FishlakeElkHunter
Very Active Member
- Messages
- 1,177
Ok...I think it is time to change my username. It seems that the Fishlake unit has a curse on my family. We have hunted here our entire lives..I have had the opportunity to chase bug bulls here for years and been on some fantastic hunts. But it seems when myself or a family member draws..it get REALLY tough FAST!
This year my Dad drew the Rifle tag. We knew we were in for a good hunt as we have been seeing lots of good bulls early in the year. It seems that we were ready to go. Good friends were helping and hunting the Archery (BigJohnT) and had found some good bulls.
As the hunt grew closer everyone was excited. We had heard of many good bulls. We decided to concentrate in one area where John had seen a good bull on the Archery. On Thursday before the hunt my Dad and Uncle found a GREAT bull. Come to find out later it was the same bull that John and his son had chased, but had moved a mile or so down the canyon. Anyway, we found this bull and watched him for two days. On Saturday we found him, but he was up in some Private and could not get him down to where we needed him to be. He was with 10 or so cows and would not leave them. We passed up a couple very nice bulls on Saturday..with our sights set on this bull!!!!!
On Sunday morning we set out to our lookout and started looking over the elk in the canyon. We were looking at a couple of 320ish bulls and I decided to give a couple cow calls to play with them. We had cow called a few times and had multiple bulls screaming back at us!!! We were watching a nice bull at about 500 yards when one of my good buddies said "holy crap...look at that bull" We all looked where he was looking and about 1000 yards away, coming in on a string...was "our" bull!! He had left his cows and was all alone looking for love. He was coming straight at us at almost a trot!! We could not believe our luck!! We were set up across a MONSTER canyon that is steep and nasty...but he was coming hard. We got set up with the video..Dad all ready to shoot. We picked a spot we thought he was heading..ranged at 440 yards..and brought him right to it. And this is what we saw:
He was ready to DIE!! Dad was ready....he pulled the trigger and through 40 power on the spotting scope I watched this bull flop like he got hit with a Mack Truck!! His front legs buckled...dropped and rolled 3 times down the hill and into the oak!! We could not believe it! Dad had done it...everything had worked perfect!! We whooped and yelled and high fived and hugged! He dropped like a ton of bricks and was DEAD!!......BUT WAIT!...What...what do you mean he is moving. He cant be! But sure enough..we could just see the tips of his antlers and head moving in the oak. NO WAY..but sure enough..this is pulled from the video as well and this is what we could see.
Sure enough...he was sitting there moving his head. At this point he was exactly 400 yards away...and this is the ONLY view we could get of him. He was slowly moving his head back and forth..stretching his neck like he could not move! Ok..we are alright..he had broke his back and he was trying to set up! But now what to do. Lets try punching a bullet into the oak and get another bullet in him. Well...with the only view of his above..it was a Guess as to where his body was. He shot twice..both times the bull not even flinching! He left ear sagging..hardly moving his head..but still alive! 30 minutes of agony wondering what to do! After all of us watching him...we knew that he was either bleeding out right there...or his back was broke and could not move and was not dying.
So.....we made the decision to just walk over and put him out. We left my uncle on the hill to watch and guide us in to the bull. Now, to cross this massive canyon took us 45 minutes to get over there. The entire time the bull does not move..can not move..he is dying! Well, as our luck would have it as we get about 30 yards away...the bull BOLTS!! I mean my Uncle is YELLING..he is RUNNING!!! WHAT?!?!?!?! Cant be..his back is broken! Well, that is what we thought! The bull bolts straight up hill and runs like NOTHING is wrong! CRAP!!!!!!
Well, my uncle was sitting in some trees and as the bull moved up the hill, with us on the chase, my uncle loses his line of sight and had to move around some trees to find him. During his move the bull DISAPPEARS!!!!!!! GONE!!!! He never saw him again.
