We both really enjoy reading other bowsiter’s good times and adventures and feel that ours was an unlikely conclusion to two guys “meeting on the internet” that we both felt compelled to share our story.
It all began with a small post made in August 2015 by “Barry” from Oklahoma. His post discussed his out of state hunt and he mentioned his upcoming solo elk hunt. Barry noticed a couple of days later that he had a PM in his inbox by “Greg” from Kansas. Greg didn’t have a partner this year either and was interested in teaming up to hunt elk.
So after some PM's, emails, text messages and phone calls we decided it was safe to move this to the next level. So we met face to face one Saturday for lunch. We chose a place that was about an equal drive between our homes where we basically put it all on the table and asked many questions of each other. We wrapped up lunch and then went over maps and plans in the parking lot for about 1.5 hours. We couldn't find any reason not to like/hunt with each other. After what seemed like a 3 hour interview, the decision was made and the hunt was on.
This thread is composed of a summary of the events of each day with our individual thoughts and perspectives inserted. For example…..
[Barry] During our lunch meeting, I was sold when I learned of a personal goal that Greg had worked on for a couple of years and was achieving.
[Greg] I had been on several elk hunts through the years with several different guys and only one was hardcore enough to keep wanting to go, and he was unable to go this year because of a new job opportunity and the recent birth of his first child. When I found out what Barry did for a living I was confident that he would be a great asset and someone I could trust. As I listened intently to how detailed he was in his planning, I knew I had finally found someone else that loves this as much as I do.
[Barry] WARNING: There is a muzzleloader involved in this hunt; if that offends you then please exit this thread. I simply suck at killing elk with a bow so I decided to cash in my preference points to get a weapon with a bit more range.
[Greg] I was toting my bow in this OTC unit. Now, I’m not stupid and I figure that Barry wants me to join him because he’s carrying a muzzle loader and knows that he’ll need help packing meat. Me? Well I figure he knows CPR so it’s a win-win.
What follows is the story of our 2015 elk hunt. This is not about the “bow kill” or the “muzzle loader kill”, although there is one of each. This is not about a giant bull kill but there was a giant of a good time (at least for us) shared by total strangers. An unlikely connection and adventure we shared last season and hopefully for more seasons to come, thanks to Bowsite. We’ll try to make a post each day (as work and time allows) with a different “chapter” from our adventure. We hope you enjoy.
ElkNut1
Best of Luck, Jeff
If it's taking up too much time you can always leave out the muzzy part to speed things up..... heheheheh...
We both left our homes with trucks loaded and drove to Oklahoma City where we transferred the gear from one truck to the other. One truck would remain behind while we headed West with the oncoming light of the morning sunrise and Oklahoma City in our rearview mirror.
The drive was a long one and as many of you know, there is not a lot of scenery to “entertain” you while driving through Western Oklahoma and Eastern New Mexico, so the good conversation made it bearable.
[Greg] I’m thinking…”Are we there yet? This is a long drive. This Barry guy is alright. I hate driving and he’s driving the whole way so I can just relax and take a nap. No good…too amped up with anticipation. I’m starting to feel real good about this trip and it’s only just beginning.”
[Barry] I’m thinking…"So far, so good. This sure beats making the drive by myself. It's nice having Greg along to swap out George Strait cd's for me. I don't think I'm going to have to slow down my hunting pace for Greg at all. I hope I don't slow him down."
Finally the flat lands started to rise and take shape and just when we thought we would never get there, we rolled into our unit. We took many different roads checking out different trailheads looking for places to set up our base camp. It didn’t take us long to figure out that we had plenty of company. There were many vehicles and campers at just about every trailhead and possible camping spot. But we eventually found a relatively secluded place without neighbors.
We threw base camp together as quickly as possible in the fading light. It’s been a long day and it wasn’t over yet. We had to drive to the nearest town to pick up an OTC archery tag and a sub sandwich. Several hours later we finally laid down for some much needed sleep.
Barry’s tag wasn’t valid until day 3 so it’s the first day of the hunt for Greg.
[Greg] I decided to hunt from base camp and take it easy working my way up the mountain with the thermals in my face and then loop around and work my way down a dark basin when the thermals shifted. I had never been to this area before and needed to check things out and give my body some time to acclimate to the altitude before going at it hard.
It was a beautiful morning and I had close encounters with some turkeys and mule deer as I worked my way up. When I had reached the right elevation I sat down and took a break and waited for the thermals to change. They changed just about the time that I was tired of sitting and was ready to move.
