Greg got all he bargained for on his hunt! He got to see his first javelina as a small
herd worked around the hunters eventually winding them just a few yards away
putting on a show as the hair stood on their backs, the “woofing” started along
with the stiff legged jerky walk a wary javelina will show as he tries to
figure out where the danger is. At one
point, a couple hunters to the north jumped two monster mule deer bucks that
nearly ran Greg over as they came to a skidding halt when they noticed they had
run smack dab in the middle of humans!
Greg learned what to look for to determine a lion track from a dog track
as the crew examined the fresh tracks of a monster tom that had visited a small
waterhole. Turkeys were a regular guest
as the crew chased elk through the forest, and Greg got a look at a great coues
buck that was leaving a waterhole mid-day.
At one point, the crew wondered into an area that was infested with what
seemed to Greg, rabid mosquitos! Of the
three, Greg was the only one that the mosquitos paid any attention to, and they
paid a lot of attention to him! Greg
even chipped in to repair a busted drive line when the u-joints went kaput on
P.T.’s truck.
Not to mention the large amounts of elk he got to
chase! Greg passed up on a handful of
bulls before his guide threw a monkey wrench in his whole operation!
The three were driving down the road when they came upon a
small group of elk with a decent bull!
As luck would have it, the cows went left as the bull turned and went
right! When all the elk were out of
site, P.T. dropped Greg and Bryant by the road and drove off. Greg and Bryant started off toward the
direction of the bull, and after a short distance, Bryant got a glimpse of the
bull as he was heading back toward his cows!
Greg set up and Bryant let out a couple low cow calls. Immediately the bull turned and started in
the direction of the hunters thinking that was where his cows were. As the bull was passing through a small
shooting lane 18 yards away, Bryant let out a low cow call to try and stop the
bull for a shot. The opposite of
something good happened! At the sound of
the cow call, the bull startled, spinning on a dime and running a few
steps. The good news is, the bull was
still just over 20 yards away! The bad
news was, he was stopped in a very thick group of pines looking directly at the
hunters! Greg tried to thread the needle,
but his arrow clipped a small branch and flew just over the bulls back! The rest of the day found Bryant down in the
dumps for spooking the bull the way he had!
On the next afternoon, the bunch was watching another small
group of elk as a bull chased cows around in a wide open flat. The bull started to act like he was going to
head to a dirt tank that was also in the wide open flat when Greg and Bryant
decided to try and make the tank before the bull got too close. At one point, the two were running almost on
all fours to try to get low enough to hide behind the small dirt mound of the
dirt dam, but they were able to get there and try to catch their breath as the
bull topped the dam and headed toward the water! Bryant popped up just high enough over the
dirt bank to range the bull. 55
yards. Greg set up on his knees, drew
his bow, and started to stand up high enough to clear the dirt. As the bow went off, the bull spun and made a
beeline toward the trees!
Greg was on his feet!
Jumping up and down while throwing punches at the air, the two slapped
high fives and laughed as P.T. made his way toward them. Not sure exactly where the bull was hit, the
trio made the decision to head in for dinner and come out at first light.
When there was just enough light to see the next morning,
the three were on the ground bloodtrailing the hit bull. As it turned out, the bull had run a total
distance of just under 200 yards before piling up next to a log. Greg had his first Arizona bull, a great 6X6
and a handful of memories, pictures, and videos to take back home with him!
You can watch the video of this hunt on MuleyBull Outfitters "Just Hunting Volume 1"! found at:
Amazon.com
