Headed to Jackson Wyoming with an elk tag in my pocket

[2rocky]

Get's cold over there this time of year. There is a shop near the town square where I snapped this picture....Get one for the Hero shot!

 

[Jape]

Yep, watch out for those bears!!
Good luck on the hunt.
Maybe bump some bison over to the refuge help out those cow hunters, lol.

Yes, please bump those bison to the refuge for all of use aching to get after them! I saw some bull elk on national forest while looking for bison a week ago, so holler if I can point you in the right direction (although it sounds like you know the area well). Good luck!

 

[Coach Chris]

This is the long season 78 tag which is open through end of January

Nothing is moving around the refuge.
I think your odds are good over by the river

 

[wytex]

This is the long season 78 tag which is open through end of January though has varying restrictions during the open dates. I'll never draw this tag again due to point creep and where I am currently along the journey of life. Might do a deer hunt around Jackson as a way to be back in a year or two. Those mountains are spectacular.

I also enjoy spending some time down at the town square portion of Jackson. Yes, has become a bit less hunter-friendly over the years but compared to a lot of places Jackson is very, very welcoming to hunters.

Look around and you'll find some hotels with hunter rates. Makes a big diff in price. We wore our camo into the Thomas Mangelsen gallery. They were not very friendly.
Good luck!

 

[Duck-Slayer]

Good luck! Keep us posted,
Matt

 

[LopeHunter]

Look around and you'll find some hotels with hunter rates. Makes a big diff in price. We wore our camo into the Thomas Mangelsen gallery. They were not very friendly.
Good luck!

I snagged one of those room rates! No skinning allowed so must be a really nice motel.

I suppose not every feller will cotton to my choice of clothing. I do brush my teeth and knock the mud off my shoes when coming in from outside. Chasing off any customer, including one in camo, is a fine strategy to not be in business as the next slowdown happens. No one needs art. You have to want art. Galleries around here got thinned out in the 2008-2011 slowdown. Maybe Jackson is special so the galleries need wheelbarrows to get all the money to the bank.

 

[fulldraw]

I stayed in one of those Jackson hunter friendly hotels back in 2010 and found it worked well for me. The price was good and they had a hanging post out behind for you to hang your animal. I never spent much time in town other than stopping by the Maverick to get fuel and coffee.

 

[shootbrownelk]

Look around and you'll find some hotels with hunter rates. Makes a big diff in price. We wore our camo into the Thomas Mangelsen gallery. They were not very friendly.
Good luck!

The Flat Creek motel always had hunter rates, it's been awhile since I hunted Grand Teton though.

 

[Garryowen]

I had the tag in 2011 & got a nice bull. Access is a problem. I don't think the ranch I hunted allows hunters anymore.

Good luck on your hunt! Hope you have fun & kill a monster!

 

[LopeHunter]

Arrived at sunset. 15F and falling. No snow and wind is minimal. Estimate is only 1000 elk on the Refuge. They are somewhere. Will see what sunrise brings.

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

lets go LOPE !!!! waiting for for a dead bull pic

 

[wytex]

Good luck!

 

[Addicting]

Following!!

 

[LopeHunter]

Wow. Cold this morning. If my rental vehicle is to believed I was in -10F at sunrise then got to 5F. Not much wind and blue skies so bearable though toes are unhappy at this moment.

So, started out on the flats since I am a flatlander so need a day or two to adjust to Jackson and to adjust to temperatures that make my lungs burn when briskly hiking.

I saw bulls. And cows. And bald eagles. And a coyote. Frozen fog that swirled and fell then rose and fell some more while all the time looked like flakes of glitter in the sunlight.

Watched 5 branched bulls that were feeding with spikes and cows. Glassed them again and thought about it and then one more time. One of the bulls was a tad wider and had a bit more mass and was big bodied. Not broken up. Perhaps the other bulls were just narrow, etc, but after a bit I took the rifle off safety and worked the bolt then used my trusty shooting stick that provides the steadiness of a younger me. I have made better shots but one was all that was needed and after a short walk the bull tipped over.



I will not likely draw this tag again. On the random side of the Regular draw the odds for this year were 1 in 41 for a single tag. Under 3%. Apply for 41 years and should draw exactly one time if are no less or more lucky than average.

The Tetons are amazing. I need to figure out a way to hunt here again and will look into deer hunts as I have 4 points.

I plan to drive by the Refuge tomorrow and see the elk there. Have never done that and this is my third time in Jackson. I will then do some shopping and perhaps catch a nap in the afternoon in a warm hotel room that is well above zero.

 

[JLS]

Nice bull!

 

[Mica Man]

Cool pic, congrats on your success.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Nicely done. That’s a beautiful bull.

 

[Addicting]

Very nice!

 

[Bowhuntrben]

Great job! Congrats!

 

[dcopas78]

Awesome bull, congrats!