2012 toutle bull

[kalamasasquatch]

I know I have been missing from here for a long time but last seasonregular and upper smith creek failures drove me into hiding. But here is my toutle bull from this year. This was the 8th bull we called in, in 4 days.

Opening day, I had a great bull come in silent that i missed just as he stepped back from the tree he was destroying. I had found a spot right along an old skid road where a bull had tore up the ground with his antlers. It looked fresh and the mid day sun was feeling good so I figured this would be a great place to set up. I snuggled into the big old growth stump right accross the road and got comfy after a few cow calls and a bugle i figured it would be wise to just wait. Every 10 min or so between cat naps I would throw out a call. After about an hour I heard a limb break and seen atlers coming! To my left a tall 5x? was sneaking in, and stopped to tear up a tree. As he was going to town on the tree, I shot and just flat out missed! He jumped and ran maybe 10 yards turned and looked back then just walked away never offering another shot.

The next 3 days of hunting brought plenty of bugling and a hand full of other bulls that just didnt quite justify hanging a tag on. The morning of the 4th day I was up at 5 am headed for a canyon I had wanted to hunt for years. As i worked my way there I discovered it had grown up alot more than I had expected and wasnt the elk mecca I had dreamt of. I did have a run in with a decent bull that I would have tried for if he wasnt on such a steep hill. Part of me wanted him just for the fact he was a 5Xnothing. His left antler was completly missing. dont know if he broke it off or just didnt have one. I caught him and his cows on the road at about a 100 yards. the herd worked across the road and down the hill aabout 30 yards, I cow called to them and had him at a very steep down hill 35 yards. I knew if i did shoot him he wqas gonna go down hill fast and thought better of it. On the way back to camp headed thru seem deep dark timber not really in hunting mode (that less than alert mood you get into after a long day and having your mind on food and bed) I was startled by a loud bugle that sounded close. My answering bugle was cut off be a scary sounding scream. this guy meant business! I stepped off the road and worked my way from tree to tree down the hill towards him. I hadnt made it 60 yards into the timber when i seen him side hilling away from me. I quickly let out a mid level bugle behind me and pointing the opposite direction he was going to try to steer him back my way. It work and he slowly started working his way back. I came to full draw when he was about 30 yards away and stopped at 25 with just his head exposed looking right at me. we stared at each other for 2 1/2 hours (ok 30 seconds but at full draw being stared down by the bull you want time does slow down) he eased back behind the tree and started moving back down into his hole. as he was about to come into a small opening at 45 yards I came to full draw again and mewwed at him just as he stepped into the lane. As his head turned towards me the arrow was on its way. With the satisfying "watermellon thump" sound of a solid hit and the freight train crashing thru the timber all I could do was just lay back and look up at the darkening evening sky and imagine the long night I had ahead of me. A 120 yard blood trail that a blind man could follow lead me to my first toutle bull. He was the biggest, heaviest 4x5 I had ever seen. His antlers were just covered in pitch from poor sappling he must have just assualted. After meeting up with my partner we had him broke down and in game bags by 11 pm and hanging in the locker by 8 am the next morning. He died at that perfect distance of ok, do we take the extra time to bone him out or just bite the bullet and pack full quarters. Well we made the mistake of not boning. He was the heaviest bodied bull I have ever been involved in packing. He isnt the biggest rosie I've taken but he sure isnt the smallest!                   

[bucklucky]

Nice bull, congrats man!

[carpsniperg2]

Good looking bull congrats

[Jason]

Congrats on a decent toutle bull

[h2ofowlr]

Great bull!

[SkookumHntr]

Upper smith creek then toutle!? Lucky in the draws!!

[bearhunter99]

Congrats on a nice bull!   

[kalamasasquatch]

Upper smith creek then toutle!? Lucky in the draws!!

yes, but the upper smith was a complete disaster!

[ellensburgpo]

Beautiful bull, love how dark he is.

[wackum]

Congrats on a great toutle bull

[kalamasasquatch]

also forgot to mention, taxidermist says he is 10-11 years old. based off of tooth wear and that his ivories were gone, just empty sockets.

[benhuntin]

Nice bull

[SkookumHntr]

Upper smith creek then toutle!? Lucky in the draws!!

yes, but the upper smith was a complete disaster!

-What was the story with that hunt?

[deerhunter_98520]

Great bull!

[kalamasasquatch]

Upper smith creek then toutle!? Lucky in the draws!!

yes, but the upper smith was a complete disaster!

-What was the story with that hunt?

Give me a bit and I will post the story in a new post. Its rather entertaining looking back on it.