wmidbrook
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- Joined
- Aug 20, 2001
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I received a phone call last night from a hunting buddy who assisted a texan buddy and his son on a muzzleloader hunt in Northern NM....he had quite the story. The Junior had drawn a muzzleloader tag for his first elk hunt. Prior to the hunt, the junior had no problem hitting a grapefruit at 100 yards.
Opening day of the hunt they spotted a very nice 5x5 bull on a mesa, got within 120 yds...the boy went into the prone position and shot...It was obviously a clean miss. Having rained, the hunting party was easily able to follow the tracks of the bull up the mesa. About 1/2 mile up, sure 'nuf, they spotted the bull. The boy used a rock as a rest and let one rip...Another clean miss! They again followed track. This time the bull had done something my buddy had never seen a bull do...the bull circled back around their original position and was headed towards a juniper thicket. He told the boy, this is it...you're gonna get that bull...Keep your head up while I follow the tracks.
Well, the boy kept his head down (arg!) while my buddy tracked this bull. My buddy looks up and not 20 yards away this bull was bedded. The boy was still staring at the tracks....ssst....sssst..."Boy!" he whispered...at the sound of my buddies voice the bull stood and offered about a 3 second broadside shot....The boy missed again!
Next day it rained and rained...stuck in mesa mud country with untraversable roads.
Next day it only showered. Back on the hunt....Well, they spotted another bull. Got within 80 yards, and yeah, you guessed it, the kid missed. They started tracking. Well, they got another shot about 2 miles away from the truck. Missed. At 5 miles away from the truck at the tippy top of the Mesa above a hell-hole canyon they spot a little 4x4 where the bigger 5x5 and his cows had dove into the thickets...The boy gets into a prone position less than 100 yds away. Starts squeezing...wait! there's the 5x5. Well, he repositions, lets one fly and it appears to be a solid hit. The bull stands there rather than runs....Reload, reload! "I can't!" What? I don't have any more bullets!!!
Well, the truck is 5 miles away. The bull is on the verge of possibly going down into the deep canyon....do you have your jag??? Yeah...one shortened cotton shirt sleave later, less one jag. They got within 30 yards of the bull and polished it off, with you guessed it...a jag.
Opening day of the hunt they spotted a very nice 5x5 bull on a mesa, got within 120 yds...the boy went into the prone position and shot...It was obviously a clean miss. Having rained, the hunting party was easily able to follow the tracks of the bull up the mesa. About 1/2 mile up, sure 'nuf, they spotted the bull. The boy used a rock as a rest and let one rip...Another clean miss! They again followed track. This time the bull had done something my buddy had never seen a bull do...the bull circled back around their original position and was headed towards a juniper thicket. He told the boy, this is it...you're gonna get that bull...Keep your head up while I follow the tracks.
Well, the boy kept his head down (arg!) while my buddy tracked this bull. My buddy looks up and not 20 yards away this bull was bedded. The boy was still staring at the tracks....ssst....sssst..."Boy!" he whispered...at the sound of my buddies voice the bull stood and offered about a 3 second broadside shot....The boy missed again!
Next day it rained and rained...stuck in mesa mud country with untraversable roads.
Next day it only showered. Back on the hunt....Well, they spotted another bull. Got within 80 yards, and yeah, you guessed it, the kid missed. They started tracking. Well, they got another shot about 2 miles away from the truck. Missed. At 5 miles away from the truck at the tippy top of the Mesa above a hell-hole canyon they spot a little 4x4 where the bigger 5x5 and his cows had dove into the thickets...The boy gets into a prone position less than 100 yds away. Starts squeezing...wait! there's the 5x5. Well, he repositions, lets one fly and it appears to be a solid hit. The bull stands there rather than runs....Reload, reload! "I can't!" What? I don't have any more bullets!!!
Well, the truck is 5 miles away. The bull is on the verge of possibly going down into the deep canyon....do you have your jag??? Yeah...one shortened cotton shirt sleave later, less one jag. They got within 30 yards of the bull and polished it off, with you guessed it...a jag.
