Khunter
Well-known member
Final stalk, finding it and and pack out and some cool photos to wrap up the hunt other than rando photos I may post
Also an update on the bull I lost. grimmace.
A short review then speed to the end of the hunt.
Post 334 on Wednesay Oct 5 evening had me capsized and pushed in to a strainer chin deep in the river struggling and dodging a bad outcome. I and all equipment made it out of the river.
Post 357, Thursday Oct 6 leaving camp at 8 am (yes slept in after metabolizing a ton of adrenaline that gushed into my bloodstream the night before) I spotted the girls, a cow/calf, very near camp, took photos for awhile and hung out till they headed out just to be sure they did not have a bull stashed in the willows, they were alone and here they are again. Let’s remember them as ‘bait’ cuz they will be and are central to this wrap up.
Post 360, Thursday about 2 pm I had hiked in and around some pvt property on a long winding slough with great, dense habitat and actually called in (I think) and definitely had a close call with a decent bull with forks on one side and spike on the other. He smelled me eventually and trotted off.
Elected to abandon that spot and bull.
Headed to walmart to get, gasoline, propane bottles and water and a few food items. Including Brandon and my new fave camp luxury food, Patti Labelle Peach Cobbler. Wally world is 4.5 miles from my tent for this ‘wilderness’ hunt in tater country.
As I was driving toward camp at 4 pm I was talking to Game and Fish to learn protocol if I find the lost bull and tag horns while leaving soured meat—As I am doing this, Bill my landowner where I am camped is calling as I am on the phone. And calls again. I ignore till done with call and call him back.
Bill Whispering….“Kirby, I don’t mean to disturb you but the big bull is in camp”
Kirby “what? how big?”
Bill. Whispering again “Big like that really big one I told you about that dwarfed the small one you did not shoot that had been with him in August. I had to duck around behind my RV to stay out of his way. He is RIGHT HERE! Wait, now he is heading down in to the river. He looks to be crossing. He stopped on the island. OK now he is walking the rest of the way to other side of the river”
Kirby “Bill I am no more than 5 minutes away, please keep an eye on him, if possible. I will come to your camp”
Here are two videos of the bull, first coming in to camp and second, crossing the river. Resolution is poor on the second but can hear three grunts as he crosses.
Bull heading through camp
Same bull continuing into river and crossing and grunting as he does. Updated to higher resolution 10.12.22
So, I get to Bill’s camp, which is also right on the elevated river bank with incredible views and 800 yards upstream from my camp. The bull had gone up the opposite bank and dissapeared into the trees before I got there. Bill had observed him walking in from a quarter mile away walking nose into the wind and traveling downstream along his land and the rivers edge till reaching his camp (the wind almost always seemed to kind of blow west to east, upstream throughout the hunt) and bull was grunting continuously as he walked as can hear in second video above.
Knowing his land (and my camp spot) was a REGULAR travel corridor for moose all summer and during the hunt, I first drove downstream on river edge most of the way to my camp looking for the bull across the river to no avail.
Next was to inflate my raft at Bill’s camp, 200 yards below where I capsized night before, and load up and cross to hunt the bull from where he crossed. I found his wet tracks climbing the opposite bank but quickly lost them in cattle tracks. I presumed the bull was alresady downstream but felt compelled to at least check if he held up nearby as there had been a cow moose over there too (the one with the bull I arrowed very close to this spot for example). Landowner over there there (I also have hunt access to his land), just two days prior had removed electric fencing that kept cattle out of the immediate river corridor, darn it and cattle tracks and crap were everywhere. I was being absolutely devoured by skeeters and that also helped me realize it was foolish to chase a bull on the move who was likely cruising for cows to breed, when I have skeeter juice back at the raft, and thus the bull could and may well travel fast and far in short order till he finds a cow.
I decided to get back to the raft, put on anti skeeter juice and quickly paddle down to my camp while looking for the bull to pop out. I got to camp, quickly pulled the raft and my gear up the bank and set my plan in action:
I had cows near camp and saw the thicket they likely/hopefully! bedded in this morning. My bet was the bull was cruising for chicks and I had the hot chicks nearby so I would circle around and well downwind of estimated cow/calf location and do some calling and still hunting to that spot.
Well, we all know how “great hunt plans” tend to fall apart fast? Well this is not that! Not even a little. This is a plan to find, call in, and efficiently (on day 27!) kill the biggest bull by far I have seen or had photos sent to me by the many cool folks who have been keeping an eye out since summer, and especially during the season. Thanks to local guys I befriended: Ross, Bill P, Jerry, Jon, Terry B., Harold, Jim H., Taygan (part of the 14 yr old hunt crew that shared game cam photos of a good bull) and a couple others who shared moose sightings and photos.
