20 November 2011, 02:16
Aaron NeilsonWyoming Elk/Whitetail Hunt - Nov. 2011
Location: Wyoming Public & Private LandDates: Nov. 11 - 18, 2011
Weapon: .300 RUM - Trijicon 5-20 scope and 180gr Accubonds
I was fortunate this year to draw a pretty good elk tag in Wyoming, an area that I last hunted 16 years ago. I decided to apply for the whitetail tag too, as its not often you get to chase elk and whitetail on the same hunt. As luck would have it, I received both tags and planned a 10-day hunt for Nov. 11-20. This area works out great for me, as its only about 3 hrs from my home in Denver. Not to mention, it frequently produces some great bull elk (My favorite N.A. animal to hunt), and lots of whitetails inhabit the lower creek bottom farmland. Our plan was to hunt the high/rough country (public land) for elk and my friend Mike has some property he owns and leases in the low-lands for the whitetails.
Jeremiah and I spent a couple days at my house after my Colorado elk hunt, and then we headed to Wyoming mid-day on the 10th. Jeremiah is a fabulous photographer/videographer, plus he has a strong back. Something that comes in really handy, when needing to pack an elk out of the back country.
Jeremiah, the night before we started hunting.
My plan was to focus on the elk first. I really wasn't too concerned with the whitetail, if we got time, the deer was just gonna be a bonus. So the next day, we were up at 3:45am and headed into the hills to look for a big bull. Any person who lives in Wyoming from Nov - Mar needs to have their head examined! The wind never lets up, but when I say wind, I mean winds of 50mph on average. With wind gusts of 70-80mph and a high recorded on top of the mountain at 118mph. It really sucked!!!!
Day 1 found Mike, Jeremiah and I cowered behind a rock wall, trying our best to stay warm and out of the wind, all while hoping to glass a big bull. The country is big, rough, and fairly roadless, at least where the big bulls are likely to be. So the plan was to glass alot, find the bull we wanted, and go after him.
Glassing, while trying to stay warm!
Beautiful/big country
Mike glassing over some country
Wyoming sunrise!
After about an hour of eye strain through the spotting scope, I spotted several bulls that were easily 4 miles to the north. One of them though, was a GIANT! Although the distance was great, I'm confident he was over 375" B&C. He looked to be roughly 48" wide, with beams in the mid 50's, huge 4ths and 5ths and lots of mass. Just how big he was is hard to say from that far away, but I knew he was big enough. Problem was, we needed to go all the way back to town and come from a completely different place to get anywhere near him, so he'd have to wait til tomorrow.
Day 2, and we were further north and east, looking for the big bull from the previous day. Problem was, day 2 had the worst winds of the trip. We were easily hit with 80mph plus winds, and with no place to get out of it, glassing was almost impossible. Fact is, some of the wind gusts were so strong that it literaaly knocked Jeremiah to the ground (He's 285lbs). Frankly, it was a complete waste of time. We did see two small bulls that I ranged at 342 yards, and I guarantee you, there's no way I could have ever shot them in that wind, regardless of how big they were.
Days 3-4 weren't too bad, but the winds continued at a relentless pace. Hunting was brutal, glassing was difficult, and the bulls were hard to find. We did find a nice 7x7 on day 4, he had huge mass and long beams, but his tine length was terrible. So we decided to pass, and keep hoping to see the big bull from day 1. Unfortunately we never saw him again!
Day 5, and we decided to go to a new spot. The evening before it started to snow, so the next morning we were greeted with fresh snow, and super cold temps. Thinking we were gonna have a clear day, we worked our way around the side of a nasty rock mountain to a good glassing spot. Problem was, we were only there for 15 minutes, when all of the sudden the whole valley was engulfed with another squall. Glassing for elk was over for that day!
Moments before the squall rolled in
Here I am, trying to glass just as the squall arrives. Moments later, we packed up at left!
Day 6, we decided to go back to the same spot as the day before, hoping the clounds would lift. As luck would have it, they did, just as we arrived and the sun started to light up the back country.
The views were awesome!
