Elk Hunting

I had met Richard in Pinedale, Wyoming in 2006.  I was just getting Peak Adventures started and was supplementing the business by guiding for other outfitters.  He and a group of friends, six total, had booked a mule deer and elk combo hunt.  I guided two of his friends on that hunt but Richard and I hit it off when we had the chance to visit during the evenings.  Unfortunately, Richard was not able to harvest an elk on that trip so his pursuit for an elk would have to wait.   

In 2011, Richard and I were hunting deer on one of Peak Adventures properties.  We were sitting in the pickup on a high bald ridge looking for a trophy deer the land owner had seen before the hunting season.  It was the third day of a four day deer hunt and I was beginning to get anxious because we hadn’t seen a trophy deer. 

To pass the time while glassing, we kept the conversation going by telling each other hunting stories and exaggerating a bit when we thought we could get away with it.  The conversation eventually led to elk hunting.  We had been putting Richard in for preference point for four years hoping that he could draw a bull tag for our elk hunting area in 2012.  That’s when he hit me with it.  “Do you think I could get a cow elk tag in 2012?” he asked.  “Well yeah, is that what you’re thinking about doing instead of building your points for the bull tag?” Richard had never asked me about hunting cows before so it took me by surprise.  I continued to probe and come to find out Richard thirsting for a good hunt elk again.  He didn’t care if it was a cow, bull or calf he just wanted to hunt elk.  It had been six years since he and I had met on his elk hunt in Pinedale.  So we put Richard and his friend Steve, who had come up in 2010 with Richard on his first antelope/deer combo hunt, in for Wyoming elk hunting area 113, first choice – type 4 (cow/calf permit) in January of 2012 and I received a call from Richard after the draw.  He and Steve had drawn their tags! 

The elk rifle hunt for this area occurs in November.  It started on the first and ended the last day of the month. Because of the potential to hunt trophy bull elk in this area I thought proper etiquette was to let the bull elk hunters get the first three weeks to fill their tags.  Richard and Steve agreed and we set the hunt up to start the Sunday after Thanksgiving.        

Richard and Steve arrived the Saturday after Thanksgiving.   They were fortunate to have good roads on their way up from Lubbock, Texas.  We had supper that night and discussed our options for the next morning. 

A gentleman by the name of Joe called me that night.  He was fortunate enough to draw an out of state bull tag for that area.  He wasn’t able to come out on a guided hunt so I told him what I knew about hunting the area and he called when he needed advice which I was happy to give.  He had come down for archery hunting season but wasn’t able to close the distance and made another trip down for rifle season.  He reported that he was seeing elk but not as many as he had hoped.  He asked what I thought about the area.  I told him what I knew about that particular area and have yet to find out if he was successful.  

Joe’s call concerned me because I had seen elk in that area earlier in the year.  I had scouted the area in September and knew where some elk had been hanging out.  I also hunt coyotes in that area all winter and have a general area that I know to be good for elk hunting.  I told the guys about the report from Joe.  They seemed a little discouraged by the news but I reassured them we had plenty of time to find elk. 

The next morning we loaded up and headed to an area I wanted to try.  It had rained that night and as we approached the area the rain turned to snow.  The two track roads were getting worse by the second and I began to wonder if we would make it to the hunting area. 

We came out of the bottom of a dry creek bed and began to close the distance on the last fence gate when I spotted two cow elk and three calves.  Richard was riding shotgun.  I slapped him on the shoulder and said “Theirs your elk!”  He turned to look at the elk and when he turned back he had a look of disbelief.  There are good guides and lucky guides and that, my friends, is pure luck.  The elk had come down from the timbered ridge in an attempt to get out of the snow.  We were lucky enough to intersect their path.  At the sight of the pickup they turned to go back up into the timber.  We hustled up through the gate, unloaded and headed after them.

We had watched the elk run through a cut between two hills.  We anticipated they would go through until they were out of site and stop.  I advised going on top of the hill so we could get a shot down on them hoping they had stayed at the bottom.  As we made the final climb to the top, just before we crested, I spotted a cow and two calves about fifty yards in front of us.  As soon as I seen them they seen us too.  They moved out to the south away from us.  I motioned to Steve and Richard that we would have to move fast and hope to get a shot as them from on top as I assumed they would go off trying to escape. 

The snow was deep enough we could track them and the tracks lead us to the edge of the hill but then cut south on top.  While another track went off and you could see it was heading for the plains but we couldn’t see any elk.  We stood their contemplating where they had gone when a yearling cow elk came running out from underneath us.  Steve dropped down to his butt, positioned his shooting sticks.  I ranged the elk at 163 yards.  Steve shot and missed high.  He put another one in and the second shot hit its mark!  Steve, on the first day of his first elk hunt ever had just harvested a yearling cow elk!  It’s not usually that easy Steve, just so you know. He killed it by the two track and we were able to drive right to her.

We took a lot of pictures; congratulated each other and then the work began.  We had Steve’s elk loaded by 8:42am.  We had watched the rest of that herd go into the timber.  It was snowing hard by this time and we thought if we got after it we could track the small heard and harvest another elk.

We drove down to where the elk had crossed a two track and began to track them up the hill.  It didn’t take long for the tracks to disappear as the snow covered their sign.  We eventually gave up on this bunch and followed the timbered ridge stopping to glass down the draws and valleys in hopes we might spot an elk through the falling snow.    During our walk we cut a fresh set of tracks.  A cow and calf had made these tracks. 

