Hey Guys
Sorry couldnt get a signal and we have been hunting hard ....
Day before opener --- Arrived in Camp to be greeted by Jim Hiatt ,Danny my guide and Jims archery hunter who harvested a beautiful bull in the 320 range in the back of the truck.
Wow the Wasatch is a beautiful place ,just as i imagined .
Headed out to scout with Danny after getting things squared away at camp.
We sat and glassed several ridges and about an hour before dark we found a few cows on the mountains starting to stir.
Then hear comes a nice bull looks like a a 6x6 in the 320 range Danny my guide comments , i look and all i can see is a bull ,man these guys can tell right away from a mile away the quality of these bulls.
Well darkness on the Wasatch arrives and so does the brightest moonlit night i have ever seen and the stars looks like you could almost touch them.
We head back to camp to have a planning session to discuss our strategy for the opening day.
Jim and Danny both have been doing there home work and have seen some big bulls in the area we are going to hunt the first morning.
Opening morning comes early as we are headed up the mountain way before daylight ,as we head down the trail Danny checks the wind continuosly , we suddenly hear horses coming up behind us as we head down the trail ,yes horses 6 of them all with one to 2 people on them and only 1 hunter with a rifle, Danny asks them where there headed and we continue our trek up the mountain taking the trail that splits and takes us away from the horses and other hunter.
Danny says he knows right where to go .
As daylight is coming quickly we pick up the pace to get to where we need to be on the ridge we are hunting 3 miles in the trail.
Just at the crack of daylight we see our first critter it is a mule deer doe and a young buck they seem startled by our presence in there living room and bound away.
The next ridge finds more daylight and another mule deer buck this one much bigger and he runs away quickly as you can tell he has been around awhile.
We hear our first bugle and its close within a couple hundred yards ,Danny my guide cow calls and gets an immediate response ,Danny checks the wind and we are now in the slipping and hunting mode more than ever as daylight is now upon us and this bull sounds big and mean.
I have been waiting along time to hear that beautiful sound..
As we move along slowly i notice an ear above the brush about the same time as Danny does and it is a cow ,no its 4 cows but where is the bull ???
We set up and Danny gets behind me i check my rifle and Danny cow calls and before he can finish the bull answers ,loudly ,
man he is close .
It is so thick in the bottom i cant make him out i can see more cows now milling around but no bull.
Suddenly the wind shifts the cows are on alert and you can hear the bull bugling but headed in the opposite direction we are in.
We listen and listen some more ,glass and glass some more and head down the trail now in pursuit of the bugling bull we were within 50 yards of at one time.
As we crest the next ridge i notice a cow walking on the edge
of the timber about 500 yards away ,right behind her is a young 5x5 bull and he is in LOVE.
We can hear our bull now he is even further down the canyon.
Danny says if we hurry we might get a glimpse of the bull ,if we can get on top of that ridge.
The ridge is only a few hundred yards up that hill danny says ,well it wasnt a few hundred yards and my lungs lets say being from Florida were not quite adjusted as of yet.
We finally get on TOP of the world so it seems and we can hear the bull and now several other bulls but they are all well below us in the thick canyon,headed for bedtime.
We set on the Top of the world and glass looking for movement and we notice several bright orange vests almost in every direction we look.
Welcome to public hunting looks like we have some friends
that know about this same canyon and the big bulls that live in it.
Its now getting warm quikcly and all of the activity is about over for opening morning so we head back to camp to relax and have breakfast.
As we arrive in camp Slam pulls up and we talk about the morning hunt and Slam gives us some intell that might be helpful
man what a nice guy and he is huge ,i know who to call if i need some help packin one out.
Well the first afternoon is extremely slow as we dont hear much of anything until right at dark and there they are one ,two three no four bugles but they have waited to late and darkness id closing fast and we have 23 miles back to the truck up hill or so it seems it was only 8 miles Danny says round trip.
Seems further to me ,as i am still trying to BREATHE>>>>>>>>>
Day Two and Morning comes quickly, we head to where we were the nite before 4 miles in and oh this time up the mountain in front of us 2 miles up ,did i say up well straight up as that were the bulls are bugling at .. as we get half way up the hill Danny notices a spike bull just ahead of us feeding on the hillside so we stop and watch and glass all around to look for friends but find none.
