Originally Posted by
Jagermonster
Hey guys, so here’s a story for you. Been at it for three days and they’ve been super quiet. It was smoky and hot for the last three days. We’ve been working hard and putting in a lot of time; seen quite a bit of sign but they weren’t moving much. It cleared up a bit last night and cooled down overnight, so we headed out early again this morning and I finally got a bull to respond to my call (first bull to respond to me...EVER so I was super happy to hear that bugle back). I guesstimated he was about 400 yards out. I closed in the distance to about 250 yards and challenged him. I mirrored his calls as much as possible (thanks for this advice by some of you), and he came right in. I was in the tree line for some concealment and he eventually came out after talking to me for about 15 minutes.
The wind was perfect and he came out into a small clearing 85 yards from me. He was moving behind some small Christmas trees and I couldn’t see the front of his antlers. He had a nice big fork behind his royal tine but I couldn’t go based on that. It didn’t feel right to me and I certainly did not want to end up with a 5 point if he was missing a tine. He stood broadside at 85 yards for about 20 seconds, with the front of his antlers concealed behind the Christmas tree. I had his vitals in my scope and just needed him to move enough so I could count the first three points. He didn’t, and must’ve winded me. He walked back into the thick trees and I tried to call him back, he answered me while moving away but kept on going.
Part of me is devastated, and the other part is very satisfied that I did the right thing. I needed to count those 6 points and I couldn’t rely on the 2 points behind the royal tine. Mixed feelings and I’m a bit down, not gonna lie. At the end of the day, I am extremely happy I got to call in my first bull and get him within shooting range. The experience alone was worth every effort we’ve put in so far.
Thank you for all the advice, as it has really helped. Two days to go so fingers crossed!