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2015 Wyoming Elk Hunt Success

teej89

Senior Member
2,288
48
NE PA
Sorry for the delay on the write up guys... between the 20hr drive and my work schedule it's been crazy busy ever since.

Anywho my dad has bow hunted ever since he was a kid and it's been a passion of his and one of his dreams has been to go on an archery elk hunt. With him being 64 he wanted to pull the trigger soon due to the physical demands of the hunt... even tho at 64 he's running 3mi a day and biking over 50mi a week.

We decided to go with an outfitter to be able to observe and ask questions to learn how to hunt elk before doing it on our own. With it being his dream(and mine) we wanted to get one in the bag then move on and grind a DIY. If this hunt sounds interesting you can PM me and I'll let you know the outfitters information, it was highly worth the cost.

We left Columbus Wednesday at 5pm and rolled into Cheyenne 10am on thursday (2hour roll back on time zones). We went out to the ranch and did a little shooting, my dad felt good but I left my stabilizer at home and was not feeling it. It's a little different shooting in 20-30mph winds in the open prairie and depth perception is DECEIVING. We first walked up to the target and I was like hm this looks like 20 and i ranged it... 32 yds, whoops! With a back drop of miles and miles of prairie shooting at 20yds looked like we were shooting at 10yds. This'll bite me in the ass later.... Ended up shooting the following day (Friday) cuz our hunt didn't start until saturday and I walked outta there feeling like I'm on cloud nine, hitting a 3" dia circle consistently at 50yds in 20mph winds.

Night before the hunt... called milo for a lil pep talk and work advice lol after that I was ready to hunt saturday AM. Friday night, no sleep, not even a bit. Between my dad snoring and me imagining my pin behind the shoulder of a big ole bull it just wasn't happening.

Saturday Morning

I heard my first bugle ever, it was awesome. We ended up hunting a valley with water and willows in the bottom. He set us up on a herd but nothing came close enough for a shot and he tried to get my dad on a satellite bull as I watched from 100yds away but no dice. Bulls were bugling everywhere that morning and I got to watch a big 6x herd up 20 cows and march them from the meadow up a big valley into the thick pines. The rest of the morning was spent glassing ended up stopping in one spot and he let out a cow call, nothing, then he got his bugle out and hit that. Immediately had 2 respond on the other side of the valley so we get down off that mountain and into the valley. Start working our way up the other side and the bull bugles w/o any calling, and it's CLOSE. The guide drops back, i Go low and my dad goes high and he starts calling (trying to bring the bull thru us) and the bull keeps responding. After a couple minutes of this the guide comes back up and says that they're definitely bedded and just talking. He puts me up front and says take 2 steps and look until we get 60yds across this hill to look into this little gully. We work our way across and I'm about to see into the gully when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I don't turn and he points past me and goes "bull". A 1sq ft of this bulls rump is barely visible 50yds out, I have no idea how he saw it. It's bedded, him and I work to within 40yds but the pines he's bedded under are blocking his antlers. He's quartering away, still a decent shot but can't confirm his size. He ends up looking around and he's a decent 5x5. Just after he moves a HUGE bull 30yds behind him stands up, 300"+ 6x6 and my goodness it was magnificent. He ended up just bedding back down and after that I wasn't really interested in the 5x5 so we pull my dad up from 20yds behind us and while he's stalking up the 5x5 bull pivots and is now facing away from us. We tell my dad it's a 5x and I turn around and tell him he should shoot it, he misinterprets and says yeah get em T. I respond no I want you to shoot em (I wanted him to get the first bull) and he goes no you shoot em and at this point the guide says damn it tom you're shooting it, he doesn't want it. Inside I was cracking up lol! We're watching the bull and all of the sudden the big ole boy in the back stands up and my dad (who's hard of hearing and can't whisper) goes "holy hell look at that one!", which was said in a normal talking voice... the guide "shhhhs" him and says imma smack you if you do that again lmao Anyways the 5x5 split w/o a shot and the big boy starts moving... he's working to our left what would potentially be a 50yd shot for me and right before he steps out I feel the dreaded wind on the back of the neck... WINDED, done-zo... he immediately trots off to about a 100yds and after trying to calm him with some cow calls we decide nothing is gonna happen. The entire hike in I never thought about the straight uphill trek out to the truck we were going to have.... goodness that was miserable.