I followed the contour of the mountain toward the top of the basin about a ¼ mile away but was stopped by the bugle of a bull. It sounded like he was at the top of the basin just a few hundred yards in front of me. I’ve heard that late morning bugle before, the sound of a bull bedding down for the day and my hopes started rising because I knew that I was in a good position for a stalk. I started closing the distance. When I knew I had to be getting close I felt a small swirl in the wind hit me on the back of my neck and about 5 seconds later I saw him jump out of his bed about 80 yards away and take off down the basin. My morning hunt was over and I headed back to camp.
[Barry] Since my tag wasn't good today, I stayed in camp to hang up a couple of tarps to put gear under and set up our most important camp item, my heated camp shower. If you don't have a heated shower in your base camp, then you are really missing out.
[Greg] For the afternoon hunt we are still trying to acclimate our bodies to the altitude and weren’t pushing ourselves too hard, so we loaded my gear in the truck and drove to another area where Barry hiked me in to a waterhole that he had been to before. It wasn’t too bad of a hike in and the pond looked promising and the wind worked to our advantage. I found an ambush spot and started getting it prepped for a long sit. Barry found a spot behind me to do a little calling if needed.
I got everything ready, picked up my bow to nock an arrow and hang it in the ready position. Something was missing. I didn’t have an arrow to load up??? In my hurry to leave the truck I forgot to attach my quiver. I’ve been bow hunting for about 40 years and have forgotten a lot of things but never my arrows. It must be the altitude…wow! I told Barry and went back to the truck to get my arrows. He must be trying to figure out what kind of idiot I was.
After my walk of humiliation, I returned ready for action. The only thing I saw that afternoon was a really nice mule deer buck coming in for a drink, about 30 yards away and about to step into a clearing. Maybe I could get a nice shot with my camera. His head jerked up and looked toward Barry and was out of there without a camera opportunity. I looked back at Barry and realized that he hadn’t seen the buck and was repositioning or something. No elk but a beautiful sit to end day two.
[Barry] Greg and I have some things in common. Unfortunately the inability to spot a lack of arrows is one of them…duh!
(Picture is of an old tree stand (death trap) at the water hole. Another reminder that we were in a popular area.)
If not I may have to manscape and post about it....... LMAO!
[Barry] Muzzy season is open so we both get to hunt today. My expectations are soaring as we leave camp in the darkness and drive to another part of the unit to hunt. We hike in together a ways and then split up to hunt. I had a very specific part of the mountain range to hunt that I've wanted to explore for a few years now. I hunted in several miles and then looped back to the truck. I did not see or hear any elk and I made it back to the truck before Greg.
About 10pm I saw a headlamp coming out of the trees. I didn’t know if it was Greg or someone else as there are other trucks parked at the trailhead. The headlamp came over to my side of the truck and I opened the door to find a very hoarse Greg. Greg squeaked out something about needing water. I quickly handed him a bottle of water which he instantly drank. I handed him two more bottles and he slammed those down as well. I asked him when he ran out of water and he said right after he shot his bull. I look at him with confusion on my face as my brain seemed to be stuck in park. My brain finally slips into drive and I realized Greg shot a bull elk… Score!
I had never seen someone so dehydrated as Greg and I am concerned for his welfare. I helped him into my rather tall F350 and we headed back to base camp. Greg drank a total of six bottles of water before we arrived back at camp. I ate a mountain house for dinner and continued to keep an eye on Greg. He seemed to be recovering and continued to drink water. He had drank enough water that he had to pee so now I believed that he will be OK. With my mind at ease we finally turn in for the night.
I studied some maps and decided to cross over and climb up to the top of the next basin and work my way down, back toward the trailhead. After several hours of climbing, I came over the top and caught some movement. It was the flickering ear of a bedded bull about 100 yards down the slope. Wow! An elk! There are elk in these mountains! I could tell that he was small, but legal, so I decided to make the stalk and take the shot. If I couldn’t pull it off, then I still had a week to find a bigger one.
I sat down, evaluated the situation and planned my stalk down the slope. The wind was coming up the slope toward me. This may work.
An hour later, my range finder indicated that I was 30 yards from the bull with a clear shooting lane (see picture). I whistled…he looked around…I whistled again…he started to get up so I drew my bow…he got on his feet and turned to face me…bad shot angle…I waited…he looked around…he took a step and turned but his move put a tree between us. Then he turned his head away from me so I took a step to my left to clear the tree and my arrow was gone.
