, both realizing we’d forgotten our pistols, mine at camp and Sam’s at home. The hell with it, we both thought as we began our descent into the canyon. Grizzlies were always a threat, but driving to camp and back would take too long. We paused to listen often, but the canyon remained silent. Not deterred, we hit the bottom of the canyon and lined out with the morning thermals in our face, ears straining to hear a first bugle. A half mile passed, then a mile. Nothing made a sound except for squirrels and the burbling creek.

We found an area completely torn up by a rutting bull. Feeling positive he was close, I ripped a bugle, expecting a deafening reply. Nothing. Baffled, we discussed our options. I wasn’t ready to quit. “We’re going until we hear one,” I said. We’d only walked 50 yards when a bull chuckled loudly to our left. Sam nocked an arrow and began a crouched stalk. After only 20 yards, he knelt, and body language indicated he had eyes on the bull. Without any cover, I lay in the trail and made a couple soft cow calls. That’s when Sam came to full draw. We heard the bull crash a short distance away.

After 15 minutes, our patience was spent, and we started on the short blood trail. Forty yards later, we were admiring the largest-bodied elk I’d ever seen, a nice 6x6.

Thus ended Sam’s 2020 Wyoming elk hunt — one day.

2021 Elk

Sam’s fat uncle — me — was slowing him down on the climb. I’d been hunting hard for two weeks and finally had a lock on where some bulls were, but I was physically spent. The only problem now was the 1,500-foot vertical climb to get to the basin where the bulls were. Sam prodded me along and we finally reached the basin. Bugles rang out from several bulls. Knowing Sam’s best chance was a fast climb to a bull that sounded like a dinosaur, I told him to push on solo, and if he shot it, to bugle three times.

I sat back against a gnarled tree and proceeded to watch the show. It took Sam a half hour just to cross the basin, but the bull was still sounding off. One adult gray wolf and four black pups commenced howling. They were only 400 yards from Sam and the bull. Uh-oh, I thought, expecting the bugling to quit. Instead, old Dinosaur answered the howls and continued to do so. Sam was closing quickly, but the bull was in an area of dense pines. Sam disappeared into it. I heard him cow call, then hooves smacking on downed logs, followed by another urgent call, then more clattering hooves. The three excited bugles were unnecessary; I knew what had happened.

Sam doesn’t miss. I was proud as hell of him but also a little disappointed for me. I was enjoying my relaxing perch against the tree and really didn’t want to move. Reluctantly, I got to my feet and started the long slog over to Sam. We tracked the 6x6 bull 80 yards to where he lay.

Thus ended Sam’s 2021 Wyoming elk hunt — one day.

2023 Bear

Randy Giesey, Sam and I were taking a much-needed break. We’d been snowshoeing with our bear bait and barrels on our backs for the past eight hours. We used the time to relax, hop in the truck and go exploring. Sam was excited to be in bear country, but the snow levels had us doubting we’d be hunting before the weekend was done. We were driving a paved road with snow banks three feet high. Right as Randy said, “There’s no bears up here,” one crossed the road in front of us.

We drove past a little way, then Sam got out to put on a stalk. Within minutes, he was jogging back down the road with his bow held high. He’d walked in the bear’s tracks until close enough to make the shot.

Thus ended Sam’s 2023 Wyoming spring bear hunt — one day.

2023 Elk

It was cold. Remnants of recent snow dotted the ground. At 9,400 feet, fall comes early. We’d never hunted this location before, but had always wanted to. I broke the morning stillness with a locator bugle. An answering bugle surprised us, and we hustled around the lake to close the gap on the bull. We slowed after a few hundred yards, and I bugled again. The bull screamed back, and he was close.

Sam nocked an arrow and took cover next to a tree. I circled back about 50 yards to call again, but when I turned around, Sam was already at full draw. I couldn’t see the bull, but when Sam released the arrow, there was an immediate thump. He then used his rangefinder, and soon another arrow was on its way. He turned to me with his bow raised. We were both a little stunned at how fast it played out. His beautiful 6x6 bull was dead in a clearing after running only 100 yards.

Thus ended Sam’s 2023 Wyoming elk hunt — one day.

2024 Bear

Sam sat to my right in a hang-on stand. I’m older and wiser, so I sat the ladder stand. It was our first day back since we’d set the bait and stands a week earlier. We had only been sitting an hour when I spotted a nice cinnamon bear cautiously approaching. It kept us entertained for a while, but we were fairly certain it was a sow. It ambled off and the woods went still again. Finally, with about 10 minutes of daylight left, we noticed a decent sized black walking right in like he owned the place, not cautious like the cinnamon. We let him settle in for a couple minutes. Then, when Sam had a decent shot angle, he released a great arrow. The bear only made it 40 yards and was down in view.

Thus ended Sam’s 2024 Wyoming spring bear hunt — one day.

2024 Moose

On Sept. 30, we left the house at 2:30 a.m., wanting to be in Sam’s moose area by daylight. In our four years of bear hunting this same unit, we’d never spotted a bull moose. We were determined to change that and had 10 days to get it done. Our plan was to drive more of the unit and familiarize ourselves with parts we hadn’t seen. We were a little early and close to the spot Sam had chosen to visit when the sun came up. So, we pulled over and slept for 45 minutes. As the morning brightened, we got our boots and warm clothes on, and Sam readied his bow. We drove ahead to the clearing and were shocked when we spotted a bull. We both looked through binos and said in unison, “Shooter!”

We drove ahead out of sight and then quickly hiked back to get eyes on the bull again. As soon as we did, I hit him with a drawn-out cow call, followed by a couple grunts. Then I whacked the brush a few times with a small canoe paddle Sam had brought along. It worked to perfection, and the bull started for us, grunting with each step, only pausing to rake willows once in a while.

Sam sneaked ahead and found a good place to shoot. Each time the bull hesitated, raking the willows, I’d hit him back with the canoe paddle in the brush. He kept coming closer, until he was only seven yards in front of Sam. He had been at full draw for a bit and didn’t want the bull any closer, so he buried an arrow deep in the bull’s chest, only the fletching showing. The bull spun and trotted to 30 yards, coughing blood. As soon as he stopped, Sam sent an insurance arrow through the lungs. The bull stumbled forward another 40 yards and collapsed.

I’ve shared many hunts with Sam through the years, but I’d never seen him as excited as this. He was so jacked up he couldn’t even catch his breath as he relived it, trying to tell me every detail. I don’t believe there could have been two happier people on the planet. Sam had a Boone and Crockett-sized moose down, and we’d only just woken from our quick nap and begun driving 14 minutes earlier.

Thus ended Sam’s 2024 Wyoming moose hunt — one day.

I’m not sure how long Sam’s lucky string of short hunts will continue, but for now, he keeps getting it done, one day at a time!

Wyoming resident Ron Niziolek is a frequent Bowhunter contributor, a highly accomplished bowhunter in his own right and the uncle of arguably the luckiest bowhunter in the Cowboy State!

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