Saturday Evening

We decided to hunt the same spot as the morning hoping to catch the herd coming back to the water since it's been 80+ degrees all day and where they went was no water. Got set up at 3:30 and sunset at 7:30... sat and sat and sat and then at 6:30 a faint bugle and a couple more way off in the distance... at this point it was just me and the one guide and my dad was with another. My guide and I were telling stories, laughing our asses off all evening to the point I forgot we were hunting lol anywho we knew these bulls were gonna work right past us. We're perched in a U shaped bush (the round part of the U facing where the elk are coming from) in the middle of the prairie, no other cover in hopes of them coming right past us and I get a shot out the back of our "blind". There's a small opening in the front of our blind and I decided to step out and get in front of the blind. Now i'm in front of the blind directly facing where the elk are coming from. All of the sudden I see a head 60yds out on top of the hill, then another then another, before I know it I have 15 cows and 2 satellite bulls within 40yds, holy crap! I knew the herd bull was in there so I didn't shoot the satellites. It's gotta be 7:45 at this time because I can barely see thru my range finder ranging these elk. All of the sudden a LOUD bugle lets out on the hill but I can't see anything yet. Then the satellites take off, run past me at about 30yds and on the top of the hill pops out the herd bull a decent 6x. He's right by a rock I ranged as 50 yds earlier, and he's about 50ft above me... I wait until the cows clear and he gets broadside and draw my bow... Nothing, can't see a single pin it's so dark and the backdrop is pines. I let down, gain some composure and draw again, into the sky to locate my pin then come down on the bull and again, nothing, blackness. After two attempts I deem it wash and slide back into our "blind" and we let the elk pass and head home.

Sunday Morning

That was a wash for me, the guide and I still hunted the pines, no bugles but had 2 encounters with 2 5x5s (smaller) within 30yds that I passed on both of them. At 10am we are glassing and I get a text from my dad that says Done and a picture of a bloody arrow. Man I was PUMPED. We were too far away to go meet em to get pictures, over an hour away so we kept glassing with no luck. Here's my dads 5x4 that he got, 45yds with 60# PSE and 125 grain NAP broadheads, only ran 40yds.
 

teej89

Senior Member
2,288
48
NE PA
Sunday Evening

Sunday afternoon got INTERSTING. After our midday nap and joke/story telling we begin glassing. We stop to glass this one ravine around 3pm and he goes "elk" I can't see it, no clue, nothing. He's like how can you not see it, I can see it without binos lol he goes here lemme take a pic of it and I'll instagram it to you, maybe you can find it then. ANYWAYS after some ribbing I found it lol We're watching it and it's a spike and he knows we're there. He keeps looking back up the ravine but we can't see in because of the lay of the land. All of the sudden he stands up and pouring out of the top of the ravine is maybe 30-40 cows a spike, 5 satellite bulls and a MONSTER of a 7x (350"+).

