Wyoming 2016 Went Well

[Indian Summer]

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My 2016 elk hunt was different than anything I have done before. Private land around 5600 feet instead of unlimited mountains to separate the men from the boys. I had private access to plenty of public land behind the ranch. I was a little uneasy all year for several reasons. One I'm not used to any boundaries when I elk hunt so no matter what there's always another plan. The other is that the word was that we should hunt as late as possible and pray for snow. As luck would have it we got just the opposite by ending up there for the warmest hunting season in years.

In August I made a return trip to Sturgis South Dakota so as a bonafide elkoholic how could I resist scooting over to get a glimpse of the ranch which was only about 4 hours away. I stopped there on my way to hunt as well because it feels like home!

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One other thing on my mind was the amount of state land I had access to. By the looks of it I could tear it all up pretty quickly. Of even more concern was the fact that other hunters may also be able to cover their share of ground back there as well. But when I got there I realized that a huge amount of the area was rocky cliffs which dictated where you could or couldn't go and the amount of area might has well been tenfold because of the ruggedness. The fact was I'd be lucky to get anywhere in that country and no right minded local would care to be on that hill! It was a classic case of showing up in country that I'd grilled on Game Planner Maps and Google Earth for months looking nothing like I thought it would. After a few decades of elk hunting though that came as no surprise at all. As luck would have it the place looked even better than I thought.

The ranch which was a total of about 2500 acres had three water sources. A good sized main stream and two smaller springs. I had hoped water was scarce up high. My internet scouting showed a little up high but the water sources were few and far between. I had a nearby mountain scoped out in case I needed a plan B. It topped out at 10K so I figured regardless of weather there had to be elk somewhere up there and I should also be able to leave other hunters in my dust.

[Indian Summer]

On the 30th of October I picked up my hunting partner Marco LeBlanc and his dad Marcele in Billings Montana. They flew in from Moncton New Brunswick Canada. We got to our elk camp which was a fairly new mobile home... and a whole lots different than the wall tents we are used to. Since those guys live on the north Atlantic coast I always put in an order for a couple dozen lobsters and they didn't let me down. The 3 of us tore up a dozen of them the first night there.

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The next morning we were up before the easterners and on our way up the hill. We had a bit of glassing time the evening before and even though we saw nothing we had a spot picked out to set up n the morning. As soon as the sun cracked the sky we looked to the south and immediately spotted two nice bulls. A big 6 point with a herd and a big 5 point by himself. The were easy to see as they were sky lining along the top of a huge ridge that came out onto the ranch and away from any timer. They were in the wide open. The only problem was they we on the ranch adjacent to ours and we couldn't go after them. But we could get pretty close and they might come our way so off we went. We hadn't made it a quarter mile across a wide open flat when a herd of antelope began running left to right over toward the timber at the base of the mountain. I got the binos on them and started following the nicest buck as he bounced along. About 100 yards into his trot I about choked when into view came a brow tined bull staring right into my binos! Bull bull hit the dirt NOW!

[Indian Summer]

It turns out he hadn't actually spotted us but was just looking at the antelope and maybe wondering what caused them to take flight. As I' staring the bull down I see an odd looking leafless tree to his right which deserved a closer look. Sure enough it was another bull. It turns out it was a bachelor group. A pretty nice 6 point bull and two 5 points. One 5 was really nice too. This is where a lack of pre season hands on scouting bit us in the behind. My first thought as always was calm down and watch. The last thing I want to do is have them spot hunters on the ranch. It was day one and so we had lots of time right? Wrong! As luck would have it those bulls were really close to the border of the next ranch and they kept on moving never to be seen again. The fact was we had nothing to lose had we decided to make a quick move and try to get a shot opportunity on one of those bulls. We continued on south to a piece of state land that protruded into that ranch to our south. It was super nice over there with various sized meadows and some huge canyons and fairly open stretches of timber all around. I felt like I was on one of those cushy television hunts. But pretty soon we would find out it would be anything but a picture perfect hunt.

That evening we found a really great spot to set up where we could shoot if those bulls came back out to feed. Any elk passing through the area had to show itself there because the cliffs behind the ranch came so far down that elk always traveled the ranch to get below them. We didn't see anything else that night.

