tailchaser
Active Member
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- 185
Well my main goal this year was to get my gfriend a bull with her bow. She came close last year and narrowly missed a cow the last day. So I planned an escape for the two of us to hit E.Oregon prior to my trip to Montana and join up with a buddy for a few days of fun chasing wapiti. The first evening of the hunt we were listening to a bull bugle down in a canyon standing on an old road and calling from time to time to locate him. It was too late to head into it that evening and discussed we should be careful when calling out in the open. No later did we hear a couple of branches break and we dove for cover. I turned on the video camera and sat next to Kim. Mike hit the ground about 5 yards away and kept calling as a rag bull came gallopping in right on top of us. Kim waited patiently and I told her to wait until he cleared Mike's path prior to drawing. Needless to say we nearly got the shot and he winded us as he was stepping into the opening for a shot.
The next morning we dropped into the canyon looking for that bugler from the prior evening. We may have dropped a little too close as we could hear the cows mewing and chirping close by. We had to move a bit to get the wind right and a cow nailed Mike and I going through a small opening. Game over. Almost. As they took off, we sat down and called for a few minutes only to have a dandy 5 pt. come flying in. However Kim had her first learning experience not to pick a side on a tree for cover. Sit behind it because you never know which side the elk will pick. I'm sitting there with the bull at 25 yards going crazy looking through the camera and she doesn't have a shot because she's drawn back on the wrong side and doesn't want to move. The bull figured something was wrong and jetted out. Strike two.
That evening we found a large herd bull going nuts but on a private property side by a couple hundred yards. He had cows, loved to bugle, but we knew better than messing around too long because he probably wouldn't leave them. He was about a 320 class 6x6. Hard to walk away from. We could hear some other bulls talking up the canyon from us so we went to take a look. Once we got there and started calling it didn't take long. The first one to show up was a 4 pt that ran by us at 12 yards. So quick she couldn't draw back in time as it ran a circle around Mike in seconds. By the time I could stop him with a mew all we had was a head and horns sticking up downhill behind us. No worries, here comes another bull seconds behind this one....did I mention I have it all on video... This bull presents a perfect broadside shot at 25 yards and she drills him. While sitting there, we called in three other bulls within 5 minutes and sat there and laughed how much fun and easy this is sometimes. This however is where the fun ended.
She made a good shot, but just a bit back and the bull didn't bleed much because the arrow plugged in him. With a bunch of elk around it was difficult to identify which tracks were his. We tracked until 4:15 in the morning and decided for a little nap in the truck to rest the legs. Mike's wife, Roe came to help in the cause as we continued until 9 am scouring in the area running out of blood and trails. It was about time to give up when we were waiting for Roe to come out of the woods and I decided it was time to change our luck. I had been packing a diamond ring in my bag for 3 days waiting to give it to her. She gleefully accepted my proposal and was admiring her new rock when Roe walked up a few minutes later and said "Congratulations"???????? What? How did she know, "I found your BULL!!!" We all jumped up yelping as I had walked within 30 yards of it earlier piled up in a small patch of trees. Thankfully it was cold and in the shade as I skinned and quartered like a criminal. Here is her pic.
So all is well in my household, but I got a call while in Montana, "How would you feel about getting married next month?" Holy smokes she's off and running. But a good end to bow season in Oregon. Thanks again Mike for the fun and make sure to tell the great wife we couldn't have done it without her tracking expertise!!!
The next morning we dropped into the canyon looking for that bugler from the prior evening. We may have dropped a little too close as we could hear the cows mewing and chirping close by. We had to move a bit to get the wind right and a cow nailed Mike and I going through a small opening. Game over. Almost. As they took off, we sat down and called for a few minutes only to have a dandy 5 pt. come flying in. However Kim had her first learning experience not to pick a side on a tree for cover. Sit behind it because you never know which side the elk will pick. I'm sitting there with the bull at 25 yards going crazy looking through the camera and she doesn't have a shot because she's drawn back on the wrong side and doesn't want to move. The bull figured something was wrong and jetted out. Strike two.
That evening we found a large herd bull going nuts but on a private property side by a couple hundred yards. He had cows, loved to bugle, but we knew better than messing around too long because he probably wouldn't leave them. He was about a 320 class 6x6. Hard to walk away from. We could hear some other bulls talking up the canyon from us so we went to take a look. Once we got there and started calling it didn't take long. The first one to show up was a 4 pt that ran by us at 12 yards. So quick she couldn't draw back in time as it ran a circle around Mike in seconds. By the time I could stop him with a mew all we had was a head and horns sticking up downhill behind us. No worries, here comes another bull seconds behind this one....did I mention I have it all on video... This bull presents a perfect broadside shot at 25 yards and she drills him. While sitting there, we called in three other bulls within 5 minutes and sat there and laughed how much fun and easy this is sometimes. This however is where the fun ended.
She made a good shot, but just a bit back and the bull didn't bleed much because the arrow plugged in him. With a bunch of elk around it was difficult to identify which tracks were his. We tracked until 4:15 in the morning and decided for a little nap in the truck to rest the legs. Mike's wife, Roe came to help in the cause as we continued until 9 am scouring in the area running out of blood and trails. It was about time to give up when we were waiting for Roe to come out of the woods and I decided it was time to change our luck. I had been packing a diamond ring in my bag for 3 days waiting to give it to her. She gleefully accepted my proposal and was admiring her new rock when Roe walked up a few minutes later and said "Congratulations"???????? What? How did she know, "I found your BULL!!!" We all jumped up yelping as I had walked within 30 yards of it earlier piled up in a small patch of trees. Thankfully it was cold and in the shade as I skinned and quartered like a criminal. Here is her pic.
So all is well in my household, but I got a call while in Montana, "How would you feel about getting married next month?" Holy smokes she's off and running. But a good end to bow season in Oregon. Thanks again Mike for the fun and make sure to tell the great wife we couldn't have done it without her tracking expertise!!!