I was like do we chase em? seems impossible to get anywhere near them as they're boogeying. He says no and that he potentially knows where they're going. We continue glassing the rest of the day and I was looking in a ravine and I go elk! it was a cow (or so I think) and he goes where and I take my binos off to describe it and when I put my binos back up I can't find it, anywhere. We glass the entire ravine for 15min and nothing.... I SWEAR I saw one. So he tells me the rules of calling out a fake elk, I owe em a tall boy. He soon after says I can redeem myself if I find the next herd before him. Now i'm on POINT since it's become a challenge lol we're glassing and glassing and pop over this one mountain around 4pm and on the next ridge ovver 500yds away theres two cows that I immediately saw and called out. I'm poking fun that I redeemed myself when those 2 elk turn into 20 turn into 40 turn into the herd we saw earlier. We decided to make a move, the wind was good and we could come up from behind them. We get boogeying across these hills and when we get to where they were they are WAY ahead of us, but the bulls are still bugling. We move up hills down hills thru open prarie thru aspen trees until we get to thicker forrest and the bulls are louder. He tells me get ahead of him and get to a pine he's pointing out and he's going to call if I don't see anything then move forward, 2 steps and look. This goes on for a while and I keep looking back at him and he's telling me to keep going. I eventually get the hang of it to keep moving and all of the sudden the bugling is extremely LOUD. Everytime the guide bugles 4 or 5 bulls let off in response in front of me. At this point I'm exhausted and out of breath lol and my shoe is untied :smiley_blackeye: I keep pushing thru and staying on the top of this steep hill about 50ft below the tip top of it, it's maybe 100yds to the bottom and 150ft vertical below us. We stalk and we stalk and finally an elk! A little spike, I watch and let him move off into the timber. We keep pushing and FINALLY I get myself into the elk. This entire time I've been crawling over top of rocks, some of which were up to my chest that I had to climb over, stay low once on top then climb off of. We get set up and I see some bulls 100yds out in the bottom and the bulls are bugling SO LOUD. It was a little frightening actually cuz it was so thick one coulda popped up at 10yds and probably woulda scared the shit outta me. Then I notice a lone tree top shaking in the bottom and I look at the bsae of the tree and 45yds out is the monster 7x just tearing up this tree but no shot. At this point the guide was bashing logs on trees and bugling getting the boys all fired up. I started stalking closer closing the distance everytime the 7x would thrash the tree. I'm about 30yds out and it's still too thick when we he decides to turn and go with the herd... He crosses a 50ft meadow and wallows and when he wallowed I'd start closing the distance, now he's 125yds out. I get into the meadow and he gets outta the wallow and starts thrashing a tree, again I move when he thrased and by moved I meant I looked like a paint baller slightly hunched over and jogging and stopping when he'd stop. I was within 20yds but there was a big bush between us. I go to go around it which would give me maybe a 15yd shot and he starts moving, again. I see a clearing in the aspens and it's 40yds. I get to full draw and instead of stepping in the lane he JUMPS thru it and walks away from me. At this point I gotta haul ass to catch up to em, the guide is way far back but he told me at the begining of the hunt "you have to make things happen, it's elk hunting it's tough and its fast you gotta be fast and think quick" so I just kept pressing on these bulls. Mostly all the elk are in a 50ft wide gully that on one side is a steep unscaleable hill and the other is a meadow that slopes up away from the steep embankment. I'm crawling hands and knees up this valley, getting stopped by a small 5x at 30yds and the 7x bugling his ass off at 70yds. I easily could hav eclosed the distance here and taken the 7x but that damn satellite....... he moves off and I keep pressing at this point the 7x joins the herd in the wooded gully and a nice 6x6 satellite bull chases some cows on the backside of the embankment/meadow. I decided the herd bull is outta the question and go after this sattelite. I lose him for a minute to find him again at 60yds as he moves across the meadow to join up with the herd in the aspens. I keep pushing on in this open prairie keeping the top of the hill between me and the herd that is in the bottom on the other side of the hill. I see a tree at the top of the hill and decided to move towards it because the hilltop was flattening and I was running out of cover. I get to this tree and all the sudden 5 cows spot me, game over. They start pouring out of this gully into the meadow to my right. They have only one way to exit because of the hill i'm on and the steep embankment on the other side so I remember "make things happen". I spot a bull 60yds back and to my left funneling with the rest of em and start sprtinting across this field to close the gap. He comes out into the opening I drew mid stride, whistle, get the pin settled on the shoulder and watch my arrow sail 6" over his back...... apparently my yardage guessing mid sprint in the open prairie was off. I guessed him at 50 and he was move like 35................... :smiley_blackeye::smiley_crocodile:

So I meet up with the guide who didn't see anything happen cuz I was so far ahead and he praised me for pressing like I did because most clients won't do that and that was the only way I woulda gotten on these elk. We mapped our stalk and it was a little over 2.5hrs... we make it back to the truck and it's 7pm and he's like alright we're gonna make something happen, lets go we got 1hr. We start driving and glassing and we come off this one hill in his truck and I go stop a bull! Maybe 200yds out and he turns and starts trotting off. we back up and put a hill between us and the bull and the guide drops into the drainage behind me and I start working up this hill. I get over the hill and the guide calls and immediately the bull bugles and starts turning towards me.... The only problem is between me and the bull is a creek bed with willows maybe 20ft wide and it runs diagonally across if you were to draw a line straight to the bull from me. The bull starts working in and I'm in the middle of the prairie, no cover, lying on my back/side watching him come in. When we looks away I slide a little more, btw make sure you keep an eye out for cactus while sliding across the prairie... those bastards hurt! He's working in but because of the layout of the creek bottom he's working away from me. I range some bushes in the bottom and stare at them to get a feel for guessing the yardage cuz I decided when he gets in the willows I gotta make a 50yd dash from the hill to the willows and work my way up them. He goes into the willows, I boogey to the edge of the trees only to be stopped 10yds short by him stepping out. I remember ranging a bush near him and it was 48yds.... I draw as he stares me down, couldn't believe he let me draw, I still have no cover anywhere near me. I go to anchor and my trigger is not horizontal and it's turned almost upright, I get that fixed and settle the pin behind the shoulder and focus focus focus... the shot goes off. In my mind I'm like mmmmm back straps... only to watch the fletchings go right under him almost hitting his front leg, i almost threw my bow in disbelief.... he runs off and I range where he was 59yds... :smiley_blackeye::smiley_blackeye: I go up to my arrow, no blood and just a couple pieces of hair. We decide that 2 misses within 45min of each other that I oughta get a good night sleep lol once again I give milo a call for a pep talk, take some ribbing from my dad (which is good cuz then I get pissed and shoot better lol). Didn't sleep that night just thinking about my two misses... the second was a real nice bull, bigger than the first miss.
 

