My son drew a UT LE muzzle loader tag this year with 3 points. He couldn't miss much school so we had three days to hunt. I arrived early and located several bulls for him. The evening before he was to start his hunt I was watching bull #1 and just before dark a truck drove out a dim trail onto the flat where the bull was tending his cows - time for plan b (public land hunting can be frustrating).
First day of hunting ended with us looking at bulls #2 and #3 but no good chance for a stalk.
The second day we had rain, snow and low clouds until late in the afternoon. We found a herd with bull #2 and hurried to make our move just before dusk. Just as we were closing the distance to peek over the rim we jumped a bear in the oak - he had just walked through the meadow where the elk had been bedded. One more day to go.
Our final day to hunt dawned bright and clear and we found a bull #2 again and started our stalk. During the stalk we bumped bull #1 and had a brief chance that ended with a missed shot. Final evening we were resigned that it might not happen for us this year. About a 1/2 hour before dark bull #3 appeared about a mile away with no cows. The canyon between us was too steep and deep to make a stalk with the remaining time so I gave him a good loud cow call to see what he would do. He immediately starting walking towards us. We bailed off the mountain into the canyon giving him an occasional cow call to cover our noise. I had my son move forward about 50 yards as we approached the bottom of the canyon while I stayed back and called. The bull and my son met up at about 30 yards and one good shot ended the hunt. My son was shaking from the adrenalin rush when I got to him. It took us until 2:00 a.m. to get the meat out but it was a beautiful evening.
What a great way to spend time together. We are so fortunate to have such great hunting opportunities.
First day of hunting ended with us looking at bulls #2 and #3 but no good chance for a stalk.
The second day we had rain, snow and low clouds until late in the afternoon. We found a herd with bull #2 and hurried to make our move just before dusk. Just as we were closing the distance to peek over the rim we jumped a bear in the oak - he had just walked through the meadow where the elk had been bedded. One more day to go.
Our final day to hunt dawned bright and clear and we found a bull #2 again and started our stalk. During the stalk we bumped bull #1 and had a brief chance that ended with a missed shot. Final evening we were resigned that it might not happen for us this year. About a 1/2 hour before dark bull #3 appeared about a mile away with no cows. The canyon between us was too steep and deep to make a stalk with the remaining time so I gave him a good loud cow call to see what he would do. He immediately starting walking towards us. We bailed off the mountain into the canyon giving him an occasional cow call to cover our noise. I had my son move forward about 50 yards as we approached the bottom of the canyon while I stayed back and called. The bull and my son met up at about 30 yards and one good shot ended the hunt. My son was shaking from the adrenalin rush when I got to him. It took us until 2:00 a.m. to get the meat out but it was a beautiful evening.
What a great way to spend time together. We are so fortunate to have such great hunting opportunities.
