GOLIATH BULL.

Patience on stand can yield huge results on elk.

I WAS ON STAND behind a large tree overlooking a waterhole as Darell Welty hid on a/ridge behind me, prepared to videotape any action that might occur-I-had-been-on-stand more than-4 hours without seeing an elk. As a seasoned bowhunter, I've grown used to long waits, but I was beginning to wonder if the Goliath bull we'd seen nearby, earlier in the day, would show up before dark. Unbeknown to me, things were beginning to fall into place like a jigsaw puzzle and soon I would be facing the moment of truth!

I had arrived at the Welty Ranch near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, on September 5, along with my brother, Glenn, and our friends Tony Oeding and Gene Braunecker. We all live in or near Ferdinand, a small town in southern Indiana, where Glenn and I are part owners of Best Chairs, Inc., a furniture manufacturing company. Tony and Gene work with us at Best Chairs. Darell Welty, owner of Limestone Outfitters, had told us his clients had taken two nice 5x5 bulls earlier in the day, which got us pretty pumped. As soon as we'd got settled in, we shot our bows. We had all worked with and fine-tuned our equipment prior to the hunt, and we wanted to make sure our tackle was still dead on.

The morning of September 6, Darell and I were up at 4 a.m. and hunted all day in a drizzling rain. We saw a couple of nice 6x6 bulls, but I was unable to get a good shooting opportunity.

On September 7, a warm, overcast day, we were out early again. At about 8 a.m., Darell bugled and got two responses in the distance. We hustled to the top of ridge, from which we spotted the biggest bull I'd ever seen -- the Goliath bull. We sat there for some time, watching the bull and planning our strategy. Then, to our surprise, he began heading our way. I moved in front of Darell-and found a place to-hide When Darell began cow-calling, a different bull, a 6x6, started coming in. This smaller bull walked to my left, then turned and headed straight towards me behind a bush 10 yards in front of me. I waited for the bull to pass the bush. Now he was only 8 yards away! I made the mistake of not drawing until I was ready for the shot. The bull heard my draw and darted away. At first I was frustrated, but this missed chance turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

That's because it gave me a chance to hunt that Goliath bull we'd seen in the distance. And with the temperature up to 75 degrees, we decided that would be done most effectively at a waterhole near where we'd seen the bull.

As related earlier, I'd sat on stand behind a tree for more than 4 hours. My legs began to numb, so I slowly stood and glanced back at Darell. He motioned for me to get down. From my position I could not see any elk, but Darell could see the big bull coming and, was already videotaping him. The bull was coming down a ridge straight toward the waterhole.

At 7 p.m., when I finally saw the elk, he was only about 100 yards away. I raised my bow and got ready. The bull was very cautious, but the wind remained to my advantage. Recalling how I'd blown a chance earlier by waiting too long to draw, I went ahead and drew my bow as the bull stopped behind a tree, 50 yards away. My heart was racing. The bull walked to the edge of the waterhole, 35 yards from me. I placed my 30-yard pin directly behind his shoulder and released.

The way he ran straight up the ridge, I wasn't sure I'd even hit him. I caught my breath and looked back to Darell. He exclaimed he thought he'd seen the bull drop. Finding my arrow, we concluded I'd made a pass-through, double-lung shot. We followed the blood trail for about 100 yards and then saw the bull lying on top of the ridge. My walk turned to a run.

Following Pope and Young Panel verification, my Goliath 8x8 measured 402 5/8 inches in the nontypical Yellowstone elk category, which will likely place it in the category's top five in the Bowhunting Big Game Records of North America. By the Safari Club system, the bull measured 424 inches, which also would place it near the top of the Safari Club World Bowhunting Records. Truly, taking a bull like that was a Goliath experience for me.