labor day bull
rockslut
9/9/10 10:38pm
Well three words can describe my 2010 Oregon Elk season, long, hard, and awesome. We were in Oregon for 14days total and hunted for 11 strait days. The longest i have been away from my girls. and i will tell ya i got pretty darn home sick about that 7-8th day.
The hardest pyisical hunt i have ever been part of. My buddy John was the one who 6 years ago told me you better start putting in for points in Oregon. So i did.. We put in as a party of 3 John, Stew and my self. We found out that we got drawn in June. I started trying to get in to better shape about July. About the first of August John called me and lit a bit of a fire under me. He said "you better be getting in to shape we have to walk up Mt Mother Fuc*er every morning for 2 weeks to get to our hunting grounds". So i did.I walked off about 25lbs walking the canyons around my house. And i am so glad.We were in National Forest land so no Quads here. I think i walked about 60 miles in those 11 days. Yep that is a lot of walking for these short legs.
The awsome came almost everyday i was in the woods. This place was a bow elk hunters dream. As soon as you walked in to the woods there was elk sign. tracks, dropings, rubbs, wallows. you name it. I had high hopes but even those high hopes were exceded on the very first morning. We got to the top of the hill at the break of daylight. ( walking an hour in the dark) John had the only buck deer tag so he headed east along the top along the sage flats in hopes of a big muledeer buck. Stew and i headed west about a half mile. Stew stopped and told me head south down in to Brush Creek. He said you will find lots of wallows meadows ect. And we would meet back at camp about 2-3pm. So i did, i walked about 300 yards and holy shit my hunt started. I cleared a little bunch of trees and got my first look at Brush Creek. There were only 5 bulls playing in the creek about 200 yards away. 3 of them were 5 points one was a 3x4 and there was a spike bull. I thought to my self how can i not come home with a bull from a place like this. But as all bow hunters know its never a done deal until the animal is found dead. Well loooong story short. I didn't get a shot at those bulls on opening day. They made there way into the dark timber before i could cut the distance. Over the 11 days we hunted between the 3 of us we saw16 bulls and 2 cows. John saw one that said would be easy a 350in bull he said it was a monster. Stew summed up the hunt by discribing it like hunting 800lb pheasent with out a dog. You would be sneeking along in the dark timber. Going as slow and as quite as posible and all of a sudden you would see a flash and hear something just crashing through the woods. They almost always would see ya coming. Yep i said "almost" always.
On the 9 day of the hunt i was fighting home sickness pretty bad. John said lets change it up a little. He had been talking about going to another place just down the road about 3-4 mile. So looking for a change i said im in. We drove to a spot and started hiking ya u guessed it strait up, everything seemed to be up hill. We walked about 1 1/2 miles and thought to split up and meet in about an hour along the top. I walked about 40 min, real slow climbing over dead fall trees along the way. Real tough walking. I found my self in some of the thickest down fall i have seen and was just standing there thinking to my self witch of these big ass logs should i climb over or under next. When i heard a noise up the hill about 50 yards and to my right. As the sound got closer i started to see ivory tips making there way through the trees. At that point i ranged the spot in the clearing were i thought the bull would be walking to. 42 yards is what i got on the range finder. I had a arrow already knocked so i slipped my release on my string loop. Here he comes i thought. He was walking from my right to left and i thought to my self he is going to walk right into those trees to my left and i won't get a shot. But he didn't he got to the edge of the trees and turned down hill right at me. At this point i was a full draw and hoping he would turn right and give me a 30yard broad side shot and that is just what he did. He turned and stopped. I had my 30 yard pin on him and let it fly. I hit him about 5in high and about 8in back from were i wanted. But double lung for sure. He took it like the stud that he was and walked about 10 yards and stopped. All i could see was about 5in of the fletching from my arrow sticking out of his side. I looked down to knock another arrow and peeked up to see him starting to sway back and forth. I knew then that it was a done deal. He fell over about 20yards from me. DEAD BULL. I got john on the radio about 30min latter and he asked if i had seen anything. I told him that i just watched my 100gn Muzzy broadhead stick a 6x7 bull elk at 30 yards right through both lungs and he was laying here right beside me. John almost sprouted wings and flew a half mile to were i was. After taking tons of pictures we started the hike out. We took the head with horns and one front shoulder out first. Got back to camp picked up Stew and headed back out for one of the hardest 3-4 hours of my life. I had about 80-90lbs, John Had about the same on his back. But Stew this guy is a true STUD i know his packs had to have weighted 110-115lbs. Stew's not a big guy by any means i would say 5' 7" but built like a brick shit house. It was truly amazing how he took that much weight.
