Wyoming Elk - The other guys

[Intothewindoutdoors]

Oh how times have changed! I remember having to wait until you got home to tell people of your adventures. Now im hanging at camp with krshunter and checking hunt talk, updating facebook, checking my email and receiving text messages! Not that im complaining! It's very cool yo have this interaction with people and more importantly follow Fin on his adventures too. Im not sure what we have spent more time doing this trip, checking hunt talk or actually hunting! Either way it has been a blast so far! I have a good feeling about tomorrow but as everyone knows sometimes the elk don't read the script.

 

[krshunter]

So we get on the elk first thing this morning. Problem is so did three other trucks. One truck with three hunters from our home town apparently have permission to be on the private. We watch them try to walk directly at 100 of elk, (thats 200 eyes assuming none of them are blind) out on a flat instead of using a drainage they had. As you can imagine they didn't get close.

We watched uhf elk run off from about two miles away and decided top try to cut them off hoping we could tel the direction they were running. Just over a mile from the truck we get to a high point and nothing. We can see down to the deep drawhich is about 3/4 mile away but wouldn't be able to see them if they were in there. Only thing between here and there is the boundary fence 5 feet away and a small rise that couldn't conceal anything.

Stopped to take a layer of Sitka gear off, look left and here come 100 head of elk over the"small rise". They are still 300yds on the private but don't know we're here. Have a landowner running around, the trucks and spotted a game & fish warden spying on us. Think we'll hang here and hope they come over the hill. Stay tuned.....

 

[BirdDogWebb]

Good luck ! hope you can close the deal !

 

[krshunter]

They made their mistake!

 

[TheTone]

Pics soon? Congrats...

 

[emrah1028]

I'm liking this play by play so far! Keep at it!

Emrah

 

[Redfishing1983]

Can't wait to see the outcome!

 

[krshunter]

I don't know how to insert pictures in the middle of text so will have to do this with several posts. I guess in the end we didn't have it as bad as Fin but it wasn't easy. Nothing seemed to cooperate including weather, roads, elk, landowners or luck. I got to spend two full days hunting during the archery season which was a month long. I had guys on vacation, it was busy, project deadlines, new projects, reports, etc. It seemed that every time I tried to get out something came up whether at home or work. Plans got made without my knowledge that I couldn't say no to and the whole month of September came and went with only a couple of half days and the last two days spent in the field. We did get to hike around some amazing country and see some monster bulls on private land. The bugling that was going on the last two days made it all worth it. A few pictures from early season.

 

[krshunter]

The first two weeks of October was closed to hunting and I anticipated opening day on the 15th. But again plans were made by the family and I wasn't told till the last minute so missed opening weekend. I had to be out for medical reasons the next weekend and here we go again. Other unplanned things came up and I finally just said enough is enough. I'm taking three days off whether anyone else likes it or not. So starting Nov. 2nd I packed up and we headed out to set up camp. About camp. I haven't camped in years. On Oct. 31st I was in Lehi, UT and decided to hit Cabelas and maybe pick up a few things. Found the Cabelas brand Outfitter Lodge tent in the bargain cave nearly free (great little tent), a nice cot, a small Mr. Heater, and some Meindl boots. The only thing not purchased from the cave was the heater. Paid about 30% of new price for everything so I felt good about the purchase and now we didn't have to make the two hour drive each way every day.

In hind sight I should have also got a below zero sleeping bag. The only one I own is an old flannel type that my dad used in the 60's while firefighting. It is real heavey and I thought heavy would mean warm. NOPE! The first night the temperature dropped below zero. I had all of my Sitka gear on, two pairs of socks and zipped up all the way with my head covered. After about an hour of sleep I woke up freezing and spend the next 8 hours in the fetal position shivering. Couldn't keep my feet warm and it was clear the bag was not a cold weather bag.

The next day I was tired and sore from all of the shivering and it was hard keeping the eyes open to glass but we got after it again. Saw a few cows first thing on a BLM section but surrounded by private. Got checked by the game warden and asked about access. He gave a few names to check with and we headed off to knock on a few doors and ask about foot access across private to public sections. Actually had luck with the one landowner we were able to meet. Unfortunately we weren't seeing any elk yet on his land or he public we could now access from it. But he was very nice about it. Really appreciated the fact that we didn't have an ATV in the back of the truck and were willing to walk where we wanted to go. ATV's aren't received well by these guys as you can't get off of established roads anyway. Anyway, spent a good part of the day glassing different areas with no new elk spotted. As Fin will attest it was cold and windy and they were probably hunkered down in places we couldn't see them or get to them.

