Well guys, my hunt is over. The anticipating and planning ended on the first day of this owens valley hunt.
I drove to bishop friday for mandatory orientation with biologist. Info on hunt and rules, no new info really but she was cute. On way to lone pine, stopped to glass by spillway and spotted a bull at dark.
Checked into motel and met up with hunting partner and camp 5 guide Jim Martinez. Plan was to check out a couple different areas of interest in morning with locals John Slaughter and Richard Cook.
Stopped at frontier mini mart to fill thermos with coffee. At counter they informed me it was free, has been for 20 yrs. Awesome, the kind of hospitality you get in this area.
We heard a bull bugling the first place we stopped. Maybe some bulls are still active in rut though I doubt. Weather in high 60's during day and low 30's at night. I decide to glass here and john moved farther north. After a while,I heard another bugle and headed in that general direction. As the sun came up, I spotted the polished points of a bull glistening in the flats. Great, but main beam on opposite side was broke off halfway up. Too bad, probably 7 points on good side, still looked impressive. I t moved across river with a smaller bull.
I drove around to the other side of the valley and hooked up with john again. We were looking at a group of cows with several bulls. Acouple had broken horns, acouple 5x5's probably and spikes. Off to the tules, I spotted a set of horns on a bedded bull. Nice 6x6, jim and richard join us. Other hunters in area, dont know if they are cow hunters or other bull hunter. We maqke a quick stalk across water 3 times to get into better position, bull is still bedded.
Jim whistles, the bull stands up facing away, head slightly turned. Decide to take a neck shot, no whack, a clean miss and another miss low as he runs into the tules. There was silence, then the questions...where did you aim, why didnt you wait for him to turn, he wasnt going anywheres, have you dropped your gun recently? A humbling experience, felt like a quarterback who'd thrown an interception on the 1 yd line on first and goal during a playoff game.
We decide to check area farther south, socks are sloshing in our boots, companions not happy campers. Spotted a couple elk on other side of valley towards highway, at least one a bull.
Change our boots and socks and grab a burger in town. Plan to glass from highway and try to locate herd again. There are a lot of cattle in this unit and they are constantly moving. They were moving toward the last area I'd seen the elk in and I wondered to myself if they would move the elk out.
Sure enough. a bull comes out of the trees, then another, and finally a third bull. Richard says" the third one is nontypical, he's a shooter." I think broke horns but see the club aand quickly agree. We grab our packs, cross some water into the trees. The bulls are moving out to the flats. We move up a swale out of sight to get closer. Using shooting sticks, I hit the bull 3 times. The closer we got, the bigger he looked, couldnt of asked for a more unique bull. Jim joined us, we took pics and gutted the bull as it was getting dark. It was miller time, we'd gutted and rinsed him out for retrieval in the morning.
We made quick work quartering and caping him out sunday morning. Back in lone pine we checked out of motel. Validation of the tag is required so I drove to MT Whitney fish hatchery north of Independence. A lot of history at this place, only hatchery in state that handles golden trout.
I meet john again gassing up at shell station and take more pictures. Word spreads quickly in small towns and people said hunters have been after this bull before.
I would like to thank jim, richard, and john for sharing this hunt experience, corky, ed, scott and others who provided help and advice and most of all, my wife for her understanding during the fall.
The bull has six points on left side. Points on "club" side are 23" and 20" long, the club has numerous bumps like a fist. There is a broken off point on the back rightside of the skull. Could be cause of deformation and maybe even had chronic pain. Posted pics in the photo gallery as was having trouble posting here for some reason. Has anyone observed this bull before?
Don't get mad at me, but sure would like to get lucky and draw this tag again!
I drove to bishop friday for mandatory orientation with biologist. Info on hunt and rules, no new info really but she was cute. On way to lone pine, stopped to glass by spillway and spotted a bull at dark.
Checked into motel and met up with hunting partner and camp 5 guide Jim Martinez. Plan was to check out a couple different areas of interest in morning with locals John Slaughter and Richard Cook.
Stopped at frontier mini mart to fill thermos with coffee. At counter they informed me it was free, has been for 20 yrs. Awesome, the kind of hospitality you get in this area.
We heard a bull bugling the first place we stopped. Maybe some bulls are still active in rut though I doubt. Weather in high 60's during day and low 30's at night. I decide to glass here and john moved farther north. After a while,I heard another bugle and headed in that general direction. As the sun came up, I spotted the polished points of a bull glistening in the flats. Great, but main beam on opposite side was broke off halfway up. Too bad, probably 7 points on good side, still looked impressive. I t moved across river with a smaller bull.
I drove around to the other side of the valley and hooked up with john again. We were looking at a group of cows with several bulls. Acouple had broken horns, acouple 5x5's probably and spikes. Off to the tules, I spotted a set of horns on a bedded bull. Nice 6x6, jim and richard join us. Other hunters in area, dont know if they are cow hunters or other bull hunter. We maqke a quick stalk across water 3 times to get into better position, bull is still bedded.
Jim whistles, the bull stands up facing away, head slightly turned. Decide to take a neck shot, no whack, a clean miss and another miss low as he runs into the tules. There was silence, then the questions...where did you aim, why didnt you wait for him to turn, he wasnt going anywheres, have you dropped your gun recently? A humbling experience, felt like a quarterback who'd thrown an interception on the 1 yd line on first and goal during a playoff game.
We decide to check area farther south, socks are sloshing in our boots, companions not happy campers. Spotted a couple elk on other side of valley towards highway, at least one a bull.
Change our boots and socks and grab a burger in town. Plan to glass from highway and try to locate herd again. There are a lot of cattle in this unit and they are constantly moving. They were moving toward the last area I'd seen the elk in and I wondered to myself if they would move the elk out.
Sure enough. a bull comes out of the trees, then another, and finally a third bull. Richard says" the third one is nontypical, he's a shooter." I think broke horns but see the club aand quickly agree. We grab our packs, cross some water into the trees. The bulls are moving out to the flats. We move up a swale out of sight to get closer. Using shooting sticks, I hit the bull 3 times. The closer we got, the bigger he looked, couldnt of asked for a more unique bull. Jim joined us, we took pics and gutted the bull as it was getting dark. It was miller time, we'd gutted and rinsed him out for retrieval in the morning.
We made quick work quartering and caping him out sunday morning. Back in lone pine we checked out of motel. Validation of the tag is required so I drove to MT Whitney fish hatchery north of Independence. A lot of history at this place, only hatchery in state that handles golden trout.
I meet john again gassing up at shell station and take more pictures. Word spreads quickly in small towns and people said hunters have been after this bull before.
I would like to thank jim, richard, and john for sharing this hunt experience, corky, ed, scott and others who provided help and advice and most of all, my wife for her understanding during the fall.
The bull has six points on left side. Points on "club" side are 23" and 20" long, the club has numerous bumps like a fist. There is a broken off point on the back rightside of the skull. Could be cause of deformation and maybe even had chronic pain. Posted pics in the photo gallery as was having trouble posting here for some reason. Has anyone observed this bull before?
Don't get mad at me, but sure would like to get lucky and draw this tag again!
