noharleyyet
Well-known member
Yer killin' me...keep it coming.
..and thanks for reminding me to put Ty PM on the list.
..and thanks for reminding me to put Ty PM on the list.
Wyoming Safari 2013
- Thread starter MinnesotaHunter
- Start date
M
MN Public Hunter
Guest
Good luck Ross... I will update you on the MN deer opener you will be missing this weekend
ihuntelk
Member
Sounds fun. Gotta love having 3 tags in your pocket during the same time-frame. Keep at it!
-Cade
www.HuntForeverWest.com
-Cade
www.HuntForeverWest.com
Biscuit Hunter
New member
Hopefully no news is good news...
walnuttree
New member
We are waiting????
MinnesotaHunter
Well-known member
We made it home
Well, the hunt was awesome. I have never been in elk like I was this hunt. Unfortunately, I was never able to close the deal on a cow. Now, had I had a bull tag the story would have ended much differently.
Last Wednesday, after my hunt the night before, we decided to move camp so we would be closer to the area where I saw these elk, and it ended up being the right move, but I had no cell service. This meant the prospect of live hunt updates was no longer possible, so I will catch you up on how things played out. We saw some of the most amazing elk activity of our live. Truely awesome.
Day 4: We started the morning working our way out on the back side of a ridge that wrapped around the top of a steep, narrow drainage with a grassy meadow running down the meadow. As we worked down the ridge it started to get light and we could see 2 bulls ahead of us moving up into the trees, looking like they would head over a saddle into the drainage. As it got lighter, we saw a lone cow heading up the face, following the 2 bulls, and it looked like we could get in between her and the saddle for a shot. My old First Sergeant had a cow tag as well and he couldn't come back out with a rifle, so he was going to get the first opportunity. She was heading right towards him, I thought it was a done deal, and then I felt the wind hit the back of my neck....... The rest of the day we hunted around that ridge and moved over to the series of draws that ran down into the stream where I had seen the elk the night before, but didn't see any elk.
My view looking down into the draw.
Day 5: Thursday morning we were moving along a trail that ran next to the stream about a mile down from where I had seen the bucks coming out two nights before. It was about 9am, and as we came around a bend in the trail, we came face to face with about 20 elk who were all down for a drink, out in the wide open. They were about, 120 yds away, and trotted off right away heading towards private land. We were perplexed as to why they were there, but who can complain about seeing all these elk? were got up to the top of the hill looking down into the draws and we heard a bugle down towards the steam, so the 2 of us with cow tags decided to drop down in and see what we could figure out. just as we were stepping off one of the other 3 guys who were going to hunt muleys up in the sage bowls above the stream, got our attention and told us to look across the valley. I saw something I never thought I would see in my whole life. Easily, over 200 elk were walking up out of the valley across from us, onto the open, flat topped ridge about 1.5 miles away, adn then the bulls started splitting up the cows for the rut. I stopped counting mature bulls (300 plus) at 15. I am no expert elk scorer, but at least 3 of those bulls looked like bulldozers, and I would be confident in saying they easily topping 350-360". We watched/photogrphed/videoed these elk for about 30-45 minutes. I have heard about this happening, but to watch these bulls working like cutting horses seprating off the cows they were claiming was unbelievable. I watched a 300+ 6x6 walk towards a group of cows being hearded, and one of the big toads saw him coming, and charged him. That "smaller" bull cowered like a little kid. As far as all of us were concerned the trip had culminated. It didn't matter if we didn't fill one single tag, this trip would go down as a hunting highlight for the rest of our lives.
All week we had been trying stalks on muleys when we saw them. None of us really were worried about shooting a big muley, but really just wanted to try and stalk and kill one with a bow, since none of us had before. That afternoon we found several groups of muleys, and apparently we had learned something from our previous failed attempts. Three fo us ended up connecting on small bucks that afternoon. My buck was bedded just over a drop off into a draw below us when we spotted him, and it was almost anti-climactic how easy the stalk was and the 33 yd shot. He ended up running down the draw and we saw him go down just at the edge of some trees. He was a small 3x3, but I think I worked harder for this buck than about any other animal I have killed. Stalking muleys in the wide open is no joke, and I definately learned why people have to be so patient waiting for bucks to be in stalkable positions. That night we had dinner of fried tenderloins, heart, onions, and bacon washed down with some PBR. This may have been the coolest day of hunting I have ever experienced.
