Colorado Bull Story (a bunch of bull about a Bull)

[cpoplayer]

Great bull and an even better story! You guys are my heros. Something occurred to me while reading this post. I inherited my dad's collection of outdoor books. It is full of writers such as Elmer Kieth, Jack O'Connor, etc. I have read several of them and, while entertaining, I just don't connect with them. Their experiences are in a time far removed from my own days in the field. They were my dad's outdoor writers, not mine. While reading this post I realized that I have found "my" outdoor writers without knowing it. Randy, Steven Rinella, and others have become the writers I identify with. Thanks for sharing these stories!

 

[Josh Kuntz]

Great story, thanks for sharing.

 

[shawfish]

Feeling the sweat, fortitude, success, and great sense of accomplishment you and Marcus experienced. All without me having to take ibuprofen for sore muscles or get a stick in my eye! I'm no writer, but I think you told it well Randy.

 

[NCArchery]

what an adventure, what a bull... these are the types of stories that make all the negative media, politics and other BS seem to just fade away. Thank you for sharing Randy!

 

[Corax]

Great story, Fin. The 19 points was just the start of it. When I was pack shopping, I realized I had no interest (or ability) in carrying the loads that a Metcalf could handle. My Dragonslayer carries enough to wear this weenie out.

My hat is off to you. Good luck with the liver and the eye. At 66, I have a cataract creeping along in my dominant eye, so I am extra careful with them.

 

[IdahoBugler]

Congrats Randy. Another great read and bull. Man I wish we could of packed two bulls out of there.

 

[davinski]

Congratulations, Randy, sounds like an amazing hunt. I packed a bull out of 61 solo about 10 years and 20 pound ago. Not sure I could do it today! FWIW on our lovely oak brush, carhartts are about the only pants that hold up to busting through it. I've tried various snazzy other duds and they always get ripped. Besides having it yank a boot off now and again, I have been suspended completely off the ground more than once in that thick stuff. I can't name how many hats or various pack accouterments I've donated via that devil weed. I think the worst part is keeping your cool as you work through it, I usually wind up getting really mad up until I get whipped in the face...tasting your own blood inflicted by a fight with a plant has a way of resetting one's temper. Keeps away the riffraff!
Dave

 

[Z Barebow]

Great hunt and read Randy! Thanks for sharing.

 

[jore07]

Congrats sir, and a great read! Thanks for sharing!

 

[passinthru]

Great job!

A deserved bull for sure.

 

[Spot & Stalk]

Great story and a great bull.

 

[bowhunterjae]

CONGRATULATIONS! Awesome Bull and Story.

 

[rmyoung1]

Congrats on a great bull and a Herculean effort. Sounds like you guys had an awesome hunt.

 

[kstitz]

Big Fin,

Great story, read it 3 times! I am a CO resident & have enough points to draw this unit 1st rifle season. I really want to burn my points with the point creep being what it is this is the best unit I can draw. This terrain is not my preferred terrain but it is the best area for me to have a chance at a 300+ bull.

After hunting this unit would you do it again if you had another chance?

 

[Big Fin]

Big Fin,

......

After hunting this unit would you do it again if you had another chance?

Yes, I would. Not that I ever plan to build 19 elk points in a state, but it was a good hunt. If the weather is warm, plan on some serious work to get into the canyons the bulls hang out it. If you shoot one in those north facing canyons, plan on the worst extraction of your hunting days.

 

[kstitz]

Thanks. Do you think the bulls will be harder to find in the 1st rifle season (mid October)?

 

[Big Fin]

Thanks. Do you think the bulls will be harder to find in the 1st rifle season (mid October)?

Not sure. Having not hunted that time of year, anything I would provide would be complete speculation. There seems to be an abundance of elk in that unit. When you find them, they are in high densities.

 

[Pagosa]

I just read about the Uncompadgre hunt and that is one heck of a bull. I worked a summer and fall in that area in the late 90s and that country has some nasty hell holes. It's a ashame it takes 19 points to draw. I'm continuing to apply for a 4th season tag in an adjacent unit. I can't wait to see the video. When will it air?

 

[Hammsolo]

I love this format. Essentially, read a great hunting magazine style story and react. Scars are stories I always say, and your eye has one to tell.

 

[b1004u]

With the aid of extra headlamps (I always carry two, sometimes three) and a small folding saw Marcus carries, we were able to light up the area we had cleared for the huge task at hand. It was only 6 pm and darkness owned the sky. Between us, we have been on well over 50 elk dis-assemblies, but this one had us both scratching our heads. It was going to take some ingenuity.

