The evening of September 23, 2009 would be very special for Bull Basin, guide Chad Sherman, and two bow hunters from South Dakota.  Rick and Troy were into the second day of their guided archery hunt with us, they had perfect conditions with cool temps and even some early season snow on the ground.  The two were encouraged, opening morning resulted in elk all around them, and Troy got a shot at a nice bull, but the broadhead found bone in the shoulder, and the bull escaped with only a scar from the encounter.  They were very close to lots of elk during their evening hunt on the first day, and passed a nice big 5x5 on the morning of their second day.  For the afternoon hunt of their second day Chad decided to take the pair to the Northern part of the Ranch.  They located a good herd of elk and devised a plan to get in close.  Knowing the importance of keeping the wind right, Chad took a major detour to get the archers in place.  The extra effort paid off as the group was able to move in towards the group of elk undetected-at about 200 yards away from the herd, Chad directed the two hunters to move towards the herd another 80 yards and to set up.  Once the hunters were in place, Chad began to work his magic on the cow elk call.  With hunters down in front of him to the left and right, Chad was hoping to coax one of the many bugling bulls past the waiting bow hunters.  It didn't take long, and Chad knew things were getting interesting as one of the hunters signaled to him that a bull was working towards the other hunter.  Chad being unable to see the second hunter continued to cow call.  His efforts paid off as the cold air was filled with the harsh "whap" of the arrow striking the bull!  Chad was encouraged as the nice 6x5 bull pranced past him at only 10 yards, blood bursting out his side.  Another cow call stopped the mortally injured bull, and Chad watched him crumple to the ground!  Chad would learn later from Troy that the bull passed only 3 yards in front of him-the shot was taken literally at point blank range!  Before Chad had a chance to get up and check out the downed bull, Rick motioned that another bull was coming in!  Chad began the soft, sweet cow talk-and moments later Rick would let his arrow fly.  That arrow hit-but the way things lined up it was difficult to know how solid the shot was.  Chad gathered the two hunters and told them he thought it best to let the second bull be while they took care of photos and field dressing of the first bull.  Troy told Chad that while he watched the bull come into Rick, the herd Bull came into the call not 20 yards in front of him!  Anticipation and excited lead Rick to want to see what was up with his bull, so as Chad worked on taking care of the first bull-he told Rick it would be ok to go look for blood and hopefully a downed bull.  A few moments later Chad noticed Rick returning with his head down, and a disappointed look on his face.  Rick made it back to Chad and quietly asked Chad to put down his knife.  Chad now a little confused by the request set down the knife and waited for Rick to give him the news.  As Chad's knife hit the ground Rick leaped into Chad's arms and gave him a great bear hug of thanks-his 6x6 bull was dead on the ground not 60 yards from where the arrow hit its mark!  Two great bulls in one awesome hunt!  Anyone who has spent any amount of time archery hunting for elk will attest to the fact that there are a thousand things that can go wrong and result in the elk winning the battle.  In talking with the hunters I knew they were serious about bow hunting, and I know that there is not a better guide than Chad Sherman.  This is a great accomplishment, and I believe a deserving reward for all the hard work, effort and relentless passion for hunting that Chad has.  My hat is off to this trio-way to go on a truly unbelievable hunt!