I Shot My Sons Bull !!!!!

[Elknut1]

  The morning started out innocent enough! We were heading out 45min before light to a pre-determined spot we had been into elk 2 days earlier. It was just my Son & I. We had covered about 1 1/2 mile into the Idaho woods when we heard a bugle just north of us 400ys+ out.  We had not called at all to this point so this ole boy had sounded off on his own, he bugled several more times but we could tell he was in hot pursuit of something, such as a herd of elk with a possible hot cow. We followed his bugles the best we could but he was moving fast!! At this point we could not see him but figured him to be a 5-point bull.

  You must appreciate the country we hunt some! It's steep in many areas & very rugged. There are tons of downfall in it from years of burns. Alder type brush grows rampant in every direction & is in the 7' to 15' high stages, it's nearly impossible to see over or get through it, you must find seams here & there & do your best to maintain a reasonable direction. In this case we were trying to follow this bulls bugles as we felt he would lead us to the real herds. You will cover 3 times the distance as needed because of this terrain & it's steep as all get out!!

  We are in pursuit of this bull but his bugles are becoming faint as he's moving much quicker than we can follow, we know the area well as we've taken better than 25 bulls off this mountain range over the years. After about 45min of following & weaving our way straight up this miserable spot we hear a bugle above us aprox 1/4 mile away, we are now more excited as it sounds as though we are finally closing the distance, meaning this bull is finally where he wants to be or bed. We now hear a 2nd bull to our left, he's 500yds off easily & a bit below us in a downfall hell. Almost un-approachable! We know his spot well & hate it!! (grin) He's no doubt a very good herd bull by his sounds. We do have a stroke of luck as these 2 are keeping each other entertained vocally.

  We still have done no calling to give away our presence. We now close the distance to the bull above us, he's straight above us on the other side of an alder thicket, he's 55yds out & we can't see a thing. There's a small opening above us & the bull is slightly right of it in the cover, he has now bugled aprox 8 times as we stand there with my Son up front as this is going to be his opportunity, I always want my Son to tag out first. Well, these 2 bulls go back & forth for 10 minutes & just when we think this bull just above us may step into the opening he retreats back, he does it time & again, the wind is in our face so no issues there. The bull has now moved further away to our right & now is a good 80-90yds away, I don't like this at all. I tell my Son to get down the mtn another 40yds or so from where we came up, there's a bit of an opening there. I'm going to try & call this bull over his way with some very soft cow calls & then retreat as I'm doing this in hopes this bull will follow. I have seen no real indication that this is a herd bull we're dealing with so decide not to scream in his face to get him to "react"  although I'm puzzled if he's not why his distance is so great from the bull to our left?

  My Son sets up & I get behind him 30yds or so & give a few soft calls, nothing!!!! I try again & get very little response, just a slight chuckle from him. I move away & pick up the volume a bit & he shows more interest. About 4-5 minutes have passed & I slowly have picked up the excitement level some from this cow & he's starting to build in his excitement as well. I don't feel from my position that he's getting any closer but yet seems further away & going over this steep brushed out mtn. He's vocal enough to give my Son a good position & I'm hoping he's slipping in? I decide to go back where I left my Son which is a good 100yds away & he's not there??? I look ahead & all around & see nothing, where the heck did he go? The bull is in front of me still a good 80yds out in this thick cover & is now giving short screams for this cow to come on over, (me).

  All I can think of is my Son must have tried to shimmy his way through the thicket above where the bull started out to close the distance & get a shot at him as he was very vocal to get a good fix on him.  But the bull is now 50yds below this thicket & slightly over a small knoll on the mtn.  He now seems like he's getting farther away from his last bugles & chuckles. I feel he's getting nervous because this cow hasn't shown up & I decide I HAVE  to get aggressive with him or he's gone!!!! I can't find my Son still & think he's stuck in the thicket above & can't get to the bull in fear of making too much noise?

  So I take it upon myself while still this 80yds out (mind you this is all taking place in my mind in a matter of seconds)   from this bull to get very whiny & loud using sounds very similar to a gathering or lost sound on high volume & very pitchy, I do this along with some stomping & running partially through the lower brush to create a visual in this bulls mind that this cow is now on her way & wants him!!! I'm now really calling away loudly & stomping my way to him making sure to keep good cover between us, I see a fir tree 15' high with green branches growing all the way to the ground & head for that feeling the bull is only 20 yds on the other side of it. I get 25yds from the tree & give my last sounds & nock a SnufferSS tipped arrow on my longbow & hurry quietly to this tree really expecting to see this bull, I see nothing but am staring intently where I last heard him. ---- Mind you all the while I'm wondering where in the heck is my Son???

