in other words
july26
Bull Stories: Number 34 at Age 76 in 2003
By Don Webb
I had not got a bull in several
years, so it felt good to get one, although
it seems a lot harder to dress one out by
yourself than it use to be. Must be that,
well, I’m getting old.
I was out scouting in the Clear
Creek area and was driving the roads
looking for tracks when I came around
a corner and there was a very large bull
standing in the middle of the road. He
was looking at me at about 75 feet. He
swung his head and hit the brush in two
jumps.
Now I have seen a few bulls
and I believe this one would score in the
Boon and Crocket easy. I was planning
to hunt with my son Dale Webb and
Ken Enneberg the next day in another
area but decided I would try for this big
one. He was in an area that was thick
with reprod fir, lots of black berries and
brush. I decided I would hunt around the
area because if I went in after him, all I
would do would push him out to some
one else. I hunted all the way around
this area and saw no tracks going out but
saw tracks of two more going in, these
tracks were a little smaller but could be
younger bulls. The weather was good
this day but tomorrow was going to be
a very wet one, and the next dry with
sun breaks. I thought I wouldn’t get near
this bull in this thick cover even in a wet
windy day, and so decided to wait till we
got a dry day. There wasn’t much feed in
this thick area so I figured they would be
out in a adjacent area that was more open
but still had some cover and had good
feed.
So the next day I hunted the Mist
area with Dale and Ken. Ken had gotten
a bull the day before and he and his dad
Lee were packing it out while Dale and
I were hunting. It rained hard all day
and I didn’t see anything. The next day
found me back where I saw the big one.
I scouted around the area on foot. Most
of this area was closed to motor travel.
I found where two more elk had moved
into this area and the tracks looked a
month old, but those tracks weren’t there
two days before, the rain had washed
them out.
I eased toward that feeding area
and soon picked up a fresh track going
that way, then another joined. I could
see where one had broken off a couple
small fir limbs with his horns, so I knew
I had at least one bull going. I went
another hundred yards and another track
came from below and was heading back
towards that thick area. This track was
larger and I bet this was that big bull.
I didn’t think I had much of a chance
in that thick area so decided to follow
the two who were headed towards that
feeding area.
My guess was right-- I hadn’t
gone a quarter of a mile when I came up
on two bulls feeding in a small clearing.
They were about seventy-five feet from
me, one was quartered to me and the
other was facing directly away from me.
I had a good view of the one facing me,
but he was only a small legal raghorn,
maybe a three or four point. All I could
see of the other one was his butt and the
tip of his horns as he was feeding. I was
hoping this was that big one, but when
he raised his head I see he was also a
small raghorn but still bigger than the
one he was with. I thought, I would like
to get that big one but this one would be
a lot better eating.
I didn’t have a good shot at the
one I wanted, so I waited till he quartered
a little and slipped one in behind his
shoulder--he ran about twenty feet and
stopped behind a fir limb that covered
his rib area, so I shot through the limb
hoping I would hit the lungs. He was
still standing and knowing from past
experience when a bull is still standing
you keep shooting, so I put one more shot
in the same place, he was still standing
and I was about shoot one more, but a
little more forward when his feet went
out from under him. I thought, good
he’s down and started to walk up to him
when that other bull decided to come
back and ran between me and the bull
that was down. He stopped about fifty
feet away and stood there and looked at
me. I hollered at him to get out of here
and he took off.
Now the fun starts! I dressed
11
2011
the bull out and skinned him back as far
as I could so he would cool out good,
because I wouldn’t pack him out till
the next day. I made a landmark on my
GPS and when I got back to my pickup,
checked it and I was just a mile from
the bull. I went home and hooked up the
trailer and got the pack rigging all ready.
The next morning Ken was with
me. We hauled the horse and mule as
far as we could drive. I rode my saddle
horse and we led the mule into the bull.
We loaded both animals and were back
to the pickup in a couple hours. Dale
came in early, a couple hours ahead of
us, so he could hunt the area before we
got there. He didn’t see the raghorn or
the big bull that day but he got a nice
five point the next day not very far from
where I got mine. He also saw another
nice bull with the one he shot, so we
guessed there were five bulls holding in
that brush patch.
I was hoping that big bull would
be around the next year.
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