Cow Soup.

[Indian Summer]

Just got back from Wyoming. Had a great hunt. Filled with ups and downs for sure. When we arrived I did some of what I call prospecting. Looking at areas I have never set foot in before. It cost me 5 days though. One to pack in and set camp. Two hunting. One to get camp out, and another to set it in another location. Two of us went different ways for the two days and never saw a track or terd let alone an elk.

So for those that use my hunt plan services take notice.... I burn time and money doing things like that to spare you the agony!

The next location I had never been to either although I did scratch the surface of it last year coming from the opposite direction. After setting camp we rode in about an hour and a half to get in a high saddle just for an hour and a half of late day glassing. I immediately spotted two bulls. One pretty nice and the other small. They were about a mile and a half away but with what little time we had that day at least we had something to go on for the next morning.

The next day we made a wrong turn on a trail costing us about a half hour and so didn't arrive where I planned to tie off the horses until quite a bit after first light. And damn... several hundred yards before my intended tie up spot we got busted by a herd of about 10 cows, a spike, and two small bulls. they trotted into a patch of timber that we could pretty much see both sides of. So I went up the left side where they entered and my partner and a friend from Jackson headed a bit further up the drainage intending to turn uphill and hunt in from the other side. Unknown to me the cows one of which had a collar on kept moving and rolled around the head of the drainage and over the top of a saddle on the other side.

I picked up a bunch of elevation and watched the two bulls, both small 5 points feed calmly across the top of the little gully I was in and into the timber. When danger comes from below plan A for elk is usually to go high often escaping out the top one way or another. So I went all the way up and around the open area above the timber.

When I got up there I looked down in the very bottom and to my surprise a 6 point bull we hadn't seen was crossing the bottom not far from out horses. Are you kidding me!!!! I watched him go into a patch of mixed aspens and small pines and never come out. Going against the "don't pass on the first day what you'd shoot on the last" philosophy I hoped I didn't run into a shot opportunity on the 5 points as I worked across the top of the timber planning to drop down the other side and get on the big boy.

Before I entered the top end I looked up and wow... 19 mountain goats. The biggest herd of goats I have ever see with a couple really nice billies. I worked through the timber a little faster than I would if I really intended to kill those little bulls.... and paid the price. As I was just about to exit the other side a big 5 who had been bedded outside the timber but comfortably out of the sun which was on the opposite side saw me first, jumped up at 75 yards and went from zero to 60 in .5 seconds. I backtracked to an open strip and he crossed at 176 yards below me but on the move and never stopping for a glance back and that was the end of him. Damn!

So down that side I went. About 2/3 of the way down I look and there's the big boy working right to left. He had exited his little patch. Where were my partners??? As I glassed him at the top of my field of view I see 2 orange hats pop up at the top of the finger above him not 100 yards away. Oh ch1t! He stopped and entered another small patch of cover. I figured we had him cornered. Yeah right. The other two later told me they had seen him down there but weren't quite sure where he was. I watch that patch as I dropped and crept to it slow ready for action. Gone. Vanished. How do they do that? If you've ever hunted antelope you know that critters of the west are good at using the slightest folds in the lay of the land to turn sure bets into nothing but another story.

We figured the two small bulls were still in that patch I crossed up high and sure enough with about 2 hours of light left they popped out and started feeding. Jon made his move and headed up. The pair didn't move much but at the last minute made a big move right to left crossing his path. I'm not sure whether they crossed above or below him because we never saw John until he was up high with only minutes of light left. They stood stone still on the opposite side of the gully I had originally climbed until it got dark and Jon dropped back to the horses never seeing them. Lots of action but no paycheck for our efforts that day.

That night I looked over the map and figured out where I thought the cows had headed figuring that big bull was in the same area. We came up with a plan to hunt out to some nice benches along the bottom of some really steep stuff that went to the top. In the morning we glassed the side where we saw them in the first place and it was no surprise that we saw nothing. Just 3 goats, a nanny, her kid, and a really nice long heavy billie tailing the pair. As you've probably gathered it is first class mountain goat hunting in there. Last year I know a guy who guided a hunter to the state record billie in there. By the way we pretty much watch bull moose everywhere all the time while glassing for elk as well as some mule deer. Nice area.

