CaliDuckPro
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A little over-due, but here ya go....
This hunt started off with a couple of not so successful scouting trips. With any scouting trip, I was hoping to at least locate a few animals and maybe pattern them. Wasn't really the case. This zone is so large, it was hard to find a starting point. I found myself jumping around from place to place, chasing stories of where people had previously been seeing them. Some areas would turn up old sign, or little to no sign at all. Some areas were turning up quite a few cat tracks. I didn't find much up in the Fandango Pass area, but I was finding sign pretty much throughout the Devil's Garden. Even though the sign wasn't necessarily fresh, or there wasn't much, I was at least in areas they have been. The last day of my final scouting trip, we ran into some archery hunters. These guys were in the elk pretty good and gave us some good intel. With that in mind, and some intel from members of this forum and another, I knew the Devil's Garden was going to be my focus.
The hunt started on a Wednesday. I arrived Monday afternoon, for a little more scouting. I still wasn't sure where exactly I would be, come opening morning. I started poking around some areas I hadn't really gone into yet. The country looked a little better than areas I had previously been, and things were starting to look up. Finally around 330pm that afternoon, I bumped into a group of elk with a nice bull, just standing next to the dirt road I was driving down. I couldn't tell how many. Most of them made it to the timber before they came into sight. I parked my truck and took off on foot. This entire area was absolutely covered with sign. I spent the remainder of the day checking out the surrounding area, and was feeling a little more confident about the hunt.
My cousin arrived Tuesday afternoon and we game planned for Wednesday morning. Day 1: Opening morning found us in the area I had seen that group of elk on Monday. We parked the truck and hiked in quite a ways. We got to an area that was looking good, and the sun was starting to crack. All of the sudden, we heard a bugle... but it didn't sound quite right. Then cow calling. We realized we had ran into another group of hunters. We quickly organized a plan B, and took off. We ended up hiking quite a few miles. We were in some pretty good sign, but that was it. Never heard them, never seen them. That afternoon/evening we decided on sitting on a water hole that seemed to be off the path a ways. There was some sign around the water, and we seemed to be quite a ways from any other people. Things looked good, but the elk were a no show.
Day 2: We had decided we needed to get high and glass down. Which in the country we were hunting, was very difficult. Not very many vantage points where you can see very far. We had a hill picked out, in an old burn area that backed up to some timber. We began hiking up the hill before sunlight. As we were about half way up, we hear cow calling. We stop and look at each other, and think... "there's no way we just ran into another hunter.. again!" We realize the calls sound pretty good/realistic this time. And it was still pretty dark for anyone to be calling. Regardless, we weren't in a good spot to see anything and decided to get on top and look down. By the time we reached the top, the sun had peaked just enough to give good light for glassing. My cousin gets set up and starts glassing. The second he gets the binos up he says, "There's a whole herd down there!" I thought he was messing with me. I threw my gear down and started glassing. He wasn't playing around.. there was small herd at the bottom, feeding. We counted about a dozen cows and a couple calves... no bulls. We knew there had to be one close by. A few minutes later my cousin says, "there he is!" I finally found him in my binos.. he was a beast! Couldn't count the points. He was at least 1000-1200 yards. But he was a good one. As the cows were grazing, he was taking out his aggression on all the sapplings in the area. He bugled a few times... they weren't the typical, shrill whistle you normally hear. It was more of a low, loud growl. He sounded very similar to Chewbaca... you know, the wookie from Star Wars. We dubbed him, "Chewy." After glassing them for a few minutes, my cousin spots another bull. This one would've looked good by himself, but he didn't compare to Chewy. This herd was in a completely unhuntable spot. The country was wide open all around and there was no way to pull a sneak. I wanted to close to about 500 yards... 600 at the most. The only way was to go ALL THE WAY AROUND. It was a couple miles on foot. We would stop to glass every now and then, to make sure we were still in play. We finally made our way to the timber line, and started to close the distance. As we did, Chewy decided it was time to round up the ladies and head for home. They made it to the timber before we could get close enough for a shot. There were some openings in the trees, so we set up in hopes to cut them off. At first, it sounded like we were in a good spot. The cows were vocal, and getting louder. Then, Chewy let off a bugle that was so loud, you could literally feel it rumble through your body. He was close! But just on the other side of a dense patch of trees. We waited and waited for him to step into the clearing. But he never did. Eventually they began to move off. We tried shadowing them, but didn't want to push them too hard. We game planned for the evening and next day. We went back into the area we saw them and set up a ground blind. We decided not to hunt that area that evening. The wind was all bad and it just didn't feel right. We decided to pack it in early, and hit the ground blind the next morning.
