Successful Wyoming Elk Hunt.
09-27-2010, 01:27 PM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Lubbock, Texas
Posts: 1,401
Successful Wyoming Elk Hunt.
I just got back from my Wyoming elk hunt. This is the 3rd year in a row that I've hunted a non-resident general tag there.
Things didn't start off looking too promising as when we arrived at the normal spot where we camp we found a group of 6 other hunters and the site was loaded up with about a dozen horses and pack animals along with 3 fancy horse trailers, full blown wall tents, cook tents, electric fencing, etc. Finding another place to camp wasn't too difficult, but knowing that there were a bunch of new hunters so close to where we did most of our hunting wasn't to encouraging.
We got camp setup and it was probably a nicer spot to camp with a creek running right by it and some nice shade trees and a pretty flat spot to park the trailers. The only drawback was that it was farther away from our normal hunting spot.
We decided that we would start out on opening day as planned regardless of whether there were extra hunters around or not. Normally there are 2 outfitters who hunt the same area pretty hard each year so we are fairly used to some competition. We also decided that we were not going to be picky, we were going to shoot the first legal bull we saw, even it it was a spike.
Opening morning started with a wake up alarm at 4:00 and in the truck headed to the place we wanted to park by 4:30. Losing our normal camping spot added about 15 minutes to the drive and we were parked and headed off into the dark looking at our GPS at 5:00. A little under an hour of wading through waist high brush and crawling over deadfall in the dark brought us to the spot we wanted to be at a little early at around 6:00. We heard some wolves going off to the northwest of us a mile or so and that quickly brought our spirits down even farther. Typically when the wolves are talking the elk aren't so whatever we did was going to have to be without relying on calling. Thankfully our plans for opening morning mostly involved sitting and waiting for someone else to push the elk our way.
A little before 6:30 we adjusted our positions a little to get the best view possible. We were on the edge of one of the few clearings in the area and could actually see about 300 yards in some areas. Based on previous experienced we expected one of the outfitters to come through on horseback and hopefully push some elk into the clearing for us to possibly get a shot at them. They were a little early though and we could hear them coming toward us about 15 minutes before shooting light. We could still see with the bright moon and binoculars, but we didn't see anything come through the clearing.
Shooting light finally rolled in around 6:40 and we sat in our spot as the outfitter worked his way around the clearing. A bull moose came up behind us and blew a few times trying to scent us, then worked down through the clearing to the south of us. He was a pretty decent bull and seeing him gave us a little hope for the future as the moose population in that area has been in a steady decline over the last several years.
The outfitter worked his way all around the clearing and then off to the west with nothing happening. The guide bugled a couple sick sounding bugles but nothing responded. They worked their way off and we stayed put, hoping something would still come our way.
We'd been sitting for about an hour and my friend Mike decided he needed to take a potty break. He wandered off about 50 yards and I heard him make a cow call a couple minutes later. I decided to make a few cow calls myself and then a few minutes later he cow calls again so I cow called again too. He started walking back my way and I kept looking through the clearing and into the timber surrounding it and as I'm scanning back to the east I see an elk coming our way! It was a bull and that's all that mattered. I didn't bother to use the range finder because he seemed pretty close to me. He was trotting and turned broadside for a second and I didn't think to cow call to stop him, I just took the shot while he was still moving. Talking things over with Mike after it was all over it turned out that when he went to take his potty break, he is pretty sure that he jumped this bull out of his bed. He never saw him, but he gave a squeal and busted out of his bed when Mike walked up to the edge of the canyon. That's why Mike made the cow call that I heard. Thinking it through it seems like the bull was circling around to try to get a fix on the cow calls when I saw him.
I took the shot and he turned and pretty much started heading straight at us. I thought I had hit him with the first shot, but with an elk I've always been told that you keep shooting them until they are on the ground so I shot a 2nd time as he was severely quartering to me. After that shot he came to a stop, teetered for a second and then went down hard in a cloud of dust.
