One morning in May, I chose to wake up and check my email, something I never do first thing in the morning. To my surprise, I had received an email from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department informing me that the draw results were available. With less than a 2% chance of drawing, I had no expectations. I informed my fiance´, Kyler Woodul, that the results were available. He started checking his results, but unfortunately, he was not successful. After logging in, I saw “Successful” for resident moose. It took a while for this information to sink in. Was it true? In utter shock, I quietly said, “I think I drew a moose tag.”
My fiance´ proceeded to take my phone, and his reaction said it all. It was true! Immediately, I called my dad to tell him the news, and he responded in a similarly shocked manner, asking, “Are you sure it’s your name? Send me a picture!” Sure enough, as a first-year resident, I had drawn a moose tag. Not more than five minutes later, my dad called to let me know that he drew a non-resident Wyoming mountain goat tag. What a morning for our family!
As this was a once-in-a-lifetime tag, we were going to get a guide. My dad, Joseph Graham, the owner of Graham’s Guide Service, started contacting his contacts to determine the most trustworthy guide in the area. The results were clear. Dustin Child and his team at Trophy Mountain Outfitters were the best choice for my moose tag.
After our wedding in late July, hunting season was now in full swing. As the moose season lasted roughly a month and a half, my husband and I set out every weekend to scout in different areas of the unit. Over the course of a month, we encountered a lot of elk, deer, cow moose, and bull moose. Although we were able to see a few young bull moose, we were holding out for our hunt with Trophy Mountain. Additionally, we had been told repeatedly that patience was a virtue in this unit as the trophies had become few and far between in the last several years after wolves had reached the area.
Finally, it was time for our guided hunt. We headed out to meet Dustin and his team. Upon arriving at camp, we settled in and met our guide, Drew Donnelly. He mentioned that Bridger Clark, another guide for Trophy Mountain, would be joining us the next day. Fortunately, Bridger showed up that night. With everyone there, we were ready to take off in the morning.
The alarms sounded, and we quickly grabbed some breakfast to go. After that, we prepared the horses and ventured into the incredibly steep and rough terrain. Upon reaching our glassing point, we got off the horses and started setting up the spotting scopes. While scanning the beautiful willow bottom with my binos, I reached into my backpack to retrieve my breakfast burrito. Just as I was about to do so, my guide, Drew, alerted me, “There’s a massive bull! We need to go now!” I looked in that direction and saw the bull. Additionally, I saw a few other hunters near the bull. As frightening as this was, the unit also had hunts open for cow elk and bear. A quick plan was made. We would lead the horses down the very steep mountainside to shorten the trail by several hours, while Bridger stayed behind to keep an eye on the bull.
The adrenaline was pumping, and I was sprinting down the mountain, leading my horse. We soon realized why this was a “path less traveled.” The terrain in this area was steep, dense, and covered in deadfall. However, Drew fearlessly guided us through challenging terrain. Out of nowhere, I heard a gunshot in the direction of the bull and my heart dropped. I hoped this wasn’t the same bull we saw earlier. The thought of someone else being on the bull was making my adrenaline rush even faster. We continued on, and I heard a loud crack. I looked up and saw a tree falling straight towards Drew. I yelled, “Watch out!” The tree fell on the saddle of Drew’s horse. Time stood still. My husband gave me his lead rope, and he ran down the mountain to help Drew. The two lifted the tree off the saddle, and remarkably, the horse was OK. After a wild journey down the mountainside, I finally began to notice a clearing amidst the trees, indicating we had reached the bottom.
Riding along the bottom, I began to realize the impressive height of these willows. This New Mexico girl had no clue these were over 10 feet tall! Once we were close enough to the area where we spotted the bull, we dismounted and tied the horses to a group of aspens. Then, we proceeded to run up the game trail. Upon reaching the area where Bridger indicated the bull was located, we hiked up the mountainside to gain higher ground than the willows. However, we didn’t see anything. The wait was on. Drew, Kyler, and I began scanning the area, hoping the bull would appear. Meanwhile, Bridger rode down to join us. Once he arrived, he confirmed that the bull remained in this area the whole time and also verified that the gunshot we heard did not come from this bull. I was extremely relieved! After hours of no movement, Kyler said, “There he is!” We once again had eyes on the bull...and then we didn’t. This pattern continued for several hours until roughly 5:00. Mind you, we spotted this bull at seven in the morning.
At this point, Drew decided to hike up to a higher point to see if he could spot the bull. Just as Drew was one ridge away, Kyler once again exclaimed, “There he is!” This time, the bull was heading into the creek bottom, broadside. I rushed to prepare the gun, and just as I leveled it, the bull disappeared. At this point, I was very frustrated thinking I had missed my chance. Drew ran back and told us where the bull was, while we simultaneously explained that we almost shot him. We looked up, and the bull was on the move. In just a few minutes, he had traveled 300 yards down this large willow bottom. Bridger stayed back to keep eyes on him as we took off down the game trail.
Upon reaching a good vantage point, Drew signaled for us to crouch down and whispered, “He is right there! Get ready to shoot.” I slowly looked up and saw the bull. At this point, I was trembling as the bull was 200 yards away, staring directly at me. My husband set up the tripod, and I got on the gun and put the bull in my sight. The bull was moving away from us quickly and was about to disappear over a ridge, out of sight. Drew used a cow call to stop the bull in its tracks, and it turned to quarter us. I lined up and shot. I got him! I was about to shoot again, but the bull was out of sight. Once again, we were running down the trail, and right off the trail was the bull. I raised my gun to shoot again, but it was clear he was dead. It was truly an indescribable feeling. The whole team was excited, and as we moved in closer to the moose, it just got better and better. The bull was magnificent, and it only took one shot with my Gunwerks 28 Nosler. I’ll save you the details of packing out the moose, but I will say it took us three hours to get back to camp that night and another six hours the next day to get the remainder of the meat.
I grew up in a household with a guiding outfit, and I know the high expectations we hold for our customers; however, I had never been on a guided hunt as a customer before. Dustin and his entire team at Trophy Mountain Outfitters exceeded my expectations. The outfit is exceptionally professional, they know what they are doing, and the team is now my recommendation to anyone hunting in the area. Thank you, Trophy Mountain Outfitters, for this amazing experience, and thank you, Huntin’ Fool, for allowing me to share my once-in-a-lifetime tag with the world.
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