My Utah Muzzle Loader Bull

M

muzzle

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I was lucky enough to get a bull on the opening morning. It's a decent bull not a monster but decent. Is there anyone out there that I can e-mail the pics to post them for me. My computer won't let me do it?? I'll follow them up with the story later.
 
Here is Muzzle's story & Pictures.

This bull was taken on the opener of the LE muzzle loader hunt. It started out very wet, rainy and foggy. Not what I was hoping for but hey that's hunting. My brother and I started the long treck to the top of the mountain slipping and sliding as we went. By the time we reached the top were about an hour behind schedule due to the wet conditions. As the sun rose over the mountains, we could start to make out some detail but my binos were fogged up due to the steam coming off my body. I was finally able to clear them enough to see across a distant mahogany covered ridge that led into a small stand of pines. I started glassing and almost immediately spotted a heard of elk moving towards the pines. We were too far out to get on these elk but at least the morning was starting out right. We later were forced off the ridges by the constant rolling fog that made glassing impossible. It looked at little clearer down lower so we headed down the mountain hoping for better weather. As luck would have it, the fog began to break and the sun began to shine. I was hopefull the bulls would take the opportunity to come out or at least start getting vocal. Around 10:30 am three large sounding bulls started bugling out of large stand of pines. We started in on them and got into several shouting matches with them but the terrain was very thick and the bulls didn't seem interested in what we were offering. The bulls eventually went silent so we decided to back out and wait until evening. My brother and I took our positions on different ridge tops to view as much real estate as possible. Around 6:00pm my brother called me on the radio that some cows were coming over one of the saddles he was watching. I told him to let me know if a bull comes out and if he does to size him up before I left my spot about .25 miles down the hill. It wasn't five minutes later when I got the call. He said he had spotted a good bull pushing the cows and that I had better get up there quick. I started the climb as fast as I could. By this point my brother knew I would be winded as I made the acent so he met me part way to take some of my gear. After he breifed me on where he spotted the bull and which way he was headed, we began the stock. We weren't to sure where he was out by then so we took our time glassing the maple stands he was headed into. After about ten minutes, we spotted the tips of his antlers as the bull ravaged some bushes. He was only about 70 yards away,(well with in range) but the bushes were way to thick to get a shot. We ended up playing cat and mouse with him and his cows for another half of an hour trying not to get winded or get busted. I finally noticed he was going to pop out into a clearing if he kept going on his path so I wanted to be in position when he came out. I started moving quickly to my mark. The bull just beat me there but fortunately for me, he was headed down hill and he couldn't see me so now I just had to wait for him to present a shot. As I sat there waiting, the wind began to swirl. It's now or never I said to my self as I did not want him to get a wiff of me and bolt down the mountain. I decided to stand up and free hand the shot. Just as I stood up, the bull turned quartering away and I had a perfect shot. I fired and the bull lunged into the bushes. I knew he was hit hard as the cows left the area with out the bull. We waited a few minutes and went to see what we could see. The bull only went 20 yards and we was out cold. I could not have asked for a funner more exciting hunt. Even though the pack out was utterly miserable, I managed to keep a smile on my face the whole time. A true hunt of a life time!

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Thanks for the story,

dds/Darren
 
Great bull!! A friend of mine, aka Blackdog, is hunting the same area and he is having a tough time finding the elk. He had a shot at a 350" class bull yesterday but missed. You should condider yourself very lucky to have gotten in on such a nice bull. The rut has really cooled off and the bulls aren't feeling that "Randy." Hopefully things change around for my friend. I will be sick if he doesn't get another shot at a decent bull. Congrats again on the bull and thanks for sharing the story.
 
Great bull! I've got to decide if I want to try to burn my points on a muzzleloader tag??? How many points did you have?
 
Muzzle,

Sounds like you had a great hunt. Your bull is a great one. Good job.
 
MulieKing, I talked to Jeremy last night and he gave me the scoop on how the hunt has been going. I agree, it's tough down there and the rut has been winding down. If he keeps at it hard, i'm sure he will have more than tag soup by the end of the week. If I can swing my work schedule, I am going to see if I can go down to help out.

And to who ever asked about the points, I had eight.
 
Congrats on a successful hunt and a nice bull.

Chef
"I Love Animals...They're Delicious!"
 
Great bull, sounded like a fun hunt. The pack out ain't too bad when you've got a big boy down!

RockyMtnOyster
 
Great bull....I would pull the trigger on anything that size and never look back!
 
muz....congratulations on a terrific bull...well earned, i'm sure..good story and pics, thank you.
 
Congrats on the bull. Only can hope to drop one like that one day. I rather be packing bulls out all day long than to be stuck here at work.
 
Maybe not a "monster" but I'd be awfully proud to hang one like that on my wall. Congrats

Keep the Sun at Your Back and the Wind in Your Face
 

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