- Thread starter wmidbrook
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Constitutionalist
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Congratulations!
...but where is the story???
el_vaquero
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Nice one.....we need the story to go with the pic please....
Congrats!
Congrats!
quack_head
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wmidbrook
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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>
The story???
When researching this hunt, it sounded like it'd be a good archery hunt. Wyoming, as I discovered a while back, offers the opportunity to hunt with the bow during archery and any weapon during the rifle season with most elk tag--both general and limited entry. I applied in January and excitedly read the results a few short weeks later that I had drawn a limited entry elk tag in the Absaroka mountain country.
As my week to hunt archery elk in Wyoming drew near, I had been hearing bugles and was really chomping at the bit to hunt. The hunt was good but I did not have an opportunity to let an arrow fly at a mature bull. I knew that this area usually produced some real good bulls and I was going to hold out. Not knowing that I'd have the time to hunt rifle rifle season, I made the most of my trip covering a lot of ground and country and saw a couple of really good bulls but just wasn't able to close the deal.
Things really started looking up when I realized a couple weeks ago that I'd be able to break away for the trip. I had my gear ready to go and got a cabin lined up to stay in not far from the hunting grounds. I headed out Wednesday afternoon excited to get another crack at what I consider to be a decent mature bull. The drive out was spectacular especially the drive through southern tip of the Tetons and Wind River canyon. I must have seen near 1,000 antelope on the drive--they were herded up and thick in several stretches.
I didn't sleep much that night eagerly anticipating the opening morning. Just below the snowline on my way up to the elk hunting grounds, I had a magnum buck with 10 or 11 does run right in front of my rig. He stood there and eye-balled me for a minute or two before stotting off with his does. At the snowline the road had a couple inches of snow--I soon parked, got out and started hiking. As I crested over ridgeline, I saw roughly 30 head of elk. The crunchy snow in the still morning caught their attention. At 300-400 yards off, they weren't ready to bolt just yet until they could get a better fix on what was making the noise. There were 7 bulls in that bunch...smaller bulls. I had fun watching them for a few minutes as they worked their way into the dark timber. Off in the distance I saw a band of 12 cows going straight up & over a hill. By the way they were moving, I think they got bumped by a hunter down below. That was it for day 1.
On the way back to the cabin which was near a mix of private alfalfa fields and sage blm lands, I saw over 200 deer.
Day two proved to be uneventful but really, really cold. Riding my quad up to the walk-in area proved very, very cold. On my way up the hill, a wyoming fish and game officer flagged me down and asked me if I was freezing....lol. I told him my hunting plan for the day and that I couldn't wait to hike up the hill to warm up. He laughed and told me my plan was a good one and also not to overlook some of the lower country *that proved to be invaluable advice* (also, a reminder to myself to always strike up a good rapport with our wildlife officials). I hiked, and hiked and hiked...no elk. I did glass a couple of hunters cleaning an elk several ridges over but had not heard any shots. I also saw a couple of hunters with two smaller bulls taken that day which served to keep the motivation and spirits up--the elk were in the area.
There was a chow hall next to the cabins where there was good conversation from a cowboy up in his 70s. He entertained me and the 3 deer hunters from Idaho with his cowboy poetry and tales of the country back in the 40s and 50s. His wife served up some of the finest chow I've ever had at any hunting camp. I told the boys from Idaho about the magnum buck I saw and pointed it out on the map. They didn't see any elk but promised to let me know if they did.
I decided to follow a contrarian plan that next morning. Sure enough, no one was hunting the lower country. I had seen maybe 15 different hunting parties spread out in the upper country so it was refreshing to have a huge area to myself. I hiked an hour into an upper basin and saw some good sign. I glassed the open country and didn't see anything so I trotted down the hill. I hopped into my truck and was going to go to an area about 5 miles away that was loaded with a mix of thick dark timber and some open parks. In less than a mile up the road I ran into the Idaho boys. They had mostly been road hunting for their deer. They looked excited and I thought they shot a deer. No sooner had we pulled up window to window did they yell...follow us! We just saw 300 head of elk in an open park about an hour ago! I was really beginning to wonder about 8 miles away heading down, down, down to some lower country. And just then they pulled over and pointed up to where they saw the herd....