Dinner of champions!
Day 6: Friday morning we sat along that stream that we saw the elk leaving the morning before. We knew it was a long shot, after yesterday's debacle, but after all the elk in the valley seemed to have headed out of the valley to split up the girls the day before, we didn't have a good idea where any of them went back in to, so water seemed like the best bet. Nothing came in which was pretty much expected, but we did glass 7-8 elk way up above us on the ridge where we tried to ambush the lone cow a couple days earlier, so we devised a plan to split up and glass that ridge to try and see where they would come out that night. Friday afternoon the valley got alot more crowded with hunters, and it seemed like the elk noticed, but with the rut kicking in full steam they were still making noise. We ended up spotting a group of about 20 elk coming out of the timber to feed about 40 minutes before dark into the steep narrow drainage on the back side of the ridge, so we knew where we were going the next morning. Jason (my old First Sergeant) stayed down on the draws overlooking the stream and ended up having elk all over him at dark. At least 2 bulls were bugling at his cow calls within a couple hundred yards, but it was too dark, and they cows stayed hidden in the timber below him.
Day 7: Saturday morning brought our last day of hunting, and well before first light we were walking along the backside of the same ridge working our way around, so we could go up over the top once the wind was right. I ended up walking almost all the way around this j-shaped ridge before my smoke bottle told me the wind would take my scent back up over the ridge and out of the drainage. As I came over the top I crept into the meadow where I had seen the elk feed out into the night before, and got settled into a small cluster of little spruce. I cow called a couple times and immedately saw a tan body moving through the trees about 70 yards from me, across the meadow, and then heard a young sounding bugle from the same direction. A tall, narrow 5x5 popped out of the trees into the meadow trying to find the lost cow who was calling at him. I ranged him at 56 yds, pulled up my bow, and pretended to shoot just to prove to myself that I could get the job done. He looked around for another minute for this cow, and then I heard a nasty bugle coming from below in the meadow, the little bull must have thought it was time to retreat, with that big boy yelling at him. I am not sure I can accurately judge how big this bull was that was coming up at me, but there was no question he was a bruiser. He held up at about 80 yds and was trying to find his lost cow, but decided with all the little bulls around he probably best get back to his cows. I never had a cow come out of the cover for me that morning and with the wind the way it was I could figure out how to try and get close to where I assumed that big bull went with his cows, so rather than just blowing them out I snuck back out, in case that wanted to try, and sneak back in that evening. That afternoon we took a little nap on the hill and decided all of us were goign to sit on those draws that went down towards the stream. We had been seeing alot of muleys moving along there, and a couple of nights we had elk moving in there as well. The last night was quiet. No elk, a few muleys, and one lonely bugle just before last light. The hunt was over, and it was awesome
The small 5x5 retreating after the big boy announced his presence.
This ended up probably being the coolest hunting experience of my life. It really proves that the experience is much more important than the kill. I have more pictures on my camera that I will post up tonight or tomorrow. Cow elk of central Wyoming beware, less than 30 days and I will be back, and my wife wants elk steaks.
To be continued.....(11-20 October 2013)
Well, the hunt was awesome. I have never been in elk like I was this hunt. Unfortunately, I was never able to close the deal on a cow. Now, had I had a bull tag the story would have ended much differently.
Last Wednesday, after my hunt the night before, we decided to move camp so we would be closer to the area where I saw these elk, and it ended up being the right move, but I had no cell service. This meant the prospect of live hunt updates was no longer possible, so I will catch you up on how things played out. We saw some of the most amazing elk activity of our live. Truely awesome.
