SFC B will be at it again....

[SFC B]

Morning rolls around and Sam and I head out to a spot fairly close to camp that he said had been historically productive. The hike wasn't bad with only a little elevation change. The last bit of it had us side hilling around a small bit of trees in order to get a view of a meadow. As we come around the corner .....elk!! a small herd including several bulls. We moved as close and quickly as we could. I tried to get my gun ready (chambered, scope cover off), sticks set up, range and find the bull Sam was talking about to me. I did not have my breathing under control and should have waited but I let Sam's excitement get the better of me and .....whiiiffff Bad enough that I missed a really nice bull but it was solely my fault and the first big game animal I have missed with my Savage. I have to say that was the lowest moment of my hunting experiences so far. Not only for the miss but because Sam had gotten me in such a great opportunity and I had wasted it. We went back to camp and I was in a bit of a haze for the rest of the day. Not fun.

 

[noharleyyet]

Morning rolls around and Sam and I head out to a spot fairly close to camp that he said had been historically productive. The hike wasn't bad with only a little elevation change. The last bit of it had us side hilling around a small bit of trees in order to get a view of a meadow. As we come around the corner .....elk!! a small herd including several bulls. We moved as close and quickly as we could. I tried to get my gun ready (chambered, scope cover off), sticks set up, range and find the bull Sam was talking about to me. I did not have my breathing under control and should have waited but I let Sam's excitement get the better of me and .....whiiiffff Bad enough that I missed a really nice bull but it was solely my fault and the first big game animal I have missed with my Savage. I have to say that was the lowest moment of my hunting experiences so far. Not only for the miss but because Sam had gotten me in such a great opportunity and I had wasted it. We went back to camp and I was in a bit of a haze for the rest of the day. Not fun.

I know you're low but I'm still jelly you're hunting elk and I'm not....stay after 'em SFC...following.

 

[Addicting]

.....whiiiffff

.....whiiiffff.....whiiiffff......whiiiffff

fixed it for you. Lol

 

[SFC B]

Overnight it rained pretty well and was still coming down in the morning. With my foul attitude I barely woke up by shooting light and came meandering out of my tent. About 20 minutes later Sam and Cush came rolling into camp on the 6 wheeler saying that the elk were back in the meadow. They were going to approach from an alternate route and I hurriedly got dressed to go in the way I had previously. Low and behold, as I finished dressing just a few minutes later, the 6 wheeler rolls back into camp.....elk gone After some breakfast the rain stopped and I figured I would roll around in the 6x6 looking things over and maybe rustling up some antelope. CPO had gone for a walk (his elk tag didn't start until the general season but antelope was open) and while I was out I ran into him. We found a group of goats in an area we had a shot at making a move on but he hadn't taken his rifle on his walk. We ran back to camp, grabbed his boom stick and hauled back. We found them where they had been. Something I haven't mentioned yet was that after the rain, and for the REST OF THE HUNT, the wind HOWLED almost continuously.

We dismounted. CPO started a stalk down a hill and through some willows as I watched through binos from above. I lost sight of him and kept watching the goats. The wind was so bad I could barely here the shot from the 300wm with a brake he was shooting. His dope for the wind was off and the shot was not good. About the next 4 hours was spent watching, following and trying to cut off the wounded goat. Finally he was able to close the deal. It was late enough by that point that I, still surly, curtailed the evening hunt.

The following day would be opening day of elk for the general season so CPO and I made a plan to go up a creek bed back behind the area that faced camp to the area Tony had shot his buck in. I was on the back side of a ridge that Sam said would get a bunch of pressure and we were hoping for an opportunity at fleeing elk.

 

[SFC B]

We woke up to a cold morning (17f in the truck). We got kitted up and drove to the trail head. The hike in was a bit longer than we anticipated and we arrived about 30 minutes after shooting light. At almost exactly the same time we found our spot shooting started on the back side of the ridge. A few seconds later a group cows filtered out of the woods on the ridge line, quickly crossed an opening and entered another spot of timber. We were across a valley about 450m from them and were hoping they were bedded for the day. There was a small meadow surround by the timber they were in with browse and if they came out to eat later they would be at about 250m. The day stayed cold (only getting up to about 35f) and windy but was sunny. The spot we had picked faced directly south and between the sun and the wind were got burnt pretty well We spot one other cow for a brief second and several deer throughout the day. We sat waiting for late afternoon hoping our plan was good.