After giving him a few minutes we walked over and he was down for the count. After the fact I ranged the shot at 127 yards. Upon close inspection I was surprised to find that I must have had a complete miss on the first shot. The 2nd shot was exactly where I was aimed and did a great job on him though. I've recreated the shot a dozen times and can't believe that I missed. The only thing I can think of that would explain it would be either a very poor shot on my part or the fact that there was a small pine tree in front of the area where I was setup and took the shot. Possibly I could have nicked a limb on it and sent that first shot errant. I'm sure glad I followed up with that 2nd shot!
It wasn't until after he was down that I even began to think about how large he was. We had discussed the fact that we would shoot the first legal bull that we saw and I knew he wasn't a monster, but it all went down so fast that I didn't know if he was a raghorn or a decent bull. Turns out he was closer to a raghorn than a decent bull, but I'm still happy with him.
Here's my friend Mike with me.
Everyone who has been elk hunting and had a successful hunt knows that the work begins when the animal goes down. Even a small bull elk is a very big animal and takes some work to get out. I had some game bags in my backpack and we decided to go ahead and quarter him up and skin and debone him to make the pack out as light as possible.
Here he is quartered up and ready to pack out. I used my space blanket out of my first aid kit as a tarp to keep the quarters clean while we got them deboned and bagged up.
This year I bought a new backpack that is called the "Just One" pack. I mainly bought it for the rifle scabbard that it has that allows you to carry your rifle in the pack on those fun hikes in and out in the dark, but it also expands to allow you to haul out on your first trip back to the truck. Their slogan is to "go in light and come out heavy" and it lived up to it's reputation. On my first load back to the truck I hauled everything that I started with in the pack, plus one front shoulder and the head. I would have liked to weigh it, but I think pretty conservatively I can say that all told it weighed at least 100lbs.
Here's me starting the pack out.
One very nice thing about the spot we were hunting was that it was close to where be park the truck. On the way in we skirt around the clearing so we don't spook anything out and it is close to a mile in, but on the way out we took a direct line and according to the GPS we just had .57 miles back to the truck!
It was a good thing too! The pack handled that heavy load easily, but I was more than ready to get it off my back when we got to the truck.
We made it back to camp in time for lunch and then went back to get the last load. On the last load I hauled out a boned out hindquarter and a front shoulder in one trip. I figure that load weighed in close to 120lbs with my rifle, hydration bladder and the weight of the pack itself figured in.
Here's the pack expanded out and loaded up for the trip back out.
That makes the 2nd time in the last 3 years that I've had an elk down on opening morning. This one wasn't as big as the one I shot 2 years ago, but I'm still very happy with him.
I spent the rest of the week hunting with my friend Mike and he was able to get his bull on Thursday. We were able to get one talking back to us and I would cow call and the bull would bugle and we worked him for about an hour as we zeroed in on him. When it was finally said and done the shot was a whopping 37 yards and even then he couldn't see the entire elk it was so thick.
Here's his bull.
Here's both bulls back at camp with my 3 1/2 year old son.
Neither bull was a monster by any means, but we talked to several other hunters during the week and none of them had even seen an elk so we felt pretty good on filling both our tags.
I have a premium draw hunt coming up in New Mexico so this will help me be a little picker when it comes to passing up on a smaller bull early in the season.
Thought I would share. Nathan
Things didn't start off looking too promising as when we arrived at the normal spot where we camp we found a group of 6 other hunters and the site was loaded up with about a dozen horses and pack animals along with 3 fancy horse trailers, full blown wall tents, cook tents, electric fencing, etc. Finding another place to camp wasn't too difficult, but knowing that there were a bunch of new hunters so close to where we did most of our hunting wasn't to encouraging.
We got camp setup and it was probably a nicer spot to camp with a creek running right by it and some nice shade trees and a pretty flat spot to park the trailers. The only drawback was that it was farther away from our normal hunting spot.