Sorry for the long story buy i just realy could have typed all day telling storys about this hunt in the Ochoco Unit of central Oregon. And just a quick thanks again to John and Stew for all there help on a hunt of a life time... Mike
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The hardest pyisical hunt i have ever been part of. My buddy John was the one who 6 years ago told me you better start putting in for points in Oregon. So i did.. We put in as a party of 3 John, Stew and my self. We found out that we got drawn in June. I started trying to get in to better shape about July. About the first of August John called me and lit a bit of a fire under me. He said "you better be getting in to shape we have to walk up Mt Mother Fuc*er every morning for 2 weeks to get to our hunting grounds". So i did.I walked off about 25lbs walking the canyons around my house. And i am so glad.We were in National Forest land so no Quads here. I think i walked about 60 miles in those 11 days. Yep that is a lot of walking for these short legs.
The awsome came almost everyday i was in the woods. This place was a bow elk hunters dream. As soon as you walked in to the woods there was elk sign. tracks, dropings, rubbs, wallows. you name it. I had high hopes but even those high hopes were exceded on the very first morning. We got to the top of the hill at the break of daylight. ( walking an hour in the dark) John had the only buck deer tag so he headed east along the top along the sage flats in hopes of a big muledeer buck. Stew and i headed west about a half mile. Stew stopped and told me head south down in to Brush Creek. He said you will find lots of wallows meadows ect. And we would meet back at camp about 2-3pm. So i did, i walked about 300 yards and holy shit my hunt started. I cleared a little bunch of trees and got my first look at Brush Creek. There were only 5 bulls playing in the creek about 200 yards away. 3 of them were 5 points one was a 3x4 and there was a spike bull. I thought to my self how can i not come home with a bull from a place like this. But as all bow hunters know its never a done deal until the animal is found dead. Well loooong story short. I didn't get a shot at those bulls on opening day. They made there way into the dark timber before i could cut the distance. Over the 11 days we hunted between the 3 of us we saw16 bulls and 2 cows. John saw one that said would be easy a 350in bull he said it was a monster. Stew summed up the hunt by discribing it like hunting 800lb pheasent with out a dog. You would be sneeking along in the dark timber. Going as slow and as quite as posible and all of a sudden you would see a flash and hear something just crashing through the woods. They almost always would see ya coming. Yep i said "almost" always.
On the 9 day of the hunt i was fighting home sickness pretty bad. John said lets change it up a little. He had been talking about going to another place just down the road about 3-4 mile. So looking for a change i said im in. We drove to a spot and started hiking ya u guessed it strait up, everything seemed to be up hill. We walked about 1 1/2 miles and thought to split up and meet in about an hour along the top. I walked about 40 min, real slow climbing over dead fall trees along the way. Real tough walking. I found my self in some of the thickest down fall i have seen and was just standing there thinking to my self witch of these big ass logs should i climb over or under next. When i heard a noise up the hill about 50 yards and to my right. As the sound got closer i started to see ivory tips making there way through the trees. At that point i ranged the spot in the clearing were i thought the bull would be walking to. 42 yards is what i got on the range finder. I had a arrow already knocked so i slipped my release on my string loop. Here he comes i thought. He was walking from my right to left and i thought to my self he is going to walk right into those trees to my left and i won't get a shot. But he didn't he got to the edge of the trees and turned down hill right at me. At this point i was a full draw and hoping he would turn right and give me a 30yard broad side shot and that is just what he did. He turned and stopped. I had my 30 yard pin on him and let it fly. I hit him about 5in high and about 8in back from were i wanted. But double lung for sure. He took it like the stud that he was and walked about 10 yards and stopped. All i could see was about 5in of the fletching from my arrow sticking out of his side. I looked down to knock another arrow and peeked up to see him starting to sway back and forth. I knew then that it was a done deal. He fell over about 20yards from me. DEAD BULL. I got john on the radio about 30min latter and he asked if i had seen anything. I told him that i just watched my 100gn Muzzy broadhead stick a 6x7 bull elk at 30 yards right through both lungs and he was laying here right beside me. John almost sprouted wings and flew a half mile to were i was. After taking tons of pictures we started the hike out. We took the head with horns and one front shoulder out first. Got back to camp picked up Stew and headed back out for one of the hardest 3-4 hours of my life. I had about 80-90lbs, John Had about the same on his back. But Stew this guy is a true STUD i know his packs had to have weighted 110-115lbs. Stew's not a big guy by any means i would say 5' 7" but built like a brick shit house. It was truly amazing how he took that much weight.
Sorry for the long story buy i just realy could have typed all day telling storys about this hunt in the Ochoco Unit of central Oregon. And just a quick thanks again to John and Stew for all there help on a hunt of a life time... Mike
8,323
i've hunted that same drainage many times! just 45 minuts from home :thumb
great job and nice bull! glad you had a fun trip.
Kevin