Late Bull Semi-Live Hunt

[AzRaised08]

Opening Day Morning 

 

Hello everyone! Been a little while since I’ve been active on the forum. While I wasn’t drawn for hunting this year, my brother in law was able to draw a late bull tag for 6A. So we are up here for the hunt! Got in Monday and put in a little bit of scouting. Saw some bulls in a few different areas and then yesterday morning (before stuffing our faces) we were able to turn up a nice bachelor group that got us excited for Opening Day.

 

Wake up was early today, around 3:45, and after a couple beers with dinner last night & getting a year old older, it was a little tough haha. We hiked about 2 miles into where we saw the bachelor group yesterday morning and waited for the sun to come up. It was a little chilly, but we were hoping once the sun started rising we would get a chance to see some bulls on one of the ridges before us.

 

In the lowest light of the dawn we were able to glass the ridges that held the bulls yesterday and nothing. Not getting discouraged we thought maybe they were just lower and would slowly feed up in the hour or so after sunrise. We didn’t have to wait that long. As it got lighter I was able to scan another ridge about 1000 yards away that I was unable to see before in the low light. I instantly spotted an elk. As it got even lighter we found 2 of his buddies and were able to see that all three were decent bulls. No monster, but definitely something to go after.

 

My brother and I stayed put glassing and keeping an eye on em while my brother in law and father in law made a move to get closer. About 20 minutes later they were in a good shooting spot but they couldn’t find them on the ridge. One was broadside for a while but a tree was right in their way and based on their angle they couldn’t find a way to see into the clearing my brother and I were looking at. Two of the three looked to have bedded down while one was still up, so we told my brother in law to cross to another ridge so he’d have a straight shot. Right as we finished that plan, something spooked the elk up the canyon and all three bulls took off. We followed them in our glass but they didn’t slow down and soon they were long gone. Dang it!

 

Well not quite the ending we were hoping for at the end of that sequence but hey, we get to keep hunting a little more. I’ll keep y’all updated as the hunt goes on.

Good luck to everyone out there right now!

[wildwoody]

They'll be back tomorrow..

[AzRaised08]

I’ll post the rundown tomorrow morning. A bit too tired for that right now. But in the meantime….

[wildwoody]

Congradulations

[AzRaised08]

Opening Day Afternoon

 

After the morning hunt we headed back in to grab a quick bite. After lunch, we went back out around 1 to do some spot and stalk hunting in the pines in an area that we have seen elk before. The afternoon was slow, as expected, for it being a warmer day. The wind was in our favor so I felt confident that we wouldn’t blow anything out before we saw something but for about 3 hours we didn’t see or hear a thing. About 2 1/2 miles in right when we were thinking of starting our loop back to the truck, I thought I heard a cow call. I told everyone to stop so we could stand there and listen. Then I heard the sound again. Bird. Darn it, I could have sworn it was a cow call. A couple minutes went by and heard the sound again. And again. Bingo, cow calls. 

 

Now that I was sure there were elk around I was starting to get excited. Sure, just some cows but with some cow groups come the bulls. And then I got even more excited. A bull ripped a bugle a couple hundred yards to the NE of us. I sent my brother in law and father in law ahead so they could be a bit more quiet just the two of them. Then we heard even more cow calls and a different bugle. Definitely unusual to be hearing that this time of year, but I’m just thinking some cows didn’t get bred and were coming back into season. Whatever the case, it was cool to be hearing all these elk in the woods. One bugle sounded so pure I would have thought it was some hunter had it not been for all the other noise we were hearing.

 

Over the course of the next hour, we were playing cat and mouse through the trees. There were two good bulls moving between the lines but the they had several cows with them. The elk would be visible but the bulls would either be obscured by the trees or covered by a cow, so there was never a clear opportunity for my brother in law to take a shot. We kept pushing further and further in with the elk taking us further in by almost a mile. While my father and brother in law trecked ahead of us, my nephew, brother and I heard another group of elk making noise in the meadow off in the distance. And there was another elk bugling over there. 

 

Not knowing if my brother in law could hear this other group, I let them know we could hear more elk to the south of us. And since it was starting to get close to sunset and the initial group was driving us further in, I was wanting my brother in law to turn back to where we were so we could pursue this other group that were on our loop back to the car. After a few minutes went by and they seemed to have lost track of the elk, my brother in law and father in law turned back to meet up with us to find the new group. As if on cue, right after they picked up everything and started walking back to us the larger bull ripped a bugle from the meadow over. I saw them double back and they signaled they would make one last play on the group we’d been following for an hour.

 

I figured while they did that, my nephew, brother, and I could try and locate this other bull bugling to the South. If he couldn’t get a shot off, at least we could check out this other bull and see how big he was and if there would be an opportunity on him before sunset. As we cut through the trees preparing to head to the new group, we heard the shot go off. BOOM! 

 

After a minute and no follow up shot, we hoofed it over to them to check out what happened. My brother in law had caught up to the small herd and the elk were out in another meadow. The 5x5 ripped our another bugle and walked out of the trees to feed across the meadow with some cows and smaller bulls. My brother in law was still hidden in the trees and made a 300 yard shot across the meadow once the bull was out in the open. Tag punched! Definitely excited for him to seal the deal after pursuing this group for so long. We hiked over the bull and he was a really nice one. For my brother in law’s first bull, he was very happy! We were all happy!

 

Now the real work was beginning. He took the shot 4 minutes before the end of legal shooting light so we had to break out the flashlights and get to work. Luckily, we found another road about 1 1/4 miles from this meadow, so that would be a much nicer pack out than the 3 miles we went in. My brother in laws friends were able to bring a truck to that spot and help with the pack out. We got out of there around 9:15 in 26 degree weather but we were glad to have a heavy pack with celebratory drinks waiting for us after all was said and done. 

 

We spent the day today deboning and processing while reliving a great day of hunting. Good luck to all of you still out there. Already looking forward to next time!

[eddielasvegas]

Good story and pix.  Thanks for posting it all.

 

Eddie

[DUG]

Congrats!! That's awesome!!!

[wildwoody]

Good bull. Very taste. Congratulations 

[wildwoody]

The rutting season is changing. Congratulations 

[CatfishKev]

Congrats man!

[SpotNStalk]

Way to get it done . Congrats ! 

[Mocha1545]

Congrats on a nice bull! Thanks for sharing the story.

[Markleo21377]

Great experience!! Congrats!

[Big Browns]

Congrats!!!!