teej89

Senior Member
2,288
48
NE PA
Monday Morning
It was a longggggg car ride to the ranch, I didn't really talk much. My dad tagged along to watch so him and the guide chatted. I was trying to brush off the night before and gain a little shut eye cuz now I'm exhausted. We finally start driving on the ranch back to the spot and the guide goes we need some luck man, get some Troubador rolling and I remembered I packed my skittles, my good luck food. We start jamming to George and I downed some skittles and I’m feeling good now. I’m back in it! We get to this hill that overlooks a meadow well before light and expecting to hear bulls in the meadow we hear NOTHING. Once light comes we here a bull but he's around this mountain so we stay on top and try to get directly above him. After 30min of walking and busting a cow we get above this guy and his herd. They're down in a valley working up it most likely going to bed. We're watching these guys inbetween the trees, maybe 250yds down this mountain and my dad goes guys stop stop stop bull look and him not seeing the bulls we're stalking as he's right beside us points to a bull 400yds away on the other side of the valley. I couldn't do anything but laugh shake my head and pull him beside me and point and he goes oh my! Once again he gets shh'd.... lmao lmao

We get maybe 200-300yds ahead of them up the valley that they're working up (still on top of the hill). The guide tells my dad to stay here as we work down this hill 200yds on our hands and knees and eventully bellies crawling thru the brush on stones. It was painful.... the last 80yds were tough because one cow was already out in the prairie where we planned on ambushing them. We use a pine to block us from her view and get behind it, once she turns we both sneak in front of the pine so theres nothing but prairie between us and the other side of the valley. The other side of the valley has a tree line maybe 20yds wide and I range it at 52yds from me. I range a bunch of rocks and small pines (1-2ft tall). I got 20yds, 20, 25, 40, 45, and 52 yds. I'm now ready.... 3 cows eventually make it in and they're 40 to 60yds out as more cows pour outta the brush to our right into the prairie a cow pops up 10yds on our left. NO IDEA where she came from but she was oblivious to us being there. More cows came in, maybe 20 cows now within 60yds all over from left to right and the closest at 15yds. I see a nice bull on the far side of the valley working his way down towards all the cows and then 70yds out pops out the herd bull. Pretty sure I swallowed my heart and crapped it out when I saw this beast because I knew it was all coming together, he had only one way to go and that'd be within 52yds from me. I forgot about the bull on the other side and all of the sudden the herd bull turns and starts heading away across the valley. He crosses the timber and ends up chasing off the other bull. He turns and starts coming back to his cows... comes down the hill into the timber and there he is broadside at my 52yd marker. I pivot a little to get ready when, BUSTED, a cow is eye balling me 20yds out. I swear she stared at me forever and then turned and started trotting. I knew this was my only shot so I drew, anchored settled the pin behind the shoulder, next thing i remember is watching my white fletching sail thru the air. It felt like 10years until it struck the bull a little high and the arrow didn't pass thru. He ran thru the timber up the hill and after 100yds started doing the wobbles and spins then crashed into a small patch of trees. Immediately the guide tackles me off my knees and starts punching my arm saying "herd bull down, herd bull down!" as I'm just laughing in shock lol

After taking a ton of pictures and some congrats we started quartering it and the guide taught me how to quarter out the elk and remove the loins “gutless”. This trip sure was a great learning experience for both of us and man I had the time of my life. I’m getting a full shoulder mount for mine and my dad is getting a euro. I can’t wait to get these animals back and can’t wait to be telling stories years and years from now about the time my dad and I doubled on bulls in Wyoming. They’re gonna look great together on the wall.

At the end of the hunt my dad goes how come when I step on twigs I get shhhh'd or frowned upon but you guys do it no one cares. I turn and go cuz when we break twigs it's like breaking a tooth pick, you're over there snapping 8" diameter logs lmao lmao

Sorry for the long read but thanks for reading!
T.J.


I'll post pictures when I get home from work tonight.
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teej89

Senior Member
2,288
48
NE PA
Here's my midday nap spot, had the binos to watch the antelope
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Here's some of the scenary
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My dad packing out a quarter with a backstrap, maybe 90#. Only had about a 15min walk to the truck cuz we were able to drive it relatively close to us.
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The meat all bagged up and the head bagged and wrapped, probably my favorite pic
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My dads bulls
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