As we get to the top of the mountain and i mean mountain we hear a scream from across the mountain and you can tell he is large and in charge.
We sit down and glass but is just way to thick.
The morning ends as it gets hot quickly and no sounds from the elk they must be fast asleep in the shade somewhere.
2nd afternoon we head out and again it was extremely slow not much of anything just alot of hiking and more breathing ....
We get back to camp and Jims friend is in camp and has found two Dandy Bulls he calls them while scouting for Moose and get this they are only 1/2 mile from camp......
Jim arrives back in camp with his hunter Mark and they have found some nice bulls and have video of bulls rutting hot and heavy.
Day 3 morning arrives to find us perched on a ridge only two minutes from camp and a 1/2 mile walk and i can actually breathe............
As it is getting daylight i notice several elk on the ridge in front of us moving in our direction ,there he is Danny says and hits the cow call ,and guess what hear he comes and i mean at a steady run ,we are a mile away and hes coming fast ,he is a small bull Danny says 300 class ,Danny stops calling but the bull is in love and we are the targets of his affection ,the bull crosses the canyon and Danny says hes gonna wind us and about that time he smells something not quite right and slips away quietly.
Now as it is getting really light there are elk all over the ridge in front of us and one really nice bull ,we can see he has a big frame ,Danny bugles at him and he answers but wait so does another bull right in front of us in the thick stuff not 400 yds away.
We can hear the bull close to us tearing up the bushes and timber breaking ,his cows are chirping and we are looking trying to get a glimpse of him to end.
Danny cow calls softly and the nice bull across the ridge 1 mile away is in love instantly and hear he comes on a dead run closing the distance rather quickly ,it amazes me how fast these bulls can cover ground wow..
Well he closes the distance to 300 yards well within range but he is not quite what we are after 320 bull Danny exclaims ...
We still wanna get a look at the bull that has the cows and just cant get him to answer or get a glimpse of him.
We head back to camp and Jim and Mark have bedded a big bull that Mark wants to shoot so we set around camp discussing the afternoon hunt.
Day 3 afternoon finds us perched again right near camp and we see the herd bull with his cows right at dark and he is big ,real big Danny says looks like he has acquired a tree in his horns ...yes a tree he has been fighting with.
I look at him thru the spotting scope and he is the kinda bull
i have been looking for big, wide and long tines and heavy.
We watch him with his thirty cows ,chase them around for an 30 minutes before dark some 3 miles away ,there are a few satellite bulls but they are little guys ,looking for true love.........its to far to make it over there before dark but we will be back in the morning..........
We head back to camp and about an hour later Jim and Mark arrive grinning ear to ear ,yes they killed the bull they bedded the morning before and he is a dandy 6x6 in the 350 range, well needless to say we talk well into the night ,Jims gonna hunt with Danny and i in the morning then we are all off to pack out Marks bull.
Day 4 we are perched again on the easy mountain i call it as it is only a 1 mile walk in or thats what Danny and Jim call it ...I dont think they actually were telling me the truth on distances but i am sure it was for a reason Hahaha...
As daylight comes we are all 3 watching and waiting ,and waiting and waiting ,finally Jim goes there he is ,thats why we havent seen any elk ,a few choice words later as we look across the ridge to find a hunter perched on the ridge exactly where the big bull was the night before, needless to say it was frustrating as we hiked backed to the truck no one said much ,kinda dissapointed ,thats the way huting goes..A little voice inside me said Never give up Never lose faith.... Jim kinda smiled and said i know exactly what we need to do ...you could tell he knew these mountains well...
We headed back to camp and and off to get Marks bull, Jim had already quartered the bull the night before so most of the hard work had been done ....as we headed in to get Marks bull out i noticed a bull running cows in the distance ,got out the digital camera and took a picture of the ridge he was on several miles away ,Jim and Danny were way ahead of me packing Marks bull out.
Wow what a nice Bull congrats Mark he was a great Wasatch 6x6 bull.