When we got to the bench it looked like we were right. fresh sign everywhere. We hunted it together slow. Crossed a vertical meadow that was stomped up pretty good and I felt like we were getting close. We were. Not to far into the timber on the other side I saw a bull less than 100 yards below me moving to my left. he went behind a tree and I got in position and clicked the safety off. Jon put his fingers in his ears.... this was it..... the beginning of another sad story. lol Instead of taking that one more step he turned away from us and dropped over a rise and vanished for good.

We backtracked and sat in the meadow for awhile. Then worked back along a good game trail on the lip of the bench back the way we came. halfway back a bull on a bench below that one spotted us first and was running before we saw him. That's the way it goes exploring new areas. you don't know enough to know where to sit and tend to hunt it a bit fast still in explorer mode to a degree.

We went back to the day 1 spot and glassed with a it of hope but never saw anything. Day 3 the plan would be for me to go back where we saw the bulls and Jon would turn right out of the saddle the other way t another bench where some tracks were pointing.

His plans went south the next day because when we got to the top of the other side I saw a lone elk enter the timber where the pair of bulls popped out two days earlier. Jon dropped back down and decided to take his chances over on that side again. The rest of the day was a bust. Neither of us saw another elk that day. Even though we were on bulls it was our last day there. The day after that we were relocating camp to a spot where the season hadn't started yet. When I got back a friend who was guiding called to tell me his client killed a big 5 point.... right where I sat on the last day in that spot. It was bugling it's head off. Go figure!

The last spot I knew... but I didn't. I hunted there once.... for a half an hour. Eating in the tent that morning there were bulls bugling in three different directions. I got on the one that sounded the biggest moving in while it was till dark. I killed that 6 point a half an hour after it got light. But I never got to learn the area. We only had 3 days to hunt this spot. In that area you can shoot cows for the first three days. For that reason day 1 is a war zone with locals up there to fill their freezers with the first elk they see. The first evening we rode up to “The Glassing tree” As soon as we popped out in the open a big bull with about 10 cows saw us and ran off. Ugh! So we continued another hundred yards or so up to the tree. As soon as I peeked over the top there was a 6 point bull feeding 156 yards below us. Evening.... below.... yeah. Thermals carried our scent right to him and off he went. Ugh! The next morning, like dummies we went back there. My partner had never seen the place and I needed to set him up with a plan. Before we even got into the opening a different 6 point bull busted us on the trail and took off uphill. Ugh! So we went to the glassing tree and set up the spotting scope. Not long after that a bull was bugling off to our right. He turned out to be an oddball 6 by 4. One side grew funny. He bugled all the way to us and when he got close the horses started dancing around. He saw them, hung a left, and ran uphill the same way the other bull did, UGH!!!! I sat at that spot the next morning and never saw an elk on my side of the hill.

What I did see were about 50 head and several bulls on the other side. But a group of guys had set up along the ridge while another group “drove elk” on their horses sweeping the entire hillside of any elk. A little while later I spotted a medium sized 5 point sneaking across an opening into some timber halfway between me and that ridge so off I went. I never did find him but I did learn the area a lot better. Found several hot wallows and some major trails. Then I hiked back to where I started and headed off the other way. My partner got on the radio and told me there was a bull with two cows really close to where he figured I was. What happened there was on the way up the trail I came to a really high step where a tree grew out of the hill sideways. My horse was HUGE and he stepped right up and over it. The other one I was pulling wasn't so lucky. He missed the step and came down on his front knees. He panicked a little and rolled over sideways and backwards.... along with my Swarovski binos and spotting scope! Both were unharmed. But all the commotion had spooked those elk out of their beds which I later found.

