2012 Oregon Bull

[.280Lady]

It all started last weekend when we got a wild hair and explored a new spot that we could see from where I shot my deer. We lucked out and found this flat that had been hammered with bulls during the rut. There were rubs EVERYWHERE! You couldn't take a step without seeing a tree ripped up. We hiked around the ridge and got on some fresh sign where we jumped some elk but couldn't close in on them. Justin let out some cow calls and a bull responded with a little squeal of a bugle. That was good news! It was 64 degrees at 6200ft so we decided to back out and wait for some weather. We set up the trail cam on the flat in hoped of finding a nice bull still in there.
So....on Thursday the snow started flying! I got off work early and we headed back up. We immediately went to check the cam and were pleased to find 46 pictures in just the few days it had been up. Unfortunately, our camera wouldn't read the memory card and so we had to wait until we got home to see what was on there. There wasn't any fresh sign so we cut back around the ridge like the weekend before to see if we could cut some tracks in the snow. After about 20 minutes we found the herd and boy did they give us a run for our money! We quietly snuck down into this bowl of reprod and could hear them walking in front of us. It was so thick and brushy we couldn't see anything though. They must have new they were being followed because they made 2 figure eights crossing over our tracks over and over again, up and down, up and down this canyon! I was exhausted. Finally, I got my first glimpse of him walking through the trees about 200 yards across the way. I had the .280 rested against a tree and I was ready to make the shot. He was smart tho and never came into full view. So we took off again and followed him back over the top of another ridge where it turned out a whole other group of elk were bedded. We jumped them at 40 yards and watched cow after cow file thru the timber on a game trail. The bull came out last but stayed behind the cows a little lower on the hill so AGAIN I didn't have a shot. Luckily, they weren't spooked and just continued along the trail. He came into range at 40 yards and I let one fly off hand and hit him a little high behind the front shoulder and clipped the top of his lungs. He kept walking and Justin let out some cow calls. They slowed down and I shot again, he kept walking so I shot again and dumped him. It was 4:15pm and would get dark in an hour. We were quite a ways from the truck so we gutted him and left a sweatshirt on him so no predators would come in overnight. Wouldn't you know it when we looked at the trail cam pictures that night there was a DANDY 6 point bull on it! Oh well I will get him next year!
The next day we brought a couple close friends in there to help us pack him out and there the same herd stood feeding across the hillside like nothing happened. It's was a beautiful clear sky 18 degree night! What a way to end the season!

[stickbuck]

Nice bull. Looks like it was an awesome trip.

[rosscrazyelk]

You and Justin are some hunting fools.. Way to get it done..

[muzbuster]

Nice going

[FSTaxidermy]

Congrats, nice bull 

[Bean Counter]

Outstanding! 

[400out]

Outstanding! 

BEAN! tell me your AVATAR IS A BAD JOKE!

[50CalJim]

Way to stay after it congrats.

[Antlershed]

Awesome bull Jenna! 

[dupedc]

Nice! 

[billythekidrock]

Congrats Jenna.

[scoyoc5]

WTG! Great looking bull

[Wea300mag]

Right on Jenna . . . . . . . . . . . and Justin. Great work!

Hopefully you can harvest that 6pt next year. 

[Michelle_Nelson]

Thats a good looking bull!

[hogsniper]

Its been a crazy year!   Freezer is full and we have a couple nice trophys! We will do a write up of and post some pics of our other trophys later! Good luck everyone out there still hunting!