that same day, (day 4, 1st day of hunting) mark i and i eventually made over to the area where we saw lots of bulls last year.
mark could see some bulls below us near the bush line and decided to move down and attempt to stalk them. i went the other way and went to check out the gully where i got my bull the previous year.
thick fog was starting to form lower down the valley and i knew in a short while that we would be cloaked in thick moist air and visibility would be reduced to about 30 meters. (100 feet) i found a nice little spot from which to glass the gully and set about fixing my trekking pole and glassing as the fog came and went periodically.
the day before as we forded the river to hike up from the hut to our tent camp, i went to adjust the length of the pole to get a more stable position to jump onto a boulder in the river when the bottom two sections of the pole slid out and were swept away. i use a black diamond carbon whippet pole which has an ice pick on the handle, so i was left with a small make shift ice tool. on the way up to tent camp i found a straight stick from which to whittle a stub to shove up the end of the pole.
i had just finished making a stub for the pole and the fog momentarily cleared and straight away i saw a nice bull in the gully. so i packed up my gear and headed straight down to see if i could put on a stalk. i was part way down when i saw him walk into a cluster of huge boulders and disappeared. i knew he would be in there, and i would be able to see him leave if he did so, so i dropped my pack and began moving down an open slope towards the boulders that were about 60 meters away.
suddenly he walked out of the boulders and started walking up towards me. i was completely out in the open so i had no choice but to nock an arrow and lay down against the slope and look like a rock. it worked and he didn't notice me and he dropped into a small drain and appeared to have a drink, although i've read that's it's extremely rare to see a tahr drink. apparently the get most of their moisture from the vegetation they eat.
whether he was drinking or doing something else, i saw it as my queue to have have a shot, since his head was obscured and he couldn't see me get up into a kneeling position. i released at the bull from about 30 meters with a steep downhill angle but i cursed as the arrow flew and passed just under him and clattered into some rocks.
startled a little, the bull jump up out of the drain and ran a short distance behind some short monkey scrub bushes. i quickly moved down to the bushes and nocked another arrow when he walked out the other side and started to move up the other side of the gully. he stopped broadside looked downhill at about 25 meters and i remember intently focusing on his chest and drawing, consciously keeping my elbow high as i did. this is my shot routine and it just seems to work for me if i focus on form and let the subconscious do the aiming.
the flight of the arrow was perfect and the shot placement equally so, at least that was my immediate impression. the bull let out a bellow and ran down hill into the boulders, stood for a second then disappeared. i was was confident that the placement was good and as he ran away i could see equal amounts of arrow protruding out of either side of the chest.
i retrieved my pack and by then it was time to take up the trail. the arrow had broke, probably due to shoulder blades acting like a guillotine and both the broadhead and nock ends fell out. upon picking them up and piecing them together it became apparent that about 6" of the arrow must be still in his chest.
the blood was deep red with a few very tiny bubbles indicating at least some lung damage. the blood trail however was almost nonexistent. just a few small drops.
Topic: Himalayan tahr deja vu. Feeding the addiction. (Read 4559 times)
