Brambles 2018 Bull elk frenzy

[Brambles]

Been while since I've posted here, mainly due to the demise of Photobucket.

now it looks as if there are some similar image hosting options so here it goes. Hopefully the pictures work.

After a disappointing archery season with close calls but no meat on the ground we blend into the rifle season, a few days in we kill Rattlers bull. The pack out for that bull will NOT be soon forgotten.

We get other bulls responding however often the unsettled wind ends up messing us up. As it approaches the end of Sept and the Beginning of October Rattler wants to concentrate a bit more on his Moose draw as hopefully the rut will produce a bull for us.

Chasing bull moose in this area tends to put you into country that has lower Elk populations, my hopes of killing my bull this year were not high.

One morning in Early October we have plans to head to a moosey spot, but I get a Text from Rattler "Truck won't Start, you'll have to go hunting without me"....Naturally I respond " That's bullshit, I'll come and get you and we will just change plans".

After picking him up we decide on a different spot, not one that we enjoy hunting as it can be a bit of a gongshow, but its better than sitting on the couch. We head in and start throwing bugles around trying to locate a bull, after a number of hours and being pressured by 3 other groups of hunters and not getting any responses to our bugles we decide to head back to Rattlers house to work on his truck.

As were bombing down the road I couldn't pass up the opportunity to bugle off this one ridge, a little voice in my head made be stop the truck and not to be a quitter. I let a bugle rip and immediately get a response below us approx. 300 yards....


WERE BACK IN THE GAME!!!

Now to be perfectly honest this isn't one of hour backcountry honey holes....we were driving out...this was SOOO front country its almost laughable...but HEY there's a bull willing to play down there so I don't give a F#$K.

There is another spur road below us, I'm thinking the bull is still on the high side of that road and Rattler thinks the bull is on the Low side. Regardless we bail over the bank and close the distance.

We come to a bench and when we crest over you can just see the road below....OK he's gotta be right here...Rattler pulls back and does some calling as I post up in a spot with good shooting lanes...

Nothing.....more calls.......Nothing......well SHIT.

After a few more minutes and some more calls we get a response, and its from below the road.....well Crap...this just got 10x harder. We shoot a bull in that craphole and its gonna be a debone show...I wanted a nice high side of the road bull...LOL

We push down to the road and examine the scenario, there are tracks all over the road. We let out some more calls and the bull lights up below the road......and then another...OK we got 2 bulls down there.

[Brambles]

We are taking inventory of the wind and trying to find a good spot to bail off the edge. By this time its likely there are 3 bulls bugling below us so we definitely gotta locate the closest bull so we don't blow him out. We let out one more cow call to get a solid bead on his direction...he lights up....great

AND THEN A BULL FIRES OFF RIGHT ABOVE US...LIKE LESS THAN 100 METERS

[Brambles]

That was the bull we originally heard, he was bedded up there listening to all the other bulls chat but when he heard this lone cow chirp that close to him he couldn't resist.

He gave a beauty lip bawl bugle (inviting the cow up and displaying to her) and I instantly should have challenged him but I got caught off guard and instinctively copied his bugle......not the end of the world but I missed the opportunity to really piss him off. Instead he thinks we are having a "tug of war" with this cow.

Since he invited the cow to come up....I...the cow...start heading up straight at him, he will be slightly off to my left. Rattler peels off and starts calling.

I'm in the Zone at this point, In my minds eye I can hear Rattler calling and all the other bulls screaming...but I'm focused on this one. I've gone up the hill approx. 100 meters...The bull is CLOSE but I just can't see him, there is a very slight hogs back and he is just on the other side, not to mention the brush between him and I. The wind is NOT awesome, a couple times I was certain he was gonna wind me...but that hogs back saved my arse as the wind swirled.

As we are working this bull I hear an ATV driving up the lower road...NOOOOOO.....we go silent and wait for the ATV's to pass...once they were out of earshot we started calling again...All the bulls torch off like nothing had happened...HOLY MOLY.

I can hear from his bugles now that he's nervous, he lets out a Bark,bugle....basically telling me to show myself he's getting nervous.....I do the same call back to him, saying "I'm nervous too, you show your self". He starts to circle above me to catch my wind....so I start moving to my right.....we are now 20 yards apart, and still can't see him.

Then I see his forehead and eyeguards.....I bring my rifle up...rise to my tip toes and lean to my right, just then he turns his head, I can see his 4th, 5th and 6th points.

I lower myself down and crouch a bit to my left and can see #1, #2, AAAAAANNNND #3....

I settle the crosshairs on to his forehead and drop it down about 4 inches and pull the trigger.....I heard the heavy THUD as he hit the ground without flinching.... I put my head down and pushed through the bush as I ran up to him and put a second shot at the base of his skull just incase for insurance.

After a couple hours of picks, gutting and dragging we had him whole in the back of the truck. 7 vehicles drove by when we were on the hill and we didn't hear one other hunter let out any bugles....And to top things off we didn't see another truck on the way out...lol

[Brambles]

https://i.postimg.cc/yx44fg4R/IMG-1977.jpg

[Brambles]

[Brambles]

When we were skinning him out we discovered he had been shot with an arrow in the brisket, a frontal shot that went between the hide and the brisket bone

[xfactor]

thats how its done!! awesome bull, thanks for sharing!!

[Greenfields]

Awesome story, thx for sharing! What a bull.

Cheers

[MattB]

Great story! Congrats!

[Jelvis]

A real stud for sure,

Jello -- nice pix