My dad had that tag in 1999. He killed a bull coming through some timber. He saw a browtine and squeezed the trigger. I was not by his side at that moment. Turned out to be a 4 point bull, small 4 point. We had a great time and he killed his only bull, he was 70 then, he turns 80 next week.
IMHO the tough thing about the first season is that you have only five days to find and kill a bull. If the weather is dry and warm and the bulls shut up after day one it can get hard. I do believe that there are plenty of bulls, but sometimes getting a look at them can be the challenge.
Sorry to hear that he did not fill that tag.