I’ve killed a lot of critters, even one other elk, but this flat lander had never seen an animal of any size tumble head over heels down a slope. I just stood there staring even after he had come to a stop on a log. It was an awesome sight and I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed. I knew he was dead so I went back up the mountain to get my pack and a drink. The stalk, dry air and adrenaline rush had made me really thirsty. After a couple of sips from my water bladder it was empty…uh oh. I had drank more water throughout the day than I had realized. I had never emptied my water bladder during a day hunt. Oh well, I’ve been thirsty before and there is work to do so I’ll get to it. Little did I know how much exertion wrestling and deboning an elk by yourself would be.
The bull was straddling a log and I didn’t think it would be easy to debone him this way so I got my saw out of my pack and cut the log to get it out of the way. When the log was cut, it snapped and the bull began tumbling down the mountain again coming to rest in a pile of brush. I decided that this was not a good place either so I tried dragging him out. When he was clear of the brush, he took off rolling again! Wow! So now I’m thinking “I’ll just keep rolling him down the mountain”. His next stop was against a couple of tree trunks. This was good enough. Did I say that I was thirsty?
I began deboning him with a thousand flies and yellow jackets competing for the meat. I decided to skin back sections at a time, removing the meat and putting it in bags before the flies could get to it. About half way through this process, with the deafening buzz of flies, I realized I couldn’t swallow anymore and was now hurting for water in a way I’ve never experienced. It was getting dark. I can finish this but I was getting dangerously sloppy with my sharp boning knife and was yelling at myself to slow down before I cut the wrong thing! Mainly me!
Finally I carried the meat bags down the mountain about 100 yards to where I found a bent over pine tree to hang the meat. Later Barry called it a rainbow from God as there was no other available place in sight. After five trips up and down the slope carrying meat and finally my pack and bow, I realized I was in bad shape. My lips felt like cardboard and I hadn’t been able to swallow for hours.
I began the long hike back plowing through a thick creek bottom and a swampy, sloppy meadow exerting myself even more but I finally hit the main trail back to the truck. On the way down the trail I crossed two more creeks with the most beautiful water that I had ever seen, but we had a case of bottled water in the truck. I knew that I wasn’t going to die so I passed on the opportunity to get sick and pushed on down the trail…the trail that I thought would never end…but finally did.
At the beginning of this adventure I said that when I met Barry that I knew he would be a great asset and someone I could trust when needed. It was proven at this moment as my welfare became his top priority. He took over and I was extremely grateful because I knew I was in good hands.
And for anyone wondering…one of my first purchases after getting back from this trip was a water filter pump. It doesn’t matter how short or long my hunt is planned to be, I’ll never leave camp again without it!
That's an interesting looking bull. Do you have any other pictures?
I resent the comment about the "lack of scenery" in western Oklahoma. There are 6 trees just west of Elk City!!!
BTW you need to learn the Gutless Method, as the position of your elk in the first photo where he lay can't get any better for yanking all the meat off the top side...without chopping logs and letting him roll to various other awkward positions.
Congrats on pulling off a successful stalk like that.
Since I'll be gone from the office for a few days I'll post some more and hopefully be able to finish it next week. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Sunrise came along with some premade breakfast burritos heated on the propane grill with coffee. After breakfast we loaded up our meat hauling packs into the truck and headed back to the trail head. It was a beautiful morning for packing meat.
We found the bags of meat, untouched by bears, still hanging on the “Rainbow from God”. We discussed the situation and because it was just the meat of a small bull, we decided to really load our packs and get it out in one trip. We took our time and with the aid of trekking poles, which were worth their weight in gold, slowly made our way down the steep mountain and back to the trail. We kept a steady and safe pace, resting when needed, and made it back to the truck without incident.
We made it to base camp and put the meat on ice….mission accomplished. One elk down and 6 days to find one more.
[Barry] I used a Molle frame with a large rucksack to pack out the meat and it worked great as an inexpensive meat hauler.
We headed to town for more ice and a good meal. It was a good day for two guys that just four days earlier didn’t know much of anything about the other.
Today we slept in until sunrise and started packing our large packs with food and gear for a four day trip into the wilderness. Our destination was about 4-5 miles in where we would set up a spike camp next to a drainage creek that would supply us with water. We had camp set up by dark and then a light rain began to fall.
