Past hunt memory

[Don McDowell]

Carol and I got to talking about hunting this morning, and we about laughed ourselves silly remembering a particular old bull elk I shot several years ago.
We had been hunting for a week, and it was coming time to go home. So the last morning I said I'm going out for a couple hours then when I get back we'll break camp and head home. Well don't you know, I got up to one of my favored meadows and out walks this elk. I looked thru the scope and was sure I saw horns, bang, he started stumbling around and stood for a moment and I popped him again. Down he went. As I was chambering another round in my Ruger #1, I got to thinking, I didn't see any antler on that second shot. Well he was laying flat on his side and in tall grass, I walked slowly thinking lordy I've done went and killed a cow, and I don't even know anybody with a cow permit... Well as I got closer, my fears were eased,, that unmistakable aroma of an old herd bull started wafting down the hill...
I breathed a huge sigh of relief, dressed and tagged him. About that time my friend Doug came trotting into the meadow carrying the tobaggin. He had heard the shots, knew what they meant and came on high. We were even into camp when we could hear the talk about "yup he got an old bull".. the aroma preceeded us...
On the way home there was a check station in the Sybille canyon, I pulled in, and the Warden started walking across the parking area to see us, and well before he got to the trailer, he says " got an old bull did ya?"
That was one stinky old bull, but after he hung a few days we cut and wrapped him, and we ate good on that ol bugger all winter.. But I'll never forget the laughs we got from that stinky old bull.

[Don McDowell]

I should add that he did in fact have what was left of his antlers, the left side was broke off just at the star, the right side was a stob about 8 inches long that looked like someone had been using a dull axe to shorten and reshape.. He must of been a battling ol bugger, and I wonder what the other bulls the he tangled with looked like..

[Old Jim]

My "fondest" memories of smelly ol' bulls dates back to the mid-'70s around La Barge, WY. Four of us had bull tags and we dropped 4 nice bulls that snowy morning. I got to the 6x6 I had dropped and when I had him dressed, the other hunters said, "Mine next". So, as I already had "it" on me I obliged and gutted the other 3.

Upon arriving back at the main house, the lady of the house took one smell of me and said "not in my house you don't". So I dis-robed out back, down to my long-johns, before entering her kitchen.

Good memories,

Jim

[Ironramrod]

And speaking of "stink" bucks, I had one of those a number of years ago, too. We were out in the ND badlands hunting deer, and I shot a really big 3 point mule deer buck that was built about like a blocking back in a single wing football team. That part was ok, but he also had a lot of November "perfume" on, too.

When I got home after several extra days of grouse hunting, the girls took one smell and asked, "Do we have to eat that?" Well, we tried some chops, and they smelled just like the "perfume"; nobody would taste them. Then, I made up a small batch of sausage for a test drive, and amazingly it tasted just fine; no complaints. That was a good thing, because the whole deer would have been on his way to Dakota Zoo for mtn. lion food, if the sausage also had been "perfumed."

Regards

[Stephen Borud]

Good stories!

SB