tallpine13
Active Member
- Messages
- 136
Well 2020 has been one for the books for sure. Pictures have already been posted a couple times in here but I’ll put the whole story out there. I was pretty pumped when I found out I finally got me another primo tag (my wife has been stealing all my luck apparently) and planning already started. I knew that this would probably be the first time I wouldn’t be able to take my entire hunt off due to my wife being pregnant and me planning on taking time off for getting some needed kiddo time. So I started immediately looking at moon phases to decide when I wanted to get out in the woods. I made up my mind that Sept 4-12th we’re going to be my days that I was going to try and make it happen. My cousin and I went out and set cameras early on and on our trips found a few solid bulls for how early it was so my hopes were very high. September FINALLY Rolled around and I was loaded up and headed to the woods. We got in about 4:30 PM and didn’t even set up camp we were headed to class or possibly get it done quick.I went to one of my close easy access spots and parked the buggy and we didn’t get 100 yards away and a bull rips about 300 yards below. I through out a few cow calls and within 10 minutes we had a 290-300 class 6x6 at 15 yards. He finally spooked and we got set up to glass to hear and find a couple good bulls to chase the following morning. We get up the next day and head out, get to where we want to be and walking in there are 3 smaller bulls on the ridge we wanted to walk down to get above the bulls we found the afternoon before. After about 30 minutes I knew we had to move so we dropped below and skirted around trying to to blow those elk over the ridge. After we got around we were walking the top and heard a few bulls bugling down below and our focus shifted to trying to get above the bull that sounded the best. While we were doing that we made the mistake of not paying attention to our surroundings and blew out a 6x6 that had kickers off both G4’s that was easily 350 plus..... We live and learn. So after kicking ourself for that we get back to trying to make a play in the bull below us. We had him come to about 60-80 yards but never got eyes on him but he was screaming and flunking so I knew he had cows. Wind shifted and we could tell they were on the move and there was no way for us to keep up so we set up and glassed the rest of the morning. Kicked up a couple of smaller bulls but nothing compared to the bull we blew out of there. That afternoon we got in early and set up to glass. Right off the get go we picked up a bull through a clearing down in the flat and decided we were going to try and make a play on him. I guessed him at 350-360 he was a gorgeous bull. We walked around about 1-2 miles to get the wind right and started working in on him. We got in on his cows and finally picked him up again. What I thought was a 350 type bull was closer to 370-380 type bull. He was pushing his cows around he had about 20-30 and he finally laid down and his cows stayed up and kept feeding. I got a juniper between us and closed the distance to about 100 when he stood up and started following his cows around again. One of the cows picked us off and off they went and we ran out of light couldn’t make another play on him. We hunted that bull the next couple days but a outfitter was also in the mix so we backed out to possibly find something else. That afternoon we were hiking in to a good glassing spot and I just so happened to turn around and look back towards the buggy and in a clearing 100 yards above the buggy stood a Giant bull. This bull had double swords and Was everything I dreamed of putting my tag on. So here we are walking back towards the buggy. He laid up under a tree and my cousin and I came up with some rapid sign language to try and walk me into this bull. I got to about 80 yards before he got up and walked off right before dark. We went back in that next morning and it was quiet quiet and only thing we kicked up was a couple of cool looking grasshoppers. That afternoon we went into a totally different area to possibly sit water and there was somebody already there so we shifted to another water hole. Somebody was already there so we decided we were going to gain elevation to listen and glass. Had a couple cows get close and made a stalk on a bull that sounded decent but ended up being a small 6x6 270-280 range. That night the cold front rolled in and it rained all night and the next morning it was super foggy and where we went it was like a switch turned on. Bulls were screaming everywhere we could t glass but we chased bulls all morning, snuck into 50 yards of a 350 type 6x6 and as I came around a tree there was a calf standing right there the blew the herd out of the country but looking at maps I figured where I think they went and we made a move and in the process we stumbled into a canyon that I’ve never seen so much elk sign and trees destroyed...... stumbled upon a wallow that has been dry up until the rains from that night and the elk were all screaming still around noon. We made a play on a couple bulls but not what we were looking for. At about 1:30 my buddy wanted to go back and grab lunch so I told him I’ll sit the wallow until he gets back. Not 20 minutes after he leaves a bull rips up above me. About 2 minutes later he bugles again and I could tell he was working down towards the wallow into the canyon. I got set up and was ready but he didn’t make it to the wallow but he care down and was 71yards away. I practice out to 80 to make shorter shots that much easier. I wouldn’t shoot a bull at 80 I don’t believe but I’ve killed numerous muleys around 70 yards. I cow called and he stopped perfectly broadside. Sent it and hit a little back and a little lower then I would have liked he ran about 50 yards and stopped and was looking back at the wallow. I watched him for 5-10 minutes and he walked up in a game trail and slowly walked out of site. It was about 2pm so I knew we had plenty of time to let him go and lay up. I waited for my buddy to get back around 3:30 and he came in super excited saying driving in he spotted a bull working around the finger across from me. A Big long beamed 6x6. I informed him he probably had an arrow in him because I just shot a big long beamed 6x6 about 1-2 hours earlier..... we went back and glassed where he saw him and didn’t come up with anything so we went back to the trail I was him walk up and there was decent blood when he was walking. We walked to a fence line where you could see he stood at debating to cross for a minute because there was a decent pool of blood and we decided at this point he made it 400-500 yards we need to work back and get across the canyon and try to glass him up again and that would give him more time so we wouldn’t bump him. Well we didn’t turn him up so about an hour before dark we go back to the fence line and track blood until there is no more blood and I got on his track and about every 100 yards we would come up with a few drops of blood. My buddy looked up and saw him bedded across the canyon and he was still alive and was looking our direction. A couple bulls were screaming in the canyon as well right above us and one deeper in the canyon but we watched him till dark and we were expecting to come back the next morning with him later up under that tree....... not the case we came back and found his bed, not much blood and it seemed like all the elk in the area were on that finger that night there was fresh track everywhere. We started a grid search and about noon we were getting ready to crops the canyon and start on the other side when something told me let’s go just a little deeper. I came across a lone bull track and marked it and started following it around the finger into another canyon..... after about 200 yards I look up and there he is up under a tree expired. I called to my buddy and pointed and he’s an Indiana boy and hunts white tails so this is a whole other level of hunting so his excitement was one for the ages. We went up and showed our respect for the animal and then the work began. I couldn’t have done it without my dad and cousin they made a few extra trips this years checking cameras and my pops actually shot a bear on this hunt. He only got to stay for a few days to to it being harvest season but he got it done as well! It was one heck of a trip that definitely had its ups and downs but all in all with or without punching my tag it would have been a success. My wife didn’t get to come with the kiddo and a few complications but she immediately reminded me that hers last year was still bigger.... darn the luck mean I still have to keep chasin!
