My dad, brother, TBHer travissalinas and I went to Utah this past week. My dad wasn't hunting but the other 3 were ready and loaded up with our bows.
Day 1 started with rain all night in our spike camp. Turned to snow right at daylight and we stayed put until the weather broke about 9:00. We went out and started seeing and hearing bulls right away. It was raining/snowing and was just all around miserable weather. Finally it broke and my brother was able to get an arrow in an awesome 7x7 at 40 yards. He made a good shot and the bull didn't go far. We were on the board. Even better, my dad was standing right next to him when he made the shot.
We walked all day and didn't have any luck until right before dark. We were able to walk up on a great bull and I had some bow issues. I was unable to seal the deal with a large bull at 41 yards. My guide and I were both bummed but we knew it was still only the first day. We got word right at dark that Travis had sealed the deal on an awesome bull.
Tuesday morning we saw plenty of animals but couldn't find what we were looking for and just couldn't get within range or anything. Finally after blown stalks, getting winded etc we found a bull to chase with about 45 minutes of light left. He essentially walked right up on us in some thick brush that we couldn't see him in. We were walking the same time and came around the ridge at the Same time. We followed him over a ridge and into the next valley. We lost sight of him and decided to loop the way around to try and get in front of him. In doing so, we located a nice bull bedded on a grass shelf on a fairly steep hillside. The weather the next day was supposed to be nasty with 4-8 inches of snow and knew we were up against the clock. We decided to try for the bedded bull and use the terrain to our advantage. We were able to crawl up to 65 yards and I was hesitant to shoot at that distance and still needed him to stand up. The guide told me to just start walking right at him. We had very low light at this point and the hillside behind us to break up our silhouette. We got to 57 yards and he stood up. The guide called out the distance and I let it fly. It seemed like an eternity from the time I let the arrow go until I heard the thwack of the arrow hitting him. I caught him forward but hit something important because he hunched up and started staggering. He made it about 20 yards and stopped. We hurried to the edge of the shelf and ranged him at 60 yards. I drew back and settled my 60 yard pin on him and let it rip. Again it felt like forever until I heard my arrow find its mark. This time I had 10 ringed him and the guide looked at me with a huge smile and told me I could put my bow down. It was too dark to be able to follow the arrow naked eye but the guide was looking through his binos and was confident in the shot. Sure enough the bull took off down the hill and made it about 30-40 yards staggered and fell over. He was finished in seconds and I had my second bow bull. To add to the excitement Travis, his guide and my dad were hundreds of yards away on the next ridge over watching the whole thing play out. Essentially had stadium seats to the whole deal. I still hadn't had a great look at the bulls rack and asked my guide what caliber he was and was shocked when he told me he was around 350". Once we walked up on him I couldn't believe how big he was. He was a 7x6 with a small little 2" extra on one side. It was a great trip and it couldn't of worked any better. It was a great time with my brother, Dad and great hunting buddy. Enough talk. Here he is. Thanks for reading.
My dad and I from spike camp
Where we sighted in our bows.....not a bad view
Awesome scenery
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Day 1 started with rain all night in our spike camp. Turned to snow right at daylight and we stayed put until the weather broke about 9:00. We went out and started seeing and hearing bulls right away. It was raining/snowing and was just all around miserable weather. Finally it broke and my brother was able to get an arrow in an awesome 7x7 at 40 yards. He made a good shot and the bull didn't go far. We were on the board. Even better, my dad was standing right next to him when he made the shot.
We walked all day and didn't have any luck until right before dark. We were able to walk up on a great bull and I had some bow issues. I was unable to seal the deal with a large bull at 41 yards. My guide and I were both bummed but we knew it was still only the first day. We got word right at dark that Travis had sealed the deal on an awesome bull.
Tuesday morning we saw plenty of animals but couldn't find what we were looking for and just couldn't get within range or anything. Finally after blown stalks, getting winded etc we found a bull to chase with about 45 minutes of light left. He essentially walked right up on us in some thick brush that we couldn't see him in. We were walking the same time and came around the ridge at the Same time. We followed him over a ridge and into the next valley. We lost sight of him and decided to loop the way around to try and get in front of him. In doing so, we located a nice bull bedded on a grass shelf on a fairly steep hillside. The weather the next day was supposed to be nasty with 4-8 inches of snow and knew we were up against the clock. We decided to try for the bedded bull and use the terrain to our advantage. We were able to crawl up to 65 yards and I was hesitant to shoot at that distance and still needed him to stand up. The guide told me to just start walking right at him. We had very low light at this point and the hillside behind us to break up our silhouette. We got to 57 yards and he stood up. The guide called out the distance and I let it fly. It seemed like an eternity from the time I let the arrow go until I heard the thwack of the arrow hitting him. I caught him forward but hit something important because he hunched up and started staggering. He made it about 20 yards and stopped. We hurried to the edge of the shelf and ranged him at 60 yards. I drew back and settled my 60 yard pin on him and let it rip. Again it felt like forever until I heard my arrow find its mark. This time I had 10 ringed him and the guide looked at me with a huge smile and told me I could put my bow down. It was too dark to be able to follow the arrow naked eye but the guide was looking through his binos and was confident in the shot. Sure enough the bull took off down the hill and made it about 30-40 yards staggered and fell over. He was finished in seconds and I had my second bow bull. To add to the excitement Travis, his guide and my dad were hundreds of yards away on the next ridge over watching the whole thing play out. Essentially had stadium seats to the whole deal. I still hadn't had a great look at the bulls rack and asked my guide what caliber he was and was shocked when he told me he was around 350". Once we walked up on him I couldn't believe how big he was. He was a 7x6 with a small little 2" extra on one side. It was a great trip and it couldn't of worked any better. It was a great time with my brother, Dad and great hunting buddy. Enough talk. Here he is. Thanks for reading.
My dad and I from spike camp
Where we sighted in our bows.....not a bad view
Awesome scenery
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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