elkhunterUT
Long Time Member
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- 3,084
My niece’s boyfriend (Mason) received a call from the DWR a week before the August 21st opener informing him that someone had turned in their Book Cliffs archery bison tag and he was next on the alternate list to receive the tag if he wanted it. Being brand new to hunting, he quickly reached out to my brother Chad @Silentstalker and I to see what he should do. With only a weeks notice and no scouting time for a once in a lifetime shot, we felt it was a pretty tall task to kill a bull with archery equipment and were leaning towards not taking it. After talking it over with our good friend Jerry @Broadside_Shot who knows the Book Cliffs better than anyone, and knew where several herds were at and had them on trail cameras, Mason decided to take the tag. We scrambled to get things ready and to prepare our schedules to help him.
I was not able to join them on opening weekend, but they were able to locate a good sized herd with some good bulls and stalked in to 80 yards, but Mason was not comfortable at that distance with the shot, so he passed. The good news was they had found a herd and felt like it would be doable for Mason to kill one with a bow.
This past weekend (2nd weekend of the hunt), I was able to join Mason, Chad, and Jerry. Saturday afternoon/evening we located the herd again and they were in a good place to make a play Sunday morning. We quickly located them again Sunday morning and Jerry had a hunch that they may be headed to a large fill pond for water. We moved quickly to get Mason and Chad in position at the fill pond out of sight before the buffalo got there, while Jerry and I would watch from a distance. Jerry's hunch was spot on and the buffalo herd of about 30 animals made their way in for a drink. After some back and forth, the herd finally committed to drinking and Mason was able to shoot the biggest bull in the herd at 38 yards right through the heart. He only made it about 125 yards after the shot and piled up.
What an amazing experience with such a cool animal-can’t believe how spooky and stealthy such a large animal can be!! Jerry’s help and knowledge of the area and animals was invaluable and made all the difference in taking a chance on a tough tag with short notice. Congrats Mason!!!
I was not able to join them on opening weekend, but they were able to locate a good sized herd with some good bulls and stalked in to 80 yards, but Mason was not comfortable at that distance with the shot, so he passed. The good news was they had found a herd and felt like it would be doable for Mason to kill one with a bow.
This past weekend (2nd weekend of the hunt), I was able to join Mason, Chad, and Jerry. Saturday afternoon/evening we located the herd again and they were in a good place to make a play Sunday morning. We quickly located them again Sunday morning and Jerry had a hunch that they may be headed to a large fill pond for water. We moved quickly to get Mason and Chad in position at the fill pond out of sight before the buffalo got there, while Jerry and I would watch from a distance. Jerry's hunch was spot on and the buffalo herd of about 30 animals made their way in for a drink. After some back and forth, the herd finally committed to drinking and Mason was able to shoot the biggest bull in the herd at 38 yards right through the heart. He only made it about 125 yards after the shot and piled up.
What an amazing experience with such a cool animal-can’t believe how spooky and stealthy such a large animal can be!! Jerry’s help and knowledge of the area and animals was invaluable and made all the difference in taking a chance on a tough tag with short notice. Congrats Mason!!!
