Just now to a connection. Sorry for the delay.
Mr. Big and his few cows made their appearance, just before dark. We had made a set up, as I was typing earlier.
The close bugles stopped and a bugle was going further down the hill. Figured we lost this bull, and with only a half hour of filming light, we had better get moving toward them.
We pull the decoy and Buschy waves me and Jim over toward him. We visit, and he decides we should try get in front of that bugle moving down the hill. Buschy moves to an opening in the oaks and instantly squats down and gives us the "get down" had signals.
He points down the ridge and states a big one is just below us. He had left his cows and was coming in silently to check out the soft mews being made above him. I can't seem him, for the crest of the ridge, but Buschy is looking real big-eyed as he turns back and says he must move around to try get in front.
I ease up to him and see the big dude moving back down to his cows and pushing them through the scattered trees. Buschy says he and the camera guys will head east and try get in front of them. Jim and I offer to stay and cow call, hoping the bull will occasionally respond and give Buschy a lead on the bull and allow him to set up in front.
I watch as Buschy and the camera guys move around the sparse cover. They stop as the bull and his cows move across an opening into the next patch of timber. One cow lingers behind in some brush and has her eyes on Buschy and the camera guys. No way Buschy can see this cow from his angle, but she is broad side in front of me, about 150 yards.
Expecting she will bust them, I let out the most distracting series of calls I can think of, wanting to garner her attention and allow Buschy and the camera guys to clear the opening without alerting the cow. I even standup and grab the decoy in an up and down manner, hoping she will watch me. No luck, as she is locked on them. As they get to the middle of the opening, this lone cow heads straight towards the herd and the big bull.
The bull has straggled back to investigate my strange cow calling sequence and has sounded off a couple times. He is the big guy from the day before. Very, very big.
This bull sees the cow coming towards him at a fast clip. She runs by and grabs the rest of the cows. They head off toward the end of the bench. The bull lingers for a minute or so, then turns. Buschy and the camera guys are at full throttle, trying to get to the spot where the cows have dropped off the bench, about three hundred yards in front.
If they get there in time, they will cut off the bull and he will have a shot. Fearing his cows are getting away, the bull picks up the pace and makes the dark timber off the edge of the bench, before our crew can get there. Damn fun to watch from above, but equally frustrating, knowing this is the last evening.,
And, knowing that while running at full tilt, the camera guys cannot take time to set up and get footage, I know this is not going to make much in the way of video. But, it is a gamble we take, every time we set up for a scene, every time we push the limits of shooting light, and many other things that go into TV. Yet, it is worth the gamble, if we are able to get there and Buschy gets the shot.
So we leave Arizona with a great story to tell, some great footage of super bulls, and move on to Colorado and try to get a sheep kill on film. In the meantime, Buschy and Jim will stay, and with a little help from Prairie Ghost, I think this bull will get an all expense paid trip back to North Dakota with Buschy.
The bull is making too many appearances, and with another week to go, I know Buschy will have his chances. And, he will no longer be burdened and slowed down by Fin and the OYOA camera crew.
Thanks Jim and Buschy. We had a great time and hope the editors can do the story justice. I will be looking often for the pics of the big guy. Best of luck.
Had hoped the picture I promised would be a grip and grin of the big bull, but for the time being, an Arizona sunset will have to do.