Day 3: We got set up in the ground blind we built the previous day. If things worked out like they had the day before, they would've come through at about 200-250 yards. Well... they had other plans. Never saw them, never heard them. Day 3 was a complete bust. We spent the day looking but didn't turn up anything.
Day 4: After the previous day, we were kind of in a slump. Didn't really have a plan. We decided to hit the ground blind again. Same results as the previous day.. no sight, no sound. This time, we jumped out early and took off on foot towards a water hole a couple miles up hill. As we started walking, we began running into some VERY fresh tracks. A couple minutes later, and we hear cows. We were back in them. We cow called back and forth, only getting responses from the ladies. We didn't have eyes on this group. They were just on the other side of a small knoll. We shadowed for a while. Finally we got a bugle. We continued to try and shadow them, cow calling back and forth. Then... Chewy let out a roar. We knew it was him.. he has a very distinct bugle. We figured we were on the same group. We were trying to close in, but it was tough. We didn't know EXACTLY how far they were, and we didn't want to get upwind. At one point, they sounded close. We stopped and started calling. I was not set up at all.. and I thought it had cost me. As my cousin cow called, we heard crashing coming through the brush. I froze. Not prepared. Then, a calve pops its head over the crest of the knoll. It was looking in our direction and maybe only 50 yards away. We knew the herd had to be JUST over that hill. We waited until the calve wandered off and we moved. Every now and then we would cow call, constantly trying to keep tabs on the herd. The calve appeared again. This guy was curious! Again, we had to wait him out. Each time, we could hear the herd getting farther and farther, but we didn't want to bust this calve and blow the whole thing. Eventually, we made it almost to the top of the hill. My cousin starts to cow call. As he does, the calve pops out of the timber, and sprints towards us. He came to within about 10 yards, in the wide open. I knew we were blown, so I grabbed my cell phone and began recording. It was a pretty cool experience. At that point, the herd had gained some considerable ground and we had lost them. We made our way over to the water hole we had initially planned on going to. There was good sign everywhere. Tracks leading in and out. Scrapes on several trees and sapplings in the area. We decided to set up there for the afternoon/evening. Elk were a no show. Had 7 deer (all does) come to water at last light.. but no elk.
Day 5: This was the last day my cousin was available to help me out. I really wanted to get it done as my pops can't do much these days, and I knew it was going to be tough without him. We decided to get to the top of the hill we last located the elk, in hopes to cut them off early. We got up top early. We glassed and called with zero results. It was like coach had pulled us out of the game again. We worked through the area all morning and didn't turn up anything. As we made our way back to the truck, we found some very heavily traveled areas. Elk had been through this area A LOT. It was late in the morning and my cousin had to take off, but I kept that area in the back of my mind for later. My cousin left that morning and I decided I was going to hunt water hole we had sat the previous day. I got set up for the afternoon and began to wait it out. Pops decided to make his way up there for this evening hunt. We had a coyote come down to water at one point. The wind was right, it was a cool afternoon and everything felt good. Finally about the last 30 minutes of light, we hear cows. They sounded like they weren't far off. A couple minutes later.. the sound nobody wants to hear while sitting on a water hole, waiting for game to come in. A truck was crashing down the dirt road up to the water hole. I hadn't ran into anybody in a couple days, and thought this would've been a safe bet. I was wrong. A guy drives right up to the water hole and parks. He gets out, and walks down to the water hole. Hunt over. We grabbed our gear, and jumped out of our ground blind. The guy didn't know we were there, but it was still a little irritating. Me and pops began the walk back to the truck. We were still within hunting time. About half way back, I heard more cow calls and movement in the trees. I tried to make my way through, to maybe catch something in the open. Nada. As I make my way back to my old man, he has half way wandered into the trees himself and looks rattled. He asks me, "did you see that bull??" "What bull?!" I ask him. He then proceeds to tell me he saw a small 4 point. I never saw it, but he was certain. We wrapped it up and headed in.
