Paul II Redeems Himself-Grin

[ElkNut1]

We had a quick fast paced hunt this Sept 16th. Just two short weeks ago my son Paul II got trigger happy a bit early before settling his top pin, bull was at 15 yards after 20 minutes of calling & coaxing! Crap happens!!! Today he got that monkey off his back & made his shot true! I never doubted him for a second, he has ice water in his veins!

We were on the mountain side before light & making our way up to the spot he took his 2013 bull, we knew elk had been using the area so we decided it was a good spot to hunt in the cold rains. As we climbed the mountain Paul II said he heard a bugle higher up, I heard nothing! Nothing new! (grin) We climbed higher with no response ourselves as we didn't want to push this supposed bull! (grin) We got a spot to take a breather & low & behold I did hear a bugle! All of a sudden I wasn't so tired! We pushed closer to his last bugle, we figured to be 250 yards away but in fairly thick underbrush with a few openings to 50 yards. We figured it was a good spot to setup & start the games! Any closer & this bull would hear our entrance & no doubt get nervous, been there done that & you generally lose those encounters!

So Paul II setup in a great spot & I retreated to 30 yards & gave a single mew & listened. Nothing! I waited one minute & gave a short low volume mew followed by a mid volume longer mew, the bull responded with a bugle & chuckles, game on! In the next 10 minutes I slowly picked up the pace with mews & whines being sure to answer him each time he responded. At the 15 min mark I picked up the pace to a separated cow/calf whine & he really escalated his bugling & started closing the distance. I then gave 3 longer re-gathering whines & he seemed to come closer. I was at this time retreating in my calling to 40 - 50 - 60 - 70+ yards or so planting the illusion I was leaving, this prompted the bull to catch up & put him 25 yards from my son, checkmate! 80 yards later we were looking at this fine specimen! It took nearly 20-25 minutes total to coax this herd bull in from 250 yards away! It was the retreating while calling that kept him from hanging up!

p.s. as we were following his tracks where he stood at the shot my son looks up through the willows & asks if I think that's the bull on the ground? Well ole eagle eyes (me) looks through his 6X rangefinder & decides it's a log not an elk. A few yards later his sign leads us to this so called log, ya you guessed it's the bull! (grin) Down for the count! Yahoo! Bulls on the ground never get old, just like hearing bugles never get old!

Thanks to the Clipshot we could easily without issues both be in the photo! You gotta have this device!

ElkNut1

[sasquatch]

Awesome bull

[MTLongdraw]

Congrats gentleman! This is just plain cool.

[powderhogg01]

congrats on an awesome bull!!! I wish I could get into them as frequently as you guys do, I suppose thats years of experience getting you there... I clearly have a ways to go but am so far enjoying the journey!!

[redtop]

Team "worse than wolves" comes thru again. Nice!

[ElkNut1]

Thanks guys, all these hunts are always different & special to us, each have their own set of trials & tribulations, elk hunting can build memories to last a lifetime!

Redtop, here's the knife I picked up from you, this is the best knife I've ever had in my hands, it's truly in a class its own! It's so awesome I'm picking one up for my Son! It held an edge like no other throughout the breaking down process, sweet knife sir! Thanks!

ElkNut1

[redtop]

Glad you got to put it to use Paul. Now Paul II can put his to work on your elk.

[82ndreddevil]

Very awesome!!!!!

[Lefty]

Nice bull!!

[Toothy]

Great bull, great pics!

[Old school]

Great story and pics to match.

[Dlove]

Congrats on a great bull.

[GobbleFarmer]

Thats pretty sweet! Good looking bull, I'm glad everything worked out fine. Congrats!

[chiledog]

Way to go. Very nice bull and a great story. Just how it should be.

MY TURN!!

[bownarrow]

Great father and son memories, and great read! Congrats on the Bull!!!

[elkaholic]

Great memories and awesome bull Paul II

[SarcasmPhD]

That is one sexy beast. Congrats to P2!

[kmiller_56]

Way to go Paul. Two thumbs up for sure.

[wewarev]

Congratulations. Way to go! Two thumbs up for sure. Can you take me next year Paul?

[Clip-Shot]

Thanks to the Clipshot we could easily without issues both be in the photo! You gotta have this device!

ElkNut1

Thank You Paul! I always appreciate seeing how people put to use what I make.

My archery elk season didn't fill the void in our freezer this year.
However, as always, I learned a few more things that may make a difference next season.