This road in the low country is a place we had been on the scouting trip. However, there was a herd of domestic sheep, and an archery elk hunter in the area. We left without getting much of a look.
Our evening hunt started a little early to find some good glassing locations. One stretch of this road included some really good looking deer country. Sage with a bunch of bitter brush mixed in. After only a few minutes we had deer in the road ahead of us. I foolishly wrote them off as does. My dad and brother got to see the big four point checking out the does, but I didn't get my binos up quick enough.
Further up the road we found some open elevated country to glass from. I had assumed the glassing from this road would be up into the basins on the mountain. It became obvious almost immediately that the glassing would be down into the Pinion and Juniper flats. I was not enthused about this. It did not look like any elk country I had hunted before. Here is a photo of the terrain.
Well my brother quickly spotted a couple elk. Then a big bull popped out. The kind of bull I have a hard time judging. Big frame with nice points. A no doubt shooter. After lots of discussion on where he was going, and how to get to him, a stalk plan was put together. Here is a photo of the bull.
We left my brother at the glassing spot, and my dad and I started driving around the other side. Daylight was fading fast, and we had to find this bull out in the PJs. About half way there my brother calls on the radio and says he spotted another herd. When he starts describing where they are I realize we are close to them. Then, he gets back on the radio and says there is a bigger bull in this herd. Easy decision, we abandon the original plan and start trying to locate this new bull. There was little visibility from down in the PJs as you would imagine. Finally standing on the truck bed my dad spots a couple elk about half a mile away. I decide to head in to find the bull.
There was a bull bugling towards the elk, but my brother said the big bull was not bugling. It did not take long to get completely confused in the PJs. No loss in sense of direction, but it was hard to tell where I was in relation to the elk we had seen. I finally decided to check out the bugling bull. Soon I could tell he was traveling pretty fast in the direction I hoped the other elk were. After only a few minutes I started seeing elk bodies. I snuck from tree to tree looking for the big bull. I got a look at the bugling bull, he was about a 300" 6x6. I spotted a couple elk off to my left. Then, tall tines above a Pinion Pine. From what I could see this had to be the big bull. He started to feed out from behind the Pinion, but he was still obstructed by several other trees. He seemed to be paying special attention to the two closest cows. They were feeding straight away, and if he followed he could be gone without me getting a shot with my muzzle loader. I had got this far by being aggressive, and I decided to push a little more. I lined up a tree between us and moved forward. I was only about 75 yards away, but I needed an angle around the trees. This was the nicest bull of the trip. Not a huge frame, but long points all around and big whale tails. I was on the verge of a shot, and as I looked down to place my foot the bull spooked. I quickly quickly cow called and they all stopped. Still no shot, and in a few seconds they all took off again. I cow called again and they all stopped except the big bull. I had the bugling bull and about 30 other small bulls and cows within 150 yards, but the big bull was gone. He did bugle twice, so I knew he was moving off. I watched the show for a couple minutes as darkness fell. I was totally dejected. So close to the bull of a lifetime and I let him slip away. Was I too aggressive in my movement, or not aggressive enough in my shooting? The things I questioned while walking out. Surely they would still be in the area in morning though.
This proved to be a false assumption. There were only 3 spikes in the whole area in the morning. Finally in the low hills a couple miles to the west my brother spotted a herd with a bull in it. We drove out to the main road to investigate. We stopped on a rise, but could not see the elk. My brother then spotted another herd with a beautiful bull in it. A big sweeping rack I associate with the bulls of Arizona. Except he is broken off above the eye guards on one side. I pass on him and we hear a rig coming down the road. Being experienced Oregon public land hunters, we put our spotting scopes away, and start glassing the other way with our binos. If you guys are on here sorry for the misdirection. Turns out they are out of Elko and hunting coyotes. They see our plates and it turns out they are originally from Lakeview. After BSing for a few they say follow us. They had seen a herd with a big bull in it a couple miles North.
To be continued