Then, out of nowhere, at about 1530 a lone spike comes hauling the mail from the opposite end of the valley....on a dead run. There hadn't been a shot in a long time and there was nothing following him. Have NO idea what had him running but here he comes, won't slow to cow calls and goes straight into the timber where we had put the cows to bed. He goes in, they bust out the far side with him following, over the ridge and into an entirely different drainage. ; / The rest of the day brought us a few deer crossing the hillside but no more elk.

CPO and I were both a lil bushed by the time we got back to camp from the actual boot action and the sun/wind combo cooking us all day.

 

[Crossbowguy]

keep it coming, sounds like an adventure! Just having Cush in camp is an adventure too though!

 

[SFC B]

In camp that night John and I felt like looking for a bit of an easier spot for the next day. We settled on a small overlook spot down the ranch road a bit and up just a small climb. The spot is special as it looks back to the east over the ranch and hold a memorial stone for the ranch patriarch who died in a plane crash about eight years ago. He has a great spot to keep an eye on his place.

In the morning we headed up there just before shooting light. With the sunrise we realized that we would have a very limited view. We talked about it and decided to take a nearby trail to the next small meadow which is about 100 feet above where we were. We headed out and got up there pretty quickly. Once there we had a little better view up to the face of the ridge above us and could see in that meadow but still not quite enough to be confident of seeing much. While CPO and I talked about the situation he saw a pair of cows duck into some timber about 1/2 mile up the face. There was a very steep knob directly above us that would put us on the face and about even with the timberline up there (about 1000 above camp). We set off and MAN it was even steeper than we thought. At one point we were crawling on all fours to keep climbing. Once we got up there the view paid off. We could see everything we had been traipsing through below, the ranch and well beyond. We were up there all day catching sun and wind again with no more elk sightings to show for it. Once it came time to leave the steep climb came back to bite us again......going down was a nightmare and I thanked the good Lord several time for bringing trekking poles into my life!!! It was a technical decent that wiped both of us out. By the time we got back to camp I was feeling drained. All I really wanted was to slip into my huge sleeping bag and recharge. Over dinner I told CPO there was NFW I was climbing much the next day as my hips couldn't take it and we settled on the lower end of the timber sale back behind camp. Did I mention the wind has NEVER stopped? Sleep was broken regularly by the tent being shaken and the howling associated with it.

 

[SFC B]

The wind died down a bit come morning and CPO and I headed out right at shooting light because the direction we were headed had the possibility of animals being out anywhere. We climbed the hill right beyond camp, went down across a creek bed and then started up the opposite hill where the timber sale started. We climbed a little bit, came to a point where we had about a 270 degree view and I call my climb done for the day. CPO continued about 150 yds further for a bit of a different view. It was misty and switched back and forth between rain and sleet periodically. We had been sitting for about a half an hour and I was enjoying some Sour Patch Kids (my new fav trail snack ) when the CRAAACK from CPO's 280AI almost made me soil myself!!! I was so surprised because I had seen nothing but a few deer on the hill opposite us and had NO idea what he was shooting at. He showed himself from behind a tree and gave me hand signals for a bull and down. He started walking and I moved to meet him thinking "WTF are we going that I didn't see a bull?" When we got to the bull I looked back at where I came from and understood. He had been standing directly behind 4-5 pine/fir trees We got going cutting the bull up and were lucky enough to raise Sam on the radio so that Woodrow the mule would be doing the pack out!! It kept spitting precip the whole time and, although I was incredibly happy for CPO, I was miserable. We loaded up Woodrow and started the walk back to camp. The entire elk seemed like nothing to him. On top of being such a machine that mule has a GREAT disposition. At camp the download commenced and CPO was tagged out. For that evening I went back to the same general area with zero luck. However, Sam's 12yo niece did connect that evening right at shooting light. They backed out as it had gone into timber and they didn't want to push it in the dark. Dinner that night was gumbo that our incredibly gracious host (the rancher) cook up for us in her outbuilding. It was a great meal and it was good to spend time with her hearing about the ranch, how Herefords were the ONLY cattle to raise and what Wyoming was all about. As we wrapped up she asked if we would come back for brunch in the morning is she made biscuits and gravy. The first grin in several days crossed my face. Anyone that knows me will tell you that I love B&G like @Big Fin loves Dilly bars!! I had something to dream about that night.