The cow and calf were working their way toward the east where I knew of a private piece of property that I didn’t have permission to hunt.   We followed the tracks in hopes they would turn south which they did.  Just before they hit the fence they met with another group of elk a couple of miles from where we had first picked them up at.  The group continued to the south and then cut to the east until they hit the fence line.  From that point they followed the fence for three quarters of a mile and crossed onto the private property at a low spot in the fence.

By this time we had put a lot of miles on walking and it was coming up on noon.  The snow was falling hard but there was no wind.  It was a great the stalk and a beautiful day to be in the woods!  We decided to cut to the west where I knew of a ridge that had a road. The road would lead us back to the truck.  The walk back seamed twice as long as the walk stalking the elk.  The enjoyment of tracking can make a person loose his sense of time.

We reached the truck at noon.  It was a welcome site as we had lunch, hot coffee and a heater calling our name.  We discussed the morning’s events and the excitement of the elk hunt.  It was Richards turn to hunt elk but with the weather I knew we couldn’t get into an area I had hoped to.  I also knew that some of the elk would instinctively want to make their way down to get out of the weather so I opted to drive around the base of the ridge in hopes we could see an elk on the prairie.

Our travels where slow going.  The mud and snow made us question a couple of crossings.  We had come prepared and were able to make all of the crossings with no incident.  We had just drove out of a bottom two track that had been following creek drainage when we spotted thirty five to forty head of elk running in front of us.  We stopped the truck and waited to see what the heard would do. 

“I’ll be” said Richard, “I would have never thought they would be out here.  I was sure we were wasting our time!”  Do you see a pattern here? Again, disbelief!  Then Steve pipes up and said “Sometimes Richard, it pays to listen to your guide” in a joking manner.  It made me happier than a pup with two peters to hear him say that.  Razing each other is part of the hunt and Richard took a dose of it from Steve and I.  Thanks for being a good sport Richard.

The elk had stopped running where two drainages met.  We could still see a couple of head on top but there was a roll in the terrain that would allow us to go straight at them.  The plan was to use the pickup to block our background, sneak to the knob; drop down the drainage until we could get to another knob that would allow us to get a shot.

All went as planned until we were getting Richard in a position to shoot.  The herd had enough of waiting around.  They began to walk, single space, across the open, over the dry river bed and up onto a ridge line.  When they had started to make their move we resorted to dropping back down into the drainage and watching until we could make a move.

The elk milled around for a bit occasionally looking back toward the truck that was a mile or so away.  I was confident that from their vantage point they would not be able to see us sneaking through the sagebrush bottom even though we could see them in plain sight.  “Let’s make our move and go straight at them” I said to Richard.  “Are you sure?” he asked.  “Yes, I think we can go slow and not spoke them; they will be looking down on us and our outline will be broke up by the brush.  I’m sure it will work, what do you think?” I replied.  “Let’s just give them a little bit.  How about fifteen minutes?  They act like they aren’t going anywhere and I would rather give them a little time to calm down.” He stated.  So we agreed to disagree which is OK because I have always felt that my job is to advise, not dictate. 

Fifteen minutes had passed.  The elk were grazing and started to bed along the ridgeline.  Richard said “It’s been fifteen minutes.  Although there is a couple still grazing let’s start the stalk.”  “I think we need to wait a couple more minutes, they’re not going anywhere.” I replied with a grin.  Richard had made the right call to be patient.  The herd was comfortable on top of the ridge and we gave them enough time to bed. 

We waited until we could only see a couple of elk.  As the elk bed down they would disappear below the horizon.  Richard began his stalk, moving ahead ten or fifteen feet at a time.  Steve and I stayed back watching the elk and when we were confident Richard was out of sight from the elk, Steve started to make his stalk.  I stayed back until Steve was far enough ahead and then I started my stalk.  We moved slowly down the drainage until and gathered at the end where the elk couldn’t see us. 

Richard put a shell in the chamber, left the bolt up, and fell in behind me.  We moved fast for the first two thirds of our journey.  The snow was loud as it crunched beneath our feet.  We had picked out a point on the ridgeline, form there we would be close.  Slowly, we moved, stopping every ten feet to scan for the tops of horns or ears.  We were now within twenty yards from the crest when Richard placed his hand on my shoulder “There they are!” he whispered. Richard is a tall man and could see an ear of a cow but I couldn’t. 

We crouched down to our knees.  “I think it would be best for you to crawl the rest of the way.  I’ll follow you.” I whispered.  He nodded, closed the bolt down on his Winchester 270 and began to crawl to the grassy point above the elk. 

We came to the point and bedded before us where thirty five elk at eighty yards!  Richard got into position, steadied his rifle and squeezed. BOOM! The cow never moved from her bed.  The herd jumped to their feet and ran fifty yards to a low spot in the terrain, stopped, and looked back.  Richard made a great shot!

This was one of the most memorable elk hunts I’ve ever been on.  We weren’t hunting trophy bulls but it didn’t matter.  My opinion is our society has forgotten what hunting is all about.  To me, it’s about enjoying the outdoors with friends, creating memories that last forever.  I want to take this time to thank Richard and Steve for creating another memory.