BuzzH
Well-known member
My buddy Doug and I decided to try our luck with Wyoming elk on our general tags. I only had 4 days to hunt, but I thought I'd try for a better bull for at least a couple days then just take whatever came along. Doug was running low on elk burger so he decided to take the first bull that gave a good opportunity.
I got home from work on Tuesday night and started throwing gear in the truck. It was looking like good weather for elk hunting so I was pretty excited to go.
Doug showed up at my house Wednesday morning at 4 a.m. and we hit the highway for our spot. We barely made the trip over as the highway was closed to all "unnecessary travel". Personally, elk hunting is definately necessary so we pressed on. We were plowing snow with the hoods of our trucks on the way over the pass.
We got to the spot we wanted to hunt pretty late about an hour later than we wanted to. But, we hiked in and started seeing elk almost immediately. By about noon we'd seen well over 100 elk and 8 bulls...the largest being a decent 6 point. We decided to hike back and set up camp and then do an evening hunt. We got camp set up and were back up to a good glassing spot by 3:30. Doug was looking over a hillside and then moved to another spot to glass. Before he could get 10 feet I said, "Hey Doug, are you going to shoot that bull over there or what?". Standing at the bottom of the opening he'd just glassed was a bull feeding.
So, we got set up for the shot. We ranged it at 358 yards and I got my video camera out and Doug set his up as well. Doug made the shot and had his elk for 2008.
Kind of a different bull...not many 5x2 bulls running around out there I bet:
While Doug was breaking his bull down for packing I hiked up to another glassing spot and from that one spot I could see 62 elk. It was too late to make a run at any of them, so I went back and helped Doug.
The next morning we hiked back in and saw a bunch more elk including 3 bulls the largest being an older 5 point, that just didnt have a sixth point. We packed the rest of Dougs bull back to camp and then he headed home. I hunted that night didnt see any elk at all.
The next morning I hiked back in again and found 10 cows right away. I then found a bull and two cows feeding on a shaded hillside. I had to cut the distance in half to have a 300 yard shot. In the couple minutes it took me to close the distance, they'd fed into the timber. I tracked them for a while in the timber, but it was too noisy to have much luck doing that. So, I decided to hunt higher and jumped a bull but couldnt get a shot. I'd had enough of the crusty snow and decided to glass an opposite hillside. I saw a nice 6 point but he walked into the timber. I figured I wouldnt have much of a chance with the bad snow, so left him for another time.
I went back and packed up camp. It had been a good hunt I'd seen 16 bulls in 3 days in a general unit in Wyoming. I got my camp loaded up was on the road home by 4:15. I got out to the highway in about 1/2 hour and had gone maybe 3-4 miles and came around a corner. There, standing on the edge of the highway were about 12 elk, including a bull. When they saw my truck they darted into the timber. Beings how it was all National Forest I pulled over, grabbed up my rifle and walked at an angle toward them. I went maybe 100 yards and I could hear them walking through the timber. I walked another few feet and could see 2 cows walking in front of me. I could see movement behind them to my left and figured the rest were there. Sure enough the bull walks out, but all I can see is his head and neck. I put my scope on him and he takes one more fatal step. I hit him behind the shoulder and he went about 40 yards and was done.
I couldnt believe it, I was already thinking about hunting another area the next day as it was the last day to hunt bulls in the unit I was hunting. The pack out was brutal and took about 4 minutes round trip to get to the HIGHWAY.
Another look:
I got home from work on Tuesday night and started throwing gear in the truck. It was looking like good weather for elk hunting so I was pretty excited to go.
Doug showed up at my house Wednesday morning at 4 a.m. and we hit the highway for our spot. We barely made the trip over as the highway was closed to all "unnecessary travel". Personally, elk hunting is definately necessary so we pressed on. We were plowing snow with the hoods of our trucks on the way over the pass.
We got to the spot we wanted to hunt pretty late about an hour later than we wanted to. But, we hiked in and started seeing elk almost immediately. By about noon we'd seen well over 100 elk and 8 bulls...the largest being a decent 6 point. We decided to hike back and set up camp and then do an evening hunt. We got camp set up and were back up to a good glassing spot by 3:30. Doug was looking over a hillside and then moved to another spot to glass. Before he could get 10 feet I said, "Hey Doug, are you going to shoot that bull over there or what?". Standing at the bottom of the opening he'd just glassed was a bull feeding.
So, we got set up for the shot. We ranged it at 358 yards and I got my video camera out and Doug set his up as well. Doug made the shot and had his elk for 2008.
Kind of a different bull...not many 5x2 bulls running around out there I bet:
While Doug was breaking his bull down for packing I hiked up to another glassing spot and from that one spot I could see 62 elk. It was too late to make a run at any of them, so I went back and helped Doug.
The next morning we hiked back in and saw a bunch more elk including 3 bulls the largest being an older 5 point, that just didnt have a sixth point. We packed the rest of Dougs bull back to camp and then he headed home. I hunted that night didnt see any elk at all.
The next morning I hiked back in again and found 10 cows right away. I then found a bull and two cows feeding on a shaded hillside. I had to cut the distance in half to have a 300 yard shot. In the couple minutes it took me to close the distance, they'd fed into the timber. I tracked them for a while in the timber, but it was too noisy to have much luck doing that. So, I decided to hunt higher and jumped a bull but couldnt get a shot. I'd had enough of the crusty snow and decided to glass an opposite hillside. I saw a nice 6 point but he walked into the timber. I figured I wouldnt have much of a chance with the bad snow, so left him for another time.
I went back and packed up camp. It had been a good hunt I'd seen 16 bulls in 3 days in a general unit in Wyoming. I got my camp loaded up was on the road home by 4:15. I got out to the highway in about 1/2 hour and had gone maybe 3-4 miles and came around a corner. There, standing on the edge of the highway were about 12 elk, including a bull. When they saw my truck they darted into the timber. Beings how it was all National Forest I pulled over, grabbed up my rifle and walked at an angle toward them. I went maybe 100 yards and I could hear them walking through the timber. I walked another few feet and could see 2 cows walking in front of me. I could see movement behind them to my left and figured the rest were there. Sure enough the bull walks out, but all I can see is his head and neck. I put my scope on him and he takes one more fatal step. I hit him behind the shoulder and he went about 40 yards and was done.
I couldnt believe it, I was already thinking about hunting another area the next day as it was the last day to hunt bulls in the unit I was hunting. The pack out was brutal and took about 4 minutes round trip to get to the HIGHWAY.
Another look:
