Muleyfanatic
Active member
I was finally able to get the photo uploaded from this past year .
We hunted Wyoming DIY.
We arrived 2 days before the season to do some scouting; even though we had to do with road closures due to snow pulling a camper. PS the barrels they blok the roads with move pretty easily. We had no other options because we were unable to get the camper turned around on the mountain due to ice.
The first day of scouting I was able to get into some of the areas I had previously hunted although it was rough going with the road conditions and soon realized that I needed a set of chains on the truck. The next morning road 80 miles into town to pick up a set which they didn't have so we ordered them. They were not scheduled to be in until the second day of elk season.
The second day of scouting was even worse than the first as far as access due to another 10 inches of snow on the mountain. We actually got suck and had to back down the mountain 2.5 miles just to get to a point where I was able to turn around.
First day of season we figured that we would just make the best of it and hunt where we could access. It turned out to be frustrating because we were not the only one who was dealing with the conditions the same way. There was hunters everywhere and we finally got ticked off enough with the ATVs and made the decision to make it up the mountain as far as we felt safe about getting out. The afternoon was not much better waking through snow that was about 16". No elk were seen on the first day.
Second day of the season the weather was a little better and we hunted a little higher on the mountain. I spotted 1 cow and my buddy spotted 19 cows and 1 bull; but they were the bull didn't take the same path as the cows and no shots were offered. We made the 80 mile one way trip to get the chains around 10 in the morning. We grabbed something to eat also and headed back with a new hope of getting to where we originally wanted to hunt. That evening I was making my way back to meadow through the black timber and spotted the bull at about 150 yards and made the shot count. He didn't take another step. I field dressed in preparation of packing him out the falling morning. On the way I spotted another 5x5 bull well after dark (the moon was almost full and ground covered with snow). The following day my buddy hunted in the morning while I quartered the elk. He returned around 10 and we packed the bull out a total of 4 trips (one of the sleds would have been ideal). That evening it snowed another 8 inches; but we were able to get off the mountain just as it started.
Day 3 was recovery in the morning and hunt in the evening. We spotted a herd at 1200 yards just before dark. There was roughly 50 cows, 8 spikes, and 2 raghorn bulls. It was too late to make a move on them though.
Day 4 we hunted the canyon across from where we spotted the herd the morning before. As it got light enough to see there were already elk in the meadow in front of us. All of them were cows and some small spikes. About an hour after light another herd joined in the meadow that contained the 2 raghorns from the previous night. My buddy made a stalk to about 300 yards and shot the larger of the bulls; he was unsure of his shot placement so we gave him about an hour before taking up his track. We found good blood right away and took up the trail for about 500 yards before jumping the bull. We looked for that bull for the next 2 days to no avail. We were actually able to blood trail him for 2.5 miles. My buddy was disgusted with himself after this.
All in all it was fun elk season even though roads were a stress level 11 out of 10 to drive on. We made some friends with some of the great people we met.
We spent the following week and a half pheasant hunting in South Dakota. The numbers seemed down considerably but we were able to get our limits about evryday
We hunted Wyoming DIY.
We arrived 2 days before the season to do some scouting; even though we had to do with road closures due to snow pulling a camper. PS the barrels they blok the roads with move pretty easily. We had no other options because we were unable to get the camper turned around on the mountain due to ice.
The first day of scouting I was able to get into some of the areas I had previously hunted although it was rough going with the road conditions and soon realized that I needed a set of chains on the truck. The next morning road 80 miles into town to pick up a set which they didn't have so we ordered them. They were not scheduled to be in until the second day of elk season.
The second day of scouting was even worse than the first as far as access due to another 10 inches of snow on the mountain. We actually got suck and had to back down the mountain 2.5 miles just to get to a point where I was able to turn around.
First day of season we figured that we would just make the best of it and hunt where we could access. It turned out to be frustrating because we were not the only one who was dealing with the conditions the same way. There was hunters everywhere and we finally got ticked off enough with the ATVs and made the decision to make it up the mountain as far as we felt safe about getting out. The afternoon was not much better waking through snow that was about 16". No elk were seen on the first day.
Second day of the season the weather was a little better and we hunted a little higher on the mountain. I spotted 1 cow and my buddy spotted 19 cows and 1 bull; but they were the bull didn't take the same path as the cows and no shots were offered. We made the 80 mile one way trip to get the chains around 10 in the morning. We grabbed something to eat also and headed back with a new hope of getting to where we originally wanted to hunt. That evening I was making my way back to meadow through the black timber and spotted the bull at about 150 yards and made the shot count. He didn't take another step. I field dressed in preparation of packing him out the falling morning. On the way I spotted another 5x5 bull well after dark (the moon was almost full and ground covered with snow). The following day my buddy hunted in the morning while I quartered the elk. He returned around 10 and we packed the bull out a total of 4 trips (one of the sleds would have been ideal). That evening it snowed another 8 inches; but we were able to get off the mountain just as it started.
Day 3 was recovery in the morning and hunt in the evening. We spotted a herd at 1200 yards just before dark. There was roughly 50 cows, 8 spikes, and 2 raghorn bulls. It was too late to make a move on them though.
Day 4 we hunted the canyon across from where we spotted the herd the morning before. As it got light enough to see there were already elk in the meadow in front of us. All of them were cows and some small spikes. About an hour after light another herd joined in the meadow that contained the 2 raghorns from the previous night. My buddy made a stalk to about 300 yards and shot the larger of the bulls; he was unsure of his shot placement so we gave him about an hour before taking up his track. We found good blood right away and took up the trail for about 500 yards before jumping the bull. We looked for that bull for the next 2 days to no avail. We were actually able to blood trail him for 2.5 miles. My buddy was disgusted with himself after this.
All in all it was fun elk season even though roads were a stress level 11 out of 10 to drive on. We made some friends with some of the great people we met.
We spent the following week and a half pheasant hunting in South Dakota. The numbers seemed down considerably but we were able to get our limits about evryday
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