[Indian Summer]

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It's worth noting that the entire area was unbelievably rocky. Here are a couple shots from a nearby canyon road that give you an idea.

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In this pic you have a good angle to see what the draws were made of. 20 to 40 foot cliffs on both sides from the top of the mountain to where the hill ended below on private land. There were literally no game trails that sidehilled the mountains other than the ones above or below these canyons. An interesting part of the puzzle when it comes to where elk bed and travel.

[Indian Summer]

We didn't see another elk on the ranch for the next 2 days. We would split up having one of us sit on a high bluff in the state land and the other staking out the back southwest corner of the property where we had started. On day 4 I decided that I just had to go about things my way and leave the ranch and go dig up some elk on the hill to the west just behind the ranch. We had been laying low with the 4 wheeler but that day we were in exploration mode wanting to cover a ton of ground without killing ourselves. It was all uphill. We went out the back gate and up a gnarly rocky insane little 2 track road that I can't imagine having built. As soon as we got up higher and hit an intersection or two the roads got wider and were pounded with truck and 4 wheeler tracks. There were barely any openings with grass for feed. Solid timber laced with the most extreme network of cliffs I have ever seen. We all agreed that the last things a hunter would want to do there is get turned around in the dark or fog. We saw no elk sign. Not even a track on the road. Bittersweet really because we were happy to see that the ranch was definitely our best bet but it might mean long days of sitting and waiting. So we bounced back down the rocky goat path back to what would be our hunting area for the remainder of the 14 days of hunting. When we got to the bottom Marco and Marcel opted to sit on the big hump in the state land. That spot was a far hike from the house but we were right next to it so they figured what the heck. It was already 4 o’clock so it was just kind of a roll of the dice that night. Actually we had seen a couple other elk over on the other ranch AND the guy who lived on the ranch said he had killed a 5 by 6 over there two weeks before we got there.

[Indian Summer]

I decided to go to the northwest corner of the ranch. The canucks had sat there one evening but didn't see anything. We always look over new areas from a distance for one day before moving in for a closer look. It had been smoking hot out that day. I had bits and pieces of a conversation rolling around in my head. The guy who lived on the ranch had only been there for 2 years. But him and his two young kids had hiked all over the place a lot and he knew quite a bit even if he wasn't a huge elk hunter. He said there used to be a herd that camped out in that back corner but they hadn't been there in a long time. I at least knew that the area had the right ingredients though. It was now 4:30 which meant I had about two hours of shooting light. I followed the main creek right up the bottom until it got to where it ran in between the sheer cliffs. I figured if anything wanted to come down of the hill to water it would have to roll below them. Once I got there I turned to my right and uphill to a knoll that would give me a good view of that whole area. When I got to the top I looked over the other side and through some nice open trees I could see there was a meadow. It was hidden from the ranch below by some big humps. There were two holes in the trees I could move my head left and right to see through. The clock was ticking so I dropped my pack, stuck the Caldwell rest on the ground and dropped my gun on it facing the meadow. It was cooling down fast now. I had a drink of water and looked back the way I came. I couldn't see much country at all but what I could I could shoot and it seemed like a key location. I ranged both directions than began glassing to get a better idea of what I was looking at.

[Indian Summer]