The next day I went back up that trail and far over the next ridge. As soon as I got to the top I spotted a small 6 point bull about a mule and a half away. I headed over there. When I stepped a few feet from the cover there was a long narrow strip of timber across the draw from me. A big 5 point trotted out of there. He certainly had spotted me as he kept stopping and staring right at me. He crossed two more strips of timber before heading into the same patch as the other bull I spotted. I went over there and eventually found their beds but never did lay an eye on them. On the way back I spotted a small 5 point bull feeding out into an opening. I made a note of a few landmarks on that side which was, of course, back where I had come from and starting flying over there. It was getting late. I popped out exactly where I wanted to just above a big red decayed tree on the ground. I was on the exact trail he had used. When I saw him last he was moving fast. He had moved into some timber and I figured he was heading to the next opening to feed which was much bigger. I stopped and got a drink and slowed down. Well guess what? I took only 5 steps and off he ran. He hadn't moved since I saw him last. I wasn't too happy about that. The next day would be my last day of hunting. When I topped the ridge I got on the radio to find out my partner had killed a cow, his first elk. I was happy to hear that. I rode down and met him where he had his horses tied off and we went down and packed it out. We didn't get into camp until 11:40 and to bed around 12:30. Up at 4! Not much sleep. I rode up to a high hump to glass that ridge where the guys pushed the elk out on day 1. The night before I glassed some elk over there before dropping down to help pack the cow out. As soon as I flipped up the binos I spotted 6 elk. Being the last day I was now grocery shopping. I flew down there and killed one in less than an hour. It was at 335 yards. Meanwhile... uphill at 422 yards was a ice 5 point bugling away. That's a bit far and plus he was following some cows that had already topped the ridge and he wouldn't stand still. That's definitely too far for a shot at a moving animal so down went the cow.

Cow soup is better than tag soup so I was happy to have meat for my freezer. I thought to myself... on the bright side: anyone who bought a hunt plan from me this year and didn't score can realize that even the guy with the plans doesn't always connect. I saw 26 bulls that week.... and came home with a cow. Seeing and killing are two different things obviously. I hunt some fairly open country so seeing bulls isn't a problem. But things can look a lot different when you get over there. I now have what I consider to be the master plan for hunting that place. I'm confident I can kill a bull on day one. 3 max. The cow I killed had an unbelievable layer of fat on her. More than I have ever seen. Yesterday I grilled some backstraps and they were the most tender I've ever had. Pretty happy with the animal I killed for sure.

Next year I'm taking a friend from New Brunswick and his dad. I told him the other day... we will NOT be marching up there to scare the elk off before we hunt. Maybe a mid day ride to get a glimpse of the area but that's it. I'm about to jump on a job where they will let me take off as much time as I want. I'm really happy about that. I never shoot a cow two years in a row. I've only ever shot 2 before this one.

So now it's back to hunting whitetails here in Pa. The rut is kicking in and it's supposed to get really cold by the weekend. I saw a big buck by the house last Friday so I'm motivated. In between stand hunting I'll chase rabbits with the beagles. But what does an elknut think about while he's hunting deer, rabbits, and turkeys? ELK!

Good luck to everyone who still has some elk hunting to do. I can't wait until fall of 2015!

[Indian Summer]

Top of the world.

[Bowhunter]

Sounds like you had a great time but I bet next time you are in there you will. Sloooooow down.

[BrentLaBere]

Enjoyed reading that, IS. Thanks for posting your story.

[Lefty]

great pics

Enjoyed the read.
Even with all the technology; boots on the ground still give the best info about an area.
I know a few exact locations where some monster mulies hide out in Wyoming Utah and Nevada. And Friday I found big boys sharing a basin here in Idaho. Obviously no one had walked that far in/ up or over this year. I was still Mr. rubber legs two days later.
Only 2 1/2 hours from the house, a drive, ATV ride and a hike/pack in.

Most good locations are always good!!

[ElkNut1]

Joe, lots of opportunities there! Crazy how many bulls you folks see out there, nice!

ElkNut1

[Indian Summer]

It is crazy Paul. I see bulls every day. I'm still in the exploring stages of some of my spots. I walked away knowing ten times the stuff about them that I did before I hunted this season. Now I'll start to settle in to the better spots. No cow soup next year!

[WapitiTalk1]

Thanks for taking time to share your hunt with us Joe, and the awesome "top o the word" pics. Absolutely beautiful. Good luck with the swollen neck bucks.