I've been taking a trip out west from my home in the Hudson Valley area of New York to hunt every year for about 11 years now. 2017 was a lucky year as my wife, Mary, and I built our downsize retirement home. (I can't and don't want to retire because I have too many hobbies to support.). My middle daughter, Caylynn, who made me a Papa in 2016 was back to work full time, which kept my wife busy watching our granddaughter, Alessia, every day. That same year, I drew an elk archery tag in 16D New Mexico. My youngest, Chuck, drew a rifle elk in the Taos region of New Mexico. Family, work, building a house, and hunting kept me very busy. To top it off, my oldest daughter, Jessica, got engaged to my now son-in-law, Stephen. It was a great year. There were successful hunts, we moved into the new home on December 31st, and my daughter was planning a wedding.
I had a mountain goat hunt planned for October 2018 with a good friend, but with all that happened in 2017, I needed to recoup. Luckily, we were able to put our goat hunt off until 2019. My daughter decided to get married in November 2018, and to top it off, it was opening day of deer here in New York. That is another story, but family is the most important thing a guy could have, and I have a great family, so we all make sacrifices. Well, here is where this story begins. The wedding was great, and my buddies went hunting in Alberta after the wedding. I missed opening day here at home. Someone else got the deer I was watching all year. Christmas day was enjoyed by 25 family members in our new home, and things were calming down. The following day while relaxing with my wife, she said, "Aren't you going hunting out west?" I looked at her crossed eyed, and she said why not? I immediately texted Kody in Wyoming. I met him while hunting there back in 2010 and 2011. I asked him what we could hunt in January as I knew he had hounds. I love working dogs. I grew up around working labs and field trials with my grandfather. Kody said to come on out on January 6th and we'd hunt cat. Within four days I had airfare, a hotel, and the trip booked.
This was one of the most enjoyable hunts I've ever been on. Heart Spear Outfitters of Glenrock, Wyoming was exceptional. Outfitter/guide Kody Glause and guide Adam Bilek along with their hounds showed me a very enjoyable time. I stayed in a beautiful hotel in Casper where they picked me up every morning. We spent the day traveling on 4x4s, side by sides with tracks, snowmobiles, and by foot looking for tracks and working the dogs. There was so much game to see along the way, from mulies and whitetails to elk and much more. These mountains have it all. Their experience shows as they taught me how to understand the tracks, the lion habits, etc. The experienced dogs were exceptional, and it was fun watching them teach the young dogs what to do.
My hunt started on Monday with high winds, very little snow, and cold. We did manage to find some older tom tracks on a deer kill late in the day that told us he was there. On Tuesday, we started at the kill and put the dogs on some fresher tracks that were there in the morning. We had to hike about two miles up steep grades and down as the dogs treed a lion. The sound of these hounds chasing and treeing the cat was amazing. It ended up being a smaller female that we watched, took pictures of, and then let go. We spent the rest of Tuesday looking for that large tom track that eluded us. With very little snow, it was difficult. Kody and Adam thought he must have slipped through an area that had no snow, so that set up a plan for Wednesday.
Wednesday morning started with Kody making a quick loop around the kill while Adam and I headed down a draw to look for that tom. Adam found an elk kill with one to on and a half day old tom tracks, so we came back out and looped around to see if he came out of the draw on the other side or other end. We only found some smaller female tracks. At about noon, we met back up with Kody who didn't find any tom tracks leaving the area. The plan was to hike the draw in hopes that the big guy was still around. As there was food, water, and females, what guy would leave?
Adam took the hounds and headed back down to the elk kill and put the dogs on those older tracks while Kody and I ate some lunch. After about 15 minutes, we could hear the echo of a couple hounds. The barks got more frequent every couple minutes. Kody and I hiked over to a point as the dogs were on a full sprint. It was the most amazing chase. I could hear them below with little glimpses here and there. The experienced hounds knew how to navigate the cliffs and surround the cat. The young dogs got some great experience as I could see them trying to work their way around to the lion and the other dogs. Kody and I decided we should drive around and hike down the other side. It was steep on both sides, but the other side was closer to the treed lion and dogs. It took us about 40 minutes to drive around and hike down. I should say, I slid down on my butt. It was steep, and my knees didn't like the grade. I was fascinated with how the hounds kept him treed until we got there. He was big and beautiful. After some pictures, video, and leashing the dogs, I harvested this beauty. After more pictures, skinning, etc., the work began to hike out. It was steep and slippery from snow melt and hard work. When I finally reached the top, it was exhilarating. My old knees got it done, and it felt good.
Thursday started off going to see the game warden to check in the lion. After lunch, we headed back to the mountains to look for more tracks. We found some big tracks late in the day. When I asked why we didn't put the dogs out, Kody said I'd see in a minute. We drove around a point and took a short hike to the edge. He asked, "Do you want to hike this today, this late in the day?" As far as I could see, it was steep, rough country. I said let’s pretend we found him and look for other tracks. A little bit later, we came over a hill to start a stampede of elk. I never saw such a big herd with well over 200 head. I did see a big bull in the middle of them, and in a couple of years I'll have enough points to hunt unit 7 and this ranch.
On Friday, it was snowing heavy and we decided to relax. I got a chance to catch up on work, email, invoicing, etc. Friday evening, Kody, along with his wife, Jordan, who is also a guide, and their 3-month-old daughter picked me up. We stopped to grab a bottle of Adam's favorite beverage and headed to Adam's house for dinner. Adam and his father cooked up the lion's back straps and a pork lion. I met Adam's wife and kids. We all enjoyed the fruits of the hunt. The dinner, drinks, and company were great. What a way to end a last-minute hunting trip, and what a great way to start off 2019. Now I need to get these legs and knees in shape for October.
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