Hunter0925
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2020
- Messages
- 56
With the move to WY I have met some great people. A quickly made friend made his way into elk camp with my son and I.
I had tagged my bull a week earlier so this camp was originally going to be all about my son but we were in the unit a few days early and my buddy had a season extension so we pulled double duty. There was no reason not to scout and hunt at the same time and my buddy had never killed a bull. Camp was set on Sunday afternoon and we began glassing for the evening.
At first all we turned up was a few whitetail, quite a few mule deer and the obligatory pronghorn that seemed to out number the grains of sand on the prairie. I stayed behind the spotting scope and all of a sudden there were elk! This wasn't one or two but a herd of 60ish animals and multiple bulls! I am hard of hearing but my son could hear the occasional bugle while I was watching through the spotter and could read the body language. Sadly, there was no play to be made that night so we made our way back to the tent for the evening while we dreamed of bugling bulls and sun bleached prairie antlers.
Monday morning we slept late (6) as this wasn't going to be a race. If the elk were still there it was going to be a 1.5-2 hour drive around and then a long, arduous hike over the mountain and down bottom to the last known location. We wanted to glass again to verify they were there before we went through all that.
As the sun rose we were hard behind glass. The 60 head we had seen weren't there..... Now there were 200 head there! My son counted (13 year old counting, but honestly, I believe it) 45 bulls in the harems and herds! A quick plan was made and the 3 amigos were off on their trusty f150 steeds across the prairie for the ride before the climb!
As we parked the truck I asked my buddy if the hike was to far. According to on-x the elk were 3.4 miles straight line from our closest point. There was no straight line to walk. There was 700 foot of vertical climb, boulder fields and sheer drop offs to navigate. He told me as long as we went slow we would be ok.
The hike was slow but consistent. It has its tough moments but was manageable. As we neared the top the constant screams of rutting elk met our ears. These elk couldn't be bedded and couldn't be far but we didn't know if they had made it to public land or not.
I had my son and friend sit to eat and drink while I slipped down to try and locate the elk. Every cliff band and boulder I crossed I just knew there would be elk below it but I kept being blocked by another obstacle that obstructed my vision.
Finally I had had enough so I climbed back up to them. I asked my buddy if this was going to be to far or if he felt it was doable. He again confirmed that if we kept it slow he would be fine. My son was in the clouds listening to the bulls bugle, his cloud 9 moments would come a few days later.
I planned our approach carefully as I didn't know if we would bump elk. As we eased through the rocks I saw 3 elk that were heading to public and the herd of 200 squarely on private. My son saw the 3 on public and was quick to tell me that they were all bulls!
We slipped, fell and crawled our way to 407 yards and I got my buddy set up to shoot. I tried calming him down by making him dry fire. I sent my son back to my pack to get my jacket for a better rest between the jagged rocks we were perched on. I saw the round go into the chamber and my buddy said, "sending"...... My 5 years in the USMC and his 4 in the USMC plus 15 in the WY national guard gives us a clear understanding of each other......
Boom!
Whop!
Hit!
Send another!
Miss!
Hit!
He's down!
The other 2 bulls have no idea what happened. Neither does the herd but they head across the prairie with one less bull than they came there with, One bull that will feed a family for the next year, One set of ivories that will be a momento of a hunt of a lifetime and one set of antlers that will adorn a wall as a reminder of friendship and memories of a first elk and what was earned.
We began the breaking down of a years worth of meat and my buddy told me he was out of water. I gave him an extra nalgene bottle I had and we realized we had a chore of a pack out. We were in a sand and sage flat. The closest real tree was a mile away. This entire elk had to move before dark.
The decision was made for 1 difficult packout. My son (freshly 13 and 70 pounds) would carry back straps and tenderloins, I would carry and ham and front shoulder and my buddy would carry a ham, front shoulder and head. 2.5 miles later we were hanging some meat. The load was to much to bear for the 4.5 mile pack out and total gain of elevation.
We started the packout at 4, all completely out of water 1.5 miles from the truck and made it to camp at 2am. Anybody who thinks elk hunting is for the faint of heart must be hunting private or I'm doing it wrong but it sure ain't for the faint of heart!
