Monsterbull
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This was a few weeks ago in the backwoods of Oregon. We had a lot of action, got into animals pretty much every day, numerous missed opportunities, and a few successes. Here's one.
We generally hunt out of a spike camp, about 5 miles in the wilderness. It was day 4, and although we had several chances, no one had yet to score. That morning we started out running a ridge north of camp and soon heard the bugle of a bull rounding up his cows. The wind was not in our favor so we had to manuever ourselves above them and try to move in closer. That took quite some time and put us through some doghair in places, yet everytime we thought we were closing the gap, they had moved off further to the north. They had no idea we were around, but were simply moving and feeding into the wind. We kept up the chase for three hours; everytime the breeze would switch, we'd just sit tight and wait, and take up the chase again when the wind came back. Whenever we thought we were close enough, we'd set up and try to cow call to get his interest, to no avail.
Finally, I changed tactics and started bugling challenges to him, but I simply don't think we were close enough to get the bull riled up; he just kept moving his cows away. However, a different set of bulls started to sound off in response and we were positioned in between these new boys and the group we'd been trailing.
I got Jay set up below me a good 70 yards in relatively open timber and started my calling sequence. After some cow calls, I let out a bugle and got an immediate response to my left, over the hill, but within a few hundred yards. Although I couldn't see Jay, I trusted he had the sense to quickly move from his position towards the bull. Apparently, the bull wasn't in the mood for love because he didn't seem responsive to cow calling, but he was obviously spoiling for a fight. By this time Jay was in good position over the crest of the hill 100 yards away directly between me and the bull. Everytime he bugled, I would cut him off and bugle right over the top of him. Jay spotted a raghorn at 60 yards, but the bigger guy was nearby down the hill, and although he couldn't see him, the bull was in a rage, screaming and ripping up a tree. Soon enough the big fella materialized out of the hemlocks and Jay forgot about the raghorn. The bull moved up the hill, I couldn't see a thing, but I knew he was pissed and coming my way. The next thing I heard was the unmistakable sound of crashing limbs and a series of cow calls. I never heard the shot, Jay was too far away, but I got on the 2-way and asked Jay for a report. He responded by whispering, "I'm standing here watching him die, stop buzzing me!"
Jay shot him at 20 yards slightly quartering to him. He stopped him after the shot with cow calls and the bull toppled over 25 yards down the hill from the shot.
I have to say I was just as excited that I'd called him in than if I'd shot him myself. He's not huge, a satellite 5x5, but has really nice fronts. We were patient, kept at it, and came out with a nice bull.
[attachment=45542:RichJason_JBull3.JPG]
We generally hunt out of a spike camp, about 5 miles in the wilderness. It was day 4, and although we had several chances, no one had yet to score. That morning we started out running a ridge north of camp and soon heard the bugle of a bull rounding up his cows. The wind was not in our favor so we had to manuever ourselves above them and try to move in closer. That took quite some time and put us through some doghair in places, yet everytime we thought we were closing the gap, they had moved off further to the north. They had no idea we were around, but were simply moving and feeding into the wind. We kept up the chase for three hours; everytime the breeze would switch, we'd just sit tight and wait, and take up the chase again when the wind came back. Whenever we thought we were close enough, we'd set up and try to cow call to get his interest, to no avail.
Finally, I changed tactics and started bugling challenges to him, but I simply don't think we were close enough to get the bull riled up; he just kept moving his cows away. However, a different set of bulls started to sound off in response and we were positioned in between these new boys and the group we'd been trailing.
I got Jay set up below me a good 70 yards in relatively open timber and started my calling sequence. After some cow calls, I let out a bugle and got an immediate response to my left, over the hill, but within a few hundred yards. Although I couldn't see Jay, I trusted he had the sense to quickly move from his position towards the bull. Apparently, the bull wasn't in the mood for love because he didn't seem responsive to cow calling, but he was obviously spoiling for a fight. By this time Jay was in good position over the crest of the hill 100 yards away directly between me and the bull. Everytime he bugled, I would cut him off and bugle right over the top of him. Jay spotted a raghorn at 60 yards, but the bigger guy was nearby down the hill, and although he couldn't see him, the bull was in a rage, screaming and ripping up a tree. Soon enough the big fella materialized out of the hemlocks and Jay forgot about the raghorn. The bull moved up the hill, I couldn't see a thing, but I knew he was pissed and coming my way. The next thing I heard was the unmistakable sound of crashing limbs and a series of cow calls. I never heard the shot, Jay was too far away, but I got on the 2-way and asked Jay for a report. He responded by whispering, "I'm standing here watching him die, stop buzzing me!"
Jay shot him at 20 yards slightly quartering to him. He stopped him after the shot with cow calls and the bull toppled over 25 yards down the hill from the shot.
I have to say I was just as excited that I'd called him in than if I'd shot him myself. He's not huge, a satellite 5x5, but has really nice fronts. We were patient, kept at it, and came out with a nice bull.
[attachment=45542:RichJason_JBull3.JPG]
