let me try my hand at a hunt report/elk o7

as some of you know,on sept 11th i pulled a dumb ass while skinning a bear and had to sit out most of sept hunting.i also had to sit out opening day of elk season as i had no one to go with and my hunting partner was finishing up a sheep hunt and wouldn't be out till the 3rd of oct.when he returned we headed for central wy to hunt his antelope tag and he shot a very respectable 14.5" buck the 2nd day. we came home just in time for an early snow storm that dumped a foot in the backcountry.we knew that it was time to go deep,he said if you will do the cooking and gather firewood i'll do all the butchering and horse packing,so a week ago sunday we bought groceries and monday morning began the 10 hour horse ride to the "deep".
we had 5 head, a riding pony apiece and 3 pack animals,bedrolls a couple waterproof tarps and a horse load of grub.
as we gained miles and elevation the snow got deeper.
5 hours of travel and we entered one end of a small meadow at the same time a huge griz entered the upper end,at 60 yds they all look big but this was a truely amazingly large griz.i pulled my horse to a stop and spoke to the bear as he had yet to spot us "hey ole'man you got company".he looked up spotted us and was gone faster than it takes to write about.
good bear and the 1st of 7 we saw in 6 days.when we got to the upper end his tracks were there in the snow and he had a front pad 7.5" wide BIG BEAR.
took another 4 hours to reach the pass and had to follow an elk trail thru as the horse trail was covered and even then the ponies were chest deep for the next 500 yds,once we broke over the snow was 10-12 " and an hour later we ran 5 wolves out of the meadow we planned on camping in.i know how alot of you feel about wolves and i feel the same but i've got to tell you there is something mystical and magical about being deep in the backcountry and being serinaded to sleep each night by the howls.
we gathered water and put together a small meal and crawled into our bedrolls.
early the next morn we breakfast'd and walked a mile or so down the trail climbing a vantage point to do some glassing,the deer were pouring out as the migration was on and in the next 6 days i estimate 800-1000 deer filed by,it was the most dissapointing part of the hunt as i saw no buck i would call 4.5 yrs old,we saw 1 buck i would guess to be near the 180 mark.
around mid day i told my partner i was headed for camp to get some lunch,he allowed he would be a couple hours and see me there,grabbing my pack and shouldering my rifle i started back up trail,having made about half the distance i reached a rocky steep portion of the trail and was watching my feet when i heard the woof and looked to find myself 12 yds from a 2nd griz,he turned and bounded 6 or 8 yds farther up the hill at the same time i rolled my rifle off my shoulder and prepared to repel boarders,the bear spun at 20 yds and went to popping his teeth and stomping the ground with his front feet,"don't do it you SOB i don't want to have to kill you but i will if you keep scaring me" i said out loud,and i remember thinking at 20 yds he will be on me in less than a second,no time to aim just push the rifle out in front of you and pull the trigger when he's right off the end of the barrel.he stood his ground and i kept talking "let me back out of here and your can have this part of the mt".i didn't want to move and incite a charge so i stood my ground and 30 seconds later he looked away to his flank and i knew he was leaving,and shortly he turned and bounded up and over the top of the hill out of sight.i backed out into the open crick bottom and headed on to camp on somewhat rubbery legs(i've encountered alot of griz, saw 47 in 3 months of hunting last yr but this was the closest by far and the nearest to trouble i've come with these magistic animals)
got to camp built a fire and sliced some potatoes,chunked some brats,covered the whole thing w/ a can of chili and heated a couple tortillas about the time my partner rolled in and we ate and spent the rest of the evening glassing from camp,seeing 125 head of elk w/10 or 12 small bulls included.
we watered the horses and scrached up some dinner and listened to the wolves sing us to sleep,all the while watching the millions of stars that dotted the new moon night sky.a bedroll on top of stacked horse blankets is awful comfortable under these conditions.
the next morning flint headed for the lookout down country and i wanted to catch first light glassing the same area from the night before in case i had missed a big bull that hadn't come out till after dark,as the light came up i reglassed and came up empty,so headed the mile to join flint,as i near the lookout i hear a elk bugle and in the next hour watch 200 head file by,the best bull was around 300-310 and thou flint wants to see this one piled i told him i didn't come up here to shoot a 300 bull and we watch them head on up the trail.
mid day finds us back at camp and saddling horses,our plan to ride to the top of the ridge seperating the drainage we were in and the next to the north.we spent the evening up there and saw another 200 head,the spine of the ridge was a highway of elk tracks looping along the ridgeline and the next drainage could of been anywhere from alaska to wy and i never get over the raw beauty of standing on a ridge looking over a 100 sq miles of wild country and just how small the veiw can make you feel.
we lead the ponies back down using headlamps on red light mode so not to disturb their night vision and climbed on at the bottom for a late night ride back to camp,between the wolves and a herd of elk passing camp that night it was hard to sleep.the howling meowing cow calling and bugling lasted hours and i had to break out my ear plugs before i could doze off.
the next day was somewhat of a repeat, another griz more deer than you could count and elk anytime you raised your glasses,we had hit it right on the button this time and a campfire,a hot meal and another night under the star filled sky ended our 5th day.
the next morning we saddled ponies in the dark and headed on down country pass the lookout to search out a new area,we hadn't had to travel far as we had seen lots of game from where we were but after looking at the same ridges,valleys and trees for the past 5 days we were ready for new ground,we had made it 2 or 3 miles when the light came up and it wasn't long after flint and i spotted an elk standing in the crick a 125 yds below.pulling our horses up and stepping off we raised field glasses and looked upon what was destined to be the biggest bull i've shot in my life,surpassing the last by 10 inches.
without having to say a word to one another i slid my rifle and he dug out the video camera and we eased down the slope 25 or so yds looking for a clear lane thru the trees.
the bull was facing left and slightly quartering to me and the only lane i had,had 2 small limbs over and around the bulls shoulder and i tried to thread the needle and clipped one of the limbs with the first shot.the bull raised his head and i think the sound of the crick dulled the sound of the rifle shot as he walked 20 yards into a wide open shooting lane and that was the beginning of the end i found the bull in the scope again and put one thru him holding for the leading edge of his shoulder spine high,at the shot the bull collasped and we found out later i had shot just under the spine and a follow up shot was nessesary to finish him thou he never got back to his feet.
i don't have to tell any of you of the feeling of walking up to a downed animal that gets bigger every step you take towards it and the small catch in your throat and it must of been the humidity down near the crick that made my eyes water a bit.
flint had gathered the horse and it gave me a minute to stand in awe of this gift,the loud joyous celebration would start when he got there but for now it was just the bull and i.
the next morning flint got his bull and we climbed on the ponies for the 10 hr ride out at 2pm, my head hit the pillow of my own bed at 1am that next morning and as i drifted off to sleep,what?what was that?damn,i could of sworn i heard a wolf howl.
PS for some of you interested in the numbers
7stw w/150 grn nosler bt,79.5 grns of 7828
7x7 grossing 365.7/8s

Posts: 2141 | Location: enjoying my freedom in wyoming | Registered: 13 January 2006

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