I couldn't believe my eyes
I looked up this boxed canyon and in the back of it were 100s of elk. I grabbed my pack and gun and started working up my way up the canyon. I was astonished to realize that the elk would have had no way out without passing within 100 yards of me worked my way into this canyon. The elk were milling about feeding. I glassed up the bull I later shot and he was definately the biggest elk in the bunch. I counted about 30 bulls in this bunch. The cows discovered I was there when I made some noise and started chirping and mewing--I was shocked that I didn't hear a bark. In the cold, still air their vocalizations bounced around rimrock that blocked any hope of escape. As the ferverant cow noise with some spike squeels mixed in elevated my adrenelin levels, I realized I was about to have an awesome shot op at the bull I wanted. He was 100 yards from me and quartering into me. Just as he stepped into clear view, he paused and I lowered the boom. He hunched up and it was evident I blew out his shoulder as well. I quickly jacked in another round and sent a bullet through its throat. Done deal. There was no ground shrinkage as I approached the bull from behind. His mass just continued to look bigger. He had great thirds but didn't have the branched tops that would have made him a real high scoring bull but he's definately a wallhanger to me! The Idaho boys behind me were whooping and hollaring. Not me, I don't do that sort of thing *yeah, right*
After a few high fives and such they helped me get a few pictures. I didn't want to cut into their hunt time so after they helped me get the bull to a flatter spot, I told them I could quarter it and such myself no problems. It took the better part of the day for me to process and pack the bull back to the truck.
The one picture is of a field that had over 200 deer in it--about 30 of those were bucks and there were some decent ones in there. The buck pic is really an average sized one for that area. I saw a few that were way, way bigger than that fella. Fantastic trip all in all.
The story???
When researching this hunt, it sounded like it'd be a good archery hunt. Wyoming, as I discovered a while back, offers the opportunity to hunt with the bow during archery and any weapon during the rifle season with most elk tag--both general and limited entry. I applied in January and excitedly read the results a few short weeks later that I had drawn a limited entry elk tag in the Absaroka mountain country.
As my week to hunt archery elk in Wyoming drew near, I had been hearing bugles and was really chomping at the bit to hunt. The hunt was good but I did not have an opportunity to let an arrow fly at a mature bull. I knew that this area usually produced some real good bulls and I was going to hold out. Not knowing that I'd have the time to hunt rifle rifle season, I made the most of my trip covering a lot of ground and country and saw a couple of really good bulls but just wasn't able to close the deal.
Things really started looking up when I realized a couple weeks ago that I'd be able to break away for the trip. I had my gear ready to go and got a cabin lined up to stay in not far from the hunting grounds. I headed out Wednesday afternoon excited to get another crack at what I consider to be a decent mature bull. The drive out was spectacular especially the drive through southern tip of the Tetons and Wind River canyon. I must have seen near 1,000 antelope on the drive--they were herded up and thick in several stretches.
I didn't sleep much that night eagerly anticipating the opening morning. Just below the snowline on my way up to the elk hunting grounds, I had a magnum buck with 10 or 11 does run right in front of my rig. He stood there and eye-balled me for a minute or two before stotting off with his does. At the snowline the road had a couple inches of snow--I soon parked, got out and started hiking. As I crested over ridgeline, I saw roughly 30 head of elk. The crunchy snow in the still morning caught their attention. At 300-400 yards off, they weren't ready to bolt just yet until they could get a better fix on what was making the noise. There were 7 bulls in that bunch...smaller bulls. I had fun watching them for a few minutes as they worked their way into the dark timber. Off in the distance I saw a band of 12 cows going straight up & over a hill. By the way they were moving, I think they got bumped by a hunter down below. That was it for day 1.
On the way back to the cabin which was near a mix of private alfalfa fields and sage blm lands, I saw over 200 deer.
Day two proved to be uneventful but really, really cold. Riding my quad up to the walk-in area proved very, very cold. On my way up the hill, a wyoming fish and game officer flagged me down and asked me if I was freezing....lol. I told him my hunting plan for the day and that I couldn't wait to hike up the hill to warm up. He laughed and told me my plan was a good one and also not to overlook some of the lower country *that proved to be invaluable advice* (also, a reminder to myself to always strike up a good rapport with our wildlife officials). I hiked, and hiked and hiked...no elk. I did glass a couple of hunters cleaning an elk several ridges over but had not heard any shots. I also saw a couple of hunters with two smaller bulls taken that day which served to keep the motivation and spirits up--the elk were in the area.
