I finally used one of my LO bull tags I get for my ranch. I have only taken cows here before.
2 young hunters came close on bulls several years ago.
It's been hot & dry and I have not heard a bugle since Sept., and have only seen a few cows around since.
Until Sunday morn.I walked out at 1st light & there was 8 cows,4 calves & a small 4x4 bull 600 yrds away. I watched as they came up past me in the trees & stopped the bull with a cow call. I was instantly busted by the cows & away they went.
Time to call in the tag & start the hunt. 5 days on 140 ac. with low odds they would be back and not much time to catch a bull with the cows left.
Get up Mon. & head out in the last of the moon,down thru the Pinyon & Juniper stringer of trees my home is in to start glassing the open as soon as I can see. Gotta catch them before they leave my windmill, tanks & my place.
Nothing to the south or the north. I go about 50 more yards & can see nothing at the windmill. Nothing any where. So much for this morning after sitting in a chair under the trees til noon. Nothing shows that evening either.
Same thing Tuesday morning.No elk,just some antelope show @ 11 am to water & bed down. I sit in my chair all day hoping. Nada.
I know very few bulls have been taken on nearby ranches this year so far & the local conditions are not what they usually are.
Get up at 4 to take a leak & get the fire going.Cold & clear in forecast. Coffee on,watch some news...& I hear a bugle. Then again half hour later. Time to get dressed. I drink coffee & wait. I hear cows & calves talking outside. Bummer.Their heading into the trees & up onto the mesa early ,I think. Bummer,an hour til shooting light still.
1/2 hr later I slip out & start my walk down with a nice 15 mph wind right into my face. Perfect.
Nothing out in the moon to the south or north in the open moving. I wait.
Walk down thru the trees & crunching bone dry grass as it gets light now. Nothing down at the windmill,bummer.
I go 150 more yards til the last big group of Pinion where I can look over the end of the little ridge I am on. There. In the bottom in the dark. Elk.
I wait & glass. 12 cows,8 calves moving up my way. There, he walks out from behind a juniper. A nice young 6x6 bull. He's doing the whole rut run around now trying to herd the herd into the wind & out the west side. The lead cow has nothing of it and they continue my way. Then she stops,something is not right. I have dawn at my back,wind in my face & no where to go right or left without being busted. I range the light colored bull,187 yrds. I slowly set up my tripod & slide to the side of the trees for a shot.Busted.
Cows are now heading to the tank,but not running. They continue to just watch the tree. The bull goes back behind the juniper & bugles again. If I move now they will see me thru the trees, bummer.Busted and pegged I think.
Then the bull runs out where he had been,now alone. Stops broadside about to bugle again. Bam.
He spins & takes maybe 10 steps behind the juniper. The whole heard of cows & calves heads for the fence. Not a light body among them. I wait till they are about a 1/4 mi away to walk to the side & there in the bottom is the bull,down. I walk down to check & watch the cows head into the trees across the valley.
Double lunged him, as he took a step at the shot.
Not my biggest,but this one will fit in the house....euro-style. And I was just 800 yards from where I am now,with coffee in hand & a bull in the cooler.I think it's time for a shower & a nap. I'm beat.
2 young hunters came close on bulls several years ago.
It's been hot & dry and I have not heard a bugle since Sept., and have only seen a few cows around since.
Until Sunday morn.I walked out at 1st light & there was 8 cows,4 calves & a small 4x4 bull 600 yrds away. I watched as they came up past me in the trees & stopped the bull with a cow call. I was instantly busted by the cows & away they went.
Time to call in the tag & start the hunt. 5 days on 140 ac. with low odds they would be back and not much time to catch a bull with the cows left.
Get up Mon. & head out in the last of the moon,down thru the Pinyon & Juniper stringer of trees my home is in to start glassing the open as soon as I can see. Gotta catch them before they leave my windmill, tanks & my place.
Nothing to the south or the north. I go about 50 more yards & can see nothing at the windmill. Nothing any where. So much for this morning after sitting in a chair under the trees til noon. Nothing shows that evening either.
Same thing Tuesday morning.No elk,just some antelope show @ 11 am to water & bed down. I sit in my chair all day hoping. Nada.
I know very few bulls have been taken on nearby ranches this year so far & the local conditions are not what they usually are.
Get up at 4 to take a leak & get the fire going.Cold & clear in forecast. Coffee on,watch some news...& I hear a bugle. Then again half hour later. Time to get dressed. I drink coffee & wait. I hear cows & calves talking outside. Bummer.Their heading into the trees & up onto the mesa early ,I think. Bummer,an hour til shooting light still.
1/2 hr later I slip out & start my walk down with a nice 15 mph wind right into my face. Perfect.
Nothing out in the moon to the south or north in the open moving. I wait.
Walk down thru the trees & crunching bone dry grass as it gets light now. Nothing down at the windmill,bummer.
I go 150 more yards til the last big group of Pinion where I can look over the end of the little ridge I am on. There. In the bottom in the dark. Elk.
I wait & glass. 12 cows,8 calves moving up my way. There, he walks out from behind a juniper. A nice young 6x6 bull. He's doing the whole rut run around now trying to herd the herd into the wind & out the west side. The lead cow has nothing of it and they continue my way. Then she stops,something is not right. I have dawn at my back,wind in my face & no where to go right or left without being busted. I range the light colored bull,187 yrds. I slowly set up my tripod & slide to the side of the trees for a shot.Busted.
Cows are now heading to the tank,but not running. They continue to just watch the tree. The bull goes back behind the juniper & bugles again. If I move now they will see me thru the trees, bummer.Busted and pegged I think.
Then the bull runs out where he had been,now alone. Stops broadside about to bugle again. Bam.
He spins & takes maybe 10 steps behind the juniper. The whole heard of cows & calves heads for the fence. Not a light body among them. I wait till they are about a 1/4 mi away to walk to the side & there in the bottom is the bull,down. I walk down to check & watch the cows head into the trees across the valley.
Double lunged him, as he took a step at the shot.
Not my biggest,but this one will fit in the house....euro-style. And I was just 800 yards from where I am now,with coffee in hand & a bull in the cooler.I think it's time for a shower & a nap. I'm beat.
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