 

[SFC B]

Excited by the prospect of the upcoming meal I had a spring in my step the next morning. This morning Derek and I were going to head out toward the timber sale (by this time Cody, another of the WY regulars had also tagged a raghorn in the area to go along with Tony's, CPO's, and the one Sam's niece and her dad were looking for). We wouldn't go too far as breakfast was coming and Derek was toughing out recuperation of a leg injury from a couple months prior to the hunt. We found a couple of stumps that were in a good spot and watched the morning pass with a few deer spotted. About 1000 we started back toward camp and heard the good news that the young lady's elk had been found and they were in the process of bringing it out. At camp we waited for the group that included her, Sam (her Uncle), her dad (Phil) and her Grandpa (Dan). It was very cool to see them coming into camp, especially with her carrying the head on her back the whole way (with the antlers nearly dragging the ground). Once her meat was put up in the hanging shed and the head placed in the "line up" we all headed up for breakfast. Holy smokes it was better than expected. Wonderful B&G with scratch made biscuits, homemade coffee cake and strawberry freezer jam. I am not too proud to admit I gorged myself!! We lazed around for a few hours telling stories and enjoying the warmth of the wood cook stove as well. Check out the size of the fricking frying pan!!!

 

[SFC B]

After brunch I headed back to the tent for a nap. I have to admit that my cot/pad/bag combo and incredibly comfy and I drifted off for a couple of hours. I rolled out of bed and raised some motivation. Sam and Derek were going back to near where we were in the morning and I was going to go as far up to the top of the timber sale as my hips would allow. About 1530 I climbed the hill behind camp, dropped down to cross the creek and headed up the ridge for a climb. Along the way I passed through several openings in the cut and kept telling myself "you can do one more". Finally about 1630 I got too the last opening I could get to without a more serious climb and found a nice stump at the top. This allowed be a view of the entire opening, across the valley and an opening about 300m above me. I settled into the spot, got my binos and shooting sticks ready and ranged all of the areas I could shoot. I was not going to be un prepared again. The view was nice but it seemed that animals were not moving. I sat there thinking about life and trying to come to terms with leaving without meat if that was the big man's plan. About 1730ish I caught movement in the bottom of the opening in a break in the timber. It was a cow elk. Before I could even raise my rifle she had crossed the opening and left only her but sticking out!!! I was looking around trying to figure out how to reposition myself for a shot while she ate. I couldn't find anything unobstructed and she walked back into the woods. I almost laughed out loud. What next? Maybe 10 minutes passed and the old girl showed herself again in the same opening at about 220m. She stopped broadside as if to say "this is it chump, don't F it up!!" I settled the crosshairs and squeezed gently on the Savage. The 180 TBT made a distinct THUMP when it smacked her!! She turned and trotted uphill to stand broadside facing the other way at 204m this time. The second shot dropped her, she kicked twice and was done. I almost cried as I felt the weight of the world had just been lifted from my shoulders. I slowly walked down the hill. When I got to her we had a moment and I thanked God for allowing me to take her. I got on the radio and must have sounded like a teenage girl telling folks I had shot her Sam and Derek were a couple hundred yards below and to the east and Sam said he was on his way. A couple minutes later CPO hit on the radio to confirm what I had done and asked if we needed help. Sam decided that we would go ahead and pack her out instead of waiting until morning for Woodrow (sundown was drawing near) so I responded with a joyful, expletive laced reply telling him to get up there!! Sam is VERY fast with a knife and with time short I told him to cut and I would be the hide puller/helper. I was over the dang moon and Sam said he hadn't seen a hunter so happy in recent memory. By the time CPO got there we had finished bagging her up (she was a BIG ol girl) and were ready to load. If I haven't said it before I can't say it enough...Sam is a BEAST!!! We settled on the load, Sam took a F&R 1/4, CPO to a R 1/4 and I took a front and all the loose meat. It was nearly dark as we started but it was by far the easiest pack out I have had .....tons of laughs and jokes. By the time we made camp It was full dark and I was STILL giggling. As we were unloading and hanging the meat Chris the local WY G&F officer (and friend of all the WY folks in camp) came into the hanging shed to congratulate me and take down the details for his records. He is an incredibly nice guy.