Day 6: I knew the area we had been in was probably my best bet. From here on out, I'm on my own, as pops can't go far on foot. I had the same plan in mind as the day before. I headed up to the top of the hill early, and began working my way down through the area we had last seen elk. No results again this morning. I was back in a slump. Started questioning my plan and area. Me and pops decided to take the afternoon to look in other areas. We headed over to Crowder Flat. It was burned up from the Barry Point Fire. I thought maybe just south of the fire would be a good bet. We saw lots of wild horses, but virtually no sign of elk. We headed back to the area we hunted in the morning. I had a feeling about the water hole we had been sitting on, and after that guy busted us the night before, I figured he probably wouldn't be back since he most likely realized he busted up our hunt. I had pops drop me off and I began to hike in. It took me probably about an hour to get up there. I got set up and tried to raise pops on the radio, to check in. No response. I pull out my cell phone and see I have a message from 35 minutes ago. It's Pops.. after he dropped me off and began driving around to where he would pick me up, he bumped a group of elk bedded next to the road. To include a bull. He said it was only a 4 point, but pretty nice for a 4. He watched them for a bit and they wandered in my direction. I waited it out at the water hole, and they never showed.
Day 7: This would be my last full day to hunt, as I had to return to work two days later. After much consideration, I knew I had to stay in the general area I had been hunting. The sign was there. Every day there was new, fresh sign. It was the only area we had seen elk. This time, I decided to start in the area my cousin and myself had last went through. This was the area that had a lot of sign, and seemed like it was a high traffic area. The cover wasn't too thick in this area, and it provided opportunities to stop, call and glass. I started out about half way up the hill. At the base of the hill was dense, new growth timber. I would walk a couple hundred yards and stop to call and glass. I continued this process throughout the morning. I was approaching an area where two walls of new growth timber came together. This would be my last opportunity to call and glass. I stopped, and let out a cow call. I immediately got a response from a cow, coming from the timber at the base of the hill. I quietly made my way closer. I called again and got another response. This time I was in the open, and I could tell she was closer. I was afraid I was going to get busted so as quickly and quietly as I could, I got set up in the middle of a couple sage bushes. The wall of timber she was coming from was now only about 150 yards infront of me. I was set up with two shooting lanes infront of me. I began to call again. The cow was very vocal, every time I would call. Now I could tell they were making there way towards me, as I could hear them crashing through the brush. I laid off the call, hoping they would wander out of the timber, and come directly at me. But as I went silent, so did they. I cow called once again, and as I did I could hear loud crashing coming from my left. They had gone past me a little bit. Whatever was coming towards me, was coming fast. I put my rifle up and waited. A calve comes streaking through my shooting lane, straight towards me and where it last heard the call. It finally stopped about 15 yards from me, with its ears up waiting for another call. I was as still and quiet as I could be. Not too far behind it, I could hear another one was making its way through the brush. I figured Mama wouldn't be too far behind. I was wrong... A bull stepped out and stopped perfectly broadside right in the middle of my shooting lane, at about 50 yards. This is where time slows down. I put my scope on him to check out his head gear. Not very big. 4 on one side and appears to be a spike on the other. I initially begin to lower my rifle, thinking "I still have the rest of the day and tomorrow morning to get a better one," Then I quickly think, "I only have the rest of the day and tomorrow morning to get one... I worked way to hard to go home empty." My rifle was sighted in at 200yds... he was standing at about 50. I put the crosshair low shoulder and squeezed one off. He was too close to hear smack after the shot, but I could see his body ripple.. I knew I hit him. He took steps forward, did a 180 and ran out of sight. The calve slowly walked off. I sat there for a couple minutes listening. I was pretty sure I heard him go down, so I didn't want to rush over. Once the calve was out of sight, I stood up and walked to where he was hit. The cow and calve were standing in the timber line, watching. No rush to move on. As I looked around, there was absolutely no blood. I'm thinking, "Crap!" As I start walking in the direction he ran, I can see him just over the top of a small knoll. He made it about 25 yards and was DOA. I called pops on the radio and had him meet me... then the real work began! Couple hours of cutting and packing and we were headed to town!
He's a normal 4 on one side. The other, he has a long spike, and a cluster of 3 small points by the eye guard. Weird little bull. He wasn't Chewy... the monster I had been on a couple times. But I busted my butt for him. Overall, I'm happy. I drew a tag most guys probably never will. I had a couple opportunities at a really nice bull. I filled my tag and have meat in the freezer. Can't ask for much more than that. Win in my book.
Thanks to all of the guys that shared info and helped out. It was all very much appreciated. I hope the pics turn out OK... they're only cell phone pics, as I don't carry a camera with me. There's one in there of some of the scrapes we were seeing. And one of a track from a bull. The track was HUGE. The picture really doesn't do it justice. We used a cow call as a size referrence, but still doesn't really compare to how big it was in person.