About the third time I looked through a hole down into the yellow grass I saw a couple cows. Elk! They were feeding heads down from left to right out toward the ranch and water. The wind couldn't have been better and they had no idea I was there. I was actually able to walk about 10 feet to my right for a better angle through my one hole in the tree tops. After about 10 minutes I was pretty sure I had a solid head count. 8 cows and 5 calves for a total of 13. After that it just became a cycle of looking through one hole then the other taking new head counts and looking around the perimeter of my view for any other elk. That went on for a good 15 minutes. I had walked away from my gun to peer down through the right hole and when I did bam! Big dark antlers against the yellow grass don't lie. Herd bull! I flew back over to my gun and hunkered down. As luck would have it I had dropped the rest and the gun in the perfect spot and didn't have to move a thing. I was looking through the other hole though and for the moment couldn't see the bull. But I knew he was there and after quite a bit of time observing the herd I was sure he was going to move into my shooting lane. Safety off I sat there looking at the cross hairs and waiting. My gun is a hair trigger so I don't even touch it until I'm ready to shoot. It didn't take long at all before the bull took a few steps forward and stopped with his head down feeding. I lined up my scope and felt pretty calm as I cranked it all the way up to 20 power. I always pause for a millisecond before I shoot but I thought to myself.... man this rest is the bomb my cross hairs are sitting there solid as a rock. So...... I let him have it. In a flash the entire herd thundered off back the way they had come from. I took a second to peer down there with my binos ad didn't see anything. So I regrouped my daypack strapped it on and hustled on down the hill. When I hit the meadow I saw nothing. Always a nice feeling right? But I know from experience that the .300 Ultra Mag zips a hole through game pretty quick and they tend to run off a bit before reality sets in. In the case of big critters like elk and moose there have e few gallons of blood that gets them roughly 100 yards no matter how hard they are hit. So ok no big deal. At the end of that meadow about 50 yards away was a gully that dropped about 10 feet and was lined with trees. On the other side I cold see there was another meadow about the same size. I zipped over to the gully hoping he had crashed and burned in the bottom. I came to the edge and looked up and down. Nothing. I crossed the gully and looked straight across the next meadow which was about 150 yards long. Nothing. I hate that feeling. But after glancing forward I started looking to the left uphill along the edge of the trees and there sticking up out of the grass was half of a 6 point rack the side of a rib cage and one hind leg.

[Indian Summer]

I dropped to a boulder next to me and as always I put the cross hairs right on him in case he got a second wind and decided to try to get up. I could see his side going up and down a bit so I knew he wasn't quite done yet. Then he started kicking his hind legs before finally succumbing to what turned out to be a perfect 254 yard shot. Not one ounce of meat wasted and a quick clean one shot kill.

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With about 20 minutes of light left I took some pics as fast as I could. All of the photos are self taken and as always my hat goes of to Lyn at Clip-Shot for an invaluable tool. Then I got down to business getting the elk completely skinned and quarters with everything in a tree except for the hind quarters which I leaned up against the tree trunk vertically off of the ground. Hung my stinky sweaty shirt in a branch and off I went.

The next morning we got the 4 wheeler as close as we dared to the spot and got the meat all bagged up. A huge plug for TAG Bags here. Those things are really nice. The flies we really bad with the heat and I had no worries of blowflies or maggots due to the tight weave construction. The next day I would hand wash them in warm water at the house and they came out spotless and even had the new in the bag smell when I was done. Very very nice and well worth the money. We got the meat to the local processor and told him to hang it for a week or longer before cutting and we headed back to the ranch. That nigh Marco went on a hump just to the north of where I killed the bull. I went one hump to the north of him and just got up on a high knoll where I could maximize my field of view. After about 2 hours the sun started to drop and things cooled way down. Out of nowhere I spotted a bull over on the hill Marco was on. Then another. A 6 point in the lead followed by a 5 point bull. They were standing still feeding and working their way toward water down below. I didn't know exactly where Marco was but it turned out he was close. But I heard a 4 wheeler way up on top of the hill and so did those bulls. The stopped moving and stared I n that direction forever as we lost daylight. I moved down before total darkness and found a good spot to sit in the future. The bigger bull was 256 yards away and I could have shot him with ease. As luck would have it the guy with the unpunched tag was just above on the other side of the meadow as the bulls. Damn!

Naturally we were in my spot the next morning but saw nothing. When I say nothing I actually mean about a hundred mule deer a bunch of whitetails and some antelope. The bucks were chasing the does everywhere. We saw a few shooters and a guy could fill a deer tag there really easily. In the days to follow we kept our eyes on as much country as we could mostly splitting up mornings and evenings. We never saw another elk on the ranch. Not that they weren't around. We would see fresh tracks on the ranch. There was a herd of about 300 elk stacked up on the ranch across the north border of ours. We saw a group of 4 bulls a couple more times on the ranch to the south.