OK, by now I have spent about 30 minutes or more making my way around and downwind of presumed cow/calf location, which also puts me 150 or so yards from my tent, go figure. As I am doing this doubt does enter my mind including I will be very bummed if I missed out on a big bull by a few minutes. I start cow calling and continue moving toward the presumed cow/calf location.
A few minutes later I poke my head out of a willow patch and look into a small empty meadow. Looking across I see a lone tree, the sort with lots of shoots near the base and I initially see GRAY MOOSE LEGS, and then BIG PADDLES coming to me. Was kinda surreal and hard to see as all of him is covered by the leaves, shoots and branches so he looks kindly ghostly and washed out but it is clearly a good bull. And he is grunting! Just as I see this, my iphone starts vibrating an incoming call which I of course ignore. Later I learn it was Bill trying to call to say the bull had crossed back to our side of the river at my camp and was headed about where I just happened to be perfectly situated already. But Bill of course had no idea where I was. LOL.
I sit and get set to shoot if he comes in range and wait. I do not feel he has seen me but not sure. I am directly downwind. He has stopped and I can just make him out through the tree standing head on. I take a beat to assess and then I make three soft short grunts. Immediately he starts moving and grunting and swings to my right exposing his head and maybe some shoulder in the wide open from behind the lone tree in this meadow. And stops, then retreats behind the darn tree that I have already ranged at 70 yards. Wow! Great bull!
I can no longer see him at all and soon I worry thinking “Is he walking straight way from me and the tree is blocking my view”. By now I REALLY want this stalk to work out, he is a beautiful bull and the grand plan I devised has halfway worked so far. I have not yet seen the cow/calf but assume and hope they are nearby.
I make a couple more grunts and he is again on the move and this time I see him coming straight at me from behind the tree and he walks right past left side of tree and is still coming. Holy smokes he has everything. He then starts angling to my right in front of and past the tree in the wide open. He stops again at 60 yards (ranged) broadside and by now I am doing happy backflips in my mind and trying to keep it together hoping for a shot opportunity.
Here he is in mid August about 7 miles from this spot. Photos by Bill Schiess, a professional photographer, from his social media post. Unquestionably a worthy quarry for this marginal unit known for recent very low success rates on medium to dink bulls for the most part.
Also an update on the bull I lost. grimmace.
A short review then speed to the end of the hunt.
Post 334 on Wednesay Oct 5 evening had me capsized and pushed in to a strainer chin deep in the river struggling and dodging a bad outcome. I and all equipment made it out of the river.
Post 357, Thursday Oct 6 leaving camp at 8 am (yes slept in after metabolizing a ton of adrenaline that gushed into my bloodstream the night before) I spotted the girls, a cow/calf, very near camp, took photos for awhile and hung out till they headed out just to be sure they did not have a bull stashed in the willows, they were alone and here they are again. Let’s remember them as ‘bait’ cuz they will be and are central to this wrap up.
Post 360, Thursday about 2 pm I had hiked in and around some pvt property on a long winding slough with great, dense habitat and actually called in (I think) and definitely had a close call with a decent bull with forks on one side and spike on the other. He smelled me eventually and trotted off.
Elected to abandon that spot and bull.
Headed to walmart to get, gasoline, propane bottles and water and a few food items. Including Brandon and my new fave camp luxury food, Patti Labelle Peach Cobbler. Wally world is 4.5 miles from my tent for this ‘wilderness’ hunt in tater country.
As I was driving toward camp at 4 pm I was talking to Game and Fish to learn protocol if I find the lost bull and tag horns while leaving soured meat—As I am doing this, Bill my landowner where I am camped is calling as I am on the phone. And calls again. I ignore till done with call and call him back.
Bill Whispering….“Kirby, I don’t mean to disturb you but the big bull is in camp”
Kirby “what? how big?”
Bill. Whispering again “Big like that really big one I told you about that dwarfed the small one you did not shoot that had been with him in August. I had to duck around behind my RV to stay out of his way. He is RIGHT HERE! Wait, now he is heading down in to the river. He looks to be crossing. He stopped on the island. OK now he is walking the rest of the way to other side of the river”
Kirby “Bill I am no more than 5 minutes away, please keep an eye on him, if possible. I will come to your camp”
Here are two videos of the bull, first coming in to camp and second, crossing the river. Resolution is poor on the second but can hear three grunts as he crosses.