With the meat hung I headed to our tent to retrieve my ceremonial bottle. CPO both hold a tradition of packing a bottle of German peppermint schnapps on our hunts. When a big game animal is harvested the animals is toasted in final thanks. I brought the bottle to the tent where Sam, Cody, Derek and Phil were and we passed the bottle until it was gone. It was truly wonderful night that ended with me hitting the rack (with the wind STILL howling) knowing I did NOT have to wake early in the morning In the photos you can see just how burnt my ugly mug was!!

 

[kansasdad]

Crispy fried SFC!

Congratulations to all, and a big tip of the cap to the landowner and helpers who help make the trip happen

 

[SFC B]

Crispy fried SFC!

Congratulations to all, and a big tip of the cap to the landowner and helpers who help make the trip happen

Definitely! The rancher and all those involved were incredibly generous. While all of the elk were harvested on public land it was sure nice to have such a wonderful camp to base out of.

 

[SFC B]

The day after I harvested the elk was very mellow for CPO and I. While Derek was out for his last shot at an elk (no joy ) we cleaned up around camp a bit including our own gear. Derek and Tony had to head back to MI around noon. That afternoon Sam's stepfather Mark camp back to camp and the bunch of us sat around most of the afternoon shooting the shiz and drinking the cherry pie shine I had brought. By the end of the day we were all sore from laughing. Did I mention the wind was STILL howling!!!! We slept as best we could in the wind again that night.

The next morning we got up and started packing up. Mid morning, before taking down the tent, Cush, Sam and I went looking for a pronghorn or two. We got fairly close to a group a few times but no shooting solutions. I came back to camp and CPO and I took down the tent. With everything loaded we said goodbyes to all the WY folks and Cush before we headed into Kemmerer. It was a roller coaster ride for sure but a great trip and now my freezer isn't empty any more!!

 

[SFC B]

About to start it up again this week!!! CPO, me, his pops and son will be heading up to GMU26 for our annual trip. We are flipping the script and going 3rd season this year due to the WY trip. Had buddies up there in 2nd and the elk were around. Let's hope they stay for us!!! I have a few more meals to make but other than that I am ready as I reconstituted right after the last trip.

 

[SFC B]

Finishing up the packing of old Doug for the trip back up to Wellington to get 3rd season off and running!!! Weather looks good but it's gonna be colder than a witches teat in a brass bra next week I'll post some pics in a bit.

 

[SFC B]

Here we are staged and ready to head out. Ballo s early here should put us there by noon easy.

 

[SFC B]

We are back in Wellington after a cold trip.....update and photos tomorrow.

 

[SFC B]

At about 0400 on Thursday we left Wellington on our way to the good ol stompin grounds. We are usually doing this one a couple of weeks earlier in 2nd season but with the trip to WY under our belts CPO and I knew we needed at least a full week between trips.

You can see the familiar Doug in the pics making his friendly mule-like presence known on my trips and accompanying us on this trip was CPO's somewhat project truck Burro the Bronco. He had just made a trade up with his daily driver truck and his new ride (GMC 1500 SLT X31) did not have enough time to get the necessary off road goodies to make the trip. I have to admit I was a bit pensive when I saw the Burro hitched to the trailer as it is a bit unproven.

Most of the trip was in the dark with just a bit of chill in the air. We got to Toponas to find that the old store is still closed and in disarray. They had it up for sale but apparently nothing has happened. A bit sad as it is tradition going by the wayside. Off pavement we headed toward the woods.

The dirt roads showed a bit of moisture from the snow a week or so before but were in good shape. Burro showed a bit of elevated temp and we took a couple of small breaks. We got to our turn off and headed up the trail which was in good enough shape that we did not stop to chain up. Unbeknownst to me, the temp continued to be an issue all the way back to camp.

We arrived safely to the home away from home. We set up camp rather quickly and CPO and I set to cutting a LOT of firewood. The forecast called for low temps and snow later in the work and it is much better to have too much wood than not enough.

