Targeting Big Bulls: It’s All About the Angle

Man, there’s something about chasing a big bull that gets in your blood. It’s not just elk hunting—it’s a whole different game when you’re targeting the bull. You know, that one old monarch that’s dodged arrows, bullets, and every hunter who’s sniffed his trail for years. I’ve been at this a long time, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: finding big bulls isn’t about glassing a million acres hoping to get lucky. It’s about getting the right angle on an area you know he’s in—and sometimes that means getting in tight.

Let’s break it down. In our Elk Hunt community, we talk about the progression: 101 is stumbling around with a tag and a prayer, 201 is building a system that puts you on elk year after year, and 301? That’s taking your system and dialing it in on one target bull. It’s relentless. It’s trusting your gut even when you haven’t laid eyes on him in weeks. Eric’s story from last week’s podcast is the perfect example—28 days without a sighting, but he knew that bull was still in there. That’s faith in the process, man.

Big Bulls Don’t Hide in Plain Sight

Here’s the deal: finding elk is one thing. You can cover country, glass from the high points, and turn up a herd if you put in the miles. But big, old bulls? They don’t get old by being easy to spot. They’re ghosts—slipping into the shadows of a draw, bedding in a timbered finger you can’t see from the big vantage. That’s where the angle comes in. You’ve got to find the piece of the puzzle that’s been missing, and nine times outta ten, it’s not gonna show up through a spotting scope at 2,000 yards.

Take my buddy’s chase for that AC/DC bull—the one we talked about on the pod. Five years of glassing the same hillside, and I finally spotted his bone pile from a ridge I’d walked a hundred times. Why’d it take so long? Because I didn’t have the right angle until the sun hit just right, and that tight, brushy draw lit up like a neon sign. Big bulls live in those overlooked pockets. You’ve gotta start big—scout the unit, learn the ridges, map the water—but then work tighter. Peel back the layers without bumping him.

Trust Your Gut, Work the System

Targeting big bulls is as much mental as it is physical. You’re gonna hit days—sometimes weeks—where you’ve got no proof he’s still there. No fresh tracks, no rubs, no glimpse of antler. That’s when the doubt creeps in. “Did he slip to the next drainage? Did a native tag him? Is he in Canada by now?” But if you’ve done your homework—trail cams, shed history, years of boots-on-the-ground—you’ve gotta trust that he’s still in that unit. Eric stuck to his guns for 28 days, hitting the same area, tweaking his approach, and it paid off. That’s 301-level hunting right there.

Sometimes it means getting in close. I’m not saying crash the timber and blow him out—patience is still king—but there’s a time to ditch the glassing knob and drop into his world. Work the wind, move slow, and find that angle the big vantage missed. Maybe it’s a sub-ridge 300 yards below your usual spot, or a finger canyon where the elk are bugling in November when they should’ve shut up weeks ago. That’s what happened with 88—horns clashing in a draw pulled me in, and suddenly I’m 298 yards from the bull I’d lost for a month.

The Payoff

Big bulls test you. They’ll make you question your system, your sanity, everything. But when it comes together—when you finally get that angle and see those ivory tips poke through the timber—it’s worth every mile, every early morning, every time you told yourself “he’s still here.” That’s the rush of targeting big bulls. It’s not just filling a tag; it’s cracking the code on a survivor who’s outsmarted everyone else.

So next time you’re out there, don’t just hunt elk—hunt the elk. Start big, work tight, and trust your gut. The old man of the mountain’s waiting.

This week I did a podcast with Eric Vanderzanden about his 2024 Oregon Bull. It might be one of the best podcasts I have done in the last year. He executed the perfect playbook of turning up a target bull. Check it out here. 

- Cody Rich