[Barry] It's been a couple of years since I've got to hunt this area and I'm excited to be back. This area holds some good bulls; last time I was hunting this area I had a mature bull broadside at 75 yards for 2 minutes. I can only hope for another such encounter this time. I've never hunted this area before with a partner who could call for me; having Greg along is really putting the odds in my favor I believe. To say that my adrenaline is pumping would be a gross understatement.
Thanks for sharing
Good luck, Robb
For our first morning in spike camp we enjoyed a quick breakfast of instant coffee, oatmeal and power bars then began the hunt by going farther into the wilderness. We heard a bull bugling shortly after we left camp that sounded like he was across the drainage. The next time we heard the bugle it sounded like he was on our side of the drainage. We didn’t know if it was the same bull or a different one but we headed towards him, calling a few times without success. The bull(s) went silent around 9:30 before we could close the distance. The wind shifted and started swirling, so we sat down to take a break. We ate a snack and tried to figure out what to do next. We ended up looping around and still hunted our way back to camp. It started raining around 2:30 and after it stopped raining, we geared up and headed up the drainage for the evening hunt. It was now sprinkling rain sporadically and the air was cool; perfect calling conditions. We went about a mile from spike camp and found an ideal area to call from.
We repeated this calling sequence about every 10-15 minutes. At about 5:50 pm we hear a bull bugle from up the ridge. The bull bugled occasionally and it was obvious that he was getting closer. We kept calling to bring him in and he hangs up about 100 yards up the ridge inside the dense cover of the timber. The bull was not getting any closer and I looked back at Greg unsure of what to do. Greg signaled to go after the bull. I advanced on the bull as Greg bugled and I could hear the bull raking trees with his antlers. The ground was wet and I was slipping & falling while trying to close in on the bull. I knew he could hear me, but I had the wind in my face. I signaled twice for Greg to bugle yet I heard nothing from him. I looked back towards Greg and realized that we couldn’t see each other anymore. I was close to the bull; about 30-40 yards away, yet I still couldn’t see him. I realized it's all on me now so I grabbed my bugle; pointed it straight at the bull, and ripped off a bugle right in his face. The bull bugled at me and I ran up the ridge straight at him. I heard the bull raking again so I took my shooting stick (old dead tree limb) and started raking a tree myself. I then started pawing/raking the ground with my shooting stick as I've had a bull do this to me before at close range. Speaking of close range; I'm now within 25 yards of the bull but I still couldn’t see him. The bull bugled at me and I immediately cut him off by bugling right in his face again. I could still hear the bull raking and moving around. The bull moved uphill a bit and off to my left. I finally saw him as he shook his head and moved into a small opening about 50 yards away. I could see his main beams and antler points. The bull was at least a decent 5x5 and was very legal to shoot in this unit. The bull looked towards me as I knelt down. I could only see his head and neck. I dropped my shooting stick, stood up and aimed just behind his left front shoulder through a beach ball size opening in the brush. Boom! The muzzleloader fired and smoke filled the air. I heard the bull as he ran off; perhaps off to my left but I’m not sure. I reloaded and Greg came up to my location. I marked the location of my shot with flagging tape and guided Greg up the ridge to where the bull was standing. Once he gets there, I started up to join him. Everything was wet from the previous rain and it was difficult to move up the ridge. I finally made it up to Greg and proceeded to mark the bull's location with more flagging tape. As we prepared to look for blood the sky opens up and it poured rain for 10-15 minutes. Any chance we had to find a blood trail is now gone. It was starting to get dark so we searched the immediate area for the bull. We didn’t find the bull before dark so we decided to head back to spike camp.
I'm was pretty bummed out about the rain washing away any blood and not having found the bull in the immediate area. I cleaned and oiled my muzzleloader so it won’t rust up and tried to keep a positive attitude as we turned in for the night.
When the bull seemed to hang up in that thick jungle, I encouraged Barry to attack while I stayed back to call. I watched Barry trying to climb that steep muddy slope, slipping, falling, bugling from his knees and crashing over logs and debris and I couldn’t help but laugh. I was having a hard time keeping the bugles going because I couldn’t stop laughing. Good friends shouldn’t do that should they? I couldn’t help it.
Finally all I could see of him was his orange vest so I moved to keep a visual on him. I then saw him stand up, shoulder his muzzleloader and fire. It was an exciting and hopeful moment.