  Well I stare a few more seconds & see a rack through some timber & ears & eyes staring right at me 30yds out still, I'm still staring through the branches, I know he saw the movement but I feel he thinks it's the cow he's looking for so we have a 4-5 minute stare down all the while I'm holding my longbow in the ready position & my arm is starting to burn as I cannot lower the bow or move a muscle, he screams a good 1/2 doz times & the excitement level is off the charts.  After the stare down he feels all is OK, whew!!!!!!! He pops up on the knoll now 20yds out & stares for a few seconds, I'm now shaking like a leaf in the wind from exhaustion & excitement that this might just happen, but where the heck is Paul?? The bull a 6-point is now 100% broadside & wouldn't you know it there's a dead branch running across his side & is covering a portion of his vitals. It would be a slam dunk shot with a compound at that distance but too much trajectory involved to risk with a longbow & screw up the shot! I wait!!!!!

  The bull now turns & walks a few yards to an aspen tree & starts raking it with just his browtines. His rear is facing me, in front of me & slightly to my right is a 12" high slab of granite stone, I feel I need to get on that while he's raking to get elevation for the shot when he turns over that branch. I slowly move & up I go hoping he doesn't spot my movement, he doesn't!!!! I'm in position now still shaking of course!! (grin) If he stops raking & turns left I have no shot, too much cover, I need him to go back where he came from. This bull is raking to display for this unseen cow & trying to impress her. The bull turns right, sweet, 18yds out! He takes 2 slow steps to my right & I draw anchor & release, I see the arrow fly right into his heart & know he's not going anywhere.

  I turn around to go find my Son & he's standing right there next to me, I'm in shock as I don't understand how he could've been there so quick??

  So here's how my Son saw it all unfold!!!!!!!------------------

  He says he had crept up to a tree not 15yds away yet above from me where I went to the tree with branches growing to the ground, he was there watching the bull 30yds out waiting for him to step up out of the cover. That's when this crazy old man, me, went running by him screaming those cow sounds & stomping away. My Son said he was waiving his arms at me frantically & hissing at me to stop because the bull was just right there, he just knew I was going to blow the whole thing!!!!!! I went by him only 10 yds away, he said since I didn't notice his waving he then picked up a good sized rock to throw in my direction to get my attention to STOP!!! He says the rock hit me  in the right leg & I never slowed for a second!! He said that crazy ElkNut just kept on going to the tree like a man on a mission. LOL!!!!!!  I guess I was so focused I saw nothing at all. The first thing my Son said was "nice shot"--2ndly he said that's the 1st time my caller has run by me to kill the bull, we both laughed but I was actually still in shock that I shot that bull right out from under him, actually I felt terrible about it. I had no clue where he was!!!!

  My Son did say that when the bull was raking the aspen tree that if he'd turned left where I had no shot that it would've given him the perfect shot. Go Figure!!!! (grin) Bull & the bow Hornseeker built for me, it performed great!!!

  ElkNut1

[bucklucky]

Awesome story Paul! Looks like You were in the "ZONE". Ran right by your son  , congrats on the nice bull!

[GoldTip]

Awesome story and great bull, congrats Elknut!

[huntingnut]

Great story and nice bull.

[DeKuma]

Great Read Paul!  Nice bull too.  Thanks for the story!

[NW-Eric]

GREAT STORY AND SWEET ELK

[murph13]

Great story.  At least one of ya got it, would've been bad if ya had blew it.  trust me I've done it to my son...lol they don't like it much

[257 Wby Mag]

Great read Paul!! Hellava bull too! You guys that shoot trad archery are pretty amazing. Keep it up. Later

[backwoods_boy]

very cool ELKNUTS!!!
im so stoked.

[MuleySniper]

If that would of been my old man, I'd a broken his hip JK, great story and bull.
MS

[BC CHASER]

If I were your son I would be getting something pretty nice out of the deal!   Nice bull man!

[bow4elk]

Good for you for holding off on a marginal shot - good things DO come to those who wait!!  I'm sure your son will jab you about this for year to come, but man, what a wonderful memory forged in stone that day!!  CONGRATS to you both!

[boneaddict]

A Sapphire Hawk strikes again.  AWESOME STORY and had a great laugh about your sons perspective.  Great story.  You had me on everyword.   Congrats on a great Bull, a Trad Bull at that.  Pretty exciting hunting that thick stuff having them so close for so long waiting for the shot, waiting for the breeze to switch for just a second.  Man, a guy has to have a strong heart.

