Here’s this seasons bull. He’s not anything more than a bull that will go into my freezer. He does have some pretty colored horns with something that looks like knuckles on a few tines. Excuse the fuzziness of the “As He Lays” picture. It was with my cell phone and I was in a hurry because dark was not too far away.
Here’s the story. I was coming up a ridge that has multiple “mini ridges” on it. I come around a corner and I’m busted. Some cow’s and a couple branch bulls take off up the hill. I see the legal’s with my naked eye so I’m off on a race up the ridge since they are now out of sight. At my current age I have a personal rule. I only run when something is trying to kill me or I am trying to kill something. So anyways, I know at the top of the ridge these elk can go any number of places. I need to get there before the elk do on the adjoining ridge line. Keep in mind I cannot see them at all during this run. Just trusting from my knowledge of the ridge that I know where they are trying to get to. All this while I’m doing my best imitation of a world class hurdler, leaping over any number of buckskin logs and other man traps. Well after a run of a couple hundred yards I reach my spot I wanted to get to. I am about as out of breath as a guy can get. I am 46 and not really a fan of running up ridges like this. Anyways, as I reach my target area so do the lead animals running along the other ridge. The two bulls are up front right at 200 yards out as I shoulder my rifle the first bull goes out of sight and the last bull is airborne cresting the ridge soon to be gone. I square up on his shoulder and squeeze. He drops to the ground and doesn’t move. I watch for a minute and there is no movement so I make my way over to him. There is no movement, but some shallow breathing so I put one more round into the base of the skull. Game over. Upon quartering up the bull I find that my shot hit a little high at the top of the shoulders. His shoulders were messed up and his neck broken. The 180gr Barnes XBT had done it’s job well. I’m blaming the higher shot on the fact that I was breathing so hard due to my run just prior to the shot and that the shot was off hand and not on a rest. I am normally a much better shot than that. Anyways, that’s my story and this is my 2012 Rosey Bull.
