First Bull Down!

[ChukarNUT]

Part 1:

Well the 2013 Archery Season for Oregon is in the books and I finally scored my first bull with a bow! I had the entire archery season off so I spent the first part of the season hunting the area I have spent the last 7 seasons. The Eagle Cap Wilderness in Northeastern Oregon is only a 45 minute drive from my house. The first day I was out with my 7 year old son, we were just going to scout and glass a drainage. After a ride on the atv, we shut it off and immediately heard a bull screaming up the drainage and close! We got our packs and went after him. We got about 300 yards into the timber and I saw the bull just on the edge of the timber where the timber opened up to feed slopes. A very heavy 5pt. with 10 cows. He was about 100 yards away, wind was in our favor, cows were already uphill of him, and I had a lot of cover to move in. My son and I covered 50 yards really quick without any of the elk detecting us. I didn’t have a shot as the bull was behind some trees that were not giving me a lane. I had my son take a lookout post behind a tree so I could make the final stalk. I got to within 40 yards and could see the bull much better but still didn’t have a good lane to his vitals and needed him to move or I needed to reposition. I chose the latter; as I knew the bull would follow his cows and would leave me with no shooting lane options. I just started to side step and come to full draw, when a bedded calk jumped up from some tall grass that was between me and the bull, and ran to the cows. The cows didn’t spot me and I still had the wind strong in my face but they knew something was up. I was hoping the bull would make a fatal error in judgment but he didn’t and just like that he got with his cows and never presented a shot. The rest of my time spent in the Eagle Cap was not as exciting. Had a few encounters with a lonely bull that would never commit to anything calling sequence I threw at him. Saw a few bears, couple nice bucks including a 30”+ 4x4, and enjoyed the country. It just seemed something was off in the area I hunt that normally holds a lot of elk. So after a week of solo hunting, my buddy joined me and we set out on a death march to find elk. We weren’t concerned with hunting at this point, just locate elk! Well after a sunrise to sunset, 12 mile tour of the country, all we came up with was fresh wolf sign on all the main ridges, and no fresh elk sign….ANYWHERE! Seems the elk decided to move up into the nasty rocky stuff or went for lower ground. Knowing that I was set to meet up with Elknuts JohnFitzgerald for a last 10 days of season hunt in an area new to me, I decided to break camp in the Eagles, head home and enjoy some family and recovery time!

[ChukarNUT]

Part 2:

Fast forward to September 12. A rejuvenated, clean, and energetic ChukarNUT has his rig, camper, and atvs loaded; kisses the family goodbye and heads for new elk grounds. Funny thing is, it’s only 45 minutes from my house, just west instead of east;) People may start to see a pattern on why I chose Baker City to call home;) I met Elknuts very own JohnFitzgerald here on the forum, and after a few emails, calls, lengthy interview/interrogation process he invited me to join his camp for the last 10 days of season. I was set to meet John on Friday the 13th, but my “kid-waiting for Christmas” syndrome got the best of me and I left Thursday and found us a good camp spot and got my trailer and camp set up. That evening I took the last few hours of daylight to see the new country and try and locate some bulls. I was able to get a few responses right at dark from an area John had told me about. I was very excited to hunt this area with someone that has hunted it for years and also had a lot of knowledge in elk calling to learn from. The area is close to home, has a good amount of wilderness area mixed with a vast spread of national forest, and most importantly a very dense elk per square mile population. I was very pleased with what we encountered that week! Friday morning I awoke early and went to the area I had located the bull the night before and couldn’t get a response. So I hunted a few hours and then took the time to drive around and get familiar with more of the area we would be hunting. At noon, I met John for the first time in person and we set up his trailer got camp squared away. After a visit with one of his old hunting pals, we decided to go check an area they had encountered a lot of elk in the season before. After a 30 minute atv ride we parked and shut them off and immediately heard a bull bugling, then another, and another—they were close. Giggling like boys at the sight of their first, errrr never mind—let’s just say we were grinning ear to ear. We got our gear ready quick and after a 5 minute walk were looking down into the drainage the bulls were in. We had less than 2 hours of daylight left. John and I sat and listened for a few minutes and heard several bulls bugling in the drainage. We were pretty sure one was a herd bull, and there were 3-4 satellites frustratingly bugling around the perimeter. After a short discussion on strategy we decided due to terrain, wind, and situation this was a great opportunity to seduce one of the satellites into shooting range. We set up and John began an epic breeding sequence calling scenario. All of the bulls in the drainage got fired up and were screaming, but none seemed to want to come uphill to check things out. After calling and waiting, we decided to try and slip down and cut the distance and maybe that would provoke the response we were hoping for. We moved down using the wind in our favor and would stop every so often, and John would give a few estrus buzz calls. The bulls were quiet at the moment and then I saw horn! He was about 60 yards downhill looking in our direction. I got johns attention and he picked it up as well. I got ready for a shot and John gave a few soft mews and the bull was hooked. He started coming in…60-55-50-45…no shot, crap! We were in a nasty blow down riddled Lodge pole stand where the trees were just far enough apart to maybe walk through without your shoulders getting stuck! The bull finally started to make his way into a decent lane at 40 yards and I drew back. With that dreaded sixth sense elk seem to have he stops behind cover leaving me no shot. I held back for a minute or so and decided to draw down and hope for the best. Well luck was on our side tonight as I was able to draw and undrawn undetected but still he was hung at 40 yards with no shot and we didn’t have to cover to maneuver for a shot or to send John farther back to coax him out. The bull started to get fidgety after not seeing what he was after, and turned straight away and started walking away from us. John gave another soft estrus buzz and I drew back…again.

[ChukarNUT]

Part 3:

The bull immediately spun around and walked back towards us, side hilling below us. I was at full draw and when I thought I would have a lane and he might stop in it, I told John to stop him. With a single mew John stopped the bull in his tracks, broadside. The lane I had was a staggered mess of lodge pole about 10” wide all the way to him, I didn’t have means to range him as I was at full draw but knew he was about 40 yards as I had ranged the area as he came in the first time. All I could see of the bull was his front shoulder and vitals, everything else was completely covered and with that narrow of a window I knew I had to be dead on. I stabilized and steadied the pin on the crease and before I knew it the arrow was on its way. Before I know it the bull spins and is off downhill. Everything after the shot happened so fast it felt like a dream. I looked at John and asked if I hit him!!?? All I remember is the pin steadying really well, the arrow is on its way, the arrow looks like its on the money, and then disappears right as the bull takes off! It felt good and looked good. John said he couldn’t see the vitals or the hit, but he didn’t see the arrow go over or under him. I knew if I was off left or right the arrow would bury into a tree because it was tight. But I was concerned in part by losing a bull last year after a good hit and also as the bull ran after the shot I didn’t notice a blood spot on the entry side. As all of these thoughts raced through my head I thought I heard coughing about where I heard the bull run off, less than a hundred yards away but out of sight. Then I hear it again and I was feeling a lot better. It was 630pm, everything went down in less than an hour. After 15 minutes or so, we decided to go to where the bull was standing and look for my arrow and blood. John and I got to the spot and found neither. I was feeling a little down when I heard coughing again, downhill about another 50 yards. I snuck downhill quietly another 10 yards and I see the bull bedded, head rolling, coughing, and blood—good hit. I got into position to shoot another arrow just in case he decided to stand and then he was done, head on the ground, a little death roll and it was over. My first archery bull was down with a quick, clean, ethical shot. I made my way to him and was overpowered with emotions. The shot was perfect, right in the crease, double lunged. Slick Tricks did their job. Only odd thing was there was no exit. When we field dressed him I had to be careful to not get a handful of Slick Trick. What I found was amazing and a testament to how tough elk are. The internal damage was severe, but the broadhead hit the exiting rib just right or he flexed just right and the arrow ended up lengthwise in the cavity. The entire time I didn’t even pay attention to antler, I knew he had them, but honestly didn’t know whether he was a spike or a toad. And honestly I didn’t care. I was pleasantly surprised that he was a nice 5x5. I guessed him at 3-4 years but man does he have great genetics. I am very proud of him and so thankful that John was there to help and share the memory of my first archery bull. John did a great job at calling him in and I learned so much from him that week. We took some pictures and enjoyed the moment and we each gave thanks to these amazing animals we obsess over. Right at sunset we got to work on him as the remaining bulls in the drainage bugled below us. Didnt even realize until I notched my tag that I had got him the evening of Friday the 13th!! John and I got him all quartered and bagged, and decided to just pack him all out that night. We were less than a half mile from the atvs, uphill through blowdown and thick nasty. After two trips he was loaded onto the atv and we were back in camp hanging the quarters and sharing the story with our friend Mike that didn’t arrive to camp until 6pm that night! The rest of the week was spent trying to fill John and Mike’s tags and we had some very close calls. Weather and unstable wind at all times of the day were our demise. We did get into some very awesome calling situations and were able to fire up a lot of bulls but the swirling winds were always the prevailing factor. Unfortunately we were not able to get them a shot but still had a great time, got into some great situations, and made friendships that will last. Next year will be a blast! I also was able to fill my buck tag with less than an hour left in the season. I had been after a nice 4x4 a few times outside of town but he normally found security on private lands. Well I finally found him on BLM land and the stalk was on. With about 45 minutes of light left, on the last night of the season, I couldn’t get closer than 200 yards, he had fed out into open country and I was out of cover for the stalk. As I was glassing him and trying to figure out a plan or just say heck with it, a forked horn gets up out his bed less than 20 yards away. He takes a few steps and stops broadside at 15 yards. 10 minutes later I snap a pic and have my buck tag punched as well;) I just want to say thank you to John for inviting me to join his camp, his calling, and hard work packing the bull out with me. I also want to thank the Elknut Community for the support and advice given the last few months and all of the knowledge I have gained from the forum and its users. –Brian, aka ChukarNUT

