Continued from Part 1
Thursday Sept 25th. One day before rifle season opens
We arose before daylight and saddled horses in the dark for a morning bowhunt to a different canyon. We actually got a late start, and arrived at the head of our hidden draw about 20 minutes after the sky had turned grey. In the draw we could hear a bull bugling faintly. Billy held the horses while I climbed up the ridge. I followed the sound of the bulls calls until I thought I had a good calling position and then I cow called, and he immediately hammered back with a bugle.
“GOOD SIGN!” I thought to myself and continued to call. Then a second bull chimed in from the ridge behind me and the bulls had a screaming match going.
After about 20 minutes neither of the calling bulls had budged from their hidden positions so I moved up the ridge about 100 yards. Not an easy task at 9000 feet after having been at sea level three days prior. Then I saw the bull above me, still 500 yards away as he gathered three cows from the open meadow, and escorted them into the timber another 400 vertical feet up the ridge. I retreated back down the hill. Opening day was tomorrow and I didn’t want to push him out of the country.
We hunted the rest of the morning and I still hunted a ridge until 1pm with no results. We rode back to camp and helped my uncle Colby and his buddy Jerome get set up in the wall tent.
Continued on Part 3
