jbseamus83
Well-known member
Well, for a Texas boy that moved out west not long ago, and had never done the western hunting thing, I really did not expect to find success in my first year hunting. I had put in for tags in UT and WY and didn't get drawn for anything that I put in for (elk, deer, antelope). So, I started looking and got left over cow elk and whitetail doe tags for WY. I spent hours looking at google earth, go hunt, OnX, etc. I listened to every podcast, and watched every tutorial video I could find. I read elk hunting books. I changed my mind multiple times about where I wanted to go. WyTex gave me some pointers and I got information from some locals. I made a trip in October for 3 days to try and get on the whitetails just to get some experience in the field. I am doing all of this solo right now. I found the deer in a creek bed where you would expect them, but I bumped them from their bed and never got a shot. But, it gave me the confidence that I was able to look at the maps, identify where the deer were and go find them. Now, I just had to take those skills and apply them to a much grander scale for the elk.
I headed out and the night I got into my camp, I blew out a tire. I changed the tire out, ate dinner and climbed into my sleeping bag. During the night, I actually heard a bull bugle 2 times. Crazy for November. But, I also heard a couple of cows mew. I thought, "whoa, I set up right in the middle of them." I had planned on hunting about a mile away from where I had set up camp. I had no idea that the elk were going to be only a few hundred yards from camp!
I got up at 4:15 the next morning and made coffee and set out for my hike into the area I wanted to hunt. However, a half frozen river made the crossing impossible, so I had to go back to the drawing board. As I was looking at OnX and coming up with a new plan, I heard a cow bark, and I look up and there was a herd of about 20 cows and calves about 300 yds up the ridge from where I was on my side of the river. I start moving to get into position, but they knew I was there and continued to bark. But, they never actually left. They would start to trot off, and then stop, turn around and try to figure out what I was. I gave them a couple cow mews back and they would stop and look. I finally got one isolated and broadside. I started to settle in for the shot, but she turned and didn't give me a shot. The herd began to trot off again. I gave a couple more cow mews and they stopped. This time, the lead cow was isolated out in front and gave me broadside. 380 yds from my 7mm-08. She ran about 20 yds, fell and slid down the ridge to the bottom of the drainage. I had my first elk.
Not everything was perfect with this hunt though. I had some screw ups that I have to learn from. I won't go into details here, but know your regs. I screwed up on a couple of things that I will be thinking about for a while. I have owned up to it and talked with the responsible parties about it. It sucks because this should be a happy and proud moment - and it is, but in a way it is slightly blemished because of my lack of understanding on some things. I will learn. I will be better moving forward. I will not make the same mistakes I made this time.
Hunting is a difficult sport, passion, activity. It is so different from animal to animal, from location to location, from state to state. Those who grew up in one area of the country and move to another have a steep learning curve in order to find success. For those of us who are trying to do it alone/solo, it creates an even more difficult or steep curve. One of the things I have learned is that I want to find some hunting partners that have done this before to go with, watch, and learn from. Although I experienced a level of success with finding elk and shooting one, I feel that there was a substantial amount of luck with the elk just walking out in front of me. I have so much to learn. Thank you to all of you who have shared knowledge and wisdom on this forum. I will continue to soak it up.
I headed out and the night I got into my camp, I blew out a tire. I changed the tire out, ate dinner and climbed into my sleeping bag. During the night, I actually heard a bull bugle 2 times. Crazy for November. But, I also heard a couple of cows mew. I thought, "whoa, I set up right in the middle of them." I had planned on hunting about a mile away from where I had set up camp. I had no idea that the elk were going to be only a few hundred yards from camp!
I got up at 4:15 the next morning and made coffee and set out for my hike into the area I wanted to hunt. However, a half frozen river made the crossing impossible, so I had to go back to the drawing board. As I was looking at OnX and coming up with a new plan, I heard a cow bark, and I look up and there was a herd of about 20 cows and calves about 300 yds up the ridge from where I was on my side of the river. I start moving to get into position, but they knew I was there and continued to bark. But, they never actually left. They would start to trot off, and then stop, turn around and try to figure out what I was. I gave them a couple cow mews back and they would stop and look. I finally got one isolated and broadside. I started to settle in for the shot, but she turned and didn't give me a shot. The herd began to trot off again. I gave a couple more cow mews and they stopped. This time, the lead cow was isolated out in front and gave me broadside. 380 yds from my 7mm-08. She ran about 20 yds, fell and slid down the ridge to the bottom of the drainage. I had my first elk.
Not everything was perfect with this hunt though. I had some screw ups that I have to learn from. I won't go into details here, but know your regs. I screwed up on a couple of things that I will be thinking about for a while. I have owned up to it and talked with the responsible parties about it. It sucks because this should be a happy and proud moment - and it is, but in a way it is slightly blemished because of my lack of understanding on some things. I will learn. I will be better moving forward. I will not make the same mistakes I made this time.
Hunting is a difficult sport, passion, activity. It is so different from animal to animal, from location to location, from state to state. Those who grew up in one area of the country and move to another have a steep learning curve in order to find success. For those of us who are trying to do it alone/solo, it creates an even more difficult or steep curve. One of the things I have learned is that I want to find some hunting partners that have done this before to go with, watch, and learn from. Although I experienced a level of success with finding elk and shooting one, I feel that there was a substantial amount of luck with the elk just walking out in front of me. I have so much to learn. Thank you to all of you who have shared knowledge and wisdom on this forum. I will continue to soak it up.
