New in 2018, the SCI Foundation Veterans Committee auctioned a sponsorship for a combat veteran to go on a 400-420-inch bull elk hunt. The hunt was donated by Trophy Mountain Ranch, an estate hunting outfitter located near Cowdrey, Colorado. The sponsor (winning bidder of the auction) paid to send Cody Scriver, a nine-year Marine veteran who had participated in more than 100 combat missions in Afghanistan, on the hunt. Cody, his wife, Fawm, and son, Tucker, received two nights lodging and meals and the hunt was filmed by Colorado Buck.
Scriver recalls that it seemed like a tease when he heard that the Northwest SCI Chapter wanted to put his name in for this hunt. If that was a tease, it was total disbelief when he got a call saying he was the combat veteran selected.
“On the first morning of the hunt, we saw quite a few elk, but later in the day, they had begun to bed down and were harder to spot,” says Scriver. “We continued hunting and, at the crest of the next ridge, caught site of an elk in the creek bed below. He was a couple hundred yards away and we couldn’t see how big he was, so we headed down to get a closer look. We were about 100 yards from the elk, keeping some brush between us and the elk, when we caught a movement to our right. There were three more bull elk 60 yards away. While we had cover from the one below, we were wide open to those three.”
Thankfully those other bulls didn’t spook and, after a long few seconds, Scriver found himself 100 yards away from not one, but two 400-plus-inch bull elk.
“We got as close as we could to him,” says Scriver of the stalk. “He was on to us, though, and started to get antsy. He looked our way and then back at the other elk that were leaving. My guide asked how far I could shoot, and I replied, ‘50 yards,’ wondering how confident I was with my answer. My guide responded, ‘Good, he’s at 52 yards. Take the shot when you’re ready.’”
Scriver drew back his bow. “The elk was angled away, and I tried to picture where his lungs were from this position,” recalls Scriver of the shot presentation. “I relaxed and focused my mind on the shot and, once the 50-yard pin settled an inch or two above where I wanted the arrow to hit, I let it fly. I had red knocks on my arrow and was able to watch it fly up and then down into the exact spot I was aiming for.”
Scriver took a 422 1/8 bull elk.
“What started out as a chance to hunt elk, turned into a hunt of a lifetime that I got to share with my family,” says Scriver. “I would have never been able to set up something like this without the support of SCI Northwest Chapter and SCI Foundation and everyone who made the hunt possible. There were so many people involved in bringing the hunt together and I can’t thank them enough. I really appreciate everyone at SCI Foundation National who helped along the way.”
Check out listings of Colorado Buck’s future episodes to watch Scriver’s hunt. SCI Members interested in sponsoring the 2019 combat veteran can bid on the hunt January 11, 2019 7:00-9:00 a.m. at the North Fork Pavilion (Day Auction Room) in the Reno Sparks Convention Center.