I decided we would leave him on his side. I would take the top front shoulder off first. I figured the less weight, the lower the risk of him breaking the P-cord and surfing down the slope. The P-cord could have been tuned to play dueling banjos, given how taught it was. With the front shoulder off I did the backstraps, T-loins, and all trim meat I could carve away. I then moved to the hind quarter and decided I best keep the proof of sex attached to the top quarter in the event things when downhill. With considerable effort, we somehow got that hind removed from the carcass. Now what?

We tried to roll him. No dice. The weight was pulling the P-cord so tight we could not roll his head. We only had one choice. Re-tie the P-cord to the bottom side front leg and remove the head as he lay. Talk about a task. That was harder than any part of this job and surely a greater effort than any head I've ever removed.

With the head removed, we had to try roll him over. Still no luck. We had one choice; untie the front leg and let him slide. Wherever he came to rest, hopefully we could access the underside. And with that we let him go. He only made it about five yards before some more oaks claimed him as their own. He was on his back and pointing slightly downhill. That gave us the opportunity to roll him on to the side we had just processed, tie him off, and pull his hind further down the hill.

Again, the P-cord was fiddle-tight. The weight being reduced by our work on the first side did make him easier to handle. I first took off the remaining hind. I then skinned him up the back to where the front quarter protected the backstrap. I carved out the back end of that backstrap, taking me up to shoulders. That backstrap had no choice but to come out in two pieces. With the front leg still tied, I somehow was able to carve around the brisket and remove the front quarter, and in doing so, the now quarterless carcass slid a few feet further down the hill. I was able to get the remainder of the backstrap, trim, and other goodies.

We were spent. This had taken the better part of three hours. We now had decisions of what to take, what to leave, and what route to try navigate. It is here where I made a call for the sake of safety. In our daily packs, we carry pretty heavy loads. I knew it meant an extra trip, but I did not feel comfortable navigating these rocks and ledges, in the dark, in a place I'd never been, with heavy loads of meat added to the weight we carry. We would have our hands full trying to pull ourselves through this brush with what we had.

It took over any hour to gain the saddle from where we did our shooting. With no time to lose we hustled down the rim trail another mile to the launch point where we had to bushwack up another 600' of vertical brush. At 11:15 pm, we arrived at the Yamaha, completely spent. Now, we had an 1:45 minute drive back to camp. It was long, chilly, and hard to stay awake.

When we got to camp I told Marcus my liver was about to crash and we would sleep in. Whatever the plan for extraction, it would come to us the next morning. And it did. While eating a 9 am breakfast we decided we would haul a spike camp over to the place we left the road, as we fully expected it would take two days to get this bull out. Slamming down some raisin bran and a bagel, we drove the two hours around the loop, this time in my Titan. It was slower, but allowed us to carry some creature comforts for the night at this spot.

When we arrived, a group of six ATVs and twelve hunters were parked near where we dropped off the mesa. They had cow tags, expressing no interest in doing what we did. They laughed and commented about me being some sort of tough guy to shoot a bull there. I lectured them to not confuse "stupid" with being "tough."

Our plan was to get as much as we could out of the canyon and up to the saddle. Our last loads of the day we would take all the way with us and up to the truck that night. By 4:30 pm we had boned it all and hauled both hinds, one front, and all the trim/T-Loin/backstraps to the saddle where we hung it in grove of spruce, exposed to a thermal breeze that would blow on them all night. The only casualty of the trip being a stick in my right eye that gave me double vision and is causing me to doctor with an ophthalmologist here at home. It is the most painful eye injury I've had, thankfully having had very few. Trees have a lot of fungus, so if you jab a stick in your eye, get it checked. Odds are, you will be given a dose of antibiotic to kill any fungus that can cause lasting eye damage.

Knowing darkness would be upon us before we got up the last grade, I grabbed a boned out hind and Marcus grabbed the bag of trim/Loins/Straps. We hustled down the rim trail to the spot where we would have to labor up another 600' of vertical brush to where we had parked. By a little after 6 pm, and in complete dark, we stumbled to the truck, worn and tired. Even worse, knowing we had two more bad trips ahead of us in the morning.

Camping here was far better than driving the round trip back to our main camp. The view was pretty damn nice. Photo credit to Marcus Hockett.
View attachment 64548

great pic!