Seems like everyone was using a reed cow call this year. Anyway, I heard this bull bugle way off in the thick juniper. The wind was right, and I could hear reed cow calls off in the distance every time he bugled, but he was staying put (it was over 80 degrees in the mid-afternoon).
Seeing how no one was making a move, I decided to stalk in to him. I closed about 600 yards slowly, with wind in my face, and spotted him bedded under a juniper and watched him bugle from there. He only had 3 cows with him that I could see. I closed to about 15 yards behind him, on the opposite side of the juniper and waited about 10 minutes for him to get up. Given the thicket, moving in this close was the only way to make a shooting lane or two happen. I was fortunate to have a rare steady wind to take advantage of.
What was funny was watching him react to all the cow-callers out there. He did not budge, other than turning his head in the direction of the cow calls. He would occasionally bugle and eventually got up, took a leak, and walked broadside right into the shooting lane that I hoped he would. I drew, kneeled down to clear some overhanging branches, and double-lunged him at about 18 yards. He sprinted off, I cow called him to a stop, and he then slowly paced off out of sight. I gave him a good 45 minutes and then tracked him to where he piled up about 100 yards away.
I was hunting solo, so I got to work on him and his pack out until after midnight. It was truly a pleasant evening. Sorry about the poor photo quality.
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
Thanks, guys! I'll also mention how valuable it was to have trekking poles in my meat hauling packpack. They made all the difference in the 7 trips it took to haul him out, especially since I hunt in tennis shoes. Those poles were the new addition to my kit this year, and I will not hunt without them from now on.
James Pepper: There's no law west of Dodge and no God west of the Pecos. Right, Mr. Chisum? John Chisum: Wrong, Mr. Pepper. Because no matter where people go, sooner or later there's the law. And sooner or later they find God's already been there.
A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”
Seems like everyone was using a reed cow call this year. Anyway, I heard this bull bugle way off in the thick juniper. The wind was right, and I could hear reed cow calls off in the distance every time he bugled, but he was staying put (it was over 80 degrees in the mid-afternoon).
Nice Bull! Hunting in the Cascades when I was at NAS Whidbey cow calls pretty much caused every elk to turn and go the other way.
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