[Indian Summer]

My partner didn't kill an elk but not for a lack of trying. Up early and out until dark every day. I'm pretty confident that if I went back me and one other guy could both kill bulls. I'd make a few changes. Less 4 wheeler use. Zero exploring but just sitting in what we now know are the prime spots. But the other thing that would really kick that place into high gear is weather. We knew we needed snow. As we were leaving the herds were stacking up in the lower elevations. We were in the transition zone between the Cloud Peak Wilderness and wintering grounds. There are some real monsters in and around the Bighorns. No wolves or grizzlies and just not that many locals around. If I ever find myself with 2.5 points again In Wyoming I think I'd have to give it another try and pray for snow. But as luck would have it I'll probably keep seeing the word successful for my General tag and I may never have more than 1 preference point. Oh well back to the mountains.... not that I'm complaining. Oh and one more sponsor plug: That Alpine Touch is unreal! I find myself covering my steaks in it anymore. Yes we can find lots of good seasonings in local stores but it's like nothing I've ever tried before and I'd highly recommend giving it a try. It goes with elk as good as Nosler Accubonds.

A nice shed with great mass in the back end that we found on the ranch which reinforced my thoughts that a few nice bulls made the place home for the winter. The boy who lived on the ranch found one that dwarfed this one by a long shot. Super mass and crazy tine length. I know of a 370 bull that came from that property. That is the stuff that will keep me going to a place like that. If everything fals in place a 350 bull is very realistic with a long shot of even bigger.

[Indian Summer]

A few other shots with my awesome partners to give an idea of what the area was like. Once of the hill you're into antelope country. Desert with the red rock formations. Beautiful stuff to hunt around.

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This one was from our one day on top exploring. You can see it's all timber although from this angle you can't see the rockiness of it. Inside the timber it literally 90% rock and zero feed. Plenty of places for elk to hide BUT.... that have to drink and they eat 20 pounds of feed per animal every day. You can see the ranchlands down below in the background.

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Rock rock and more rock! If there was a critter that ate rocks they would be thriving there!

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The end!

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[WapitiTalk1]

Yes! Epic recap of your hunt and great bull Joe. As always, its a pleasure reading about your adventures and the details that lead up to a successful hunt. Looks like some really rough terrain. Sure glad you were able to fuel up with that lobster feast

[MT Bound]

Nice, sounds like a heck of a place and an awesome hunt. Congrats!

[Indian Summer]

One interesting thing to note is that the day I killed the bulls I would have never expected it. It was an exploratory day bouncing around on a 4 wheeler. I didn't start out to hunt until 4:30 and only had 2 hours of light and no plan. When you least expect it expect it!

If anyone is interested in hunting this property let me know. Also if you know you're going to hunt elk in 2017 and are interested in either an outfitted hunt, guided, semi or drop.... or better yet a DIY hunt plan for your group let me know. Have a look at the website first and shoot me an email with any questions.

Headin' West Hunt Consulting
www.headinwest.net

[CurlyTail]

Great story

Great Pictures

Great Bull

Makes me want to go Elk hunting right now!

Thanks for sharing

[njdoxie]

Seems you always get a bull, no matter what, enjoyed the read....was that your easiest elk hunt ever? Did u miss a wall tent and wild country?

[Indian Summer]

It was one of my 2 easiest elk hunts ever. The deciding factor in easy is what it takes to get the elk out. I was able to get a 4 wheeler pretty close to this one. The other was a cow on public land that I drive the 4 wheeler right to.

As far as killing them goes I had a hunt in 2012 that was a little easier and way more fun. We listened to bulls bugling in every direction of camp for 2 days and then walked right to the one that sounded biggest in the dark and shot him about 15 minutes into the day. Sometimes things just seem to fall into place and we managed to get in front of that bull as he tailed a cow to their bedding area and he bugled righto us where he went down after one shot at about 80 yards. We used a game cart all the way out on that one but it was not what you'd call easy. Also I'll never forget listening to other bulls bugle the entire time we quartered that one out.

I absolutely miss the wall tent in the hills! Several times on the ranch this year I stopped and said screw that mobile home I'd like to live in a wall tent right here on this bluff. I liked having heat and a refrigerator and really liked having a hot shower but there's no question it just isn't the same. I usually camp at my truck but it's still a wall tent camp and with the horses on the rail outside it has plenty of atmosphere. The other thing is the unknown. In the mountains there are always spots just beyond what I have hunted and learned. I've seen bulls heading that way but just haven't had the time to push on further. I think about those spots year round and I push a bit further every year. I get excited just thinking about that country full of elk with zero hunters.

"Can't figure people down there eating hog when they could feed on elk up here pilgrim"