| bad luck or plain suck part 3
continued...
Back at camp that night slugging down natural lights I can still hear the bulls going crazy to the north of me. A little guy (the 3x?) , a big guy (the giant 6x?) raspy sick sounding bull (#2 with an arrow in him or is it the wounded 5x?). I reload the quiver with another arrow and have a few more cold beers and hit the sack.
the 12th morning arrives. I still hear bugles to the north so I head back to the magic mesa as I'm begining to call it and as I arrive at the top I can hear 3 bulls within 400 yds of me to the north. I also hear 2 more bulls in the canyon on the east end of the mesa about 600-800 yds away. The two new bulls sound like a big herd bull with a satelite. They don't sound familiar but at this point with all the bulls I've heard I can't distinguish which is whick. Since I'm already on top of the mesa and I think the big 6/7x bull with an arrow in him is close I ignore the two new ones to the east. I start sneeking in towards the three to the north and I immediately bump into the 3X. He's working east just like every morning for the last 4 or 5 days. I back out, head east 100 yds or so to get in front of him. He passes within 25 yrds silently grazing as he walks and I let him go. I can still hear the other bulls to the north of me and to the far east of me as I watch the 3x walk away. I'm really starting to second guess my decisions over the last few days. Should I have shot the 3x? I am a professional chef and I love the taste of elk. A tender little 3x bull would give me the perfect meat for a thanksgiving or christmas dinner with the family, but I've shot and actually harvested a few bulls in the past to I want a big one. I also ask myself if I should have quit after not finding the 5x, chalked it up to experience, discarded my 1out of 15 available trophy tag and packed up? Should I have passed on the 6/7 x and kept looking for the 5x? Should I have just sat the tank where no crazy hiking is involved over the last few days and got an easy shot at that small 5x? Usually hunting is full of boring days when you don't see shit, second guess yourself and pray for inspiration for a plan for the next day. For me the past 12 days have been full of excitement.
Anyway, the 3x drifts away to the east and I work towards the raspy, almost sick sounding bull to the north. There is a rickity old barbed wire fench line that runs north-south across this mesa. I'm standing next to a broken down section of the fench contemplating which side of the fence the bull is on when he bugles again. I can't tell if he's east or west of the fence but he's very close. I step over the fence wthout making a sound and tippy toe down the fence line. after about 25 yrds I can tell by the sounds of his bugles that he is facing away from me. As I inch in towards him I'm wondering if he's the wounded 7x or the massive 6x. To the north west I can hear the other bull moving in and bugling, he's maybe 300 yards at the most away from me. I start to think that these two are going to fight. I pull out the call and let out a deep bugle. I try to sound like a big satelite bull, not too high pitched but not aggresive enough to scare the bull in front of me. Both bulls bugle back immediately and I can see movement down the fence line. I pick apart the vegetation down the fence with my binos and finally see the bull, he's less than 100 yds away and I think he's the massive 6x. Being this close to him I realize that he doesn't sound like he's injured. I catch a glimpse of his hind quarters and since I don't see an arrow sticking out of him and I don't see coagulated blood on his hide I know he's not the bull I hit the previous morning. He's facing away from me when he lets out another ground shaking bugle. I can see his tops and they are very good. He's got great mass and he's very wide. His 5th and 6th points are long, thick, and uniform. The other bull to the north west responds and so do I. I can barely make the big guy out through the trees as he turns to face me. He stands there glancing to his right at the direction the other bull called from and then turns to face straight ahead towards me. I can only see the front of his rack from this angle and his brow tines are long and parallel to the ground, curving up at the very tips. His brow tines are dark near the base and very thick. I can also see his second and third points. They look very uniform long and thick, I can't realy estimate the lengths of his 4ths but I can tell that he is either the massive 6x from a few days before or a new and even bigger bull. After an eternity he takes a step towards me and my heart sinks as I realize that he's on the east side of the fence, while I'm on the west side.
The two bulls in the canyon to the east are bugling like mad also. Its crazy to be surounded by this many bulls without a cow elk in sight. if fact except for the 5 cow elk I saw the first day, I've only seen/heard bulls.
In this spot that I'm standing the fence is in good shape so I can't climb over or squeeze below without making noise. I don't know if I should give up and search again for the wounded 6/7x and forget this trophy but I justify it by telling myself that the 6/7x is not mortaly wounded. I hit him in the hip but I didn't hit an artery so I figure he'll survive at least until rifle season. I hold my ground, nock another arrow and wait. About 1/2 way between me and this big bull is a thick tangle of junipers and scrub oak. In my gut ( and since all the bulls have moved east every morning) I know he's going to go around it to the east but I can't move ahead of him without rattling the fence and spooking him. I'm contemplating backing out and running east and setting up again but he's too close for me to move. I catch glimpses of him as he walks toward me bugling challenges at me the whole way. Sure as shit he stops behind the tangle of junipers and scrub oak less than 50 yrds away and bugles at me.the bulls to the far east respond a minute after the bull to the north east expresses his feelings. I pick up a broken limb and rake a tree as I bugle at him, he's fired up and slowly busts through the trees towards me. The smaller sounding bull to the north west is working in also and he's now about 200 yrds away but I think he knows he's out classed so he won't come any closer.
The bull moves east around the tangle of scrub trees and steps out into the open maybe 75 yrds away, he's obviously either the massive 6x I saw a couple days before or a new bigger bull, of course he looks pretty damn good today since this is the second to the last day of the season. The rising sun is illuminating me as I watch him look around. I know I need to get into the shadows to make it harder for him to see me but there's not enough vegetation to hide behind and to top it off, there is still an F'ing fence line between us so I stay silent. I can't bugle now or he'll spot me so I stay frozen highlighted by the sun hoping he walks my way.
He takes a couple steps towards me and rakes a tree. I'm standing and have the bow up with an arrow knocked and my release is attached to the string loop, I am in full camo with face paint and light weight camo gloves disguise my white hands, my head is down so I don't reflect the light off me. I'm as prepared as I can get. An eternity passes as the rakes the tree, bugles and chuckles as he sprays piss all over his legs. He's maybe 60 yrds away as he steps into a sun beam and lets out a bugle, I can see a cloud of foggy moist air surround his head as the warm moist air he exhales collides with the cold dry morning air. His hide is bleached with age but his legs and lower body are stained dark from wallowing.
it gets better/worse, tune in tomorrow.
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