[Todd_ID]

Congrats on a nice bull and a great story!  That's how memories are made in the woods. 

[MichaelJ]

Thats awesome!  Man you guys will never forget that one! haha

Michael

[Curly]

That was a great story and awesome bull.

[Hornseeker]

Paul...that was a Great Read..I was GLUED to the monitor!! Thank you!

When you get time...pop a short thread up with Oct3-19 calling information!!

[Elknut1]

  You should hear the ribbing I've been getting over that one!!! LOL!!!! I guess I might as well have thrown sand in his face & took the shot real quick!! (grin) Yes, that is a day I'll never forget!! It all happened so quick, but how in the heck could I have not noticed his waving of the arms? Good thing it wasn't a mountain lion attacking, I wouldn't have seen a thing!!!!! (grin) Thanks for the comments!!!
  I agree, I owe him big time!!!!!

  ElkNut1

[DeKuma]

I can understand now seeing him wave his arms since you were "locked" on to the bull, but dang, Paul, he hit you in the leg with a rock and you still did not get it! 

Was a great story and one you two will love over and over for a lifetime.  My dad and I share a similar stroy with a deer during a modern hunt.  I was 400yards up the ridge from him, and the deer was 29 yards away from him and I could not get his attention on the radio or by waving and pointing, so I shot the deer and it landed in front of him.

[Slider]

He's a Dandy!!! Congrats!!!

[Ray]

Great little story Paul. Great looking elk too. Congratulations !

I'm sure your son will recover 

[HuntingFanatic]

Awesome!
Coming from a son who loves to hunt with his father......that is so freakin awesome! I would love for my dad to shoot one out from under me!!!
Great story! Thanks for sharing the "moment"!

[vanhornhunter]

Great story Paul!
That is awesome.Nice Looking bull should make for a great mount!

[robb92]

Great story and congrats on a nice bull!

[Red Dawg]

congrats on the very nice bull, I realy enjoyed your story. thanks for sharing.

[Backstraps]

Right on Elknut! Great story!

[cld40]

unbelievable,  that is awesome, congrats!!!

[boneaddict]

Dekuma........

If you have ever hunted much in Idaho, you'll note that a rock hitting you in the leg really doesn't get your attention because there are so many things poking, prodding, slapping, biting, hitting, ripping and or tearing at you. LOL  oh did I mention stinging.   

[SuperDave]

Great story and nice looking bull!!  Way to get er done!

[Elknut1]

 Thanks again guys!!!

  Bone, hit the nail on the head, a rock in the leg was no big deal for the reasons mentioned, it's downfall central out there! Funny thing he was just trying to get my attention, not hit me!! You guys should see him tell it, you'd bust a gut laughing to see his antics , gestures & arms waving all a while calling me crazy, all in fun of course!!

  DeKuma, great story there about your deer & Dad, we Dads sometimes are oblivious to things around us!! (grin) Thanks!

  By the way, my Son is 30 & has taken a lifetime of elk already so hopefully time will ease the ribbing!!! (grin)

 

I did try to make it up to him by calling in a huge ID bull on Monday evening! We were 4-5 miles back in with 20-30min of light left. We had a couple good buglers going & put the Chuckler to the real test on that big guy. We knew we had to make a quick decision on which bull to work as light was fading quickly & we had a 2hr hike out, no doubt in the dark with flashlights!
We decided on the bull above us as it was in the direction we had to leave anyway. I made contact him at about 350yds out several times so he knew who this bull was. We then rushed towards him with no other sounds, when we got aprox 60yds away in this thick stuff my Son setup in back of a small opening facing uphill, there was a 15'x15' patch of thick crap between him & the bull 15yds out which my Son used to his advantage to force the bull around it as he came in where he could have a good broadside shot.
I got back 30 yds or so & introduced myself to him up close & personal like, he didn't care for that much! (grin) He bugled as well as another bull did, these 2 were very close together, I cut him off instantly when he screamed & called quickly a 2nd time before he could even think about it. I also started breaking branches & stomping loudly like hoofs pawing the ground. We exchanged several screams with me cutting him off each time, he was getting a mite riled with that!! He had advanced a bit toward us but not fast enough, this 2nd bull with him made him nervous I suspect about leaving his cows to fiend me off, so I stepped it up a notch & threw in 3 very aggressive hard pants & a seriously loud aggressive scream. The pants were calling his cows to me & the scream is an intimidation to him, it's a two-fold sound all balled into one.
When I did this, this bull came unglued & rushed me to push me outa there NOW!!!! I was on a slight down hill slope from where the bull was so in order for him to see me he had to come to the top of this knoll bringing him right by my Son. (setup is everything) Everything was working as scripted in our minds eye until the bull came straight through the patch of thick crap instead of around it !! (guess I should have only given one pant/huff--grin) This put Paul Jr eye to eye with this bull under 15yds & his recurve, there was a 30 sec stare down & Paul knew he had to try something, he started to draw & the bull turned to leave at his movement, when he did the bull showed him his whole broadside figure at point-blank range, my Son continued his split second draw & fired, the shot went a foot over his back!!! I heard the shot & thought he had connected but it was to no avail, bummer!!!
I go over to him & he has his head down to his knees, he said I just
"shanked it" I said oh well, that's hunting Son!!! I don't believe it eased his disappointment! On top of that he says it's the biggest bull I've ever called to him, he says it'll push between 330-340 that's huge for our part of ID. Paul has taken a lot of bulls so I know he knows what he saw!!
That was his last chance as the season ended the next day! That darned NM hunt stole 10 days out of his archery season this year or I promise you he would have connected!!
Anyway, I tried to make it up to him!!!! (grin) He did say that with a compound he could have drawn easily without detection as the bull entered the thick patch, not true with a recurve however, you don't draw till the shot presents itself, just adds another challenge to bagging a bull !!!!