[ChukarNUT]

Whats a good story without pics?? Smile John, its good for you!!

[ChukarNUT]

more...

[ORelksniper]

Congratulations ChukarNut. Nice bull and a nice buck. I guess I'm gonna have to drive farther east to find bugling bulls next year.

[bnsafe]

congrats, great bull. lots of folks with there first this year, coincidence, I think not.

[JohnFitzgerald]

That is my smile....LOL!

Hunting partners help each other take their hunting skills one level higher. You taught me just as much as I taught you.

Thanks for the fun season bud!

Note for you callers: Don't be afraid to mix it up or try new things with your calling. The entire sequence from start to finish is what brought that satellite bull in. A seperated cow from a restless herd was the sequence of the hour.

[Swede]

Congratulations on a very successful hunt. I really like the looks of those hanging quarters.

[WapitiTalk1]

Way to get it done!

[twinkieman]

Awesome job Brian! For those of you that may remember, I was burned out of my unit in Idaho. Brian invited myself and my crew to join him in his camp. This was an outstanding gesture of kindness. We did decline his offer, mainly due to the timing of the end of the Oregon season. Brian's act of kindness has been returned to him with a great bull! Congrats again Brian

[Indian Summer]

Nice bull Chukar. Welcome to the club bud.

[Huntography]

Awesome bull! Congrats!

I love seeing so many folks on here get their 1st this year.

I know the forum helped me a ton with what I did in the Field. Especially with understanding what each elk sound means and how and when to reply.

Also, last year, we lost big opportunities at bulls by not being aggressive enough. They year it paid off on multiple elk I was calling in for folks I filmed.

Filming and calling at the same time isn't easy.

Rudy

[cnelk]

Way to go!!!

Love to see memories made!

[Trophyhill]

nice job! thanks for sharing.

[elkmtngear]

Brian...Awesome! A big congrats to you!

[Triplebhunters]

Kool story. And awesome that experienced people like John invited you to hunt with him.