When I finally got up to where the bull was when he fired, the rain started coming down in sheets and I knew in 5 seconds that any hope of finding a blood trail was gone. It now became a grid search for a body with no good idea of which way he ran. After looking at the small window that he had to shoot through, I wondered how he could squeeze one through without hitting a limb. I’ve learned to trust his instincts as a hunter and shooter so I have to assume a hit. The grid search began the next morning.
Picture is of the tree that we think the bull was working over while Barry was closing in.
good luck...
We began the grid search as soon as there was light enough to see what we were doing. The search continued all morning as we used our GPS units to keep track of our grid routes. Sometime shortly after noon we gave up the search realizing that we had covered all the areas and more that he could have gone. Because this area was very steep and thicker than Hillary supporters in Connecticut, it was possible that we were within yards of him without knowing it.
[Barry] This is the part of hunting that I absolutely hate. I generally know when I make a bad shot, but I believe this one was good. Perhaps I hit an unseen limb as I was shooting through a small opening. I don't know. It sucks. I hate it.
We return to spike camp and I decided to pack it up. My old boots had failed me and my feet were soaking wet.
[Greg] This was a disappointing day, but both of us had been down this road before and understood that these things happen. We covered a lot of ground and I believe that we would have found him if it had been a lethal shot. Although I wasn’t ready to abandon our wilderness adventure just yet, when Barry decided to head back to base camp, I didn’t complain. My borrowed sleeping pad and I weren’t getting along to well, and my air mattress back at base camp was calling my name.
[Barry] We returned to base camp with spike camp on our backs. We enjoyed hot showers and ate some elk chili that I had brought from home. I cleaned and oiled my muzzleloader again as its rusting and tried to regroup and formulate a plan for the next day. Greg and I decide to go back to the area where he shot his bull to look for other elk in that herd.
We are up before daylight eating another breakfast of burritos and coffee while we drive to the trailhead.
[Barry] It's been a few days since Greg shot the “Devil Bull” so we headed back into that area hoping that it has returned to normal. We planned to hunt up the top of a south facing slope in the morning then loop around hunt down the top of the north facing slope in the afternoon. But I screwed up with my directions and map work and we ended up hunting up the top of the north facing slope in the morning. We tried to make lemonade out of lemons and continued on up the mountain. We went high and crossed over onto a different side of the mountain so we could hunt back down the top of a different north facing slope. Around noon, I had Greg throw out a couple bugles. I caught movement just down the slope and saw a cow coming our way. I got ready for a shot and kept my eyes open looking for a bull. The cow was within 80 yards but I passed on the shot. I didn't want to pack a cow off the top of this mountain. We started working down the top of the north facing slope but never saw another elk. The slope got steeper and soon we were sliding down the mountain. Hunting this steep slope was impossible, so we slipped and slid back to the truck while trying to avoid injury.
We made it back to the truck with a few hours of daylight left. My feet were killing me (no blisters; just crazy bad pain on the bottoms of my feet) and I needed to come up with another plan of attack. It was my birthday and I decided we would drive to town so I could call my Mom. I have a great wife and kids at home, but something told me to just call my Mom. It was one of those milestone birthdays for me and it was dawning on me that none of us are getting any younger. Anyways, I called Mom, grabbed a celebratory six pack of beer and we headed back to base camp for dinner. We had ribeye steaks and baked beans for dinner…..yummy! There is no better place for me to be on my birthday than in the mountains with an elk tag in my pocket. Life is good!
[Greg] All that I’m going to add about this day is that I was very relieved that Barry didn’t shoot that cow even though I was hoping he would at the time. I’ve been in some rough places before, but it still makes me hurt thinking what it would have taken to pack the meat out of that hole and I don’t ever plan on going back. I should also mention that I had the best ribeye steak that I’ve ever eaten, thanks to Barry and his foresight. I’m liking him more each day and felt honored to share this special day with him.
The picture is of the view before we went over the top into the “hole”.
[Barry] I didn't have much of a game plan for the day so I hunted near camp where Greg found the bull on the morning of day two. I saw a bunch of mule deer but no elk and returned to camp around noon. We grilled some brats for lunch and took a hot shower. Have I mentioned that hot showers are the bomb in elk camp?
[Greg] This was a good morning to sleep in and let Barry hunt by himself without worrying about me tagging along. I wanted to be there to help him debone and pack if possible, but he wasn’t hunting far from camp and I knew I could still help him if he connected.