 

[krshunter]

Late on Thursday we headed north toward Fin and ran into another land owner when we had stopped to glass some public hill sides. He told us he had not seen elk since before the snow storm came through and all of the tracks they cut were headed south. He also said going north wasn't a good plan as there was 24"-30" of snow and much of it was going to be impassable. With that news we headed back toward the south and wanted to try to make contact with another land owner. On the way in we ran into one of the members of the family that owned the land. Very nice guy again, told us he had seen 100 head of elk only an hour ago and exactly where they were. But again it was mixed private and public. He thought they were on public when he saw them. He said they normally charge for hunting, especially during archery season but this late in the season if we saw something on their property to feel free to shoot it.

We headed off in the direction he pointed us and it put us out in the flats. After some maneuvering we found a way to get on the elk but were running out of light. By the time we got close to the elk we only saw about a dozen cows. Soon more cows and small bulls started coming up out of a creek bottom and we soon were looking at 100 head with some spikes, a couple very small bulls, a very big 6pt with a broken off right antler and a small 5pt with a club on the right that hung down below his jaw. As we got to them and we lost light they were on both sides of the fence but quickly crossing to the private side.

That night as we headed to camp we noticed the temps dropping to single digits again and I wasn't about to have a night like the last so we decided to head to town, refuel, sleep in a warm bed and get some warmer sleeping gear for the rest of the trip. It was about 8:00 on the way home when we unfortunately had a mishap and drove the truck into a pond off the side of the road. Not in a place where we expected to see anyone, we hiked back up the road a couple of miles and fortunately found a ranch hand up watching TV in a single wide trailer at a junction of county roads. No pics of the stuck, but we did get it on video. Finally got back to town late, slept in the next morning with plans to try to find the elk for an afternoon stalk.

When we got back to the area we didn't immediately see the elk. Ran up the road a couple miles and cut their tracks. They walked right up the county road for about 3/4 mile before peeling off north. We went slow, glassed and finally found them again. Looking at the map there was a shot again that they might be on public. We parked, made a plan and headed toward them. As we got closer they were on both sides of our boundary fence, but all of the bulls were on the wrong side by only about 80yds. See a theme? And they were on one of the land owners who won't allow access. Well not without a hefty fee not worth paying.

Found the elk the next morning as well but now with it being a weekend there were several other hunters watching them too but all just going back and forth on the county roads hoping elk might just run out in front of them. Three paying hunters were hunting the private we did not have access too and walked right at the elk in the open. It pushed the elk and they could have run toward another little strip of public again. We made a plan and headed out. Got to the boundary fence and saw nothing immediately but were soon shocked as they walked up a small draw into sight just 300 yds away and we had hope. At about 300 yds though they just stopped and bedded. We sat right on the fence for almost 4 hours in a brutal wind hoping they would get up and feed toward us and maybe over the fence. But when they got up to feed they feed back downhill never knowing we were there. We pulled away and got back to the truck to warm up and rethink. The last pic is checking HuntTalk posts.

 

[krshunter]

On the way around to the other side of the drainage we ran into another game warde, got checked and had a good converstion. He told us of 500 head of elk up on an eastern hillside where hunters had just harvested a cow but the elk were moving around and we might catch them on a small piece of public with them moving so much. We also ran into the land owner and what a prick. I don't mind being told no after asking but he was a prick from the first word and didn't even want to talk to us. One of the land owners that apparently shows up to G&F meetings to complain about the damage but won't let hunters be part of the solution. Anyway, we started heading south to see if we could get glass on such a large group of elk. Not a mile down the road and the whole herd has come off the mountain several miles away and crossed the county road right in front of us. What a sight.

We watched them in awe for a bit and just wanted to see where they were going. We knew there was one more full section of puclicly accessible land off in the distance and there was a slight chance they could head that direction so we turned around and went back the direction we came from. We'd stop every now and again to glass them and see if they were still moving. They were and fast. They have gone 6 miles by now from where they started coming down the mountain and it's only been 15 minutes. Man can they cover ground.

