Thank you to all the help in the PM's. There were very good bits and pieces in there. I have long since provided PM help to deer hunters headed into areas where I have some experience. You never know what you'll get though. Some of these calls for an assist are overflowing with help and some are treated as lepers, LOL. If you were willing and shared, my sincere thanks to you.
With all the bumping and nile to hunt, there was no end to the number of places a guy could start. Eventually, I received a lead that was very specific. Like this specific "I saw these bulls on this mountain from this glassing point" a few days ago. Well, that's pretty actionable!
I went a couple days early to set up and start to look around. Whatcha know, the aforementioned bulls were still in the location described. But I'm a couple days from the season... then... they disappeared. Multiple long sessions first and last light with no sight of them. That was depressing. Predators maybe pushed em, unlikely it was people, I didn't see any in their area. There was one pretty good bull in the group with some otherwise young 3/4 pt raghorns.
Bummer for sure. But, doesn't mean they are gone, Could be back any day. Night before the opener and I make a judgement call to hike to a place i had a lead on and appealed to me on the map. I drove out in the AM away from base to get to the leap off point. My buddy having showed up the night before would stay and glass to see if those bulls show up and make a change for the evening or tomorrow.
This is all made worse by the fact that the weather is coming in. I'll have to move camp very soon as I don't like at all where I'm camped if there's a foot of snow, and it's coming. The elk might like it, and it may be good for the hunt but my truck and the road disagree.
I'm out before light. Every one of you has been there. I get where I'm going, it looks like it should and... I'm sitting there wondering, how big of an idiot am I? I took a spot where I had seen bulls and walked away from that for someplace I've never stood and that has a lot less to observe when looking for elk. It's the kind of location you ambush, not glass vast land. Now I'm playing with the wind trying to decide what's the right place to be as it moves around. It's anything but clear. I'm standing there pack on and rifle at low. Do I sit? Stand? Where? What the hell am I doing in this spot??? There won't be anything here and if there is, I'll get winded.
I'm just in my head and looking at my rifle and the ground. I look up and he's there. there's a tree line about 100 yard out and he's already 20 yards closer than that to me and walking dead on. The place I had decided to stand was behind a 20 footish fir and had a gap in the bows I could see through. He's dead head on to me and stops. I don't move. He turns his head and neck 90 degrees to his left. That let me pull up the rifle. He comes back to head on, I don't shoot. He takes two steps then turns to look again to his left. His right shoulder turns slightly to me (barely quartering) and I shoot mid mass front of his shoulder. The point of impact is hits no shoulder blade, going just ahead if it and through chest.
He fell straight down in his shoes with hardly a flinch on the ground. This is the first bull I've ever seen on the ground. Including the ones I had seen the prior day, I think I've seen a total of 30 bulls ever, most of those immature. I'm sharing the photos from after my buddy arriving hours later. I was pretty much wrapped up with boning at that point. He got there to take some hero shots. I was in a real hurry as I wanted to get this bull out by that night and be ready to get off the mountain ASAP. The "my truck" from before isn't. It's borrowed from a friend!
Anyhow, probably the only bull I'll ever shoot in WA. All comes together in an instant and without a grand arduous story of miles and miles of hiking and some endless cat and mouse with the game. 72 yard freehand shot. The story is vanilla, but the bull isn't.
Yes the shot on the ground is favorably famed, but he's on my back too and there's no staging that
Thank god for great hunting friends who'll support you when there's nothing in it for them but the ride. You know who you are and have my gratitude.
