On with the story.
We were real pumped when we got back to camp and told Rusty and planned to get back up the ridge without blowing out the herd early in the evening.
After dinner we headed out. Moving up slowly and keeping the wind in our face. We settled in and waited for the shadows to grow and the air to cool. As the sun dipped towards Oregon in the west, we started our play. First stop some soft cow and calf talk. 30 minutes and nothing, so up we go. Only 150 yds but enough to get a different audiance. Soft talk again. . . .Nothing. Up we go another 150 or so. Jason heads up to set up and I call once. A bull bugles downhill and to our right. We get together and head downhill and downwind quickly. This was not the spot to have him come. After we set up, I called once in my best cow talk. He answered with a tending grunt from about where we had come from. Good he is real interested. I waited a few minutes and called once again. This time he started to bugle but cut it off, did the tending grunt and then finished the bugle. Sounded like he yodelled. I think he's hot and on a line.
Then there he is 100 yds up hill and on a trot right at me. Usually I'll adjust my position a little to on side after my last call to keep the dang things from running over me, but5 this time I didn't move. .mistake. He came straight at me and finally at 10 yds stopped to look for the cows. He's a nice young 6x6 and I was already figuring where he'd fit on the wall. But I had work to do and he was burning a hole in my camo from real close quarters. I've got the bow up and ready to draw. My thoughts are turn, turn, please turn.
I can hear Jason cow calling from 50 yds to my right. He's trying to turn him for me. but no dice. He going to stare me down. Finally he takes a step to the right, showing a front quarter, no good, but better. Now one more, just one more. . .please one more. He steps and I come to full draw. He saw the movement and spins to show his butt and head. He's 10 yds and no shot and I'm at full draw with a bad shoulder. This is going bad quick. I have to let down, slowly, so slowly. He doesn't move. I renock the arrow as he turns to a quartered away position. He turns to look to Jason's call and I come to draw. The arrow is away and half way there it's perfect. Then he spins and the arrow screams by taking hair from the outside of the shoulder.
Off he goes. We called him back three times but couldn't get a shot before he left up and over the ridge.
We found my arrow and moved 150 yds across the hill. Here we could see up an avalanche shoot and there on top about 300 yds away was a bull. Another 6x6. I called to him and here he comes at a gallop. We can hear heavy foot steps and antlers hitting branches as he comes hard down the steep slope. Then to our right, the tending grunt. The other bull is on his way back too.
Well either will do but will they get here before the fading light is gone. Minutes pass like seconds as the light begins to fade and we can here the now walking bull coming hard on a line.
Then the light was gone. Not wanting to spook the bull we high tailed it downhill and downwing to the bottom and walked towards camp. In the moonlight we jumped a few cows half way home. I'm sure it wasn't our footfalls as we were just floating along.
What a day!!
Mike
Topic: Bulls, Bucks and chickens .. .a Wingnut, Trashwood and Jason adventure (Read 3091 times)