We headed back to camp and it was getting late as we pulled in to camp and got out the bulls were bugling yes bugling literally in our laps ....
Danny said grab your gun and off we walked right behind our camp.
We were into screamin bulls almost instantly and i mean screaming in every direction ,this was awesome just what i had dreamed of ... As Danny cow called we heard a snap and immediately hit the ground ,there he was 20 yards away a young bull and yes he to was in Love with Dannys calling...
We called in 5 different bulls that afternoon some even twice and never got a good look at the herd bull we kept hearing in the distance..
We almost got trampled on twice as the bulls were so close that we could smell them and they stink ,pewy....
Day 5 and Jim and Danny and i all three are off in the dark did i say dark ,,, we are headed to the ridge in the picture i had taken while they were packin out Marks bull, the plan was Danny would set on one ridge ,while Jim and i would make our way thru the bottoms below were the elk had been living.......
Jim looked at the picture and new exactly where the bull was located..
Thats why you need a guide who knows the mountain and Jim knows it well..
As it got daylight the bulls started screaming in every direction yes my friends the rut is on in the Wasatch unit as we heard non stop bugling in every direction actually it was quite a rush ,what an elk hunter dreams of actually,
there was one bull in particular that you could tell was the king of that mountain side,,,we made our approach cautiously as Jim checked the wind and glassed way ahead of us.
Now we were getting in there living room and had bulls close ,yucky that rank smell again ,Jim says to me are you ready thats your big bull and we are going to get a shot...
Jim cow called and hear he comes ,was it the King of the mountain ?
no his son though a little guy and he was smitten with
Jims cow calls...
We sat there and listened seemed like forever at the bulls and man it was intense as you could sense someone was about to get there butts kicked by the King as he was ticked off..
We started our approach and 30 yards later exploding out of the bushes was 4 cows ,seems like we found some of his harem or they found us that is.... a few choice words and getting my heart out of my throat we cautiously moved forward ..
Jim began to softly cow call and the ground would begin to shake as yes we were close, i mean close ,as we had gotten between the King of that mountainside and his cows and he was not happy ....Everytime Jim cow called the bull would roar ,
we kept looking up hill for the big boy but it was thick ,
we could tell he was mear yards away but just couldnt see him
when all of a sudden i noticed a the bulls dark mane on the hillside and he was only 70 yards up the hill ....
I raised my rifle only to hear Jim caution me to wait so he could get a better look at the bull, i lowered my rifle, Jim cow called and the King answered turning his head now giving us both a chance to look at his left side and yes ,instantly i new he was mine...as i looked in awe at him thru my binoculars ,i slowly lowered my binos and raised my rifle finding the bulls shoulder in my scope, Jim again cautioned me very calmly as to how thick it was where the bulls was standing and about that time the rifle echoed thru the canyon and the King hit the ground instantly.
Jim smiled and said wow ,i guess you could shoot thru all of that stuff...
I was still in shock as i watched for movement on the hillside ,Jim and i gave each other a high five as
this was a dream for me come true.
As we slowly approached the bull he stood up ,Jim calmly telling me put another one in him ,i replied and the King was down for good.
As i took his antlers in my hands it was surreal of all the hard work time effort and energy that it had taken to take this beautiful 6x6 Wasatch bull who was the King of that mountainside.
Jim and i looked the bull over and sat there in awe of his great rack not the biggest on the mountain i am sure but a dream come true for me.
We took pictures and Danny came over and helped us prepare the bull for the pack out job which ended up taking us until 10pm that night and 5 guys later.
Thanks guys for all the help as Jim recruited some of his friends to help us pack out my bull.
Jim also had his horse Doc involved in the pack out job and lets say Doc did a great job on the pack out but wouldnt load back up in the trailer ,that became a rodeo and Jim ended up leaving him tied up until the next day ,
I left for the airport the next morning ,i hope Doc finally loaded up Jim ???
As we walked down the trail that morning something inside told me it was a special day .....and it ended just the way i
had dreamed it would.
Thanks Jim Hiatt and Danny you guys are awesome and awholelottabull outfitters did an awesome job...
I will get all the pictures posted as soon as i get back to my home computer.
I cant wait till next year..................
Bullmania
