Thursday morning was again cool and cloudy, and the bull we had bugling the night before opening day was back in the drainage above the wallow. He was fired up and screaming as we made our way down the ridge in the dark. With the wind pulling down the canyon, we crossed the creek in the bottom and climbed up the hillside underneath where the bull and his cows were feeding. We set up and had a good screaming match with the bull, but it was obvious he was comfortable above us with his cows, and we weren’t going to be able to coax him down the hillside. We waited for them to start moving up the hill, then sprinted up behind them to get to their level. We hit the main game trail they were walking and let out a bugle. The bull answered about 200 yards ahead of us. As we stood there trying to decided the best approach, a straggler cow came out from behind us and walked by at 30 yards. We froze, caught somewhat flat-footed out in the open burn, and waited for her to move across in front of us. As she did, we looked up and saw the big bull standing at 60 yards, looking in our direction. As the cow made it to the ridge, the bull turned and followed her back across the mountain. We stayed on him for 1/2 mile, but weren’t able to convince him to turn around and come back.
See video of the encounter below…
We dropped off the mountain in a downpour and grabbed a bite of lunch at the truck. We knew the bull had to be bedding somewhere along the bench in the head end of the draw, so we drove up to the head of the canyon and climbed out in the pouring rain. We circled around the top end of the basin to be sure we had the wind in our favor before working our way down the bench. After about an hour and a half, the bull answered from the bench, 300 yards below us. We slipped down the hill and could tell from the bulls weak bugles that he was bedded and facing away from us. It sound like he was still 300 yards below us, but we could tell he was on the ridge just 100 yards away. I slipped ahead of Donnie and set up while Donnie started calling from behind. The bull stood up and I could see him through the fog and rain. He was standing on the ridge looking up the hill and he was a good one – a solid 300″ 6X6. He came up the hill about 20 yards, but wasn’t going to come any farther. I was ranging every tree around me, hoping he would come a little closer, but he finally turned around and dropped off the ridge. I scrambled down the hill and popped up on the ridge, hoping to see him right below me. He was there, about 60 yards away with his cows, and as I reached for my rangefinders, I realized they weren’t there. They must have dropped out of my pocket on the way down the hill.
The basin we were dropping into
The bull was pretty fired up and was doing his best to get his cows up and moving away from us, obviously not wanting a fight. As he moved them out of sight on the next ridge, I sprinted across the hillside to make up some of the distance between us. I slowed down and crept up on the ridge and could see them milling around 60 yards ahead of me. Donnie was still back 150 yards calling, and the bull was answering every call. As I stepped up the hill, I broke a branch and the loud snap instantly got the bulls attention. Luckily, he thought it was another bull and he screamed a challenge as he turned down the hill in my direction. I had a small 2-foot-wide opening between some trees at 35 yards. As he passed through the opening and his eyes were obstructed by the brush on the far side, I raised my bow to draw, anticipating him to step out at 30 yards right above me. His 6th Sense stopped him before I could get drawn and he swung his head back into the opening and looked right at me. Knowing something wasn’t right, he whirled and trotted back to his cows. I stayed on the herd as they slowly worked their way down the canyon for another mile and a half, usually within 100 yards the whole time, but unable to get inside 60 yards. They worked their way up through a steep, bluffy face and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay concealed any longer, so I backed out and dropped off the mountain. Luckily, Dave had an idea of what I was doing and drove around to pick me up, saving me the 4+ mile walk back to the truck on the road. That night, the bugling action heated up and we ended up hearing several different bulls bugle, including one that was really fired up in the same area we had shot the 3 bulls last season!
Friday morning we were hiking into the same meadows from last season, once again following the the sound of a very excited bugle. As shooting light hit the meadow, Donnie was set up with Dave over his shoulder on the camera. I stayed back 80 yards and began calling from behind and to the left of Donnie and Dave, hoping to bull the bull across the opening in front of them. The bull answered from 200 yards away and the next thing I knew, he was very close and Donnie was at full draw.
The bull trotted across the opening and stopped at 25 yards. We’re still not sure what happened, but Donnie missed. At the shot, the bull ran out away from Donnie, but wasn’t ready to leave quite yet. I swung around behind their set-up and managed to coax him back in to 50 yards, where Donnie proceeded to miss him again. You can bet there was some serious razzing going on in the meadow as the bull trotted back up the ridge to safety! 🙂 It must mean there’s something bigger waiting for Donnie’s arrow…
The action was definitely picking up, just in time for us to pack up and head back home for the weekend to take care of some other commitments (flag-football games and birthday parties). We’ll be back on Sunday night, ready to hunt again on Monday morning…