We decided that we would start out on opening day as planned regardless of whether there were extra hunters around or not. Normally there are 2 outfitters who hunt the same area pretty hard each year so we are fairly used to some competition. We also decided that we were not going to be picky, we were going to shoot the first legal bull we saw, even it it was a spike.
Opening morning started with a wake up alarm at 4:00 and in the truck headed to the place we wanted to park by 4:30. Losing our normal camping spot added about 15 minutes to the drive and we were parked and headed off into the dark looking at our GPS at 5:00. A little under an hour of wading through waist high brush and crawling over deadfall in the dark brought us to the spot we wanted to be at a little early at around 6:00. We heard some wolves going off to the northwest of us a mile or so and that quickly brought our spirits down even farther. Typically when the wolves are talking the elk aren't so whatever we did was going to have to be without relying on calling. Thankfully our plans for opening morning mostly involved sitting and waiting for someone else to push the elk our way.
A little before 6:30 we adjusted our positions a little to get the best view possible. We were on the edge of one of the few clearings in the area and could actually see about 300 yards in some areas. Based on previous experienced we expected one of the outfitters to come through on horseback and hopefully push some elk into the clearing for us to possibly get a shot at them. They were a little early though and we could hear them coming toward us about 15 minutes before shooting light. We could still see with the bright moon and binoculars, but we didn't see anything come through the clearing.
Shooting light finally rolled in around 6:40 and we sat in our spot as the outfitter worked his way around the clearing. A bull moose came up behind us and blew a few times trying to scent us, then worked down through the clearing to the south of us. He was a pretty decent bull and seeing him gave us a little hope for the future as the moose population in that area has been in a steady decline over the last several years.
The outfitter worked his way all around the clearing and then off to the west with nothing happening. The guide bugled a couple sick sounding bugles but nothing responded. They worked their way off and we stayed put, hoping something would still come our way.
We'd been sitting for about an hour and my friend Mike decided he needed to take a potty break. He wandered off about 50 yards and I heard him make a cow call a couple minutes later. I decided to make a few cow calls myself and then a few minutes later he cow calls again so I cow called again too. He started walking back my way and I kept looking through the clearing and into the timber surrounding it and as I'm scanning back to the east I see an elk coming our way! It was a bull and that's all that mattered. I didn't bother to use the range finder because he seemed pretty close to me. He was trotting and turned broadside for a second and I didn't think to cow call to stop him, I just took the shot while he was still moving. Talking things over with Mike after it was all over it turned out that when he went to take his potty break, he is pretty sure that he jumped this bull out of his bed. He never saw him, but he gave a squeal and busted out of his bed when Mike walked up to the edge of the canyon. That's why Mike made the cow call that I heard. Thinking it through it seems like the bull was circling around to try to get a fix on the cow calls when I saw him.
I took the shot and he turned and pretty much started heading straight at us. I thought I had hit him with the first shot, but with an elk I've always been told that you keep shooting them until they are on the ground so I shot a 2nd time as he was severely quartering to me. After that shot he came to a stop, teetered for a second and then went down hard in a cloud of dust.
After giving him a few minutes we walked over and he was down for the count. After the fact I ranged the shot at 127 yards. Upon close inspection I was surprised to find that I must have had a complete miss on the first shot. The 2nd shot was exactly where I was aimed and did a great job on him though. I've recreated the shot a dozen times and can't believe that I missed. The only thing I can think of that would explain it would be either a very poor shot on my part or the fact that there was a small pine tree in front of the area where I was setup and took the shot. Possibly I could have nicked a limb on it and sent that first shot errant. I'm sure glad I followed up with that 2nd shot!
It wasn't until after he was down that I even began to think about how large he was. We had discussed the fact that we would shoot the first legal bull that we saw and I knew he wasn't a monster, but it all went down so fast that I didn't know if he was a raghorn or a decent bull. Turns out he was closer to a raghorn than a decent bull, but I'm still happy with him.
Here's my friend Mike with me.