There was a chow hall next to the cabins where there was good conversation from a cowboy up in his 70s. He entertained me and the 3 deer hunters from Idaho with his cowboy poetry and tales of the country back in the 40s and 50s. His wife served up some of the finest chow I've ever had at any hunting camp. I told the boys from Idaho about the magnum buck I saw and pointed it out on the map. They didn't see any elk but promised to let me know if they did.
I decided to follow a contrarian plan that next morning. Sure enough, no one was hunting the lower country. I had seen maybe 15 different hunting parties spread out in the upper country so it was refreshing to have a huge area to myself. I hiked an hour into an upper basin and saw some good sign. I glassed the open country and didn't see anything so I trotted down the hill. I hopped into my truck and was going to go to an area about 5 miles away that was loaded with a mix of thick dark timber and some open parks. In less than a mile up the road I ran into the Idaho boys. They had mostly been road hunting for their deer. They looked excited and I thought they shot a deer. No sooner had we pulled up window to window did they yell...follow us! We just saw 300 head of elk in an open park about an hour ago! I was really beginning to wonder about 8 miles away heading down, down, down to some lower country. And just then they pulled over and pointed up to where they saw the herd....
I couldn't believe my eyes
I looked up this boxed canyon and in the back of it were 100s of elk. I grabbed my pack and gun and started working up my way up the canyon. I was astonished to realize that the elk would have had no way out without passing within 100 yards of me worked my way into this canyon. The elk were milling about feeding. I glassed up the bull I later shot and he was definately the biggest elk in the bunch. I counted about 30 bulls in this bunch. The cows discovered I was there when I made some noise and started chirping and mewing--I was shocked that I didn't hear a bark. In the cold, still air their vocalizations bounced around rimrock that blocked any hope of escape. As the ferverant cow noise with some spike squeels mixed in elevated my adrenelin levels, I realized I was about to have an awesome shot op at the bull I wanted. He was 100 yards from me and quartering into me. Just as he stepped into clear view, he paused and I lowered the boom. He hunched up and it was evident I blew out his shoulder as well. I quickly jacked in another round and sent a bullet through its throat. Done deal. There was no ground shrinkage as I approached the bull from behind. His mass just continued to look bigger. He had great thirds but didn't have the branched tops that would have made him a real high scoring bull but he's definately a wallhanger to me! The Idaho boys behind me were whooping and hollaring. Not me, I don't do that sort of thing *yeah, right*
After a few high fives and such they helped me get a few pictures. I didn't want to cut into their hunt time so after they helped me get the bull to a flatter spot, I told them I could quarter it and such myself no problems. It took the better part of the day for me to process and pack the bull back to the truck.
The one picture is of a field that had over 200 deer in it--about 30 of those were bucks and there were some decent ones in there. The buck pic is really an average sized one for that area. I saw a few that were way, way bigger than that fella. Fantastic trip all in all.
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bobcatman04
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And well you should be on cloud nine. congrats on a real prize. thanks for sharing.
MULIES4EVER
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Way to go Bill. You pulled it off. I was so excited to see your pix message on my cell phone. I am so happy for you. I wish I could have gone with you. I hope I have some luck on my side up on Kodiak Island this week. We will have to see about that.
Gomer76825
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Congrats on the great bull. One of these Days.
greyghost10
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That is one fine bull. Great photos. I don't know why I read all these stories, All I do is get jealous. No not really, Just glad to hear how people are doing.
wyemjohnson
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Congrats on sticking it out and finding a honey hole!
photohunter
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That's a really nice bull and a great story too. Thanks for sharing.
wmidbrook
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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>
S t e e p is an understatement. I was just above him on the ground. He was about 80 yards below some rimrock. It was another 50 yards down to a gentler slope. I had some help to roll him down to that flatter surface...From there, it wasn't so bad butchering and packing him out the canyon. That tree took the brunt of his weight when he toppled over.
