I first saw this bull just after Labor Day when my wife and I were checking on our fall-calving cows on our mountain property. We split the herd and the bull went out onto the national forest. I located him again in a shallow draw about a week later and worked into thirty yards with his cows in the bottom and me in the middle with him up on top. I thought I could bugle him into me but he and his cows blew out the other way and when I next heard him he was about one-half mile away where he then crossed onto private property.
A few days later, he again started bugling early one morning (back on the forest) and I tried to cut him off before he got back on the private property-got within forty yards but he still got into the private property with about twelve cows and calves. I set up on his wallow that evening and heard him come off the private property about a quarter mile above me but not enough time to close the gap. I came in to the area in the dark on Wednesday morning and picked up his bugle. He was working to the northeast away from the private property and I was able to sneak within twenty yards but no shot. Then I got busted by a cow at the same time another bull started bugling from the north. "My" bull took off to meet this challenger and I was struggling to go up the benches to try to keep up. I was three hundred yards away when I heard him breaking the willows and alders. As I sneaked toward him, I realized (yeah I am a little slow) that the other bull had closed with "my" bull and they were having a terrific battle about two hundred yards above me. I started running again and finally got up on the bench where I could see their backs and butts going around in circles. I crept up to 12 yards and watched about three circling, battling rounds and could not pick out the size of the other bull with their horns locked together and their heads down to ground level as they pushed against each other. I knew "my bull" was legal so picked a spot in their fighting circle and when he came into it I released and made a good hit. The two bulls made three more circles when my hit bull broke and ran about thirty yards to my right. The other bull started after him and raised his six pointed rack up to watch my bull. The six pointer was about ten feet to the left and all there was between us was a six inch aspen and I knew I could not get around it as fast as he could. After much head lowering and posturing he moved back about ten yards and turned broadside. Sneaking a peek at my bull, I saw him starting to lie down and looking back at the six pointer saw him starting to move away to go claim his new cow herd. I just stayed away an let my bull die with dignity. Thanks a lot to all the trad gangers that I have learned so much from over the last years in my role as a "reader" and thanks Plumber for the arows I purchased from you last summer as one of them did the deed. take care and good luck--Larry
Topic: Colorado Bull! (Read 1271 times)
