Gerbdog
WKR
Hey all,
Doing a follow up of my 2023 season.
This year took place in a point unit in CO and.... what a difference from OTC. This year gave me a ton of experience / learning / aggravation with calling in bulls.
I think i had a total of 8 heart pounding encounters, and then another handful of bulls that snuck in. I posted some threads on here asking for advice on situations that were happening to me and thank you all for the advice, it all ended up making a difference in the end and with the end of the season closing in i sealed the deal on a bull that sure looked sizeable to a relatively untrained eye, had some ground shrinkage but i'm happy.
The encounter that played out with the kill went something along the lines:
Climbed up a slope across from the deep timber first thing in the morning. Location bugle. Get a bull down and across the canyon from a bull that liked to talk a lot, he was still there from the day before. So i start heading his way.
Get towards bottom of valley, a bull bugles off to my side, much closer. Close distance probably 80 yards.
Set up.... and actually set up, with where i think he is, where i think he's going and this was something i wasnt doing properly at beginning of the season.
Bugle: nothing - Rake : Nothing - but i cant help but know he's nearby .... so i bugle one more time and then he comes out of some timber about 50 yards from me from behind some trees.... Except: he's going the way i didnt think he'd go, he walks straight out into the open with no cover between him and I.
With nothing to do i draw and chirp on the draw.... he busts me, turns and runs.
I drop the draw: turn my head and bark/challenge him : He turns again, back down the slope, and goes into the timber i thought he'd go into, puts his head behind a tree and gives me his vitals.. Estimated at 30 yards.
Was a long September of hunting - 20 days total of hunting for me - exhausting but i sure did gain a whole ton of experience - Cool note: my buddy who just started elk hunting took a bull here in CO - super proud of him for getting it done in another unit on his first year
Still to come : Brothers wife's got a first season rifle hunt in the Gila, Sister has a Mule deer hunt in November in the Gila
What worked:
* Setups working great so far, camo, pack, rations, water, the whole nine yards, years of dialing seems to have me tuned
* New this year - Helle knife - loved it, fast sharpening, cut through hide, muscle, sinew like butter
* Will re-iterate a cheap pair of leather working gloves for dismantling the elk
Less impressed with:
* Synthetic shirts, man they stink fast, guess i didnt appreciate the difference between wool and synthetic more until this year
* my Benchmade looked like butt cheeks next to the Helle knife. I may be a knife dunce but it didnt hold an edge as long.
* trying a new arrowhead next year - This is the third helix ive broken the flanges off on after it passes through an elk, for a solid piece of steel i expect it to hold together on a pass through.
Doing a follow up of my 2023 season.
This year took place in a point unit in CO and.... what a difference from OTC. This year gave me a ton of experience / learning / aggravation with calling in bulls.
I think i had a total of 8 heart pounding encounters, and then another handful of bulls that snuck in. I posted some threads on here asking for advice on situations that were happening to me and thank you all for the advice, it all ended up making a difference in the end and with the end of the season closing in i sealed the deal on a bull that sure looked sizeable to a relatively untrained eye, had some ground shrinkage but i'm happy.
The encounter that played out with the kill went something along the lines:
Climbed up a slope across from the deep timber first thing in the morning. Location bugle. Get a bull down and across the canyon from a bull that liked to talk a lot, he was still there from the day before. So i start heading his way.
Get towards bottom of valley, a bull bugles off to my side, much closer. Close distance probably 80 yards.
Set up.... and actually set up, with where i think he is, where i think he's going and this was something i wasnt doing properly at beginning of the season.
Bugle: nothing - Rake : Nothing - but i cant help but know he's nearby .... so i bugle one more time and then he comes out of some timber about 50 yards from me from behind some trees.... Except: he's going the way i didnt think he'd go, he walks straight out into the open with no cover between him and I.
With nothing to do i draw and chirp on the draw.... he busts me, turns and runs.
I drop the draw: turn my head and bark/challenge him : He turns again, back down the slope, and goes into the timber i thought he'd go into, puts his head behind a tree and gives me his vitals.. Estimated at 30 yards.
Was a long September of hunting - 20 days total of hunting for me - exhausting but i sure did gain a whole ton of experience - Cool note: my buddy who just started elk hunting took a bull here in CO - super proud of him for getting it done in another unit on his first year
Still to come : Brothers wife's got a first season rifle hunt in the Gila, Sister has a Mule deer hunt in November in the Gila
What worked:
* Setups working great so far, camo, pack, rations, water, the whole nine yards, years of dialing seems to have me tuned
* New this year - Helle knife - loved it, fast sharpening, cut through hide, muscle, sinew like butter
* Will re-iterate a cheap pair of leather working gloves for dismantling the elk
Less impressed with:
* Synthetic shirts, man they stink fast, guess i didnt appreciate the difference between wool and synthetic more until this year
* my Benchmade looked like butt cheeks next to the Helle knife. I may be a knife dunce but it didnt hold an edge as long.
* trying a new arrowhead next year - This is the third helix ive broken the flanges off on after it passes through an elk, for a solid piece of steel i expect it to hold together on a pass through.
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