Henry Mountains Bison round 2
Contributors to this thread:General Topic
From: JSW
14-Oct-18
The bison hunting in the Henry's was off the charts this year. I was really worried about the drought but I think it helped us more than it hurt. They seemed to be mostly up high because that's where they got what little rain that fell this year and that's where the grass was. It made them easier to spot but also harder to stalk. You should have already seen Randy's post on the bull he shot on the second day. I watched him make a couple of stalks and was able to witness his bull die. They originally gave out 15 tags, which included 2 NR tags. Randy drew the one for max points and I drew the second one which was in the random draw. I believe there were about 3 guys with 19 points and I had 18. Because of the drought they issued 5 additional tags to help knock down the population. Hunting pressure was an issue but you can't let it get to you. This has been my #1 bucket list hunt for many years. Several times over the years, I almost committed to pay for the guided hunt in BC but it just never worked out. I even looked into the auction tags in Utah and AZ. There were a few years I almost went that route. I really don't like to do guided hunts so this was a real treat. I'll post some pictures and tell the story in the next few posts.
From: Bowboy
14-Oct-18
Looking forward to it!
From: JSW
14-Oct-18
The first day of the hunt was one I'll never forget. I made 5 stalks and was at around 30 yards on 3 different good bulls. I was in on a lone bull bedded down for 2 1/2 hours but I either didn't have the angle or didn't have a clear shot.
The weather came in on the second day and for the next 4 days there was lot's of fog, rain, snow and wind. I was able to make a stalk on day 2 and day 3 but on day 4 didn't see a single bison due to the fog. On day 5, it cleared off enough to class some a few miles away, above timberline. We headed that way but going up hill in 12" of snow, that was getting crusty proved too much. I broke a tire chain and started to slide off the road. We were able to dig out, repair and get turned back around. The broken chain was enough to make me head home for repairs and come back when things got better.
From: JSW
14-Oct-18
I left the unit on Tuesday afternoon, cleaned up and rounded up 4 new tire chains and was back on the mountain Thursday afternoon. While I live in New Mexico, I was only about 5 hours way from the unit. I found 2 different groups right of on Thursday afternoon and was back in business.
From: JSW
14-Oct-18
After a few hours of sneaking, not getting a shot and eventually circling around a knob to get in front, I was able to get a broadside shot at about 40 yards and a big bull. They bunched up behind some trees and I couldn't pick out the bull in the group. I felt pretty good about the shot but the arrow dropped in over some sage brush and disappeared. I knew I either shot through him or hit a little low. After a few seconds of looking at the herd, I say my bull walking down hill about 80 yards below me. It obvious that he was really hurting. I took this picture just before he wend down. He only went about 100 after the shot. Notice the truck. This is going to be an easy pack.
From: JSW
14-Oct-18
Fellow P&Y Board member, Dallas Smith was scheduled so show up and help about 10am that morning and he drove up about an hour after I shot the bull. Bill Grammer and Dallas helped on the hunt and I'm really glad I wasn't alone when it came time to start cutting. Here is my Utah, Henry Mountains Bison.
From: JSW
14-Oct-18
I tried to post this earlier but it's not showing up. I went back to look for my arrow and found it about 8 yards beyond where the bull was standing. I complete pass through on a big bull bison with a 60# recurve. Unbelievable. I have a lot of faith in my setup but I didn't expect this. I have a set of hard shooting osage limbs for my bighorn that I use on big animals. While I almost always shoot cedar arrows with a glue on magnus, I wasn't able to get them to shoot right with the heavier limbs. I didn't anticipate this and didn't have time to put together some heavier cedar arrows. I used a 165 grain screw in Magnus 2 blade and some old Cabelas BuffTuff carbon arrows. I keep my heads scary sharp and seldom have to track an animal. They go down fast. This year, my pronghorn, elk and now this guy all went down in sight.
From: JSW
14-Oct-18
Total arrow weight was 550 grains. Did I mention that this was going to be an easy pack job. Once we go through with pictures and I came back down to earth, it only took the 2 of us about 2 1/2 hours to get him cut up and in the truck.
From: CHICKENFOOT
14-Oct-18
way to go!
From: Grunter
14-Oct-18
Awesome congrats! Whew better be prepared, sounds like you and Randy both had your share of close calls with the truck! Well done sir!
From: Marty
14-Oct-18
Wow! Awesome! Kinda had to feel like cheating with that pack job :) Congrats!
From: Buffalo1
14-Oct-18
Jim you got to be living right to take an animal that size that close to your vehicle. Congrats on a great trophy. A dream fulfilled is hard to beat !!
From: Big Fin
14-Oct-18
Excellent. Congrats, Jim. Very happy for you. You deserved this more than any person on the mountain. Guess you didn't need our llamas after all.
From: Stoneman
14-Oct-18
Congratulations on a great bull!
From: BOWUNTR
14-Oct-18
Outfrikenstanding... Congratulations Jim. Ed F
From: Muddyboots
14-Oct-18
Impressive. Thanks for sharing.
From: Charlie Rehor
14-Oct-18
Thank you for being President of the Pope & Young Club! You represent us all very well in MANY ways.
Congrats! C
From: Ucsdryder
14-Oct-18
Jsw, not sure if I’m more impressed with the bull or how close you killed him to the truck! That has to be a major hurdle hunting bison, but not when it walks to the truck and falls over dead! Thanks for sharing and congrats!!!!
From: CJE
14-Oct-18
Awesome, congrats Jim!
From: StickFlicker
14-Oct-18
Congratulations, Jim. Outstanding year you are having!
From: t-roy
14-Oct-18
Congrats on a great animal, especially with traditional gear!
