The first morning we got to the highest point possible. Usually we hear elk bugling the whole climb and see a few, but we hadn't heard or seen a thing. It made us a little worried. It is so dry that the usual ponds and watering holes were dried up. We passed probably 2 dozen on the way up, not a single drop of water was in any of them. Once on top we bugled in hopes of getting a response. About 10 seconds later I was reminded of why I had missed the elk hunt so much; the whole mountainside erupted with bulls whistling. I tried to record it but it was so windy it didn't work. One bull sounded really close, we figured he was just over the next draw, so we headed across the meadow to find him. Halfway through the meadow the bull started pushing all his cows out into the meadow, straight at us. There we are, looking like the village idiots, as this bull is coming out into the meadow. He was smart and never would break the tree line. His cows eventually got within 10 yards of us until the wind shifted and they busted us. This whole time that bull was screaming his lungs out, it really made the hair on the back of your neck stand up!
After busting us we took off after them into the THICK aspens. It was slow going, but we eventually got within 200 yards of the bull. He was still hard to see how big he was because of the thick growth. I saw his swords at one point and they looked good, but that is all I saw. His "eagle cow" busted us and he took off again with his whole posse. We starting cow calling to try to sweet talk him back and before we knew it a different bull came running straight for us. At about 150 yards out he stopped and gave us the stare down for about 10 minutes. We didn't dare move! Finally he put his head down to eat and I pulled the gun up and got a good rest. My shooting lane was about 1 foot wide and his vitals were covered up by the trees. I waited until he finally took a step forward and unleashed the 7mm Browning. He dropped in his tracks and didn't move a foot from where I shot him. Bull down!
He's a great bull and it was a blast to be able to have my grandpa tag along for most of the hunt. Unfortunately once the first group busted us we had to leave him behind for a little bit. We went down some pretty steep terrain. The bull was a dandy, unfortunately he is a little beat up on his left side and has couple broken points that I didn't see. You can see just how thick it was behind me, it was tough to get a real great guess on how big he was.
We got him quartered out, got out the backstraps and tenderloins, and got outta there. We got back the day before the duck hunt opens, but that story is for a different day! I'm fortunate to have a grandpa that is so unselfish. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have a lot of the hunting opportunities I'm able to enjoy. All he needs are a few warm chocolate chip cookies out of the oven and he is a happy camper!
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