CodyCass
Member
First, I apologize for the length of this post. Despite my best efforts to talk and write less I can't fight the urge to share all the details.
This was my first elk hunt and it has been almost 10 years in the making. My friends affectionately call me an "adult onset hunter". I grew up playing outside and running around the woods as much as I could. I chased small game here and there, but I didn't get serious about hunting until I found the love of my life. Her family owns 220 acres just 45 minutes away from our home, it is a little slice of heaven. I picked up deer hunting a couple years into our relationship and my addiction to hunting was born. It wasn't much longer after that when I started buying points all across the west.
Around this time last year a friend and I started kicking around the idea of doing an elk hunt. He and I hunted antelope together in 2015 and were excited to get back to Wyoming. Heading into this years lottery he had 7 points and I had 5 (I was dumb and waited a couple years into my point buying career to buy WY elk points). Once I got the green light from the wife I started researching possibilities. I poured over the avail data, big shout out to GoHunt. I'm sure most of you know this, but the WYGF draw results/reports are pretty easy to read as well. We narrowed down our choices, but nothing was a sure thing based on the impending implementation of increased license fees. I heard and read it all, "expect a 2 point increase...", "wait a year, this year is going to be nuts...", etc. After listening to all of that we settled on unit 39. Even if there was a 2 point increase we still had pretty decent odds at drawing, but nothing was a guarantee. Well as most of you saw this year's lottery was a chit show, but we avoided heartache and got drawn. Planning started immediately
Can't thank everyone on HuntTalk enough, the insights and knowledge shared on here are second to none. A couple of guys who held the same tag in prior years even reached out. Our plans were taking shape and then we hit a speed bump. My wife is a nurse anesthetist and her schedule is very rigid (for example she has to plan her next year's vacation in September/October of the prior year). Since we didn't start planning for the hunt until November I didn't get to put in my request for her days off. Fortunately she had planned on taking the week of Halloween off, which fell on the tail end of the season. Unfortunately, my hunting partner did not want to wait until then. It was a bummer to lose a hunting partner for the trip, but not the end of the world. My family comes first and I was happy to wait until 10/26 to depart for Wyoming.
All summer during BHA's Hike to Hunt I walked and ran. I walked with 50 pound pack and hit the hills around my house hard. I shot my rifle as much as I could and worked up an accurate load for my rifle. My laser focus on chasing elk meant ignoring the upcoming deer season. I didn't even get a stand hung up this year until after I returned, very unlike me. I usually start hitting the woods with my bow as soon as the calendar hits 9/15. Everything was going along swimmingly, I even picked up a partner for the trip. A fellow MO-BHA board member asked if he could come along, things were going great! Then 1 week before I was set to leave a swift kick to the pills; my scope came loose from its rings.
It had slipped slightly over the summer and at the time I didn't think much of it. I chalked it up to not torquing down the screws correctly. I'm meticulous with everything, but convinced myself I forgot to finish the torquing job when setting up the rifle. Well fool me once shame on you, fool me twice and I'm a phucking idiot. I know I followed the manufacturers instructions to the letter the second time around. I won't bash the Talley rings because I've had good luck with the brand on other rifles, but for some reason the just didn't work on my Sako. I quickly overnighted some Sako Opti-Locks and remounted my scope. Of course this meant getting back to the range and re-zeroing a short 24 hours before I left, but it had to be done. Thankfully the re-zero session went smoothly.
The morning of October 26 I hit the road. A quick stop to pickup my co-pilot and it was off to Wyoming. We were hauling a Polaris Ranger behind my trusty Honda Ridgeline and holy cow it did a number on my fuel efficiency. Before anyone goes knocking the Ridgeline, it is one helluva vehicle! It may not have been the most efficient at pulling a full size ranger, but it never struggled with it once. Its a shame they had to go and redesign them so they look like a minivan... We stopped for the night in Chamberlin, SD. It made for a longer trip than I wanted the next day, but all the stopping to fuel up was taking a lot of extra time. I should mention that during the drive on 10/26 I called the Wyoming High Country Lodge located right in the middle of the unit. The advertised $5 showers and I wanted to see if that offer stood during the winter months. While talking to them I asked about the hunting and the gentleman I spoke to was extremely helpful. He confirmed some ideas I had and helped share some new insights.