[Barry] I decided for the afternoon hunt to check a water hole in another part of the unit that is about 1.5 hour drive from camp. We busted brush for a mile to get to the water hole and sat until dark without seeing an elk. We heard a few bugles, but I believed they were coming from private land that is off limits. Something about the bugles didn't sound right so I thought that they might have come from a hunter.
After busting brush in the dark back to the truck, we drove back to base camp and had BBQ elk for dinner that I had previously prepared at home.
(Picture)The waterhole…more like a marsh….but there were some wallows and other elk sign…just no elk today.
It was the last day of our hunt together. It began with another breakfast of grilled burritos and coffee as we drove to another trailhead into another part of our unit that we haven’t hunted.
[Barry] I'm running out of time to fill my tag and I'm about out of ideas of where to get it done. There was not enough time left to go back to our spike camp location to give it another shot. So we hiked into the forest for a couple of miles, moved off trail about a mile stopping occasionally to do some calling but we didn’t see anything promising.
[Greg] This was a beautiful area that seemed promising but you could tell that a lot of hunters had been up this main trail in the previous weeks. It had sign that elk had been using it but you just couldn’t help but think that we were there after the game was over.
We headed back to the truck, drove to base camp and grilled more brats for lunch.
[Barry] I took a nap and decided to hunt an area that sometimes holds a few cows. One way or the other, this will be the last evening of my hunt. I tried to get my mind right and keep a positive attitude as I gathered my gear and headed out. I worked my way up the mountain and heard a few mews and herd talk. I moved in and saw 6-8 cows and calves. I slowly worked towards them and heard a faint bugle. It sounded pretty pathetic to say the least. I bugled, but didn’t get a response. The cows and calves had ran in a loop and I kept following them with the wind in my face. I was on an aspen covered bench when I heard one of the elk sounding like it was in distress. I kept moving into the wind and saw a big cow and a huge bodied bull about 100 yards away. I had the vitals of the bull in a small 12" opening for a moment, but I passed on the shot. The disastrous encounter with the last bull was still fresh on my mind and I wasn’t taking another shot through a small opening. I moved closer and heard the cows and calves making lots of noise. I mimic their calls and had two calves coming in. The big cow and bull were nowhere to be seen. I was now standing behind a 12" diameter aspen trying to hide from the calves. I peeked around the aspen and saw a calf about 12 yards away staring at me. It was the last hour of the last evening and I was not passing on any legal elk! I cocked the muzzleloader and shot the calf and then paid the insurance and gave it a finishing shot.
It was not the big bull that I had hoped for, but I now had my first DIY public land elk under my belt. I marked the kill site with my GPS and a small strobe light and went back to camp for my pack frame and Greg. We returned, did the gutless method on the elk and hauled the meat out down a steep slope covered with downed trees. That part really sucked.
We made it back to camp, hung the meat and had a feast of elk steaks with baked beans. The next morning we packed up camp and started home with two elk on ice.
Unlikely conclusion? Yes! But we’ll take it.
OTC Public Elk Hunting is no joke and as tough as it gets. You should be very proud of what the both of you accomplished and wish you luck on your next adventure together!
Great to see this site bringing hunters together.
Best of Luck, Jeff
[Barry] I planned on hunting solo with my muzzleloader in September. With a little help from Bowsite; and a whole lot of luck, I met a great hunting partner to chase elk with for years to come. We put in for draw units in Colorado and New Mexico but were unsuccessful so we have plans to return to this same area this year. Hopefully 2016 will be the year I connect with my bow; perhaps even get my first bull. No matter what happens, I'm sure Greg and I will have a blast chasing elk somewhere in the mountains for years to come.
[Greg] My elk hunting plans weren’t looking very good for 2015 as I did not have anyone to share the experience with, and wasn’t completely sold on the idea of a solo trip. Thanks to Bowsite and a guy who took a chance on me, it turned out to be one of the most memorable hunts of my life. We are planning on going back again this year, and will hopefully be joined by my hunting buddy who couldn’t make it last year. I feel honored and blessed that Barry included me on this hunt. It is “his spot”, a place that he researched and studied. I respect and honor that.
Picture of the “Devil Bull” in his final resting place. He had one of those offset pedicles that we thought would make a cool European mount.
Thanks for all the nice comments and for following along.