Day 4: We started the morning working our way out on the back side of a ridge that wrapped around the top of a steep, narrow drainage with a grassy meadow running down the meadow. As we worked down the ridge it started to get light and we could see 2 bulls ahead of us moving up into the trees, looking like they would head over a saddle into the drainage. As it got lighter, we saw a lone cow heading up the face, following the 2 bulls, and it looked like we could get in between her and the saddle for a shot. My old First Sergeant had a cow tag as well and he couldn't come back out with a rifle, so he was going to get the first opportunity. She was heading right towards him, I thought it was a done deal, and then I felt the wind hit the back of my neck....... The rest of the day we hunted around that ridge and moved over to the series of draws that ran down into the stream where I had seen the elk the night before, but didn't see any elk.
My view looking down into the draw.
Day 5: Thursday morning we were moving along a trail that ran next to the stream about a mile down from where I had seen the bucks coming out two nights before. It was about 9am, and as we came around a bend in the trail, we came face to face with about 20 elk who were all down for a drink, out in the wide open
. They were about, 120 yds away, and trotted off right away heading towards private land. We were perplexed as to why they were there, but who can complain about seeing all these elk? were got up to the top of the hill looking down into the draws and we heard a bugle down towards the steam, so the 2 of us with cow tags decided to drop down in and see what we could figure out. just as we were stepping off one of the other 3 guys who were going to hunt muleys up in the sage bowls above the stream, got our attention and told us to look across the valley. I saw something I never thought I would see in my whole life. Easily, over 200 elk were walking up out of the valley across from us, onto the open, flat topped ridge about 1.5 miles away, adn then the bulls started splitting up the cows for the rut. I stopped counting mature bulls (300 plus) at 15. I am no expert elk scorer, but at least 3 of those bulls looked like bulldozers, and I would be confident in saying they easily topping 350-360". We watched/photogrphed/videoed these elk for about 30-45 minutes. I have heard about this happening, but to watch these bulls working like cutting horses seprating off the cows they were claiming was unbelievable. I watched a 300+ 6x6 walk towards a group of cows being hearded, and one of the big toads saw him coming, and charged him. That "smaller" bull cowered like a little kid. As far as all of us were concerned the trip had culminated. It didn't matter if we didn't fill one single tag, this trip would go down as a hunting highlight for the rest of our lives. All week we had been trying stalks on muleys when we saw them. None of us really were worried about shooting a big muley, but really just wanted to try and stalk and kill one with a bow, since none of us had before. That afternoon we found several groups of muleys, and apparently we had learned something from our previous failed attempts. Three fo us ended up connecting on small bucks that afternoon. My buck was bedded just over a drop off into a draw below us when we spotted him, and it was almost anti-climactic how easy the stalk was and the 33 yd shot. He ended up running down the draw and we saw him go down just at the edge of some trees. He was a small 3x3, but I think I worked harder for this buck than about any other animal I have killed. Stalking muleys in the wide open is no joke, and I definately learned why people have to be so patient waiting for bucks to be in stalkable positions. That night we had dinner of fried tenderloins, heart, onions, and bacon washed down with some PBR. This may have been the coolest day of hunting I have ever experienced.
Dinner of champions!
Day 6: Friday morning we sat along that stream that we saw the elk leaving the morning before. We knew it was a long shot, after yesterday's debacle, but after all the elk in the valley seemed to have headed out of the valley to split up the girls the day before, we didn't have a good idea where any of them went back in to, so water seemed like the best bet. Nothing came in which was pretty much expected, but we did glass 7-8 elk way up above us on the ridge where we tried to ambush the lone cow a couple days earlier, so we devised a plan to split up and glass that ridge to try and see where they would come out that night. Friday afternoon the valley got alot more crowded with hunters, and it seemed like the elk noticed, but with the rut kicking in full steam they were still making noise. We ended up spotting a group of about 20 elk coming out of the timber to feed about 40 minutes before dark into the steep narrow drainage on the back side of the ridge, so we knew where we were going the next morning. Jason (my old First Sergeant) stayed down on the draws overlooking the stream and ended up having elk all over him at dark. At least 2 bulls were bugling at his cow calls within a couple hundred yards, but it was too dark, and they cows stayed hidden in the timber below him.