Sorry for the long read.
This hunt started off with a couple of not so successful scouting trips. With any scouting trip, I was hoping to at least locate a few animals and maybe pattern them. Wasn't really the case. This zone is so large, it was hard to find a starting point. I found myself jumping around from place to place, chasing stories of where people had previously been seeing them. Some areas would turn up old sign, or little to no sign at all. Some areas were turning up quite a few cat tracks. I didn't find much up in the Fandango Pass area, but I was finding sign pretty much throughout the Devil's Garden. Even though the sign wasn't necessarily fresh, or there wasn't much, I was at least in areas they have been. The last day of my final scouting trip, we ran into some archery hunters. These guys were in the elk pretty good and gave us some good intel. With that in mind, and some intel from members of this forum and another, I knew the Devil's Garden was going to be my focus.
The hunt started on a Wednesday. I arrived Monday afternoon, for a little more scouting. I still wasn't sure where exactly I would be, come opening morning. I started poking around some areas I hadn't really gone into yet. The country looked a little better than areas I had previously been, and things were starting to look up. Finally around 330pm that afternoon, I bumped into a group of elk with a nice bull, just standing next to the dirt road I was driving down. I couldn't tell how many. Most of them made it to the timber before they came into sight. I parked my truck and took off on foot. This entire area was absolutely covered with sign. I spent the remainder of the day checking out the surrounding area, and was feeling a little more confident about the hunt.
My cousin arrived Tuesday afternoon and we game planned for Wednesday morning. Day 1: Opening morning found us in the area I had seen that group of elk on Monday. We parked the truck and hiked in quite a ways. We got to an area that was looking good, and the sun was starting to crack. All of the sudden, we heard a bugle... but it didn't sound quite right. Then cow calling. We realized we had ran into another group of hunters. We quickly organized a plan B, and took off. We ended up hiking quite a few miles. We were in some pretty good sign, but that was it. Never heard them, never seen them. That afternoon/evening we decided on sitting on a water hole that seemed to be off the path a ways. There was some sign around the water, and we seemed to be quite a ways from any other people. Things looked good, but the elk were a no show.
Day 2: We had decided we needed to get high and glass down. Which in the country we were hunting, was very difficult. Not very many vantage points where you can see very far. We had a hill picked out, in an old burn area that backed up to some timber. We began hiking up the hill before sunlight. As we were about half way up, we hear cow calling. We stop and look at each other, and think... "there's no way we just ran into another hunter.. again!" We realize the calls sound pretty good/realistic this time. And it was still pretty dark for anyone to be calling. Regardless, we weren't in a good spot to see anything and decided to get on top and look down. By the time we reached the top, the sun had peaked just enough to give good light for glassing. My cousin gets set up and starts glassing. The second he gets the binos up he says, "There's a whole herd down there!" I thought he was messing with me. I threw my gear down and started glassing. He wasn't playing around.. there was small herd at the bottom, feeding. We counted about a dozen cows and a couple calves... no bulls. We knew there had to be one close by. A few minutes later my cousin says, "there he is!" I finally found him in my binos.. he was a beast! Couldn't count the points. He was at least 1000-1200 yards. But he was a good one. As the cows were grazing, he was taking out his aggression on all the sapplings in the area. He bugled a few times... they weren't the typical, shrill whistle you normally hear. It was more of a low, loud growl. He sounded very similar to Chewbaca... you know, the wookie from Star Wars. We dubbed him, "Chewy." After glassing them for a few minutes, my cousin spots another bull. This one would've looked good by himself, but he didn't compare to Chewy. This herd was in a completely unhuntable spot. The country was wide open all around and there was no way to pull a sneak. I wanted to close to about 500 yards... 600 at the most. The only way was to go ALL THE WAY AROUND. It was a couple miles on foot. We would stop to glass every now and then, to make sure we were still in play. We finally made our way to the timber line, and started to close the distance. As we did, Chewy decided it was time to round up the ladies and head for home. They made it to the timber before we could get close enough for a shot. There were some openings in the trees, so we set up in hopes to cut them off. At first, it sounded like we were in a good spot. The cows were vocal, and getting louder. Then, Chewy let off a bugle that was so loud, you could literally feel it rumble through your body. He was close! But just on the other side of a dense patch of trees. We waited and waited for him to step into the clearing. But he never did. Eventually they began to move off. We tried shadowing them, but didn't want to push them too hard. We game planned for the evening and next day. We went back into the area we saw them and set up a ground blind. We decided not to hunt that area that evening. The wind was all bad and it just didn't feel right. We decided to pack it in early, and hit the ground blind the next morning.