Everyone who has been elk hunting and had a successful hunt knows that the work begins when the animal goes down. Even a small bull elk is a very big animal and takes some work to get out. I had some game bags in my backpack and we decided to go ahead and quarter him up and skin and debone him to make the pack out as light as possible.
Here he is quartered up and ready to pack out. I used my space blanket out of my first aid kit as a tarp to keep the quarters clean while we got them deboned and bagged up.
This year I bought a new backpack that is called the "Just One" pack. I mainly bought it for the rifle scabbard that it has that allows you to carry your rifle in the pack on those fun hikes in and out in the dark, but it also expands to allow you to haul out on your first trip back to the truck. Their slogan is to "go in light and come out heavy" and it lived up to it's reputation. On my first load back to the truck I hauled everything that I started with in the pack, plus one front shoulder and the head. I would have liked to weigh it, but I think pretty conservatively I can say that all told it weighed at least 100lbs.
Here's me starting the pack out.
One very nice thing about the spot we were hunting was that it was close to where be park the truck. On the way in we skirt around the clearing so we don't spook anything out and it is close to a mile in, but on the way out we took a direct line and according to the GPS we just had .57 miles back to the truck!
It was a good thing too! The pack handled that heavy load easily, but I was more than ready to get it off my back when we got to the truck.
We made it back to camp in time for lunch and then went back to get the last load. On the last load I hauled out a boned out hindquarter and a front shoulder in one trip. I figure that load weighed in close to 120lbs with my rifle, hydration bladder and the weight of the pack itself figured in.
Here's the pack expanded out and loaded up for the trip back out.
That makes the 2nd time in the last 3 years that I've had an elk down on opening morning. This one wasn't as big as the one I shot 2 years ago, but I'm still very happy with him.
I spent the rest of the week hunting with my friend Mike and he was able to get his bull on Thursday. We were able to get one talking back to us and I would cow call and the bull would bugle and we worked him for about an hour as we zeroed in on him. When it was finally said and done the shot was a whopping 37 yards and even then he couldn't see the entire elk it was so thick.
Here's his bull.
Here's both bulls back at camp with my 3 1/2 year old son.
Neither bull was a monster by any means, but we talked to several other hunters during the week and none of them had even seen an elk so we felt pretty good on filling both our tags.
I have a premium draw hunt coming up in New Mexico so this will help me be a little picker when it comes to passing up on a smaller bull early in the season.
Thought I would share. Nathan
09-27-2010, 09:19 PM
#5
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: IL
Posts: 6,575
so I didn't read that entire book you wrote....haha, but congrats!
did notice that pack, what kind is it? trying to find a pack....but I go back n forth on pack frames vs. huge vs. small, hard to find it all in 1 pack. also a light one would be nice, some of these packs alone unloaded I swear weigh 10lbs or more!
What cartridges/calibers did you guys use?
did notice that pack, what kind is it? trying to find a pack....but I go back n forth on pack frames vs. huge vs. small, hard to find it all in 1 pack. also a light one would be nice, some of these packs alone unloaded I swear weigh 10lbs or more!
What cartridges/calibers did you guys use?
Last edited by salukipv1; 09-27-2010 at 09:31 PM.
09-28-2010, 04:20 AM
#6
Fork Horn
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Pa
Posts: 459
Awesome pictures and story CONGRATS I went on my first out west trip last year to Wyoming for antelope and had a great time this year I sent for preference points for elk and mule deer.How many years did you apply before yo got drawn and what area did you hunt.also what rile and calibers did you guys use? thats a nice pack I'm goin to have to check it out I currently use this pack www.bullpacs.com
Last edited by 300ultramagshooter; 09-28-2010 at 04:24 AM.