For the next 6 hours...5 guys looked under every rock, bush and tree to try and find "our" bull! He was ours..we just new it. A friend and I were on hands and knees for 45 minutes at the place where the bull had stood! We found ONE little spot of blood..about the size of a quarter where he was. What could have happened!?!?!?! We reviewed the Video a MILLION times. After much deliberation and looking. It looks like he hit him just high in the shoulder...above anything vital...but just below the Spine. The concussion of the bullet must have spine shocked him and dropped him like a ton of SH**! But hit nothing vital. If ONLY we could have had a view of his body..Dad could have hit him 10 out of 10 times as he stood there. But we just were guessing as to where to shoot into the oak. We guessed wrong hwo the bull was standing and shot into the wrong area.
Well...we hunted this bull for 4 more days! We did not want to give up..we kept after it. We went in looking for crows or any sign of a dead bull. We looked and looked and walked and walked. By this time..attitudes and hope were GONE!! We were SICK and had given up! By this time we finally decided to was time to go hunt another bull. But our hearts were just not in it..for the next 3 days..we were just wrong place...wrong time! It was NOT mean to be. Dad ate Tag soup on his ONLY chance to hunt big bulls at home! OUCH!!! This is gonna sting for a LONG TIME!
Looking back now, we have "what if'ed" and second guessed those few moments a MILLION times. What could have we done different. We have literally made ourselves SICK!! It pretty much RUINED a great experience. Later in the week Dad and I were sitting overa FANTASTIC view..as the sun went down..a place most people would kill to sit over and watch with their Dad..and we were both pissed and fuming over the entire thing because there wasnt an elk in the canyon! It was then that I realized how bad it sucks that we get ONE chance and we put SOOO much pressure on ourselves to kill a great bull...that we forget why we hunt in the first place. To spend time with family and friends and enjoy others company! To sit in the mountains with your Dad and just be happy to be with him and your Brother...to have FUN and just ENJOY!! But NO..one missed opportunity...and everyone HATES IT!
I hope that we can look back on this hunt and remember the GOOD times..to remember "what could have been" and to remember that I got to spend 9 days with my Dad, Brother, Family and Friends in a place that we LOVE....and just ENJOY!!!!!!
This year my Dad drew the Rifle tag. We knew we were in for a good hunt as we have been seeing lots of good bulls early in the year. It seems that we were ready to go. Good friends were helping and hunting the Archery (BigJohnT) and had found some good bulls.
As the hunt grew closer everyone was excited. We had heard of many good bulls. We decided to concentrate in one area where John had seen a good bull on the Archery. On Thursday before the hunt my Dad and Uncle found a GREAT bull. Come to find out later it was the same bull that John and his son had chased, but had moved a mile or so down the canyon. Anyway, we found this bull and watched him for two days. On Saturday we found him, but he was up in some Private and could not get him down to where we needed him to be. He was with 10 or so cows and would not leave them. We passed up a couple very nice bulls on Saturday..with our sights set on this bull!!!!!
On Sunday morning we set out to our lookout and started looking over the elk in the canyon. We were looking at a couple of 320ish bulls and I decided to give a couple cow calls to play with them. We had cow called a few times and had multiple bulls screaming back at us!!! We were watching a nice bull at about 500 yards when one of my good buddies said "holy crap...look at that bull" We all looked where he was looking and about 1000 yards away, coming in on a string...was "our" bull!! He had left his cows and was all alone looking for love. He was coming straight at us at almost a trot!! We could not believe our luck!! We were set up across a MONSTER canyon that is steep and nasty...but he was coming hard. We got set up with the video..Dad all ready to shoot. We picked a spot we thought he was heading..ranged at 440 yards..and brought him right to it. And this is what we saw:
He was ready to DIE!! Dad was ready....he pulled the trigger and through 40 power on the spotting scope I watched this bull flop like he got hit with a Mack Truck!! His front legs buckled...dropped and rolled 3 times down the hill and into the oak!! We could not believe it! Dad had done it...everything had worked perfect!! We whooped and yelled and high fived and hugged! He dropped like a ton of bricks and was DEAD!!......BUT WAIT!...What...what do you mean he is moving. He cant be! But sure enough..we could just see the tips of his antlers and head moving in the oak. NO WAY..but sure enough..this is pulled from the video as well and this is what we could see.