Glassing conditions were good, with winds only blowing about 15mph, but it was colder than hell!. It only took me a few minutes to find two groups of bulls. The first group had 5 bulls, the best was probably 320" and all of them were on the other side of a deep canyon, about 2 miles to our southwest. The second group was in a little better spot, 7 of them in total. Again however, the best one was probably 320", so I just kept looking.
Here I am, glassing the two different groups of bulls, and Jeremiah trying to stay warm
Mike and I were separated by about 60-70 yards, as he had gone around the other side of the rock to glass country I couldn't see. The next thing I know, he's on top of a rock, waving and telling us to get over there. Mike had found a good bull, and he wanted me to take a look. Just as big bulls often do, he was all by himself. As soon as I got my scope on him, it only took me 5 seconds to decide that he was a shooter. Now, we needed to do the best we could to keep an eye on him, and see where he goes. Fact is, we only watched him for about 5 minutes and he disappeared into small canyon, just adjacent to a small timbered ridge. Man, that sucked! Not knowing exactly where he went and knowing we were about 2 miles away and by the time we went back down off the rock mountain, and all the way around/down into the canyon where he was, it would be 2 hrs later, was not good! I hate going after game blind, but in this case we had no choice.
Mike and I glassing the bull, just before he disappeared.
About 2 - 2.5 hrs later and we were on a big rock formation, roughly 600 yards above the last place we say the bull. The wind was definitely in our favor, but we just couldn't find him. We decided that we had no choice, but to go right down to where we though he was and poke around. The little canyon we last saw him in, actually ran up to the small timbered ridge, but we couldn't see that from 2 miles away. So as we got right down in there, we slowly worked our way right/north of the timbered ridge, at the same time, trying to look into and amongst the little timber burned canyons.
Next thing I know, Mike hits the dirt as he looked back over our left shoulder and spotted the bull lying in his bed. We all hunkered down, and made a plan. We were only 420 yards from the bull, so Mike stayed put while Jeremiah and I dropped into the little draw we just came up out of, and moved to the next little hump, closer to the bull. The wind was perfect, but the shot was not! At 326 yards, the bull was lying down, with his rear-end facing directly at me. I knew I could hit him, but it was a terrible shot and it I muffed it, or wounded him, the steep/deep canyon was just 50 yards to his south. So we decided to wait him out, and with only a small window to shoot through, we had no choice.
Mike took this picture through his spotting scope from 100 yards behind us. There's Jeremiah and I, lying down and at the ready, with the bull 326 yards away. I love this picture!!!!
Here I am, waiting for the bull to stand and present a better shot!
Did I mention how cold it was?? Man, this darn bull layed there for 2.5 hrs and never twitched. By this time, Jeremiah and I were frozen to the ground, and Mike was shuttling us water/food. Finally, finally he decided to stretch and grab some grub. When he finally stood, he stood up at the exact same angle as he was lying down, with his rear-end facing directly at me. Quickly however, he turned completely around, walked about 5 steps directly at us, and put his head down to feed. As his head wenrt down, I put the dot between his shoulders/neck, and down he went. I'd never been so happy to shoot something in my life, just so I could get up and move!
Just before the bull got up and I fired!
It took us only a few minutes to get over to him, and the picture taking began. He's a beatuiful 6x7, and I was very pleased!
Ironically, I never saw a single cow elk in the rough stuff, not one! Every elk I saw up there was a bull. Now Mike had hundreds of cows and lesser bulls on his private land down low, but the big boys were staying up in the high stuff, trying to avoid the ever present hunter.
Day 7-8, After completing the packing job, it was time to try for a whitetail. Although I knew I wouldn't likely find a buck like we have in eastern Colorado, I was still really looking forward to checking it out.
The Wyoming creek bottoms are beautiful too!
Glassing from a cedar ridge, over-looking a creek bottom, we spotted a really neat looking buck! It took me only a minute to decide to shoot him. He's not a big buck, but his mass was really cool, so he was the one. At 394 yards, I got set-up with the .300 RUM, layed down with the bi-pod, and let em have it. He dropped instantly at the shot, and my Wyoming elk/whitetail hunt was over!
Glassing for deer
Just before I take the shot
My Wyoming buck
Wyoming was good to me, and I will be back!