09-28-2010, 07:56 AM
#7
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Wright, WY
Posts: 1,281
I had a scale when I packed mine out two weeks ago and the front quarters with bone in weighed about 30 pounds. The back quarters with bone in were about 60 pounds. I put the antlers similar to yours in size, one back quarter and the bag of all the loose meat, backstraps, brisket, neck and so on one trip and it was right at 120 pounds with my pack and camel back. It felt like I could fly after getting it off. Mine was 1.3 miles back to the 4 wheeler though.
Congrats on both.
Congrats on both.
09-28-2010, 12:53 PM
#8
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Lubbock, Texas
Posts: 1,401
Thanks for the comments everyone. It was a great hunt and we were both very happy with our bulls considering the competition and the overall lack of numbers in the area.
It's an Eberlestock J34 pack. The big reason I chose it was for the rifle scabbard, but they make some without the scabbard as well. It isn't the lightest pack in the world, empty it weighs in right at 7lbs, but it sure can haul a load.
I shoot a 7mm Rem Mag and was using 160gr accubonds. My friend shoots a 300 WSM and I think he uses a bullet called a "Failsafe". Mine dropped pretty much DRT but I think it would have with any bullet. He actually hit his in the neck and it took a finishing shot.
I hunted a General tag. This is my 3rd year in a row to hunt in Wyoming on a General tag. I have a system figured out where I can draw one every year but it isn't exactly cheap. You have to put in for the "special" tag every other year for it to work which is an extra $500 for the state of Wyoming every other year. Add in the fuel to pull our travel trailer up there and back and I don't even want to calculate out the cost per pound of meat!
did notice that pack, what kind is it? trying to find a pack....but I go back n forth on pack frames vs. huge vs. small, hard to find it all in 1 pack. also a light one would be nice, some of these packs alone unloaded I swear weigh 10lbs or more!
What cartridges/calibers did you guys use?
What cartridges/calibers did you guys use?
How many years did you apply before you got drawn and what area did you hunt.also what rifle and calibers did you guys use? thats a nice pack I'm goin to have to check it out I currently use this pack www.bullpacs.com
It's an Eberlestock J34 pack. The big reason I chose it was for the rifle scabbard, but they make some without the scabbard as well. It isn't the lightest pack in the world, empty it weighs in right at 7lbs, but it sure can haul a load.
I shoot a 7mm Rem Mag and was using 160gr accubonds. My friend shoots a 300 WSM and I think he uses a bullet called a "Failsafe". Mine dropped pretty much DRT but I think it would have with any bullet. He actually hit his in the neck and it took a finishing shot.
I hunted a General tag. This is my 3rd year in a row to hunt in Wyoming on a General tag. I have a system figured out where I can draw one every year but it isn't exactly cheap. You have to put in for the "special" tag every other year for it to work which is an extra $500 for the state of Wyoming every other year. Add in the fuel to pull our travel trailer up there and back and I don't even want to calculate out the cost per pound of meat!
Last edited by npaden; 09-28-2010 at 12:58 PM.
09-28-2010, 03:59 PM
#10
Typical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 612
"I had a scale when I packed mine out two weeks ago and the front quarters with bone in weighed about 30 pounds. The back quarters with bone in were about 60 pounds. I put the antlers similar to yours in size, one back quarter and the bag of all the loose meat, backstraps, brisket, neck and so on one trip and it was right at 120 pounds with my pack and camel back. It felt like I could fly after getting it off. Mine was 1.3 miles back to the 4 wheeler though."
It is amazing how much variation in size there is amongst elk. The last five I weighed all of the meat when packaging. I had a calf elk that I got 80 lbs of meat off of, a small cow I got 160 lbs off of, a very large cow I got 220 lbs off of, and a couple of bulls that came in at 190 lbs and 220 lbs. That's consumable, trimmed meat only.
It is amazing how much variation in size there is amongst elk. The last five I weighed all of the meat when packaging. I had a calf elk that I got 80 lbs of meat off of, a small cow I got 160 lbs off of, a very large cow I got 220 lbs off of, and a couple of bulls that came in at 190 lbs and 220 lbs. That's consumable, trimmed meat only.