This was my buddy's first bull, first hard pack out and my sons first pack out at all!
I had tagged my bull a week earlier so this camp was originally going to be all about my son but we were in the unit a few days early and my buddy had a season extension so we pulled double duty. There was no reason not to scout and hunt at the same time and my buddy had never killed a bull. Camp was set on Sunday afternoon and we began glassing for the evening.
At first all we turned up was a few whitetail, quite a few mule deer and the obligatory pronghorn that seemed to out number the grains of sand on the prairie. I stayed behind the spotting scope and all of a sudden there were elk! This wasn't one or two but a herd of 60ish animals and multiple bulls! I am hard of hearing but my son could hear the occasional bugle while I was watching through the spotter and could read the body language. Sadly, there was no play to be made that night so we made our way back to the tent for the evening while we dreamed of bugling bulls and sun bleached prairie antlers.
Monday morning we slept late (6) as this wasn't going to be a race. If the elk were still there it was going to be a 1.5-2 hour drive around and then a long, arduous hike over the mountain and down bottom to the last known location. We wanted to glass again to verify they were there before we went through all that.
As the sun rose we were hard behind glass. The 60 head we had seen weren't there..... Now there were 200 head there! My son counted (13 year old counting, but honestly, I believe it) 45 bulls in the harems and herds! A quick plan was made and the 3 amigos were off on their trusty f150 steeds across the prairie for the ride before the climb!
As we parked the truck I asked my buddy if the hike was to far. According to on-x the elk were 3.4 miles straight line from our closest point. There was no straight line to walk. There was 700 foot of vertical climb, boulder fields and sheer drop offs to navigate. He told me as long as we went slow we would be ok.
The hike was slow but consistent. It has its tough moments but was manageable. As we neared the top the constant screams of rutting elk met our ears. These elk couldn't be bedded and couldn't be far but we didn't know if they had made it to public land or not.
I had my son and friend sit to eat and drink while I slipped down to try and locate the elk. Every cliff band and boulder I crossed I just knew there would be elk below it but I kept being blocked by another obstacle that obstructed my vision.
Finally I had had enough so I climbed back up to them. I asked my buddy if this was going to be to far or if he felt it was doable. He again confirmed that if we kept it slow he would be fine. My son was in the clouds listening to the bulls bugle, his cloud 9 moments would come a few days later.
I planned our approach carefully as I didn't know if we would bump elk. As we eased through the rocks I saw 3 elk that were heading to public and the herd of 200 squarely on private. My son saw the 3 on public and was quick to tell me that they were all bulls!
We slipped, fell and crawled our way to 407 yards and I got my buddy set up to shoot. I tried calming him down by making him dry fire. I sent my son back to my pack to get my jacket for a better rest between the jagged rocks we were perched on. I saw the round go into the chamber and my buddy said, "sending"...... My 5 years in the USMC and his 4 in the USMC plus 15 in the WY national guard gives us a clear understanding of each other......
Boom!
Whop!
Hit!
Send another!
Miss!
Hit!
He's down!
The other 2 bulls have no idea what happened. Neither does the herd but they head across the prairie with one less bull than they came there with, One bull that will feed a family for the next year, One set of ivories that will be a momento of a hunt of a lifetime and one set of antlers that will adorn a wall as a reminder of friendship and memories of a first elk and what was earned.
We began the breaking down of a years worth of meat and my buddy told me he was out of water. I gave him an extra nalgene bottle I had and we realized we had a chore of a pack out. We were in a sand and sage flat. The closest real tree was a mile away. This entire elk had to move before dark.
The decision was made for 1 difficult packout. My son (freshly 13 and 70 pounds) would carry back straps and tenderloins, I would carry and ham and front shoulder and my buddy would carry a ham, front shoulder and head. 2.5 miles later we were hanging some meat. The load was to much to bear for the 4.5 mile pack out and total gain of elevation.
We started the packout at 4, all completely out of water 1.5 miles from the truck and made it to camp at 2am. Anybody who thinks elk hunting is for the faint of heart must be hunting private or I'm doing it wrong but it sure ain't for the faint of heart!
This was my buddy's first bull, first hard pack out and my sons first pack out at all!
congrats 