As always, at our campsite we are greeted by 2 wonderful signs

 

[SFC B]

Friday was a bit of a rest day to recoup from the wood cutting and camp set. We had a couple of visitors, Vic and his son Casey, from the camp at the very beginning of the trail. They are regular 3rd season folks and we had a very good bull sessions about things in the area and know some common folks. We talked about the opener to make sure we wouldn't be stepping on each other as well. Always nice to meet good folks in the woods.

We had a nice dinner of some gumbo I had vacuum sealed a week prior and sacked out with visions of furry creatures. One thing I need to mention at this point is that I only went up the mountain with a doe tag on this trip. The other 3 in camp had bull tags but due to some technical issues and my looming meat processor pick up and late cow tag I eased off the pressure for this hunt.

Saturday morning broke chilly and overcast with promise. We all headed out to different spots in the morning. The forecast called for weather moving in later in the day- rain which would change to snow and then the falling temps down to actual cold. I sat for the morning with nothing but a couple of voles (and a couple of other bits of orange) sighted. About 1030 or so it started to drizzle steadily. Given the low pressure for me sitting in the rain held no appeal. I headed back to camp, pulled all the camp chairs inside and fired up the stove. I warmed a bit and as I started on lunch the other showed back at camp. CPO and his boy saw some cows (no cow tags in camp) and a bear a ways off on the back side of a ridge. About that time the rain started in earnest. We settled in and shot the bull around the stove for the rest of the day as the rain kept right on. It was some time long after dark when the rain finally changed snow and the temps dropped into the teens.

We woke on Sunday too 3-5 inches of snow around the area with lows clouds and continuing snow flurries/showers which continued all day. CPO and his boy saw another bit of cows in a valley within 300 yards and my only excitement for the day was a pine martin that came to check me out. Temps never seemed to raise at all through the day. A good warm dinner was up and thoughts of Mondays foray were the evenings happenings. Snow kept falling lightly.

The night was cold (somewhere around 0) and in the morning it was still gray with light snow. CPOs dad was feeling poorly and his son chose to stay in camp with his gramps. CPO talked me into taking a nice long walk for the morning.....all of which was UP.....in hopes of getting to see something. The walk brought us to a usual glassing spot only to find the snow heavier (about a foot on the ground) at the 1000 ft higher elevation, still blowing and visibility of only about 200m. We hung about for a couple of hours until we decided it was fruitless until the weather cleared a bit. We headed back to camp.

 

[SFC B]

In the tent we began to talk about what was happening with the weather and CPOs dad's health. Since we were all low pressure on this hunt the decision was made to enjoy the rest of the day around the tent and, unless something changed, pull out on Tuesday. We told the boy all the various types of stories and wisdom bits we could thing of and ate a good lunch. All of us cleaned our weapons and I put mine in it's sock and back in the Pelican case. About 1530 or so CPO went outside to wee. The others of us were talking when all of the sudden CRACK. We ran out of the to see him with belt undone with his rifle between the Burro and trailer. We looked where he was pointing and saw three does in the woodline 100m away. He was sure he had made a good shot and we saw 2 does head to the right (one of them being the one he shot at) the one and one off to the left. After a couple of minutes he headed to check for blood and track. I checked with him and found just tracks. I headed back to camp as he kept looking. The boy and Grandpa had already headed back into the tent. I was about to join them and as I took off my mittens at the door I caught movement in my peripheral vision. The doe that had ran off to the left came back exactly where she had been!! Since my rifle was packed away I whispered into the tent for the boy to bring his rifle quickly.

He came out, handed me the rifle and went quickly back for his sticks. When he came back we saw the doe heading through the woods directly toward CPO was. She got to his area and bumped out of the trees. If she went left it would be down the valley and gone. If she went right to the nearest bit of woods it would bring her toward us and provide a safe shot. She came right. I told the boy to get ready but he reminded me he did not have a doe tag and handed me his brand new Tikka in 270 wsm and sticks. I plopped my butt into the snow right next to the Burro's front tire. When she got to about 130m I stopped her and squeezed on the Tikka. She whirled and dropped. CPO came out of the woods at the shot to reveal a big chunk of bark from a tree was all he had found but to help us deal with this girl almost IN camp. The weather had finally cleared up and it was COLD but beautiful.

We got to her, thanked her, got her processed and hung off the meat pole quickly. The pics have the boy with her as it was his weapon that did the taking. The one with him far off shows the distance from camp.