Solo Bull ‘23

[awnicho2]

Congrats! Good story!

 

[Buckhaven]

Congrats. Tough duty.

 

[SEIdaho Hunter]

Awesome! What gloves are you wearing?

 

[Shadow Walker]

Congratulations on a great bull and a memory you’ll have for your grandchildren…

Well done!

 

[Fowl Play]

Awesome! What gloves are you wearing?

The cut glove? Probably some cheap thing I found on Amazon. I put one in my kill kit for my non- knife hand. Cheap insurance against a nasty hand injury.

 

[RileyRaz18]

Nice bull and a great story! Thanks for sharing and congrats.

 

[OlRoyWhitetails]

great job and awesome hunt!

 

[SEIdaho Hunter]

The cut glove? Probably some cheap thing I found on Amazon. I put one in my kill kit for my non- knife hand. Cheap insurance against a nasty hand injury.

Makes sense. I am just sick of disposable gloves that rip constantly. Awesome bull!

 

[nicholas.w.lombardi@gmail]

congrats! Great story!

 

[TN93]

Congratulations!! Enjoyed the story.

 

[Bigborealaska]

Awesome Bull.

 

[Mish-pop]

Nice work!

 

[well_known_rokslider]

Great story. Congrats!

 

[doc holiday13]

YOU
ARE
ALL
THAT
IS
MAN!!!

After that adventure I don't think anyone can deny you have big energy

 

[Silverback]

Great story! Congrats on the big bull

 

[Kodiak06]

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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NICE

 

[Desertstalker7]

Very nice!

 

[manitou1]

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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Solo is great... until you get one down, lol!
Those darn things HURT getting them packed out!

Congrats on a fine bull!

 

[Elkhunter777]

Congratulations!!
Packing a bull out solo is a feat in its self.
great job.
Mark

 

[Fowl Play]

Thanks guys! Just had some Christmas backstrap and got to relive the hunt with family. The best! Hope you all have a great one with family.