Top_Heavy's World

The rain was coming down in sheets now. I could actually see differing levels of water fall as the clouds rolled thru. We had light misty rains, the ones that got the mountain grass and blueberry bushes slick, as if walking the mountain trails wasn't already tough enough. We had the steady down pour, heavy enough to turn the mountain side into a 1/2" deep lake... even on a 45 degree slope! We had horizontal rain, like what forced us to seek shelter from the winds on the slide we were laying in right now! We saw all types of rain today... every type actually.
I was with long time friend and hunting companion, Jason Able... "Abe". I was at Jason's wedding, actually played a special part with Matt and Pat. I have known Jason through thick and thin... he is the kind of guy you can bet the mortgage payment on. Tall, even taller than me, handsome as all get out, his Italian back ground helps there, and strong as any college tightend stand out can be! I still remember the time he snatched me up by my groin and my throat... he actually picked me up like that and military pressed my 230lbs over his head before I could grab onto anything... I felt like a rag doll. That is a different hunt, but I bet you get the picture about Abe! The last thing I remember his mother saying to me was "Matt, you have traveled and hunted a lot more than Jason... no, look at me... bring my boy back." I thought it a little dramatic, but I promised her, to make her feel better. I knew right there, I would have stand between a grizzly and Abe.
We had sought shelter on the calm side of a mountain top. We were in a grassy spot in the middle of a rock slide. From our position we could see the basin where several mountains came together and we could glass a long pass that proved to be a great migration area over the past days. I had taken a nice bull and Abe had packed most of it out for me, and I was hoping to return the favor. We had our backs to the rain, wind and miserable weather, as we talked about the 'bou he planned to shoot. He wanted one with his bow in the worst way. We talked about the world's problems and I think we solved some of them while up on that wind swept hill. We finally got tired of the rain, even good conversation gets old, and the miles we logged that morning left us worn out. We rolled to our bellies and dozed off. I don't know how long I slept, maybe only moments, but when I woke up the rain was gone and the sky was beginning to clear. I sat glassing the bare hillsides for any movement. I was shocked to see a pair of nice bulls only a few hundred yards below us, working their way towards our slide. "Jason... Jason... " I spoke up the second time to wake him. "What?" was the sleepy resonse. "You want to shoot a good bull right? Is one of these big enough?" He rolled over and sat up. He was as shocked as I was to see the 2 bulls. They were now less than 200 yards and the course they were on would put them in our laps. Abe grabbed his bow and tightened the release around his wrist.
I followed as we crawled our way behind a roll in the ground. We used this cover to slide into great shooting position. Abe peeked over the rise and the bulls looked as though they would pass out of range. "Give me the gun" he said as he handed me the bow. Jason is a lefty, but my rifle was sighted in, and he can shoot... "OK", I took the bow and he popped open the scope caps. We waited until the bull turned and with a squeeze, Abe had his trophy. The bull traveled down hill for a short distance and dropped amongst the cedars that fill the valleys. We took photos of the bull and started the field dressing... The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I don't know what was watching, but I have no doubt... we were being watched! I stepped back and picked up the rifle. It was only a step away, but right now that was too far! Abe, who was looking the other way as he butchered, stopped and looked around. "It feels like we are being watched!" he whispered. I was now feeling a little out of my elemet. Only hours earlier we had seen a huge grizzly working this valley, I was afraid it was moving towards the smell of fresh caribou steaks and the two crazy hunters creating the smell. Abe loaded the back pack as fast as he could and I put it on. He helped me to my feet and he grabbed the 4 meat sacks that held the rest of the meat. We leaned into the task at hand and didn't stop until we were a couple of hundred yards up hill from the kill site. I pulled out the GPS and found the Home waypoint. We were 1.5 miles from camp and about 600 feet lower in elevation. Abe couldn't hold the meat sacks and his bow, so he started off ahead of me. He was much faster than I was, under the heavy load of antlers and meat. He was going to get back to camp and come back with help to get the last bags. I took a route that was a little longer, but would keep me well away from the alder patches that dotted the hill sides. It was a grueling haul, the 10 plus pounds of rifle didn't help the cause. I finally made it and waited for the guys. Soon we were eating fresh steaks and clebrating another successful afternoon.

This was the bull Jason traveled so far for, a great 340 class bull caribou!