Bull heading through camp
Same bull continuing into river and crossing and grunting as he does. Updated to higher resolution 10.12.22
So, I get to Bill’s camp, which is also right on the elevated river bank with incredible views and 800 yards upstream from my camp. The bull had gone up the opposite bank and dissapeared into the trees before I got there. Bill had observed him walking in from a quarter mile away walking nose into the wind and traveling downstream along his land and the rivers edge till reaching his camp (the wind almost always seemed to kind of blow west to east, upstream throughout the hunt) and bull was grunting continuously as he walked as can hear in second video above.
Knowing his land (and my camp spot) was a REGULAR travel corridor for moose all summer and during the hunt, I first drove downstream on river edge most of the way to my camp looking for the bull across the river to no avail.
Next was to inflate my raft at Bill’s camp, 200 yards below where I capsized night before, and load up and cross to hunt the bull from where he crossed. I found his wet tracks climbing the opposite bank but quickly lost them in cattle tracks. I presumed the bull was alresady downstream but felt compelled to at least check if he held up nearby as there had been a cow moose over there too (the one with the bull I arrowed very close to this spot for example). Landowner over there there (I also have hunt access to his land), just two days prior had removed electric fencing that kept cattle out of the immediate river corridor, darn it and cattle tracks and crap were everywhere. I was being absolutely devoured by skeeters and that also helped me realize it was foolish to chase a bull on the move who was likely cruising for cows to breed, when I have skeeter juice back at the raft, and thus the bull could and may well travel fast and far in short order till he finds a cow.
I decided to get back to the raft, put on anti skeeter juice and quickly paddle down to my camp while looking for the bull to pop out. I got to camp, quickly pulled the raft and my gear up the bank and set my plan in action:
I had cows near camp and saw the thicket they likely/hopefully! bedded in this morning. My bet was the bull was cruising for chicks and I had the hot chicks nearby so I would circle around and well downwind of estimated cow/calf location and do some calling and still hunting to that spot.
Well, we all know how “great hunt plans” tend to fall apart fast? Well this is not that! Not even a little. This is a plan to find, call in, and efficiently (on day 27!) kill the biggest bull by far I have seen or had photos sent to me by the many cool folks who have been keeping an eye out since summer, and especially during the season. Thanks to local guys I befriended: Ross, Bill P, Jerry, Jon, Terry B., Harold, Jim H., Taygan (part of the 14 yr old hunt crew that shared game cam photos of a good bull) and a couple others who shared moose sightings and photos.
OK, by now I have spent about 30 minutes or more making my way around and downwind of presumed cow/calf location, which also puts me 150 or so yards from my tent, go figure. As I am doing this doubt does enter my mind including I will be very bummed if I missed out on a big bull by a few minutes. I start cow calling and continue moving toward the presumed cow/calf location.
A few minutes later I poke my head out of a willow patch and look into a small empty meadow. Looking across I see a lone tree, the sort with lots of shoots near the base and I initially see GRAY MOOSE LEGS, and then BIG PADDLES coming to me. Was kinda surreal and hard to see as all of him is covered by the leaves, shoots and branches so he looks kindly ghostly and washed out but it is clearly a good bull. And he is grunting! Just as I see this, my iphone starts vibrating an incoming call which I of course ignore. Later I learn it was Bill trying to call to say the bull had crossed back to our side of the river at my camp and was headed about where I just happened to be perfectly situated already. But Bill of course had no idea where I was. LOL.
I sit and get set to shoot if he comes in range and wait. I do not feel he has seen me but not sure. I am directly downwind. He has stopped and I can just make him out through the tree standing head on. I take a beat to assess and then I make three soft short grunts. Immediately he starts moving and grunting and swings to my right exposing his head and maybe some shoulder in the wide open from behind the lone tree in this meadow. And stops, then retreats behind the darn tree that I have already ranged at 70 yards. Wow! Great bull!
I can no longer see him at all and soon I worry thinking “Is he walking straight way from me and the tree is blocking my view”. By now I REALLY want this stalk to work out, he is a beautiful bull and the grand plan I devised has halfway worked so far. I have not yet seen the cow/calf but assume and hope they are nearby.
I make a couple more grunts and he is again on the move and this time I see him coming straight at me from behind the tree and he walks right past left side of tree and is still coming. Holy smokes he has everything. He then starts angling to my right in front of and past the tree in the wide open. He stops again at 60 yards (ranged) broadside and by now I am doing happy backflips in my mind and trying to keep it together hoping for a shot opportunity.
Here he is in mid August about 7 miles from this spot. Photos by Bill Schiess, a professional photographer, from his social media post. Unquestionably a worthy quarry for this marginal unit known for recent very low success rates on medium to dink bulls for the most part.
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