They looked like they could be headed toward the public section. The only thing I could see going wrong is that once they got in the bottom of the drainage they may stay in it and it isn't in the public section. The county road cut through the upper corner of the section so we parked and got prepared to walk into the middle of the section. As we started off another truck pulled up behind us and got out and started following us. It was a father and son.and they said you guys were here first so we'll just hang back and stay out of your way. But as we walked they were right along side us. We tried to make the best of it but hard figuring out how to hide four guys, two who are in jean and sweatshirts.

We made a plan to get to a small rise, lay down and hope the elk were coming right at us still. As we got there we saw them walking up the fenceline. On the wrong side again. I figured the way things have gone they would walk single file up the fence, cross the road and be on private again with no public in view. They got to a poing though and stopped for the first time in 30 minutes. We watched and they started coming across the fence. Wow, what is happening I thought. This could actually work out. We watched as they started to feed and some of the cows started heading up a very small draw but away from us. The rest of the herd didn't follow though and they started to walk up the bigger draw right below us. Then they slowly changed direction again. We backed off the top of the rise and snuck down around the low side hoping to cut them off as they went by. As we got set up, I poked my head over the brush to find the head of the herd less than 100 yds away. I was ready to go and there were a couple of bulls in the group at least in the 350" category. Many other smaller bulls too. The wind was howling in their direction and we just hoped we made it long enough to get a couple of shots off. The other guy had his kid lay down right next to me, no rest to shoot from and I wasn't sure if he was going to get anxious and just pull the trigger or what. All of a sudden the lead cows heads went up and they had winded us. The whole herd started to swing away from us and walk away, then the lead cows picked up the pace. I was moving my rifle around trying to find one of the big bulls but they were using the cows well and with the whole herd now moving I wasn't going to get a shot off on one of them without possibly hitting another elk behind them. I swung my rifle back to the back of the herd and picked out the only pull that wasn't a spike. I wasn't sure what the young man was going to do but we were about out of opportunity and I wasn't going to let 500 head of elk get away without something going down. I stayed on him, waited for him to clear and pulled the trigger at just over 100yds as he was trotting away. I knew the hit was good but he stayed with the herd. As we stood up to watch them run around the bottom of the hill the bull pulled away from the herd, twirled in a circle and fell to the ground. The rest of the herd ran about 500 yds and turned to watch us approach the downed bull.

He wasn't the big one I had hoped for this season, but he was down and his meat is going in the freezer. After all of the events leading up to it I was happy to have an elk down no matter the size. It was nice to have a plan finally pay off. We knew we were doing things right all week getting into shooting range time and time again, to be foiled by fences. This time they made a mistake and we got lucky. The other guy you'll see in a couple of pictures is my partner Aaron. Thanks to him for hanging out with me for the last week and getting every move we made on camera. Thanks to Randy for reminding us that someone else was having it just as rough if not worse and we still needed to keep with it. Thanks for taking calls too Randy!!! What a great overall hunt with lots of memories and great time with friends. Thanks to everyone for following along and your positive comments. Really helped keep me motivated. Good luck to everyone else this season.

 

[fishing4sanity]

Congratulations and good job staying at until it finally came together. That's a good looking bull and many good meals to come.

 

[POk3s]

SWEET! Way to get it done! You gotta love those checkerboard areas...but then again you gotta hate 'em! Congratulations!

 

[JohnCushman]

Great job and awesome story!! Thanks for taking us along

 

[buck23]

Great hunt and post to follow.Glad you got a nice bull for all your effort.

 

[Outdooraddict]

Great ending to a great story! Congrats.

 

[gman82001]

Great story bury that will be one of your most remembered hunts with all the ups and downs

 

[Redfishing1983]

Congrats on a nice and hard earned bull!!!!! Great story and pictures to boot!!! Just curious but did the young hunter get an elk out of the big herd as well???

 

[Intothewindoutdoors]

Congrats on a nice and hard earned bull!!!!! Great story and pictures to boot!!! Just curious but did the young hunter get an elk out of the big herd as well???

Redfishing, yes the young hunter shot a great bull later out of the heard! Here is a pic of him and his first bull!

 

[Intothewindoutdoors]

Ken Thanks for a great hunt man! Glad I could be a part of it! We worked hard for this one this year and I'm glad it worked out the way it did. Congrats on a great bull and a great story!