Shot my biggest bull!

[Ridgerunner]

Story, story, story.....

[kramer]

good bull congrats to you.

[fc2038]

Nice Bull congrats!

[hoytem]

nice bull indeed...and need a story and general location.

[Watimberghost]

Incredible bull!! I love his 3rds

[HUNT]

I left after work on Thursday the 29th.  Met my good friend and elk hunting partner of 15 years in Waitsburg at the Whoopemup Cafe for dinner on our way into elk camp.  Chad and I talked about the expectations for the hunt over a great dinner.  The food was awesome.  I would highly recommend it.  After dinner we headed into the cabin where we would set up our camp.  Two friends of mine with Watershed tags would meet us there with their support teams as well.  We got to camp and prepared for a morning scouting trip.  We all got to the ridge right at daylight and hadn't been there two minutes when a bull ripped off a bugle not 200 yards below us.  That got our blood pumping.  The fog socked in a few minutes later.  We hiked about 5 miles but never saw or heard anything else.  We went back to the cabin to set up our tents and get ready.  That afternoon my good friend Jake arrived just in time for an afternoon scouting trip to try and put a bull to bed for the opening.  We went up on the ridge just as the fog was lifting out.  We hadnt gone 200 yards down the ridge and spotted a 3 cows, a spike, and a 4 pt bull feeding 300 yards below.  We spotted another bull about 1500 yards away that looked to be a good bull through the spotting scope but the wind was blowing so hard it made it hard to see.  Jake, Chad and I decided to move on and check a few other spots before the fog came back.  We barely made it to our destination and saw 2 5 pts, and a BIG bull that we nicknamed Broken Horn because his main bean broke off right above his G3.  The fog rolled in and it was getting dark.  We failed to put a shooter bull to bed before the opener.    
The fog rolled in just before dark and turned the sky orange.  One of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen.  

[MichaelJ]

Awesome!  keep it coming....

Michael

[HUNT]

OPENING MORNING:

It rained most of the night, good thing the tent didnt leak like it did on my Idaho trip.  The canvas must have shrunk enough to close the needle holes.  It was still raining pretty hard when it was time to head out for the ridge.  The other two guys with the tags took off for the ridge, but I decided that I wasnt going to head out til the rain let up some.  I waited for about 45 minutes and there was a lull in the rain.  Jake, Chad and I headed for the ridge.  We got there about 20 minutes after daylight.  The rain had quit.  Jake headed up to a point to glass for me and try to find a good bull.  Chad and I headed into the shed.  One of the changes this year for the watershed tag was that you were allowed to take one person into the watershed with you as long as they stayed within talking distance.  Chad and I dropped down the ridge.  After about 20 minutes we spot a bull 2 drainages over at about 1200 yards.  We set up the spotting scope to get a good look at him.  He was a pretty decent six point, right on the edge of what we were looking for.  We decided not to go after him.  You don't want to shoot the first bull you see, right?  We keep glassing for the next hour but the fog moved in on us and the visibility dropped to about 50 yards.  We headed back up to the top of the ridge and over to where Jake was spotting for me.  Jake saw three 5 pt bulls and good old Broken Horn before the fog moved in.  I figured the fog would move back out again in the afternoon, so we built a fire and warmed up until about 3 pm when the fog looked like it would finally lift.  Chad and I dumped back into the shed and down the same ridge we were on that morning.  We got down to about the same level and immediately saw 5 cows feeding out on the next ridge.  We moved down the ridge a little more and glassed.  We saw 5 bulls in a little bachelor herd in the same opening we saw the bull in that morning.  One 6 pt bull, 3 five pt bulls and a spike that had at least 40 inch antlers.  By far the largest spike I had ever seen!  No shooters in this group to go after so we kept moving down the ridge and glassing.  About an hour before dark we see a bull at about 1000 yards across the drainage to our west.  He is slowly working his way up the hill through the alder brush.  We catch glimpses of his tops and he looks like a really good bull with big G4's.  We also spot a 6 pt and a 5 pt bull but not shooters yet.  We talk about what our best plan of action is to work in on the bull in the alder brush.  We decide that we probably dont have enough time to get to the bull before dark and rather than push him out we would come back in the morning early and be there at daylight.

[ELKBURGER]

Your keeping us on the edge of our seats! More please.

[mulehunter]

WOW Thats beauitful BULL! WOW!!

Mulehunter 

[Elkslayer]

Great job on a nice bull!! All that scouting pays off.

[buckreaper]

This is like watching a movie with commercials.  Keep it coming.

[HUNT]

2nd Day

We were up and at em early, 4 am.  Walked in using our headlamps up the trail to our dropping off point.  Chad and I dropped down the ridge we had been focusing our efforts on, while Jake went to a glassing point.  Soon after daylight We spotted 2 5pt bulls in an opening on the end of a ridge about 400 yards from where we saw the big bull the night before.  We watched them for about 5 minutes and a 6 pt bull stepped out onto the edge.  None of these bulls were shooters.  We watched them for another couple of minutes before another bull stepped out where we could see him.  This bull needed a closer look so we set up the spotting scope and looked him over for about 2 minutes before he fed out of sight.  We decided we should try and make a stalk on this bull.  We could tell that the fog was moving in again for the 3rd day in a row.  We hoped it would last as long.  We gathered our gear and made a plan to come in above them staying on the ridgetops instead of dropping off into the bottom and coming back up.  We hustled up the ridge back almost to the top and over onto the ridge that we saw the elk on.  The fog was setting in and visibility was down to less than 100 yards.  As we dropped elevation down the ridge the fog started to lighten.  We got closer and closer to where we had last seen the elk.  We heard a shot from up above us.  A few minutes later we saw 5 cows busting down the hill across the drainage from us.  We hoped they wouldnt spook the bull we were after.  The fog finally lifted and we continued down to where we saw them and didnt see anything.  They were gone.  It had been less than an hour.  We glassed the drainage we thought they may have gone into and nothing.  As we were talking about what we should do next we heard 4 shots that sounded like they were only a couple ridges over.  We glassed the drainage again and I picked up 3 bulls moving their way across the hill at 600 yards out.  No shooters in this group.  A couple of minutes later a good bull came out about 300 yards lower on the hill sidehilling around moving toward us.  As soon as he hit a patch of timber, Chad and I sprinted about 50 yards closer to get to a better vantage point to see more of the drainage and get a good rest for the rifle.  The bull continued to work his way around.  Chad was continually calling the yardage to me...  515.....  465 .... 425....  400....   The bull never stopped for a good shot so I let him keep walking.  He walked into another patch of timber and I told chad that I would shoot him when he came out the other side.  We waited and waited and the bull didnt come out....  He had held up in the the timber.    

[cle elum bowhunter]

Hunt, your a mean man.  Get out with it already.

[DWP]

Looks like that would be almost everyone's "biggest bull".  Great job.