Do you pursue or wait?

[DTP]

The suns coming up and you hear a bull screaming his head off a few ridges over. You decide to investigate....

You find a burn and start to glass it.  The bull continues to scream his head off and at 7:45 you see him up top. 

He?s 450 yards away from you. 
Whether you bow, rifle, or MZ hunt, what is your next move?

Are you pursuing him? Are you waiting and putting him to bed? What factors are going through your head while deciding this?




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[cohunter14]

First question, and most important, would be what is the wind doing? If I'm rifle hunting and the wind is calm, I'm getting ready for a shot. If it's the other two methods, I'm hopefully going to duck back into that thick brush to my left and get in position to cut him off if he continues the same direction, assuming the wind will allow me to do so.

 

[Bowhunter1]

Check wind
Move closer
Shoot him

 

[Rzrbac]

Check the wind and keep working as close as I can. Had something similar to this on my last trip to Idaho. I ran out of cover and let him get in the timber hoping to call him in. It didn?t work out so I?m gonna do my best to keep eyes on him until he beds.

 

[AHERNANDEZNM]

My answer.

Wait till the sun comes up and first you can see clearly. I've made the mistake of walking when it was to dark to see.

 

[joegiglianm@gmail.com]

DTP,


From the look of these pics, you could be hunting in my neck of the woods!

 

[DTP]

DTP,


From the look of these pics, you could be hunting in my neck of the woods!

Rio Arriba county.  :upthumb:
My favorite place!

 

[joegiglianm@gmail.com]

DTP,


From the look of these pics, you could be hunting in my neck of the woods!

Rio Arriba county.  :upthumb:
My favorite place!

Great country. I've always loved the SP parks and I've hunted TP and lower around Coyote for elk. Years back TP had a long antelope hunt in August. Loved chasing those goats in the high country.
My stomping grounds is Colfax county. Not many places my feet haven't been..lol.

 

[DTP]

DTP,


From the look of these pics, you could be hunting in my neck of the woods!

Rio Arriba county.  :upthumb:
My favorite place!

Great country. I've always loved the SP parks and I've hunted TP and lower around Coyote for elk. Years back TP had a long antelope hunt in August. Loved chasing those goats in the high country.
My stomping grounds is Colfax county. Not many places my feet haven't been..lol.

You're in some beautiful area out there, that's for sure!
I used to do a lot of camping out at Eagle Nest and I also hunted deer in Colin Noblett once.
Speaking of goats, the biggest herd of antelope I've ever seen was in Colfax county, I believe it was around Springer. There had to be 200-300 goats in one giant gaggle. What a sight to see!

 

[ribo451]

If he is screaming his head off I would call and then move closer. It depends a little on what point in the hunt it is. If I have a lot of time left I am prone to be more careful but if it's getting down to the last few days I am more likely to push things.

 

[joegiglianm@gmail.com]

As a bowhunter, I am going to take this from the perspective that the bull topped out as close as the last pic looks:

If the wind is right, this is an incredible tag team situation. With a partner 50 to 70 yards behind and slightly left or right, to the upwind side, a love sick cow call along with a "Heads Up" decoy and this boy is in trouble.


If you don't have a partner, and again the wind is right, first option is to stay quiet and give the situation a chance.You take a chance of him pinpointing your position if you call right away with him standing looking forward. Relax and enjoy the view for a few minutes. With the bull coming over the rise, he is very likely to continue forward and give you a great broadside.


If he starts to MOVE OFF, I am an aggressive hunter and I always believe taking action is better than letting him walk away. You have to create your opportunities. I have had so many hunters tell me they didn't want to make a move because they didn't want to get busted by the bull. That becomes a great teaching moment... I respond that letting the bull walk off has the same result as getting busted. The big difference is that if he walks off, you have zero chance of getting that bull. If you take action, you have at least a 50-50 chance. I like those odds much better.


Here are my options:


1st- "Throw" a cow call. From years and years of experience I have learned that the advantage goes to the bull as soon as I create movement/sound by moving DIRECTLY in on him in this kind of cover. Nineteen times out of twenty, it's bull:1, hunter:0. I have a MUCH better chance if he is moving instead of me. (side note: that doesn't mean I don't make slight shifts to get a shooting lane) When a bull is moving, it's much harder for him to pick up movement around him...because now everything around him is moving....your advantage.
So I will point my grunt tube behind me and throw a cow call backwards to try and direct the bull to my upwind side. By throwing the call to the back, it sounds like the cow is further back, trying to pull the bull past me. But what do you do if the bull comes straight at you, I mean he is coming straight on and will be right directly in your lap! (I have had this happen 3 times)
This is where again you work those odds. If you have a diaphragm call in your mouth, you ARE going to draw. You HAVE to create your opportunities.(Now, I am going to interject here that a straight on shot is not an option for me. I know others like that shot and are lethal. Kudos. It's just not something I am comfortable with, so FOR ME it's not an option.) By 15 or 10 yards, if the bull has not committed to a side, I am drawing. The bull "most likely" is going to spook...stay calm...SCREAM a bugle when he takes off and you have a good chance that bull will stop broadside at 20 to 30 yards to check out the bull that spooked him. Even if he doesn't stop and you don't get the shot, WHAT A GREAT STORY TO SHARE AT CAMP!


2nd- If cover allows, back off and try to first parallel him on his downwind side or into a crosswind . Move when he is moving, eating, raking..etc. Once you have good cover try either raking a tree and/or throwing a cow call. I like raking as the first option. If the cover does not allow paralleling, circle around on the downwind side, and set up. This is when I try a challenge bugle along with raking. Be VERY careful here. I can't tell you how many times that I got impatient ( I can be OVERLY aggressive...lol) and started to make another move only to take a step and have the bull, that was moving in silently, go busting out. It truly is unbelievable how such a huge creature can be SO quiet.


My goal with both of these is to have the bull moving if at all possible. Him moving, eating, raking a tree, fighting...my odds get better. Me moving in on a stationary, alerted or bedded bull....he has a HUGE advantage.


No matter what happens, enjoy the moment. Cherish the thrill and create a memory. It's all good!

 

[Kdkehoe]

Well my first move would be play the wind and watch it close. If able I would hold off calling and watch his behavior while trying to move around sun at my back. If the wind cooperated and the sun was still a bit low I would try and find the best optimum position to be available to call and have that bull move in such a way that he was running blind due to sun position and windage.  If I could get him broadside with a rifle at 400yds I?d be watching him with my riflescope to stop and I?d shoot.  Archery wise I?d would try and sneak and use every advantage the terrain, wind and his behavior would allow.  It?s always a hard choice, but it?s my opinion a fair amount of thought out aggression in the stall can pay off. Watch that wind!