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Another Birthday Bull?

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Another Birthday Bull?

Postby Tigger » 10 09, 2017 •  [Post 1]

So 2 years ago I shot a bull on my birthday and actually sold the story to Bowhunter magazine. This year.....

We set up the tent in a snowstorm. Got about 10 inches.

Day 1 in our new area was spent shivering and glassing. Saw some cows and spikes and 1 bull. Tried to cut them off, but as hard as this is to believe, they were faster than we were. It was a horrible four wheeler ride into this area so we decided to try somewhere else.

Day 2 started out with a mistake. First time to this area and the 4 of us tromping through this burn just at daylight. The burned area sucked. Nothing was growing but some weed. Very little food. We found ourselves approaching a sharp drop. Just like a bunch of greenhorns, we all walked up the edge. No way did we expect anything over the edge.....but sure enough, down 150 yards to our right a really nice muley buck was laying. One guy had a muley tag and attempted a stalk but we had goofed it up. We didn't make that mistake again. This being grizzly country, my brother got a little adrenaline rush when a brown phase black bear got spooked and came running at him before veering away. Kinda funny to the rest of us!

In the late afternoon, we came across another sharp ridge and having learned from the first mistake, my brother and I approached cautiously. Nothing there but a large expanse of timber sloping down in front of us after about a 75 yard meadow. Great spot for a location bugle....an IMMEDIATE answer from what sounded like a nice mature bull about 150 yards to our right. We slip down and to make a long story short, my brother had an opportunity at him, but it didn't work out. Lessons learned. On the way out we got another answer but ran out of time to make a play. Snow melted.

Day 3. Back to the same area. Could have shot a spike (but you cant shoot spikes!). Later, we were all 4 roughly together slipping through the timber and we smell an elk. Not only do we smell it, the two guys above me see it. A bull. With hand signs, they tell me what they want me to do. Now pay attention here cuz I want some feedback! It was a decent 5X5 laying in the timber by himself (we didn't know all that at the time this played out however). They thought it was a small raghorn. Scenario: Bull upslope 40 yards from them. Me downslope 35 yards from them. Bull to me was about 75 yards and I could not see it (too thick). Started with soft cow calls. Nothing. Again. Nothing. Wait (cuz we have all day and the wind is right). A little more urgent cow calls. Nothing. over the next 20 minutes, I slowly ramped up the cow calling. Then some raking. The bull would not budge from his bed. But they never wanted me to bugle. Hindsight, we should have bugled. But at the time, they thought it was a very small bull so they didn't want me to bugle. Eventually, they decided to move just a little to get a shot. The bull got nervous and wandered away. Feel free to share your Day 3 Scenario thoughts on what we could have done different.

Day 4. Woke up to another 10 inches of snow which got us a little late getting going and got off the four wheelers when it was light enough to see. But lady luck was shining upon us even if the sun was not. There across a valley was a bull and a few cows just waiting for us! We had to circle because of the wind and came over this wooded knoll full of fresh elk sign. We spread out and started following it. Did a calling sequence or two. Nothing. The guy on my left (we will call him Left Guy) ends up drifting away and we haven't seen him for 45 minutes. No big deal, but Right Guy decides to go backtrack him and eventually meet up with him. My brother and I keep moving on the tracks in the snow which are wandering all over. Pretty soon we come to a meadow sloping down and my brother goes stiff. Out comes his range finder. He draws his bow and hits the trigger. TWANG! His arrow hits a branch and sails off into space! I jump up next to him and there is a bull feeding peacefully, unaware of how lucky he was. I stress the word “was”. Somewhere in the chaos, my brother stated 55 yards. That is my upper limit, but it was perfect conditions. I hit the trigger and the arrow took off and ….

Remember Left Guy? Left Guy hasn’t been seen in an hour or so by now. I suppose now would be a good time to recount his story. He was on fresh elk tracks the whole time and came to a meadow of his own. Looking across the meadow, he sees a big herd bull and about 10 cows. Unfortunately, they are out of range. But then he sees another bull. This is a nice 5X5 but it is at 60 yards; just out of his comfortable range. All the elk disappear into a tract of timber so he hangs his bow on a branch and pulls out his phone to mark the location in OnX maps so we can find it later. He puts his phone in his pocket and looks up to see yet another bull feeding in front of him. This one is at 50 and he can shoot that far! He pulls back, centers the pin and starts pulling the trigger when the bull falls down! It gets up and stumbles and shakily runs away! What just happened?? Then he see two camo-clad clowns take off from his right about 20 yards out of the trees running to see where the bull goes! Not only that, he recognized the camo-clad clowns as my brother and myself! Then he realized what happened. I shot the bull before he did. Like 1 second before he did! What are the odds of that? Neither of us knew the other was there.

We sat down and made Mountain House. Man, was it good. I mean best meal in a LONG time good. Cold, wet and excited, I will remember that meal for a long time. We followed a great blood trail to the bull. By this time, dark was almost upon us and quartering out a bull in the fading light in griz country is a rather raw emotion for sure. Luckily for us, I train my bulls well and he ran towards the four wheelers. That is one secret I will NOT share with members of this forum. You gotta figure that one out on your own.

