Decades later, Crooks bull still No. 1

The day Terry Crooks arrowed an elk that still ranks first in the Montana record books, his plan was to put his hunting buddy in front of a bull.

But as it often happens in hunting, Sept. 26, 1996 had a much better ending than he or anyone could have imagined.

Crooks, 69, was born in 1950 in the panhandle of Texas. His family lived on a ranch where they raised cattle.

“That was not for me,” Crooks said. “I remember asking ‘Why do we live here?’”

While that sentiment may seem heresy for most native Texans, Crooks got his wish when the family moved to Butte when he was 14.

Trips to the library for books about hunting, rifles and bows stoked his enthusiasm for chasing wild game in the Big Sky state.

After graduating high school in Butte, the family moved to Libby in 1972.

After leaving Montana to go to college in Oklahoma and Nebraska, Crooks said he hurried home to Libby.

He worked in sawmills and in the woods then worked in the Libby Church of Christ, where his father ministered and he himself has been the preacher for many years.

It was in the chuch that he befriended Adrian Mathis, also a bowhunter.

“We shot, skied and hunted together,” Crooks said. “The mission for that day was to get him on an elk.”

The hunt began later than they had planned after Mathis made the drive from the Flathead Valley.

“We beat the brush for about two miles as we moved up the canyon,” Crooks said. “We stopped for a drink of water and I cow called. I heard a faint bugle and then another one.”

The hunters had to give up some of the hard-earned ground they had covered and cross a creek to get a better approach at the bull. Then, a large animal exploded from the brush.

“I was concerned we had blown it out (spooked), but it turned out to be a bear,” Crooks said. “We continued up the mountain cow calling.

“I thought we were going to be lucky to see the bull because it was so thick. I kept calling and I could tell he was coming in quick,” Crooks said.

Both men continued to run up the mountain, with Crooks in front. He entered an opening in the thick brush, just in time to see a bull elk.

“When I saw the tips of his antlers, I stopped. I had an arrow on the string and at first I could just see his head and antlers,” Crooks said. “Adrian was behind me and we were out in the open, so we just had to stay where we were.”

Initially, Crooks couldn’t see the bull’s chest and didn’t have a shot. But then it moved just enough where Crooks could see an opening about the size of a softball or volleyball, as he described it.

“I let the arrow go, the bull lunged forward and I could see the arrow in its chest,” Crooks said. “Adrian said he was huge, but I really hadn’t analyzed how big he was. I knew he was something, but not what he really was.”

The bull went about 75 yards and crashed into some alders.

Both hunters stopped and had lunch, giving the elk time to die.

“I told Adrian how sorry I was he didn’t get the shot. We had been lifelong hunting partners and had helped each other pack large animals out, so I really had my heart set on him getting a shot, but he didn’t care one bit. It wasn’t about him one bit.”

Crooks said Mathis couldn’t stop talking about how big the bull was. After about 90 minutes, they found the blood trail and found the giant bull.

“I had seen the (Rocky Mountain) Elk Foundation’s big bull display in Missoula and I knew we’d never see another one like it,” Crooks said. “You don’t expect or plan on it and it took me a bit to understand how big it was.”

Crooks had a few friend who knew how to measure and score antlers.

“They knew what it was,” he said.

The non-typical bull’s antlers scored 409 0/8, putting in No. 1 in the Pope & Young Club record book for American elk in the state of Montana. Today, the head and shoulder mount of the bull is part of the Elk Foundation’s bull display.

“A month after I got it, some hunters from the area told me they had found his sheds and they had scored over 400,” Crooks said. “No one had ever seen this bull before that day,” he said.

Crooks is somewhat surprised his record had stood.

“It’s a long time for a record to stand, but I’ve always gone to places where no one else wanted to go,” Crooks said. “I’ve seen monster bulls as close as 10 or 15 yards, but there are in heavy cover where it’s hard to get shots.

“Those are the places where elk can live longer and get that big. It’s terrain that’s just too tough to hunt every day,” Crooks said.

Crooks said that elk, particularly old cows and big bulls, are experts at survival.

“For me to get that shot at the bull, something really went wrong in his day.”

Crooks has had many people tell him they believe the general area he got the monster bull.

“Some say the Yaak, the Purcells, the Cabinets, Ross Creek, but elk like that live in isolated holes where they can get that old and that big,” Crooks said while still wisely not divulging any hint of where the bull lived and died.

Crooks said elk hunting, particularly in archery season during the rut has changed quite a bit over the years.

“Elk are much quieter, mainly because of the wolves, than they used to be,” Crooks said. “Big bulls are smart and they learn how to dodge predators. Hunters have to be patient, find places where they are nearly unhuntable and always be cognizant of the wind.”

After nearly a lifetime in Montana, Crooks said he still remains thankful to live, work and hunt in Northwest Montana.

“It’s really a blessing to live in Montana, serve in the community and I feel very fortunate.”