LAST EDITED ON Sep-17-09 AT 09:59PM (MST)[p]This is a LONG story sorry, I just didn't want to leave anything out, go down to the pictures, if you don't like long stories, but whenever you have 5 minutes to kill read it as it was a freaking awesome experience, even if I am a poor writer!!
What a year killed a 194+ mule deer with my bow and my son was with me, then I killed the bull of my dreams in my HOMETOWN!!!! I had a few close calls on a bull I know simply as "backs". His g4 and g5 both were over 20 inches long I think more like 23 inches no joke... My nephew called him into about 20 yards but the cedars were so thick all I could see where his backs and his feet. He stayed around for close to 5 minutes but not only did I not get a shot I never saw the rest of his horns, if the rest were just average he would of been a PIG!! SO CLOSE!!! I had several hunting buddies and family and friends helping me out. Joe Denhalter, who is a great hunter and friend, and newphew, Preston Stradling, another nephew, this 22 year old kid was missing college and work, he would of stayed all two weeks of the hunt, if his sweet wife didn't talk some sense into him. My best friend since birth and business partner of 11 years Brett Brewer, who hunted hard with me and showed me what these bulls were doing, and many other friends and hunting buddies. Well I got on a couple more good bulls, but I couldn't bring myself to pull the release, I took a 380 bull in Monticello Utah, and it kept me off the release for the first week at least. Preston called in a 330 bull, and the night before I was questioning my sanity when I passed on a 350+ straight typical, I had at 20 yards for several minutes. Yesterday morning was cool, and when I opened the truck I was all by myself. This was the first morning I had hunted all by myself, I knew I couldn't call as these bulls would want to see me, more specifically a cow/elk, before closing the distance into my bow range. I got in front of them and I knew they were headed for above that Canyon to bed. I was there a little early and they were closing the distance before I could see my pins!! The wind was perfect from them to me at about 7 mph. So with my bears feet on I quietly moved away from them. It seemed like they were chasing me as they would get 75 yards or closer to me so close I could hear their footsteps and "glunking" sounds they make. Finally after about 1/2 hour of this game it was light enough to see my pins and I set up to intercept one of the closest bulls. He was screaming and pushing about 4 cows, he was a solid 6 point around 320, he walked about 20 yards from me pissing and moaning and sctreaming. After he filtered past and a couple of more moves two more 6 points worked thier way past me, about a 290 and 300 inch young bulls. After about 10 minutes I heard antlers clashing about 200 yards from me, I hustled over to the sound and got withing 75 to 100 yards from the fight. What a fight!!!! It sounded like world war 3, not only the horns deep crack when they hit but the mowing over of every cedar tree in the thick forest. Branches and trunks breaking, the noise was literally frightening. After several minutes of this I heard two of the craziest bugles I have ever heard. One that sounded like a fog horn, with a long growl after-ward and another that sounded like... an angry scream that was soooo deep. I saw the angry scream bull from close to 60 yards away which was a miracle with how thick these cedars where, there was just a lane where I could see him. I literally about pissed my pants when I saw him. He looked like a GIANT!! with a kicker coming off of both of his FAT g4's. I saw one of his g 5's was broken but I didn't care, there was not questioning if he was a shooter!! I got ready and wondered which direction he was going to head. The fog horn bull had him calling very regularly. I was not calling at all, which is hard for me as I am an over caller by nature. He bugled again and started to walk right towards me, at about 50 yards he went behind a tree, all I could see where his backs, and his WIDTH quit looking at his horns I told myself, I was FREAKING OUT!! He was covered like this until he got about 15 yards away behind a smaller cedar where I could see his entire rack and the top of his neck and head. He looked in my direction and SCREAMED!!! I was almost blown over, I could actually feel it in my chest. I almost just threw my bow at him for protection, I was literally about to have a heart attack!! He took two more steps towards to me and then slightly to my right. When his head went behind another one of the countless cedars I drew, he didn't even look over the wind was PERFECT!! I saw an opening and he only needed two more steps and he would be there!! When he got there angling slightly away the opening didn't look so open as there was branches and twigs covering his vitals. I stayed drawn back, as he walked angling to my right. I was starting to get frantic looking for an opening. I scanned ahead and saw that at about 60 yards there would be an opening. I was hoping a this distance he would stop fo me to get a shot. Then almost magically about at about 40 yards he magically cleared brush, I didn't know if he was 40 or 50 so I put split the difference, right when I was settling the pin, he started to bugle he had only started the scream when my broadhead smashed into his ribs...stopping him mid bugle he tore off making this big horse shoe shaped circle!! I just stood there with my jaw in the dirt. I would get glimpses of him as he crashed through the cedars. I saw blood running down his body. I just slumped to my knees in a exhaustion, that is when the SHAKES began BADLY!!! I am a little embarassed to say I almost started crying!! What in the hell just happened!!??? I know you are suppose to wait 30 minutes but fter 5 I was about to die. I felt in my leg pocket and I had my cell phone. I turned it on and had service!! I called Joe, and after hearing my panicked cries, he didn't even do the 5 minutes of questions to see if I was just jacking with him as I have done so many times in the past. He just said Tom you STUD is he big. I slowly made my way over to the place he was standing, the dirt was AWESOME for tracking mostly sand. I slowly walked the big horseshoe I saw him make after about 20 yards I found half of my arrow the broadhead half!! and good blood. I was with Joe and I told him I was going to call him back he told me we had been on he phone for 15 minutes and I thought I will just go slow and easy. after about 70 yards the blood was getting less and less, to makes things worse, I saw a fresh coyote track on top of my running bulls track. I told my self if he is not around this next cedar tree I may not of hit him as well as I thought. Around the next tree... there he was but his head was up!! I stopped dead in my tracks and just watched him for about 5 minutes!!! it turned out he was already dead his rack was just lodged up in the tree!! I was going bananas. A cool side note is that at least one coyote had already found him!! just his butthole had been eaten, and they had pulled out a little of poop shoot. The first picture is just how I found him look at the branch where his head must of rubbed before his passed. He is the most amazing bull to me, he has freakishly long main beams one right at 60 and the other 59 and changem his mass is truly amazing, and has TONS of character. I big thank you to Mark wilson who spend most of the rest of the day helping me get him out of there. I will owe him forever, and will be a contented mule when he finally gets drawn. Sorry for the long story. To get drawn where I grew up, and get an OLD HUGE bull like this was more that I can express. A DRREAM COME TRUE!!!
After thinking long and hard I am going to have the taxidermist fix that broken point. I am convinced that he broke it that morning in a fight with the fog-horn bull, I offered a huge reward for my nephew to find it, I am betting it is there where they fought, if not I will have it fixed, he deserves it he grew it, his g5's are over 15 inches long