A littel help

[Lefty]

Im may need to go "Swede" Tree stand hunt white tail for "my" bull .

I went up yesterday to check trail cams and check on "my bull"... Ran into the outfitter, gave him a hard time that he did not have a client good enough to kill "my bull"..
He gave me a hard time too,, Claiming Ive trained the that bull to evaporate; disappear,,"ghost" during shooting hours. We both have concluded he definitely knows each of the local and his herd elk, And certainly distinguishes human produced elk sounds The guides excuse,,, He never comes out of the trees
And realistically neither of us know how big he really is.
Two years ago while cows/calves and ragworms spikes little bulls were dancing 25-60 yards in front of me in the meadow , and it was late enough in the day, the wind was perfect, He was forcing his way through the quakes then headed away calling his herd away.

He talks a lot,, and has a very distinctive sound. last year I heard him sounding a dozen different days
The best look I had of him ,, before season,, 3 miles away , running from timber to timber the sun peaked on the ridge he ran across.
Another evening I covered nearly a mile and down hill he was at 60 yards the last minute of shooting and downwind and less than a mile from the (trailhead)
Another 800 yards pushed a bull out of the quake's at first light
Another time 2500 yards, again pushed a bull out of where he was bedding at first light
anther 60 yard encounter I was on a ridge flat old timber ,, he was over the edge I made one quiet mew and he just walked and bugle away
Then glassing at dark running the cows for over a mile on private ground, the nigh before
my last encounter at 14 yards . Every spotting he is always with other bulls.
Someday Ill; put together each of our or my interactions with that bull . And my challenges( others would consider them unbelievable frustrations )
I only have distant trail cam pictures
We (Daisy dog and I) bumped from a bed in April,, and fresh track in the pouring rain and snow yesterday. And interestingly too it all hes bedding where he has for years, even with the carcass of my bull 4 yards away

I gave a call to my buddy who is a whitetail freak I think I need to go whitetail on this bull and climb a tree


Im throwing my hands in the air,, what to do! and how to kill him

[>>>---WW---->]

Dang Lefty! Looks like no one is going to help you out. But a little more information other than seeing him here or seeing him there might be helpful.

I've seen some toughies in the past. One I recall was what I call a Sniper. He was a very nice 6x6. He never seemed to have his own band of cows. He just waited at the edge of the timber on private land and waited for a satalite to run a hot cow his way. It was always fun to watch him work. He would just step out of the timber and show himself. The younger bull would do an immediate U turn and leave the big boy to have his way with the cow.

He sure had it all figured out. Plus, he always stayed on hi dollar private land where he was untouchable. I'm sure this won't help you out much but, just want you to know there are untouchables out there. The Sniper Bull was mine!

[RanchoSueno]

I have yet to kill an elk so I have "no horse in this race" but I will lurk and add whatever tips and techniques the pros are willing to share

[Lefty]

I skirted ted the area he tends to hide in again Wednesday I pulled my bear bait tag and that camera,
Not a heavily used area by him but seems like a few bulls are using this trail and aI found a good tree... West facing Steep,, some good trees . Over the years Ive only seen elk on that ridge just moments before dark, So it would or could be a place just for an evening sit in the tree . Because of the west facing slope winds and thermals wont be swirling and there is relatively easy access to a tree stand

Last year I only had 4 good wind days However the first day another couple went in there,
One day I did sit all day at a blind I had constructed a couple years back good steady wind most of the day mid afternoon the wind began switching, I never had a chance to call.
I also didn't go in there for 11 days while the carcass was being fed which at the time I thought there was an elk bear kill ,,, which evidence pointed to a butchered yearling moo cow calf, saw cuts on the spine ATV tracks in the mud
Then the day I killed a companion .

As of last year I was getting cell service,, however I received very few pics , , there is a good wallow near the beds my phone gets service there so Maybe a couple cameras on the wallow in August.

My buddies that chase big whitails have been making suggestions,, but my concern has carried over to their suggestions, these sharp steep terrain features and wind is a real problem. Something hunting deer in the midwest doesn't really exist

I really dont think he is callable,,, but maybe he is,,, if he is still around after the 25th maybe Ill try to get him to talk to me

I admit I dont always get working a bull right,, that day I was in on him at 14 yards I assumed he winded me, Then bolted,, At that instant I figure I blew my only chance for him for the year,, but I may have made the wrong choice,,, I mewed and he stopped less than 30 yards and beat up a tree, I had to let down ( arrow into the ground ) I knocked another arrow) then he went 20 more yards, ( now 47 yards away) I cow called He kept beating another tree,,,

Thinking back did he bust from smelling me? , I guess he could have seen me too, I was sitting on my butt or maybe I had those other bulls behind and above me that he could see?
I was at full draw, and was solid, He did stop at my cow mew after the bust. Thinking back I could have snuck around the willows while he was beating up the tree. That when I mewed again, and heard the chipmunk behind me 20 feet,,( the bull I killed) With all the other bulls, no cows.

I now have thought over the situation, I was going to say dozens of times,,, but more like hundreds of times. slopping though the slop my not have been a problem, again all the other bulls maybe I should have made the move.

Im not ready to just kill anything

[>>>---WW---->]

Your last post brings up a point I'd like to comment on. You mentioned your bull was thrashing up some trees. This would have been the time for you to make a move on him taking into consideration you have the wind in your favor.

Usually, when a bull rubs his antlers he will close his eyes to protect from getting anything in them. And even if he should open them, he will have his head lowered and all he will see is ground under his nose.

Here is how it works. While he is thrashing, take several steps towards him. But be sure you have stopped and are stationary before he stops thrashing or raises his head to look around. He won't notice you have closed the distance as you are now just another stationary object. Keep repeating this every time he resumes thrashing and hopefully you will get into shooting range and collect your trophy.

I learned this trick over 50 years ago from a whitetail hunting article in Field and Stream. I've never heard of this method before or since. But it works! Whitetails or easy to figure out. When they have their head down while feeding, they only see the ground under their nose. They raise their head up to look up for danger often. But, just before they raise their head, they will twitch their tail. They can't help but twitch the tail before they stop feeding to look up. And if you watch them long enough, you'll find you can actually time when they will look up. If they feed for, lets say 10 seconds, that's when you make your move. But be sure you stop by 7 seconds so you will be stationary when he twitches his tail and looks up. And if you goof up and don't get stopped in time, be sure to keep your eye on his tail. I got stopped more than once with one foot up in the air and had to freeze like a statue when his tail moved just before he looked up. LOL!

I stalked a deer across an open picked corn field once and got within rock throwing distance of her before she finally figured something wasn't quite right and walked away. Elk are members of the deer family and can be taken advantage of in a similar way. They can detect the slightest movement but are poor at detecting an object that is motionless. And although I've never seen an elk twitch his tail like a whitetail, you can still move closer when they have their focus on something other than you.

Mule deer are the same way. They will always twitch their tail before they move. This method only works on single deer.

[Lefty]

I realized my mistake a couple minutes after I killed his buddy

The moment he bolted right in front of me I was so disappointed in the circumstance.
At that moment I thought I had lost him for the season

Then the little guy was right behind me 20 feet,, So much was running wild through my mind, The whole situation wasn't anything I had considered at that moment

About 30 seconds after the bull I shot tipped over,, My bull was still raking the trees, it was then I realized I missed out on a great oppurtuninty.

Again Ive ben running all sorts of options with that bull still being around and posted here because I know there must be something I can do effectively.
My health has improved enough where I know I can make something happen with that bull