Strategy Scenario - Episode Tigger 1

[Tigger]

As a spinoff to Rory's excellent scenarios that has spurred so much discussion (and I have enjoyed greatly), I thought I would throw up one of my own.

Date/Time: Sept 15th mid morning
Location: Extreme Northern Colorado, off the nearest trail 3 miles
Pressure: Have seen 1 hunter in 4 days, none today
Terrain: Ridge running east/west, heavily timbered
Tag: Bull tag, archery
Situation:

You and a partner are hunting on the south side of an long running east/west ridge that is heavily timbered on both sides. The wind is softly from the west. You are up towards the top of the ridge with a knob right above you. You decide to let a location bugle rip. Immediately, your bugle is answered by a bull in a saddle to the east approximately 150 yards out. You cannot see him as visibility is around 60-80 yards. What is your plan?

Lets hear some ideas and then I will tell you definitely how you should have NOT done it!

[ElkNut1]

Bulls in his bedding area advertising himself! Go to an Advertising Sequence & hold tight with good cover & wind, you will eventually have a visitor, works like a charm!

ElkNut1

[Tigger]

Ahh doggone it, I mistyped. The bull is to your EAST!!!! The wind is horrible. That changes everything, sorry about that. I will fix it.

[Swede]

Tigger, I guess you edited your first post on this as it says the bull is to the east.

All things considered, you are going to have to back out and give the bull a wide circle to get around him. After circling get the shooter out front about 40 yards or so. Just to be different than Paul, I would stomp around and rake some, then wait. I could do some small bull bugles later, but I would plan to be there for an hour before getting more active in the pursuit.

[ElkNut1]

swede, you just described the advertising sequence! (grin) It doesn't matter if you start with raking, stomping or bugling first, it's all the same, you will eventually draw on the curiosity of this bedded bull & he will make his way to you!

Tigger, it doesn't matter which direction the wind is coming from, I'm going to setup where I have the wind in my favor no matter what, this means if I have to re-postion then that's what needs to be done then I setup!

ElkNut1

[WapitiTalk1]

He's already answered your locator and knows there is a bull below him on the ridge (you), and, you're pretty close..... game on right........but, the up drafting thermals are the big enemy in this scenario. The answering bull may be a satellite bull perhaps positioned above a bedded down herd on the N side of the ridge? At any rate, depending on which side of the ridge the vocal bull appears to be on, I may dump over the opposite side, N or S, drop down 75-100 yards or so, and move as quickly as possible (doesn't sound like the terrain/vegetation is too awful) to a point up the draw side hill where I think I'm farther up the draw than where the bull is on the ridge. Then, move slowly back up the side hill to just under the lip of the ridge, set up, and see if I could interest him in a visit!

[2MANY]

I will probably feel my phone vibrate about then and take a look only to see an email from my office.

I hate technology.

[Tigger]

Okay, here is how it played out in real life:

As soon as he returned our locator bugle from downwind, we immediately moved as fast as we dared straight north. After about 150 yards, we stopped for a second to whisper a few things. We were going to make a big loop around and come at him from the north. However, he had the same exact idea that we did and the bull looped to the north exactly like we did. As soon as we started moving again, he made us from about 80 yards away. Both us and the bull had moved 150 yards straight north and then he started coming west to us when he saw us.

Hindsight: This is a tough one. We could have moved faster and further before we stopped. Or we could have backtracked aways before we looped north. Ironically, staying exactly where we were, with the wind blowing right at him, probably would have worked because he looped around and thus would not have smelled us. I never considered moving straight south (down slope) but that would have possibly have worked. I know that the bull would not have been where we thought he was. I thought he was in his bed and was unprepared for him to move where he did after only 1 locator bugle. We chalked this one up to an encounter that was doomed from the start and we just did not have good options.

[ElkNut1]

Getting the wind & staying put a good distance & going to advertising method would have gotten his curiosity up to come all the way to you, it's up to you to setup to force him to come in the aprox needed area! It can be done, you just need to think hard on your place to setup! Give it a chance! (grin) The time of day was important in your encounter that's why I choose the method mentioned. If he was in transition then the method would have low odds of pulling him in!

ElkNut1

[Tigger]

Elknut,
Unfortunately, we never got past the "Get the Wind" stage as we got busted trying to get it. I think the advertising sequence would have had him right in our laps as soon as we found any decent place to set up. Do you often get bulls to come right in after only 1 locator bugle? The part that is unfortunate is that he was ripe for the picking and we didn't capitalize!

[ElkNut1]

Tough call to make for sure from my PC here! (grin) I'm sure you guys tried to get position & you are right sometimes things just don't work out when a bull reacts that quickly on just one bugle! Those are extremely rare cases where one bugle brings the bull your way in quick fashion, you could go years before it occurred again on OTC hunts! Good luck!

ElkNut1