Another birthday bull? Nope. I missed it by one day! My birthday was yesterday.

Day 5. Pretty uneventful unless you count a shower, laundry, and refill of propane as noteworthy. A trip in to town was sorey needed and enjoyed.

Day 6. More snow. Back to the same area. Tried a stalk on a couple of nice muley bucks to no avail. Went back to where my brother had the opportunity at the big 6X6 herd bull. Ate another round of Mountain house while snow was falling. It was great this time too! My brother and I decided to head back to where I had shot my bull and the other 2 would eventually meet up with us. They sidehilled along a timbered slope just below an area we knew there was a grizzly den. All of us had walked within about 75 yards of it a few days earlier. Eventually, they saw some smokin’ hot tracks (remember, it was snowing all day). They decided to do a setup and within 2 minutes had a bull in their lap. When I say in their lap, I mean within 5 yards of one of them. They both shot it and then the work started! We managed to get a text from them and as darkness was closing in, we hauled the beast back to the four wheelers. They had not learned the trick of having them run halfway back to the parking area, so we had a full 2 mile hike; mostly uphill, in calf deep snow. What a way to close the hunt! We finished with 2 bulls for 4 guys and all agreed it was the hardest hunt of our life due to the weather. The snow and rain, coupled with the undersized heater in the tent and everything being wet made for a memorable trip for sure. I am proud to say, not 1 complaint was heard the entire hunt!

Well wait. Check that. I did hear one complaint. Actually, is was delivered more as a wail while hopping around and inventing new combinations of swear words. You see, I had an old can of bear spray. Expired in 2006. We thought we would just spray it to see how it worked. It worked. One little wayword gust of wind and one of our guys caught some in his face. For 3 of us, it was pure, high-quality entertainment.

20107 resized elk.jpg
My Elk
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Re: Another Birthday Bull?

Postby Grousewit » 10 09, 2017 •  [Post 2]

Thank you for the great hunt recap. Can't wait to leave tomorrow. What state were u in?
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Re: Another Birthday Bull?

Postby Tigger » 10 09, 2017 •  [Post 3]

Montana.
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Re: Another Birthday Bull?

Postby ElkNut1 » 10 09, 2017 •  [Post 4]

Tigger, nice work bud! Man that was a lot of encounters! (grin) On the one bull where you wanted to bugle I too would have shied away from bugling, not a good time for it! No cow calling either, not the right time! Raking would have been the key for me. I'd need to be completely out of his sight & force him into range before he could see the bull. (you) Your raking needs to start off tickling the tree, then slowly get aggressive & loud enough for him to hear it. You may have to end up raking & tossing things as well as hard stomping violently to really raise his curiosity. Raking the next 15-20 minutes would be the thing to do, he would eventually come & check you out. Tossing in a few guttural groans can really sell it! You want to annoy him into coming your way when there's little to no rutting action taking place!

Where the photo of the 2nd bull? Great job, thanks!

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Re: Another Birthday Bull?

Postby Tigger » 10 09, 2017 •  [Post 5]

adam elk resized.jpg
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Here is the other bull!
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Re: Another Birthday Bull?

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 10 09, 2017 •  [Post 6]

Outstanding! Congrats to Team Tigger on going two for four this year; nice bulls too. How'd everybody's boots/feet do in the wet snow (certainly, a true test of one's footgear when the snow accumulates a bit).
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Re: Another Birthday Bull?

Postby Swede » 10 09, 2017 •  [Post 7]

Great story Tigger. Great story. I have tried to get elk to remember to go to the truck when hit, but they are slow learners for me. I have had a few that will go to the road which is helpful. I hate those that get turned around and head for the bottom of the canyon after being shot.
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Re: Another Birthday Bull?

Postby Tigger » 10 09, 2017 •  [Post 8]

I use (and love) Schnees Beartooth boots and they were flawless. No wet feet for me. They were a mite cold to put on in the morning, but I blame the cold tent more than the boots. The other guys did pretty well too. Rotating boots and putting them over the little heater we had dried some out. Gaiters were a must. Other than yoga pants, is there a better invention than gaiters?
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Re: Another Birthday Bull?

Postby Roosiebull » 10 09, 2017 •  [Post 9]

thanks for the recap! that was a great read, well done all around!
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Re: Another Birthday Bull?

Postby Roosiebull » 10 09, 2017 •  [Post 10]

Swede wrote: I hate those that get turned around and head for the bottom of the canyon after being shot.

you know what's worse? it happened on my second elk, and first I packed out solo.

of course it died in the very bottom of a canyon, I'm a bit overwhelmed and excited by all of the things that had taken place, I had a back leg (not quarter :lol: ) on my back, huffing and puffing my way out of this canyon, make it about half way up, and realize I went up the wrong side...doh! didn't make that mistake twice ;)
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Re: Another Birthday Bull?

Postby BrentLaBere » 10 10, 2017 •  [Post 11]

Nice work, Congratulations on a great hunt. Thanks for the write up
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