Day 7: Saturday morning brought our last day of hunting, and well before first light we were walking along the backside of the same ridge working our way around, so we could go up over the top once the wind was right. I ended up walking almost all the way around this j-shaped ridge before my smoke bottle told me the wind would take my scent back up over the ridge and out of the drainage. As I came over the top I crept into the meadow where I had seen the elk feed out into the night before, and got settled into a small cluster of little spruce. I cow called a couple times and immedately saw a tan body moving through the trees about 70 yards from me, across the meadow, and then heard a young sounding bugle from the same direction. A tall, narrow 5x5 popped out of the trees into the meadow trying to find the lost cow who was calling at him. I ranged him at 56 yds, pulled up my bow, and pretended to shoot just to prove to myself that I could get the job done. He looked around for another minute for this cow, and then I heard a nasty bugle coming from below in the meadow, the little bull must have thought it was time to retreat, with that big boy yelling at him. I am not sure I can accurately judge how big this bull was that was coming up at me, but there was no question he was a bruiser. He held up at about 80 yds and was trying to find his lost cow, but decided with all the little bulls around he probably best get back to his cows. I never had a cow come out of the cover for me that morning and with the wind the way it was I could figure out how to try and get close to where I assumed that big bull went with his cows, so rather than just blowing them out I snuck back out, in case that wanted to try, and sneak back in that evening. That afternoon we took a little nap on the hill and decided all of us were goign to sit on those draws that went down towards the stream. We had been seeing alot of muleys moving along there, and a couple of nights we had elk moving in there as well. The last night was quiet. No elk, a few muleys, and one lonely bugle just before last light. The hunt was over, and it was awesome
The small 5x5 retreating after the big boy announced his presence.
This ended up probably being the coolest hunting experience of my life. It really proves that the experience is much more important than the kill. I have more pictures on my camera that I will post up tonight or tomorrow. Cow elk of central Wyoming beware, less than 30 days and I will be back, and my wife wants elk steaks.
To be continued.....(11-20 October 2013)
passinthru
Active member
Sounds like an awesome time. Congrats.
dihardhunter
Active member
Really enjoying reading your live hunt. Best of luck on the return trip and sounds like you had some great experiences during the 1st go round.
RUT JUNKEY
Well-known member
sounds like it was a blast.. . .loved the write ups and pics. Good luck later !
MinnesotaHunter
Well-known member
Here are a few more pics from the trip:
This is the 6x6 from day 2 that I had inside of 50 yards, too bad he didn't have any cows with him.
The next 4 pics are from day 5 when we saw the huge herd of elk splitting up into harems
One of the strings of elk heading up to partake in the festivities
One of the big boys heading up to claim his cows. (I really wish I had a better spotting scope for this pic)
Part of the big herd, just as the bulls started to split up the cows
More of the action. All those little specks were elk, we quit counting but there were over 200 hundred of them!
Here is a pic of my first western archery kill. He tasted great!
This last one is of the clouds breaking the evening of our last day of hunting. This valley had more elk living in and around it, than I had ever seen in my life.
This is the 6x6 from day 2 that I had inside of 50 yards, too bad he didn't have any cows with him.
The next 4 pics are from day 5 when we saw the huge herd of elk splitting up into harems
One of the strings of elk heading up to partake in the festivities
One of the big boys heading up to claim his cows. (I really wish I had a better spotting scope for this pic)
Part of the big herd, just as the bulls started to split up the cows
More of the action. All those little specks were elk, we quit counting but there were over 200 hundred of them!
Here is a pic of my first western archery kill. He tasted great!
This last one is of the clouds breaking the evening of our last day of hunting. This valley had more elk living in and around it, than I had ever seen in my life.
idnative1948
Well-known member
Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
MinnesotaHunter
Well-known member
Thanks guys, it was an awesome time.
jabber- He is just coming out of the draw. His rump is behind the branch and his head/antler are inline with the evergreen tree.
jabber- He is just coming out of the draw. His rump is behind the branch and his head/antler are inline with the evergreen tree.
mdunc8
Well-known member
Sounds like an amazing hunt. Sounds like you found yourself a nice little honey hole. Looking forward to hearing how things unfold in a few weeks.
Wyoming Sage
New member
Great pics and good story.
MinnesotaHunter
Well-known member
That is the plan. We have a few more years before it looks like we will be able to draw though.
SFC B
Well-known member
Great story and can't wait for the Rest of the Story!! Nothing like hunting the west!
