If you've been following Mel's thread at FHL you'll know that my son has been hunting up there also. First I'll start by thanking Mel and all the people who contributed to his thread because it helped me figure out what to do up there, especially since it was my first time at FHL. We had a rough start to our hunt. My son's "Uncle Pete", who is my best friend, died of cancer the day we left for the hunt. So with heavy hearts we set out on the hunt. We met up with one of my friends who was going to help spot for us. The first day found us up in TA 24 early in the morning. The rainy weather had made the roads soft and mushy so we decided to hike into an area where we had information of where some bulls might be. Upon arriving to a valley, we spotted a herd on a hillside and we started our stalk.
Just as we got to where we wanted to be, a gunshot went off down below us and the herd took off over the hillside towards TA 20. We tried to follow them to see where they headed but gave up after seeing how far they had travelled. We hiked back to the truck and decided to try TA 25. We went up a ridge on the backside of the training area and found a group of bulls feeding on a distant hillside. We made a quick stalk to the top of a ridge looking down at the bulls. We had just set up for the shot, when a gunshot went off in the next valley. Immediately, the bulls bolted and were gone. We could not believe it happened to us twice! We went back to the truck to eat lunch and try to figure out what to do next.
As we sat there, we heard bugling a couple ridges over. We drove over to where we thought it was coming from and hiked along the ridge. My friend spotted a large herd moving over another ridge so we decided to give chase. Unfortunately after going up and down twice and across a large plain, we watched them cross the road and into TA 22 which is off limits. After 8 miles of hiking and chasing bulls we decided to end day one. Day two started out with us back in TA 25. After a morning of driving around, we decided to leave. We tried to get to TA 13W, but the roads were too tough to navigate. (I really didn't want to get stuck) We went back to the check in station to eat lunch and the rain started around noon. The wind also picked up big time. With the weather we decided to try the border between TA 19 and 20. We walked along the border and came upon two bulls who were walking 500 yds ahead of us.
Just as we got to where we wanted to be, a gunshot went off down below us and the herd took off over the hillside towards TA 20. We tried to follow them to see where they headed but gave up after seeing how far they had travelled. We hiked back to the truck and decided to try TA 25. We went up a ridge on the backside of the training area and found a group of bulls feeding on a distant hillside. We made a quick stalk to the top of a ridge looking down at the bulls. We had just set up for the shot, when a gunshot went off in the next valley. Immediately, the bulls bolted and were gone. We could not believe it happened to us twice! We went back to the truck to eat lunch and try to figure out what to do next.
As we sat there, we heard bugling a couple ridges over. We drove over to where we thought it was coming from and hiked along the ridge. My friend spotted a large herd moving over another ridge so we decided to give chase. Unfortunately after going up and down twice and across a large plain, we watched them cross the road and into TA 22 which is off limits. After 8 miles of hiking and chasing bulls we decided to end day one. Day two started out with us back in TA 25. After a morning of driving around, we decided to leave. We tried to get to TA 13W, but the roads were too tough to navigate. (I really didn't want to get stuck) We went back to the check in station to eat lunch and the rain started around noon. The wind also picked up big time. With the weather we decided to try the border between TA 19 and 20. We walked along the border and came upon two bulls who were walking 500 yds ahead of us.
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