When we saw this "backscratcher" bull asleep on his feet in a meadow, I thought, I've got to get that bull!

By now it was 4 p.m., and we were many miles from the boat. Feeling as if the hunt was over for the day, we started the long march back. But, then, a funny thing happened on the way to the boat. As we topped one of many hills, we saw a bull standing in a meadow, seemingly sound asleep. Quickly we swung downwind and stalked within 90 yards of the sleeping bull. In 45 minutes, he had not moved an inch.

We couldn't get any closer from that angle, so I circled around a knob to look for another approach. In the process, I saw another bull, also sound asleep on his feet, in the next meadow over. This one had very unusual antlers with long trez tines -- back scratchers -- and instantly I thought, I've got to get that bull!

I ran back to get Charlie and Mark, and soon Mark and I were stalking as Charlie directed us from a vantage point. We'd scarcely made our move when the backscratcher bull woke up, walked up an adjacent hill, and began feeding -- directly toward us. Now we were trapped in the open. And to make matters worse, the other meadow bull had come to life and walked up behind us. Now he was standing 50 yards away, watching us.

Freeze!

We tried our best to look like clumps of tundra, but that bull behind us would have none of that. To top things off, he walked over to the backscratcher bull and -- I'll swear this is true -- whispered to him about the two yahoos hunkered in the bushes.

Now totally suspicious, both bulls started circling us to get our wind. The bigger bull stayed a safe 50 yards out. But the backscratcher bull made a mistake by taking a shortcut that brought him within 30 yards. Somehow I got to full draw, and when I shot, the bull ran out onto a flat and went down.

By the time we'd butchered the bull, packed the meat and antlers back to the boat, and crossed the lake to camp, it was 9 p.m. Our day had started at 6 a.m. As Jack O'Connor had made so clear, Easy stuff, this caribou hunting!

MONDAY, AUGUST 23, WAS our last day. With both of my tags filled, I again went with Larry as cameraman. He also had taken a bull the day before and was eager to try for a second.

When we saw three bulls on a peninsula, Larry and I took a stand in a narrow bottleneck while our guides circled around to drive the bulls to us. To escape, the animals would HAVE to come by us.

However, as soon as the drive began, two of the bulls ran straight to the lakeshore and swam to the mainland. The third did head toward Larry and me, but when he topped a hill some 300 yards away, he stood and looked our direction, seemingly analyzing the bottleneck. He couldn't see us hiding in the brush, and there was no way he smelled us. Still, he knew he was trapped. At length he turned 90 degrees, walked down to the shore, and swam a bay to safety. Dumb caribou!

That seemed to end our hunt, but as we were boating back to camp, we spotted seven bulls on a small island. This seemed like a cinch. We virtually had them trapped.

One of the bulls was bedded by himself in a depression near the water, in perfect position for a stalk. We easily crawled within 60 yards and were analyzing the situation. It appeared we could cut that distance in half, and since the caribou seemed to be sound asleep, stalking him would be easy.

Just as we began to make our final move, we heard screeching and cackling above us and looked up to see a pair of peregrine falcons diving at us. They had a nest nearby -- we later found it -- and were trying to drive us away.

The bull we were stalking instantly awoke and looked up at the falcons. Without hesitation, he jumped to his feet and made a made dash toward the water. The other six bulls immediately joined him, and they all swam to the mainland and galloped away, never looking back.

For more than 30 years I've hunted big game across North America and have seen animals pull some amazing stunts. But an early warning system in the sky? That beats them all.

Caribou are so stupid. No wonder they're pathetically easy to stalk.

Author's Notes: This hunt was featured on Bowhunter Magazine TV. If you missed it, you still can catch all the action on DVD. For ordering information, visit our online store.

During the same week, my companions Larry D. Jones, Jeff Tusing, Leroy Burnett, and Brad Barr also took caribou. For more information on this excellent hunt, contact: Aurora Caribou Camp, PO Box 1266, Yellowknife, NWT Canada X1A 2N9; (867) 873-4818; aurora.caribou@ssimicro.com.