Sure enough...he was sitting there moving his head. At this point he was exactly 400 yards away...and this is the ONLY view we could get of him. He was slowly moving his head back and forth..stretching his neck like he could not move! Ok..we are alright..he had broke his back and he was trying to set up! But now what to do. Lets try punching a bullet into the oak and get another bullet in him. Well...with the only view of his above..it was a Guess as to where his body was. He shot twice..both times the bull not even flinching! He left ear sagging..hardly moving his head..but still alive! 30 minutes of agony wondering what to do! After all of us watching him...we knew that he was either bleeding out right there...or his back was broke and could not move and was not dying.
So.....we made the decision to just walk over and put him out. We left my uncle on the hill to watch and guide us in to the bull. Now, to cross this massive canyon took us 45 minutes to get over there. The entire time the bull does not move..can not move..he is dying! Well, as our luck would have it as we get about 30 yards away...the bull BOLTS!! I mean my Uncle is YELLING..he is RUNNING!!! WHAT?!?!?!?! Cant be..his back is broken! Well, that is what we thought! The bull bolts straight up hill and runs like NOTHING is wrong! CRAP!!!!!!
Well, my uncle was sitting in some trees and as the bull moved up the hill, with us on the chase, my uncle loses his line of sight and had to move around some trees to find him. During his move the bull DISAPPEARS!!!!!!! GONE!!!! He never saw him again.
For the next 6 hours...5 guys looked under every rock, bush and tree to try and find "our" bull! He was ours..we just new it. A friend and I were on hands and knees for 45 minutes at the place where the bull had stood! We found ONE little spot of blood..about the size of a quarter where he was. What could have happened!?!?!?! We reviewed the Video a MILLION times. After much deliberation and looking. It looks like he hit him just high in the shoulder...above anything vital...but just below the Spine. The concussion of the bullet must have spine shocked him and dropped him like a ton of SH**! But hit nothing vital. If ONLY we could have had a view of his body..Dad could have hit him 10 out of 10 times as he stood there. But we just were guessing as to where to shoot into the oak. We guessed wrong hwo the bull was standing and shot into the wrong area.
Well...we hunted this bull for 4 more days! We did not want to give up..we kept after it. We went in looking for crows or any sign of a dead bull. We looked and looked and walked and walked. By this time..attitudes and hope were GONE!! We were SICK and had given up! By this time we finally decided to was time to go hunt another bull. But our hearts were just not in it..for the next 3 days..we were just wrong place...wrong time! It was NOT mean to be. Dad ate Tag soup on his ONLY chance to hunt big bulls at home! OUCH!!! This is gonna sting for a LONG TIME!
Looking back now, we have "what if'ed" and second guessed those few moments a MILLION times. What could have we done different. We have literally made ourselves SICK!! It pretty much RUINED a great experience. Later in the week Dad and I were sitting overa FANTASTIC view..as the sun went down..a place most people would kill to sit over and watch with their Dad..and we were both pissed and fuming over the entire thing because there wasnt an elk in the canyon! It was then that I realized how bad it sucks that we get ONE chance and we put SOOO much pressure on ourselves to kill a great bull...that we forget why we hunt in the first place. To spend time with family and friends and enjoy others company! To sit in the mountains with your Dad and just be happy to be with him and your Brother...to have FUN and just ENJOY!! But NO..one missed opportunity...and everyone HATES IT!
I hope that we can look back on this hunt and remember the GOOD times..to remember "what could have been" and to remember that I got to spend 9 days with my Dad, Brother, Family and Friends in a place that we LOVE....and just ENJOY!!!!!!
