I just want to start by saying that I have some of the greatest friends anyone could ask for!!
I moved away from my favorite hunting spots. On Monday I had a business meeting in the area, so I took advantage of the opportunity and got a little hunting in. The meeting started at 9 a.m. so I arranged to meet one of my hunting buddies at the trail head at 5:30. By 7:15 we had a bull on a trot coming right into our calls. He came in so fast that we didn't have much time to set up and the wind gave us away before we could get a shot. He was within 25 yards before he figured out something wasn't right! I still needed to get to the meeting so we chalked it up to a good first experience and headed out. I did find this winter kill bull on our way out, and I made it to the meeting on time!
The meeting went well and we wrapped things up just after 5:00, so I called my good luck charm (lawnboy) and he said he was on his way. When we got up there the wind was blowing like crazy. I felt that I was wasting our time. We sat down on a knob and within 10 minutes a bull showed himself in a clearing about a mile away. We grabbed out gear and headed out. Within 30 min Bart had the first bull coming right at me. The spot I was in was a little more open, and I wasn't able to draw until he had gone past me at 20 yards. I had to shift and the bull caught my movement. He spooked off a little bit but hung around in the thicker timber just below us. We could still hear two other bulls bugling, so I tried to move up to the next one. I spotted him working a tree over, so I kept moving in on him. Bart could not see me anymore and started to move back as he was calling. That was all it took for that bull to come my way. I was able to set up better on this bull, and the rest is history. He gave me a 38 yard broadside shot, and only went about 110 yards straight down into the creek bottom before piling up. Here is where the great friends comment comes in. For some crazy reason the cell phones were working where we were, and before the bull had finished kicking we had help on the way to pack him out. It was a lot of work getting him back to the truck, but there was no way I could have gotten it done without them. I finally rolled into bed at 5 a.m., and some how made it back to work by 9 a.m. I 'm still recovering, but so thankful for the chance I had to harvest such a wonderful animal!!!
Sorry for the pour pictures the camera that we had was out of batteries. This is the only picture I was able to get when the other guys showed up to help pack him out.
I moved away from my favorite hunting spots. On Monday I had a business meeting in the area, so I took advantage of the opportunity and got a little hunting in. The meeting started at 9 a.m. so I arranged to meet one of my hunting buddies at the trail head at 5:30. By 7:15 we had a bull on a trot coming right into our calls. He came in so fast that we didn't have much time to set up and the wind gave us away before we could get a shot. He was within 25 yards before he figured out something wasn't right! I still needed to get to the meeting so we chalked it up to a good first experience and headed out. I did find this winter kill bull on our way out, and I made it to the meeting on time!
The meeting went well and we wrapped things up just after 5:00, so I called my good luck charm (lawnboy) and he said he was on his way. When we got up there the wind was blowing like crazy. I felt that I was wasting our time. We sat down on a knob and within 10 minutes a bull showed himself in a clearing about a mile away. We grabbed out gear and headed out. Within 30 min Bart had the first bull coming right at me. The spot I was in was a little more open, and I wasn't able to draw until he had gone past me at 20 yards. I had to shift and the bull caught my movement. He spooked off a little bit but hung around in the thicker timber just below us. We could still hear two other bulls bugling, so I tried to move up to the next one. I spotted him working a tree over, so I kept moving in on him. Bart could not see me anymore and started to move back as he was calling. That was all it took for that bull to come my way. I was able to set up better on this bull, and the rest is history. He gave me a 38 yard broadside shot, and only went about 110 yards straight down into the creek bottom before piling up. Here is where the great friends comment comes in. For some crazy reason the cell phones were working where we were, and before the bull had finished kicking we had help on the way to pack him out. It was a lot of work getting him back to the truck, but there was no way I could have gotten it done without them. I finally rolled into bed at 5 a.m., and some how made it back to work by 9 a.m. I 'm still recovering, but so thankful for the chance I had to harvest such a wonderful animal!!!
Sorry for the pour pictures the camera that we had was out of batteries. This is the only picture I was able to get when the other guys showed up to help pack him out.