From: carcus
14-Oct-18
Very nice!
From: Bowboy
14-Oct-18
Congrats on a great bull thanks for sharing! That was an easy pack out!
From: elkmtngear
14-Oct-18
Jim, that is awesome! And, with a recurve no less...two thumbs up!
From: Treeline
14-Oct-18
Spectacular Jim!
Congratulations!
The true measure of one's skill as a hunter is not measured by the distance he hikes into the back country from the truck nor the distance of the shot. The true measure of skill is just the opposite - how close can one get for a clean kill as short a distance as possible to pack out to ensure excellent quality meat from the hunt.
Jim has excelled and displayed extreme skill in both areas with this hunt!
Well done!
From: bill v
14-Oct-18
Way to go Jim. Just awesome!
Bill v
From: otcWill
14-Oct-18
Congrats Jim! You deserve it. Thanks for all you do.
From: Heat
14-Oct-18
Way to go on your free range traditional archery bison bull! Thanks for sharing. What an accomplishment!
From: DGW
14-Oct-18
Good job!! What great bulls and adventure for both you and Randy.
From: Zbone
14-Oct-18
Congrats!
From: drycreek
14-Oct-18
Some of you guys just amaze me. Congrats on that bull !
From: WV Mountaineer
14-Oct-18
Really cool. Congrats man!
From: Drahthaar
14-Oct-18
Awesome congratulations. Forrest
From: IdyllwildArcher
14-Oct-18
Congrats Jim! What an amazing year you're having!
From: W8N4RUT
14-Oct-18
Fantastic! Way to go Jim!
Scott
From: Medicinemann
14-Oct-18
Well done!!
From: pav
15-Oct-18
Congrats Jim....well done sir!
From: huntnmuleys
15-Oct-18
Hell yeah!!
From: altitude sick
15-Oct-18
Great hunt. And even better eating.
From: midwest
15-Oct-18
Thanks for sharing the hunt and congrats!
From: buzz mc
15-Oct-18
Great story and there's no better pack out than that!!!
From: grubby
15-Oct-18
That is so awesome!!!!!
From: mountainman
15-Oct-18
Congrats Jim!
From: GhostBird
15-Oct-18
Congratulations... well played.
From: Franzen
15-Oct-18
Lucky Jim! Nice work and congratulations on the bison. Glad the truck incident didn't turn out any worse.
From: APauls
15-Oct-18
Super awesome - congrats Jim!! Pretty shocking at the peno you got there! Must not have hit any ribs at all I'm guessing?
From: iceman
15-Oct-18
Well done! Heck of an accomplishment! Congrats.
From: Mad Trapper
15-Oct-18
CONGRATS JIM!
From: JSW
15-Oct-18
Thanks everyone. I've eaten some of the tenderloin twice now and it was really good. I'll cut up the rest of it this week.
From: JSW
15-Oct-18
Adam, I was surprised with the complete pass through as well. Obviously, I did not hit a rib in either side. A heavy arrow with a very sharp 2 blade cut on impact head will do amazing things.
From: RutFst
15-Oct-18
YES!!!!
From: Brotsky
15-Oct-18
Congrats Jim! Well done!
From: SteveB
15-Oct-18
Congratulations Jim! A bucket list checked off!
From: bohuntr
15-Oct-18
Congratulations Jim, awesome bull and hunt!!!
From: DEMO-Bowhunter
15-Oct-18
Very nice! Congrats!
From: 6x6 bull
15-Oct-18
Congrats Jim and a big thanks for all you do for the P&Y club!
From: bowhunter24
15-Oct-18
Congrats and thanks for posting!
From: Wayniac
17-Oct-18
Congrats! And really cool that you had such a short packing job
From: Kurt
18-Oct-18
Jim, Huge congrats on a great bull! And good packing crew, spotters you had too! Memorable hunt on a lot of fronts...and great job on all your critters this year!
Looks like your hunt was 180* opposite of the one I had back in 2000. It was a super hot, dry weather (November) and the bison were way up high in sheep country, scarce and hard to find. We (Lyle Willmarth went with me) never saw a single track cross a road in the deep dust the entire trip. About a week in, we found a herd a few miles from the nearest road. I shot a smaller bull in the evening and it took us 24 hrs, and 5 trips a piece to pack it out. THANKS LYLE! The meat was great.
From: Dyjack
18-Oct-18
Awesome story!! Got it done with a stick too! Too cool.
From: Destroyer350
18-Oct-18
Holy smokes thats awesome! Congrats!
From: CPAhunter
18-Oct-18
That's pretty cool
From: Shiras42
18-Oct-18
Very cool! Congrats!
From: TD
18-Oct-18
Don't believe I've ever had an animal surrender itself like that before...... pretty cool. er, cold actually.....
Congrats! Great bull, great shot! Heck of an accomplishment. Thanks for taking us along on it.
From: Beav
19-Oct-18
Congrats on a great bull! Thanks for sharing the recap!
From: GregE
19-Oct-18
Wow!! Just WOW
From: sitO
19-Oct-18
Charlie said it best, thanks Jim and congrats on a great bull!
From: Beginner
19-Oct-18
Congrats on shooting a nice bull!!
From: Whip
20-Oct-18
Awesome! I hunted the Henry's 6 years ago with a cow tag and it was a highlight of my hunting career. I know exactly what you felt. Congratulations!
From: elkstabber
23-Oct-18
Great story written in a very humble way. Taking the continent's largest land animal with a recurve is an amazing accomplishment.
From: BULELK1
24-Oct-18
What a great read and with Great results!!
Congrats
Good luck, Robb
