My 2008 general season rifle hunt

ridgetops

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LAST EDITED ON Nov-14-08 AT 07:32PM (MST)[p]

Friday, Oct 3: My plan was to ride down to Southern Utah with my wife and kids, then have Paul (Idhunter) meet me at my in-laws where my family would spend the night. (They'd come up the mountain the next day.) Paul and I were both running about four hours behind schedule (poor wife and kids). We didn't arrive at camp until about 1:30 AM, got in bed an hour later, with the alarm set for 5:30.

Saturday, Oct. 4: Both of our cell phone alarms didn't work and we woke to pouring rain at about 6:00 AM. An hour later, we were sitting in the truck watching a big meadow and it was still raining hard, with the low clouds starting to move in . We finally decided to leave the comforts of the truck and hiked up the mountain a ways. With the heavy rain and low visability (less than 100 yards) we bedded down under some pines and tried some calling. After about an hour of that with no success and the wind exceeding 20 mph, we both conceded to the weather and headed back to camp--soaking wet. It rained all day until about 4:00 PM and by 6:00 we were overlooking a big flat with pines, aspens, and brush. We quickly spotted a group of four bulls together. (One nice 5 point and 3 rag horns.) We started to call to them and then Paul tried a call that really works well up in Idaho. It worked this time too. One bull bugled and started coming right at us. Amazingly, he was about 800 yards away when he heard us. When he got to within 250 yards, I got my shooting sticks ready, but one side slipped on a rock and I had to re-set them. By then the bull was into the thick brush below us. We could hear him breaking branches as he got closer and, at about 80 yards, he let out a bugle. But he never came any closer and stayed hidden behind all the thick oakbrush. It finally got too dark on us and Day 1 was over.

Sunday, October 5: We decided to try a small canyon about 1/2 mile from where we were the night before and call. While hiking in at first light, we jumped two 26" + muley bucks. They were fun to see and then we were watching some more deer while we were calling. We called for 15-20 minutes and then we were just about ready to move to higher ground when Paul saw a bull walk out of the thick brush 180 yards out. His first shot was free hand and the bull never flinched. Paul then grabbed his sticks and with the second shot it was down. It was a nice 5 x 5 but had broken off its main beam on one side, just at his 4th point, which makes him a 5 x 4 now. We are both quite sure it's the same bull that came at us the night before.

Monday, October 6: We went back to the knob we were at Sat. afternoon and, at first light, started calling. After listening and glassing for about 45 minutes, we headed for higher country. As we walked, we would call for about 1/2 hour at a time. We went through a very nice looking draw/hollow filled with sagebrush, oakbrush and a few pines. I hung a couple cow in heat scent wafers in a tree and was planning on checking on them the next morning. We had planned on going up where Paul shot his elk the day before, but a truck was already parked at the mouth of that canyon. So we decided to head past the spot where I'd hung the wafers and call in the next canyon to the West. It was a very steep, rough canyon that everybody avoids. I was hoping we could call from the top and bring something up to us. As we got to that nice-looking draw, with about two hours of light left, I saw three cow elk staring at me from the other side--about 10 feet from where my wafers were hanging. I instantly asked Paul to get my shooting sticks out of my pack and while he was getting them he made the comment, "That's a really nice bull." I then said, "Where?!" Even though we were standing three feet apart, I couldn't see the bull because of a small tree in front of me. The elk all started to run and were in the trees and thick brush. As they were about to go over the top, Paul cow-called and the bull did a 50 yard u-turn and came out into the open broadside at 300+ yards. The glare from the sun was bad, but I finally got a clear picture through my scope and fired. I have a bad habit of lifting my head after a shot to see where I'm hitting and almost always shoot high. Not this time; I let the recoil do its thing and listened for a loud thud. Paul yelled out, "He's hit and limping." I cautiously approached the area the bull was last seen and found him about 60 yards from where he was shot. (Note: He was hit perfectly behind the shoulder. The bullet never came out, but the bull never left any blood trail at all.)
This bull was shot less than two hundred yards from where I missed a 6x6 two years ago. I think I have found a honey hole.
Thanks Paul for your awesome calling and helping get the bull out. Thanks to my family for spending time with me while we were down there.

Guess the score

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Nice story, thanks. I would score him as a real nice bull and a great memory.

Kent
 

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