Caribou Gear

2014 Wyoming bull

Nice bull buzz! I'm considering hunting Wyoming next year. Been in Colorado last 18 yrs but been bad the last 3. Anyone have recommendations on zones to pick or over counter areas.?
 
Well done on a crazy good bull! Congrats!

Make sure you put in a call to get the temps to climb a bit higher before I get there!

Which 7mm rifle? the -08?
 
Lots of good bulls coming out of 16 this year. I saw a 363 bull that came out of the first season. Heard of some others in the 330 - 340 range.
 
Dang this is a beautiful bull.

So many people out there have taken some nice elk this year. What do elk like this do to survive year in and year out. Are they just that far from the roads? Or do they hold in some miserable terrain every fall? I ask because I have a tough time imagining elk making it year in and out, even in the rough stuff, it just seems that living more than five years or so would require some luck on behalf of the elk.
 
Nameless Range,

I wonder about that as well and have a few thoughts.

There are hunters out there that think the particular unit makes a difference and "chase" information they beg, borrow, or out-right steal.

That's apparent right on this thread, as Triple BB (Ernest "Rick" Trujillo) has shown. He thinks that its all about the unit, and is willing to hack personal accounts to find it, but its not. The unit I took my bull in is no secret unit. Lots of people hunt it for deer, elk, and antelope every year, thousands I would imagine. I also know from the harvest reports and talking with the biologist for that unit, that the average bull killed is 2-3 years old. The unit is managed for opportunity, and not quality, which is reflected in the stats.

You could give a knucklehead like Rick Trujillo the best tags in the state year in and year out and he'd still manage to blow it...unless he hired an outfitter, as a resident hunter, to hold his hand, which he does all the time. Even then, the outfitters and guides are at the mercy of their clients lack of ability.

That said, I just believe that some elk find a place, not necessarily a nasty place, that hunters over-look. Those elk are usually not easy to find, live solitary lives, and it requires what the lazy hunters wont do...and that's spend a lot of time, as in many, many days of looking over the course of years. It requires a lot of patience and time to keep tabs on how the elk respond to pressure, weather, migration patterns, private land, etc. etc. etc. It also requires a tremendous amount of confidence to look, and look, and look some more until you figure things out and find what you're looking for. Some hunters savvy that stuff, some pay for outfitters to do it all for them, and others never do get it.

Looking at elk harvest stats, its pretty apparent that most just never do get it.

I found the bull I killed nearly 3 weeks prior to when I killed him. I looked for him for 2-3 hours on opening day, and was 100% confident that if I didn't see him on opening day, I would find him again once I got back from Montana. I also knew that the chances of anyone else finding him would be nearly zero, even though he was on public land. He was in a place that wasn't easy to glass and a place most hunters wouldn't even bother spending any time looking in.

That's how I think elk get old, they just find a place that gets over-looked and/or develop a pattern that keeps them away from hunters.

I could be wrong though...as I'm probably not the best source of information when it comes to elk hunting...not really my thing.
 
Congrats on the great Bull Buzz! Real men make their own luck and you definitely make your own luck! Nothing trumps experience, hours in the field and hard work. I will never forget what you did for my brother and I last January. You're one of the truly good guys in this world!

Congrats,
Chuck
 
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