Just drove back from hunting Whitney Period 2 Bull this weekend. Had an 80 yard shot at a 5x6 on Saturday morning, but held off to look for the bigger herd bull. Connected with the 7x8 herd bull Sunday morning. Photo below
Thanks everyone, it was a great weekend and I was definitely happy with the result. It is a long story, but the short version is that we had to set up for a shot on the herd 4 different times that morning (other hunters were pushing them around). We finally cut them off and I had to make a quick 200 yard shot on the bull that hit him a bit farther back than planned. The whole herd ran off but he quickly fell behind and the herd left him. Had a tough time picking up his tracks due to all the other herd tracks. Finally found his tracks and blood that we followed for 400 yards where he held up in the thick stuff. Found him 45 minutes later, he jumped about 10 feet ahead of us, but the cover was head high so we couldn't see him. We ran around it and we saw him as he was heading for the road in the photo (the herd had also crossed this road). As he got there, I put another shot that entered the back/right side of the neck and went through the left shoulder (found the 165 grain Barnes TTSX just under the skin of the front left shoulder). That shot put him down just as he got to the road. Made for a much easier recovery and we were all very happy about that. My friend dropped off the head at Bill Taylor's taxidermy last night and Bill immediately said it would qualify for Boone & Crocket for Tule Elk. Took me over 10 years to get the tag, but the result was worth the wait.
On another note, we saw this herd Saturday morning after the other bull hunter shot a 6x6 out of it. They were over a mile a way and through our spotting scopes, we saw the big boy that I finally shot on Sunday. We had also glassed on Friday night and saw two good size bulls in another area. So, after spotting the herd and letting them go to bed, we decided to check out the area where we saw the two bulls (it was now 10:00AM on Sat). We found their fresh tracks and decided to follow them into the heavy sage. We followed/lost/followed the tracks for about 45 minutes, when a bull busted out of his bed to our right. I quickly had my rifle up and sights on his shoulder when he stopped at 80 yards broadside to look at us. The bull was a very nice 5x6, but my friend (who is a great hunter and lives in the area) said "Don't Shoot". I was sooo ready to shoot and didn't know the reason my friend said not to. The bull then continued through the sage unharmed. I asked my friend why he said don't shoot (I was thinking broken antler, another bull close by, etc., etc.) and he said that he felt it was worth waiting to go after the bigger herd bull. He made the call and it turned out to be the right one. I was ready to pull the trigger on the 5x6 and call it a successful hunt. Made for an exciting weekend!
Great job. I had that tag last year. Do you have any side pictures of that bull I may have some of him in the velvet for you. Thanks again for posting. Congrats
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