ElkNut1
_______

  ElkNut1

[DeKuma]

Sounds like you had a great season Paul!  Thanks for posting the stories, they were great!

[bulldown]

Nice job elknut!  Great story and another fine bull.  I enjoy your detailed descriptions of the hunt.  It really puts me in your shoes as I read it.   Did Paul ever connect?

I specifically took interest in your comment about screaming in the herd bulls face.  I ran into a similar situation this year.   

In short, I bumped a pretty good size group of elk about mid morning.  The herd bull was vocal about 3-4 times allowing me to pin-point his location but I was moving too fast and walked right into the herd which was obviously closer to me.  Cows went every direction.  I saw a nice 6x7 that ripped a bugle during all the commotion but he wasn't the herd bull (or was he?)  A much louder and deeper bugle (the bull that was responding to me earlier that morning) answered the 6x7 further down below.  I watched a very cool looking 5x5 that had dropping eye guards and very good tine length run a circle and steal a few cows.  A spike followed him.  My first reaction was to challenge the 6x7 in hopes he would run me off.  (hind sight, that didn't work).  I screamed in his face and he screamed back.  This happened about 3-4 times.  We were 70 yards apart and I did my best to piss him off but with the scattering of the cows, he was more concerned about keeping the ones he had.  I started to move to my left to get in a better  position but picked up legs moving towards me.  A small 6x6 is coming over to check me out but stopped short and picked up my wind when he was only 30 yards away.  3 cows remained confused and held their position where the 6x7 was.  The big bull from below ripped a few more bugles and they ended up moving towards him.  The 6x7 crossed the creek and moved up the drainage while I sat there in disappointment.  The gig was up with the big bulls so I tried to cow call the small 6 back in but didn't have any luck.


Now, if I could have done it over again.....  I would have preffered not to bump the herd but if I did, I think the better approach would have been to sit quiet and let the herd settle down and then throw out some lost cow calls in hopes one of the satellites would sneak in to pick me up.

Thanks for the story...

Bulldown

[Intruder]

Awesome Paul!

[Buckoholic]

Awsome Bull. Better story!!!

[bowsandhose]

very nice. congrats

[Elknut1]

  Thanks, I'm glad you all enjoyed reading the stories as much as we did living them!  Elk hunting is the pinnacle of hunting with us & it appears many of us here share the same enthusiasm for it!!

  bulldown, great experiences there!!!! They're all memory builders that we can look back on & analyze over & over as to what adjustments we can make in hopes of a better turn out next time!! (grin) You did great!!!

  Hornseeker---I wouldn't change a thing for elk hunts from Oct.-1-19 -- I'd hunt them & call to them the same as the month of Sept. The reason is the 3rd phase of breeding hits around the 10th of Oct. it's a good time to be there before or after that date! Go getem!!!

  ElkNut1

[boneaddict]

Damn I love your stories.  I've done it enough to know what is going through your mind, your sons mind and the bulls mind.  Always gives me goosebumps or the tinglings...  Yep the Trad bow is the ultimate challenge.  Thats what its all about.  A great way to end the season, or at least that part of it.   Not to mention, there is so much more adrenaline when its bugling, or challenging them to get them in then cow calling, or at least it is for me.  Thats my favorite.  There is a time and place for it, but its the ultimate.