Day 3: We got set up in the ground blind we built the previous day. If things worked out like they had the day before, they would've come through at about 200-250 yards. Well... they had other plans. Never saw them, never heard them. Day 3 was a complete bust. We spent the day looking but didn't turn up anything.
Day 4: After the previous day, we were kind of in a slump. Didn't really have a plan. We decided to hit the ground blind again. Same results as the previous day.. no sight, no sound. This time, we jumped out early and took off on foot towards a water hole a couple miles up hill. As we started walking, we began running into some VERY fresh tracks. A couple minutes later, and we hear cows. We were back in them. We cow called back and forth, only getting responses from the ladies. We didn't have eyes on this group. They were just on the other side of a small knoll. We shadowed for a while. Finally we got a bugle. We continued to try and shadow them, cow calling back and forth. Then... Chewy let out a roar. We knew it was him.. he has a very distinct bugle. We figured we were on the same group. We were trying to close in, but it was tough. We didn't know EXACTLY how far they were, and we didn't want to get upwind. At one point, they sounded close. We stopped and started calling. I was not set up at all.. and I thought it had cost me. As my cousin cow called, we heard crashing coming through the brush. I froze. Not prepared. Then, a calve pops its head over the crest of the knoll. It was looking in our direction and maybe only 50 yards away. We knew the herd had to be JUST over that hill. We waited until the calve wandered off and we moved. Every now and then we would cow call, constantly trying to keep tabs on the herd. The calve appeared again. This guy was curious! Again, we had to wait him out. Each time, we could hear the herd getting farther and farther, but we didn't want to bust this calve and blow the whole thing. Eventually, we made it almost to the top of the hill. My cousin starts to cow call. As he does, the calve pops out of the timber, and sprints towards us. He came to within about 10 yards, in the wide open. I knew we were blown, so I grabbed my cell phone and began recording. It was a pretty cool experience. At that point, the herd had gained some considerable ground and we had lost them. We made our way over to the water hole we had initially planned on going to. There was good sign everywhere. Tracks leading in and out. Scrapes on several trees and sapplings in the area. We decided to set up there for the afternoon/evening. Elk were a no show. Had 7 deer (all does) come to water at last light.. but no elk.
Day 5: This was the last day my cousin was available to help me out. I really wanted to get it done as my pops can't do much these days, and I knew it was going to be tough without him. We decided to get to the top of the hill we last located the elk, in hopes to cut them off early. We got up top early. We glassed and called with zero results. It was like coach had pulled us out of the game again. We worked through the area all morning and didn't turn up anything. As we made our way back to the truck, we found some very heavily traveled areas. Elk had been through this area A LOT. It was late in the morning and my cousin had to take off, but I kept that area in the back of my mind for later. My cousin left that morning and I decided I was going to hunt water hole we had sat the previous day. I got set up for the afternoon and began to wait it out. Pops decided to make his way up there for this evening hunt. We had a coyote come down to water at one point. The wind was right, it was a cool afternoon and everything felt good. Finally about the last 30 minutes of light, we hear cows. They sounded like they weren't far off. A couple minutes later.. the sound nobody wants to hear while sitting on a water hole, waiting for game to come in. A truck was crashing down the dirt road up to the water hole. I hadn't ran into anybody in a couple days, and thought this would've been a safe bet. I was wrong. A guy drives right up to the water hole and parks. He gets out, and walks down to the water hole. Hunt over. We grabbed our gear, and jumped out of our ground blind. The guy didn't know we were there, but it was still a little irritating. Me and pops began the walk back to the truck. We were still within hunting time. About half way back, I heard more cow calls and movement in the trees. I tried to make my way through, to maybe catch something in the open. Nada. As I make my way back to my old man, he has half way wandered into the trees himself and looks rattled. He asks me, "did you see that bull??" "What bull?!" I ask him. He then proceeds to tell me he saw a small 4 point. I never saw it, but he was certain. We wrapped it up and headed in.
