With only five total days to hunt in a tough-to-draw unit, Evans was able to tag this gross-scoring 370-inch bull after spotting an animal he estimated would score over 400 inches.
"The second to the last day of the hunt I had a 335-class bull in my sights, but didn't shoot. I knew that I had one more day and have developed the discipline to give a trophy every opportunity. The final day of that season, I shot a bull that scored 312. The shot was close, about 12 yards, and the animal went down quickly. My brother and I spent the next day getting the bull out and then quickly broke camp and headed for the next state.
"I had hunted 21 days straight before taking an animal and I had just five days left in the next state's season. The second hunt had much better trophy potential. There were only 50 tags and a real chance for a 400-inch bull so I passed up quite a lot of antlers. Early in the hunt I saw a bull over 400 inches and spent the rest of the hunt trying to find it. As sometimes is the case, I passed up several bulls that were really big. Getting down to the end of the season, I took one that grossed 370 and nets 360. Still, I'm very happy."
Prior to the season, Evans practices at distances over 100 yards. Despite this long-range practice regimen, he was thrilled to take all three bulls at 12, 19, and 20 yards.
BUGLING AND COW CALLING
"I don't really have a procedure when calling elk," Evans began. "I used to overcall with bugling or cow calls and that's not realistic. To remedy the times when I feel I must call, I do calf sounds and have had this work well for me. If a calf gets lost, it just calls constantly, over and over. It is a higher version of a cow sound, usually shorter. It often gets the cows to say something and then the bulls get started.
"With respect to bugling, I prefer to hear a bull bugle or locate it with a bugle from a distance. Preferable it will bugle on its own. If it does, I get on the down wind side, as close as I possibly can without saying anything. I start with the most low-key call, regular cow sounds and mews. A lot of times, the bull won't say anything or keeps bugling, but not as a response to me. Then I step it up a little bit and have had good luck with more raspy, hyper-hot sounds. I don't go all out, but call a little bit raspy or aggressive. A lot of times that will get that bull going.
"Two years ago a bull was bugling from its bed. I tried soft sounds, then got raspier and the bull would answer, but still not get up. So, I tried to sound like a bull, giving some tending sounds, bugles and raspy cow sounds. That did it. In it came. I have had that scenario happen a number of times.
"I have also killed several bulls after just bugling at them. I have found that if you bugle from a distance they will answer, while from mid-range they will move away. If you bugle when they are really close, they will come fast. I have bugled in thick country at 10 yards where we can't see each other. That's the extreme of course, yet you want to get as close as the terrain will allow. This fall, I hunted in northern Idaho late in September and got within 20 yards of two bulls where I could see them. They weren't big enough."
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