We rolled into the unit at approximately 4 pm on Saturday October 27. We stopped into the lodge to say thanks and ask if our predetermined camping spot was still a good idea. They recommended our second choice, as the first choice put us at risk of getting snowed in. Armed with that information we headed to the spot and got setup. Sadly we didn't have any daylight left to go on an evening hunt, but we felt good about being able to hit up a couple spots in the morning. It took us a little longer than we had hoped to get out of camp in the morning, but we managed to get out before the sun was fully up. We headed to a trailhead not far from camp. We passed a couple road hunters and all of them said the same thing "no elk seen in days..." some said it had been weeks. The trailhead had a few camps and all the rigs were pulling horse trailers. Even though it seemed pointless we still headed down a trail to see if we could get to a good glassing point. Along the way we cut some fresh tracks which perked us up, but no good glassing spots to view from. We went back to the ranger and headed for a spot I had selected while e-scouting.
The ensuing ride along the forest service road to the next spot was cold, damn cold. It took us up towards Sheep Mountain. I was making fun of the locals with doors on their rangers when we passed them on the highway, but on top, with no trees blocking the wind, I stopped laughing. In spite of the winds best efforts to turn us back we kept on and passed over what looked like a stampede of tracks. Even better, they were headed in the direction we were going. When we got onto the next FS road and out of the wind we decided to take a quick look into a timbered valley to see if the elk were bedded. They were not and we decided to continue on to the e-scouting spot. Right as we were put the ranger into gear i spotted some pumpkins in the direction we were headed. And through my binoculars it looked like they had an elk on the back of their Razor. Of course I quickly dismissed what my eyes were telling me because how in the hell would someone get a whole elk into the back of a Razor. I was in a full sized Ranger and getting one in there would be a feat most would be proud of, but a Razor?
This was my first elk hunt and it has been almost 10 years in the making. My friends affectionately call me an "adult onset hunter". I grew up playing outside and running around the woods as much as I could. I chased small game here and there, but I didn't get serious about hunting until I found the love of my life. Her family owns 220 acres just 45 minutes away from our home, it is a little slice of heaven. I picked up deer hunting a couple years into our relationship and my addiction to hunting was born. It wasn't much longer after that when I started buying points all across the west.
Around this time last year a friend and I started kicking around the idea of doing an elk hunt. He and I hunted antelope together in 2015 and were excited to get back to Wyoming. Heading into this years lottery he had 7 points and I had 5 (I was dumb and waited a couple years into my point buying career to buy WY elk points). Once I got the green light from the wife I started researching possibilities. I poured over the avail data, big shout out to GoHunt. I'm sure most of you know this, but the WYGF draw results/reports are pretty easy to read as well. We narrowed down our choices, but nothing was a sure thing based on the impending implementation of increased license fees. I heard and read it all, "expect a 2 point increase...", "wait a year, this year is going to be nuts...", etc. After listening to all of that we settled on unit 39. Even if there was a 2 point increase we still had pretty decent odds at drawing, but nothing was a guarantee. Well as most of you saw this year's lottery was a chit show, but we avoided heartache and got drawn. Planning started immediately
Can't thank everyone on HuntTalk enough, the insights and knowledge shared on here are second to none. A couple of guys who held the same tag in prior years even reached out. Our plans were taking shape and then we hit a speed bump. My wife is a nurse anesthetist and her schedule is very rigid (for example she has to plan her next year's vacation in September/October of the prior year). Since we didn't start planning for the hunt until November I didn't get to put in my request for her days off. Fortunately she had planned on taking the week of Halloween off, which fell on the tail end of the season. Unfortunately, my hunting partner did not want to wait until then. It was a bummer to lose a hunting partner for the trip, but not the end of the world. My family comes first and I was happy to wait until 10/26 to depart for Wyoming.
All summer during BHA's Hike to Hunt I walked and ran. I walked with 50 pound pack and hit the hills around my house hard. I shot my rifle as much as I could and worked up an accurate load for my rifle. My laser focus on chasing elk meant ignoring the upcoming deer season. I didn't even get a stand hung up this year until after I returned, very unlike me. I usually start hitting the woods with my bow as soon as the calendar hits 9/15. Everything was going along swimmingly, I even picked up a partner for the trip. A fellow MO-BHA board member asked if he could come along, things were going great! Then 1 week before I was set to leave a swift kick to the pills; my scope came loose from its rings.