Day 6: I knew the area we had been in was probably my best bet. From here on out, I'm on my own, as pops can't go far on foot. I had the same plan in mind as the day before. I headed up to the top of the hill early, and began working my way down through the area we had last seen elk. No results again this morning. I was back in a slump. Started questioning my plan and area. Me and pops decided to take the afternoon to look in other areas. We headed over to Crowder Flat. It was burned up from the Barry Point Fire. I thought maybe just south of the fire would be a good bet. We saw lots of wild horses, but virtually no sign of elk. We headed back to the area we hunted in the morning. I had a feeling about the water hole we had been sitting on, and after that guy busted us the night before, I figured he probably wouldn't be back since he most likely realized he busted up our hunt. I had pops drop me off and I began to hike in. It took me probably about an hour to get up there. I got set up and tried to raise pops on the radio, to check in. No response. I pull out my cell phone and see I have a message from 35 minutes ago. It's Pops.. after he dropped me off and began driving around to where he would pick me up, he bumped a group of elk bedded next to the road. To include a bull. He said it was only a 4 point, but pretty nice for a 4. He watched them for a bit and they wandered in my direction. I waited it out at the water hole, and they never showed.
Day 7: This would be my last full day to hunt, as I had to return to work two days later. After much consideration, I knew I had to stay in the general area I had been hunting. The sign was there. Every day there was new, fresh sign. It was the only area we had seen elk. This time, I decided to start in the area my cousin and myself had last went through. This was the area that had a lot of sign, and seemed like it was a high traffic area. The cover wasn't too thick in this area, and it provided opportunities to stop, call and glass. I started out about half way up the hill. At the base of the hill was dense, new growth timber. I would walk a couple hundred yards and stop to call and glass. I continued this process throughout the morning. I was approaching an area where two walls of new growth timber came together. This would be my last opportunity to call and glass. I stopped, and let out a cow call. I immediately got a response from a cow, coming from the timber at the base of the hill. I quietly made my way closer. I called again and got another response. This time I was in the open, and I could tell she was closer. I was afraid I was going to get busted so as quickly and quietly as I could, I got set up in the middle of a couple sage bushes. The wall of timber she was coming from was now only about 150 yards infront of me. I was set up with two shooting lanes infront of me. I began to call again. The cow was very vocal, every time I would call. Now I could tell they were making there way towards me, as I could hear them crashing through the brush. I laid off the call, hoping they would wander out of the timber, and come directly at me. But as I went silent, so did they. I cow called once again, and as I did I could hear loud crashing coming from my left. They had gone past me a little bit. Whatever was coming towards me, was coming fast. I put my rifle up and waited. A calve comes streaking through my shooting lane, straight towards me and where it last heard the call. It finally stopped about 15 yards from me, with its ears up waiting for another call. I was as still and quiet as I could be. Not too far behind it, I could hear another one was making its way through the brush. I figured Mama wouldn't be too far behind. I was wrong... A bull stepped out and stopped perfectly broadside right in the middle of my shooting lane, at about 50 yards. This is where time slows down. I put my scope on him to check out his head gear. Not very big. 4 on one side and appears to be a spike on the other. I initially begin to lower my rifle, thinking "I still have the rest of the day and tomorrow morning to get a better one," Then I quickly think, "I only have the rest of the day and tomorrow morning to get one... I worked way to hard to go home empty." My rifle was sighted in at 200yds... he was standing at about 50. I put the crosshair low shoulder and squeezed one off. He was too close to hear smack after the shot, but I could see his body ripple.. I knew I hit him. He took steps forward, did a 180 and ran out of sight. The calve slowly walked off. I sat there for a couple minutes listening. I was pretty sure I heard him go down, so I didn't want to rush over. Once the calve was out of sight, I stood up and walked to where he was hit. The cow and calve were standing in the timber line, watching. No rush to move on. As I looked around, there was absolutely no blood. I'm thinking, "Crap!" As I start walking in the direction he ran, I can see him just over the top of a small knoll. He made it about 25 yards and was DOA. I called pops on the radio and had him meet me... then the real work began! Couple hours of cutting and packing and we were headed to town!
He's a normal 4 on one side. The other, he has a long spike, and a cluster of 3 small points by the eye guard. Weird little bull. He wasn't Chewy... the monster I had been on a couple times. But I busted my butt for him. Overall, I'm happy. I drew a tag most guys probably never will. I had a couple opportunities at a really nice bull. I filled my tag and have meat in the freezer. Can't ask for much more than that. Win in my book.
Thanks to all of the guys that shared info and helped out. It was all very much appreciated. I hope the pics turn out OK... they're only cell phone pics, as I don't carry a camera with me. There's one in there of some of the scrapes we were seeing. And one of a track from a bull. The track was HUGE. The picture really doesn't do it justice. We used a cow call as a size referrence, but still doesn't really compare to how big it was in person.
Sorry for the long read.
