Solo Bull ‘23

[Mev002]

Great Bull! Congrats man.

 

[IdahoElk]

Way to go!

 

[Fowl Play]

Wait, forget the bull. He was just a stepping stone in the way of my one true GOAL (grouse of a lifetime). In the words of a dearly departed “deleted member”…

Trained for months in my canyon for this hunt. Most can’t hang it at 96,000 in. with a 40 lb pack. Pre’ Covid Hoyt serial # 14678 —true Finger of God. Pack out was brutal, 100lbs uphill both ways through 20ft of snow. Might have to open another wing of the trophy room to display him. Hopefully outdoor life will put me on the cover again. Suk it.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

That's definitely a beautiful grouse.

 

[hoodb]

Awesome, Congrats

 

[NoelG]

Great bull and in Griz territory! Nice solo - How far was the pack out?


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[Fowl Play]

Great bull and in Griz territory! Nice solo - How far was the pack out?


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Pack out was only 3/4 of a mile to an atv trail. But tons of deadfall made it interesting. What should have been my second to last trip, I actually came back to some coyotes on the carcass. Was not excited that predators were already finding it, so decided to do one last hero trip at the end to avoid returning to the carcass again at night. Last trip was both front legs and the head/antlers. That one in particular sucked.

 

[PlumberED]

Congrats and nicely done.

 

[woodmaster0462]

Great Job!!!!

 

[Jski in TN]

Congrats!

 

[TNHunter18]

Congrats!!

 

[FoxOneFifty]

Nice bull, congrats!

 

[twdjr]

Congrats!

 

[custis]

Due to a series of friends not drawing and family obligations, I wound up solo this year. Missed the campfire talk with good friends, but did allow me to hunt harder. 6 days of close encounters, lessons learned, applying them, and a little luck — paid off.

Finally got a day where I had a consistent strong wind midday. Used the opportunity to hike over 8 miles and call allot. The rut seemed to peak, die off, but today it was on again! Almost used my tag on a cow that came bounding in to a yard. I was tired and beat down and just wanted to fill the freezer at this point. But she was just moving too quick (bounding in at 15+ mph) and only provided a frontal shot, I drew, but did not fire.

At 1pm I let out a series of cow calls and immediately got a bugle. Very close. I sprinted downwind 50 yards and set up where I had a 30 yard shooting lane. Sure enough he did exactly what the other bulls I learned from did. Circling downwind to catch my scent. I saw him coming up the hill, several cows in tow. As he walked behind a tree at 20 yards, I drew. He saw me, stopped suddenly and shuddered a bit. He’s now frozen staring me down at 20 yards, completely broadside, only issue is there was a very small sapling completely covering his vitals (prob 1/2” trunk) — I wanted him to take one more step, but I didn’t get it. In a split second I evaluated my situation, he’s about to bolt, there’s a sapling, but it’s right against his body and he’s at 20 yards. I picked out what looked to be the thinnest branch of the sapling and released. Broadhead cut the branch in half and plunged 16” into the boiler house. In a whirlwind it’s over.

I watch him run 60 yards out of sight. I mark my shot location, take a picture from my shot location, mark up that picture with where he was standing and last position I saw him at. I backed out and gave him an hour. I was confident in my shot placement as I saw my arrow sticking out. But was concerned about finding him.

An hour later I returned and there is very little blood. I spend about 45 min trying to blood trail him but with the light fading I decided to start grid searching. I was very thankful to have the picture to reference on last position I saw him. From that picture and my last point on the blood trail I got a line to follow. I walked 400 yards, nothing. Cut 50 yards over and started making another line back uphill. I couldn’t believe it when I saw him laying there. Such a rewarding end to this hunt. Packout was brutal and may take a week for my legs to recover. Freezer is officially full!

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Wow, beautiful bull!

 

[tlh2865]

Great job on the track and an awesome bill! Congrats!

 

[NWVeteran]

What a stud! Congrats man that’s a really awesome story!

 

[RT84]

Nice job, great write up. Taking one solo like that is a big deal.

 

[EdP]

Loved the write-up and info about photos to help with tracking. You made a great shot on that bull too.

I found cutting the lower legs off my elk with a knife far easier than doing the same on a deer. It was just easier to see and cut the tendons in the larger joints.

 

[lyingflatlander]

Well done! Good hunting stories are hard to come by but grouse are tasty!

 

[Rotnguns]

Thanks for sharing! That bull is a hoss.