It had slipped slightly over the summer and at the time I didn't think much of it. I chalked it up to not torquing down the screws correctly. I'm meticulous with everything, but convinced myself I forgot to finish the torquing job when setting up the rifle. Well fool me once shame on you, fool me twice and I'm a phucking idiot. I know I followed the manufacturers instructions to the letter the second time around. I won't bash the Talley rings because I've had good luck with the brand on other rifles, but for some reason the just didn't work on my Sako. I quickly overnighted some Sako Opti-Locks and remounted my scope. Of course this meant getting back to the range and re-zeroing a short 24 hours before I left, but it had to be done. Thankfully the re-zero session went smoothly.
The morning of October 26 I hit the road. A quick stop to pickup my co-pilot and it was off to Wyoming. We were hauling a Polaris Ranger behind my trusty Honda Ridgeline and holy cow it did a number on my fuel efficiency. Before anyone goes knocking the Ridgeline, it is one helluva vehicle! It may not have been the most efficient at pulling a full size ranger, but it never struggled with it once. Its a shame they had to go and redesign them so they look like a minivan... We stopped for the night in Chamberlin, SD. It made for a longer trip than I wanted the next day, but all the stopping to fuel up was taking a lot of extra time. I should mention that during the drive on 10/26 I called the Wyoming High Country Lodge located right in the middle of the unit. The advertised $5 showers and I wanted to see if that offer stood during the winter months. While talking to them I asked about the hunting and the gentleman I spoke to was extremely helpful. He confirmed some ideas I had and helped share some new insights.
We rolled into the unit at approximately 4 pm on Saturday October 27. We stopped into the lodge to say thanks and ask if our predetermined camping spot was still a good idea. They recommended our second choice, as the first choice put us at risk of getting snowed in. Armed with that information we headed to the spot and got setup. Sadly we didn't have any daylight left to go on an evening hunt, but we felt good about being able to hit up a couple spots in the morning. It took us a little longer than we had hoped to get out of camp in the morning, but we managed to get out before the sun was fully up. We headed to a trailhead not far from camp. We passed a couple road hunters and all of them said the same thing "no elk seen in days..." some said it had been weeks. The trailhead had a few camps and all the rigs were pulling horse trailers. Even though it seemed pointless we still headed down a trail to see if we could get to a good glassing point. Along the way we cut some fresh tracks which perked us up, but no good glassing spots to view from. We went back to the ranger and headed for a spot I had selected while e-scouting.
The ensuing ride along the forest service road to the next spot was cold, damn cold. It took us up towards Sheep Mountain. I was making fun of the locals with doors on their rangers when we passed them on the highway, but on top, with no trees blocking the wind, I stopped laughing. In spite of the winds best efforts to turn us back we kept on and passed over what looked like a stampede of tracks. Even better, they were headed in the direction we were going. When we got onto the next FS road and out of the wind we decided to take a quick look into a timbered valley to see if the elk were bedded. They were not and we decided to continue on to the e-scouting spot. Right as we were put the ranger into gear i spotted some pumpkins in the direction we were headed. And through my binoculars it looked like they had an elk on the back of their Razor. Of course I quickly dismissed what my eyes were telling me because how in the hell would someone get a whole elk into the back of a Razor. I was in a full sized Ranger and getting one in there would be a feat most would be proud of, but a Razor?
I guess it was a blessing the safety was on because i would have pulled the shot, bad. It gave me time to collect myself and it gave the bull time to turn completely broadside. This time I was much more deliberate with my squeeze. I didn't hear the distinctive "thwap", but my friend did. The bull took off at the shot and disappeared behind a small rise. He tried to give me a high five, but I didn't oblige. All I could think about was closing the ground to make sure the hit was good and pray he didn't run straight down the hill. We got to where he was standing at the shot and saw him laying down just 50 yards away. He made an attempt to stand up so I took a followup shot and he took his last breath. Now we could high five, hug and dance. All of this happened so quickly and with legal shooting light fading. Upon reaching the bull I gave thanks and broke out the kill kit. The first cut was made by headlamp.
