Smith: Cambridge hunter becomes first in modern era to take a Wisconsin elk with a bow

"Call me ASAP."

Dan Evenson of Cambridge was on a grizzly bear hunt in June in Alaska when that short message appeared on his emergency communications device. It came from his wife, Laura.

"Those are words you never want to hear, especially when you are far away from home," said Dan Evenson, 38.

As a range of awful thoughts filled his head, Evenson worked to arrange a phone call from the outback.

Evenson wondered: Was somebody at home sick or hurt? Would he need to arrange an airlift and get back to the Badger State pronto?

Within seconds of speaking to Laura, however, his feeling of dread evaporated.

"She said a guy named Josh Spiegel of the DNR called and you drew a Wisconsin elk tag," said Evenson, relating the phone conversation. "I was with a group and we all did a happy dance on the side of the mountain."

The jig was for two reasons. Not only was all well at home, but Evenson had won a Wisconsin hunter's version of the Megabucks lottery.

He was one of three hunters to get a 2022 Wisconsin elk tag in the state draw; 25,742 applied.

A fourth hunter won an elk tag through a raffle run by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. And Ojibwe tribal members have four tags in accordance with their treaty rights.

But the long odds have made Wisconsin elk a "hunt of a lifetime."

Evenson is more aware than most hunters of such percentages. An avid bowhunter on a quest for the "Super Slam" - taking all 29 Pope and Young Club game species with archery equipment - he has hunted in more than a dozen states and several provinces of Canada.

Of all the applications he fills out each year, the Wisconsin elk tag is the hardest to draw, Evenson said.

"I was super surprised and very lucky to get it," he said.

One thing was sure all along, though: If he drew, he'd pursue a Wisconsin elk with a bow in his hand.

Evenson has shot archery and hunted with bows since his youth and is a life member of the Wisconsin Bowhunters Association.

Evenson's dedication to hunting with "stick and string" is extraordinary. While he's taken more than 50 record book-class big game species, he has never killed an animal with a rifle, he said.

"Bowhunting is my life," Evenson said.

The attempt for his Wisconsin elk began in earnest in late summer when Evenson began scouting and gathering information in the Clam Lake area.

Elk were native to Wisconsin but were wiped out in the 1800s due to unregulated hunting. A reintroduction effort began in 1995 when 25 elk were transferred from a Michigan herd to the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest near Clam Lake.

The Wisconsin herd grew slowly but steadily and in 2018 the DNR initiated the first regulated elk hunt in state history.

By law, half of the tags are issued to state-licensed hunters and half to Ojibwe tribes.

To help encourage continued growth in the population, only bulls may be killed.

The 2022 Wisconsin elk hunting season runs Oct. 15 to Nov. 13 and Dec. 8 to 16. Hunters can choose any legal big game method - rifle, shotgun slug, crossbow or vertical bow - for elk.

Native Americans for centuries used bows, arrows, spears and other "primitive" equipment to hunt and kill elk in Wisconsin. So for a hunter to pursue elk in the state with bowhunting gear is certainly not unprecedented in the span of history.

But all known Wisconsin elk kills since 2018 have been with rifles.

For Evenson, the added challenge of pursuing big game with a bow as opposed to a firearm helps honor the sport of hunting and the animals.

Through late summer and early fall Evenson made a few scouting trips to the Clam Lake area and continued his practice regimen at the archery range.

He shoots a compound bow with 8 pins and enjoys practicing at distances out to 100 yards.

Most of his hunting shots over the years, though, have been between 20 and 25 yards, Evenson said.

"There's an ethical limit for shooting an arrow and it's different for everybody," Evenson said. "It's important to learn what that is and stick to it when you're hunting."

Last week Evenson, a self-employed electrician, packed his gear and, Wisconsin elk tag in hand, headed for the North Woods.

Though he had taken big Roosevelt and Tule elk before, this would be his first attempt at a Rocky Mountain elk, the type found in Wisconsin.

Several friends from Cambridge joined him, as well as a friend who lives near Clam Lake.

On Oct. 13 they located a herd of about 30 elk south of Clam Lake. The herd bull had a dandy 6 by 7 rack.

The next day they found the same group a couple miles away. Then on Oct. 15, opening day, they located them again, both in the morning and afternoon.

The first time proved unfruitful but on the second the elk were browsing past a row of vegetation; Evenson was able to stalk to a position within shooting distance and wait.

The animals fed through, Evenson said, and eventually a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity presented itself: the big bull was standing broadside at 60 yards.

Evenson drew his bow and released an arrow. The bull bolted out of sight through the bright fall foliage. Members of his group soon joined Evenson and a search ensued; the bull was found dead 100 yards away.

A hunter and his friends gathered around a true Wisconsin trophy, a species restored through a determined, sustained effort by the DNR and partners, including the tribes, the RMEF, the U.S. Forest Service and UW-Stevens Point.

The elation at that moment in the Wisconsin North Woods now exceeded what Evenson felt in June in Alaska when he learned he had won a tag.

"To have it all come together was pretty sweet," Evenson said.

The elk had a massive 6 by 7 rack. Evenson, a certified big game scorer, said the bull's green score was 283⅞ inches.

Meat from the animal is being treasured by Evenson and his friends and a pedestal mount of the head and antlers is being made. Evenson said he plans to display the mount at the March 2023 meeting of the Wisconsin Bowhunters Association.

Even after the required 60-day drying period the score is expected to easily qualify the elk for the Pope and Young Club record book (minimum score is 260).

And Evenson will also have his name etched in modern Wisconsin hunting annals as the first to take an elk with a bow in the state's regulated season.

It also gives Evenson the 25th species in his Super Slam quest.

The four species he has left - barren ground caribou, bighorn sheep, mountain caribou and Shiras moose - won't be found in his home state.

But he said the Wisconsin elk hunt will be hard to top anywhere in the world.

"I'm feeling very fortunate, very humbled," Evenson said. "What an experience, and right here in Wisconsin."

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin bowhunter killed bull elk on opening day near Clam Lake