This hunt started many years ago when my good friend and longtime hunting partner, Mike Lyda, and I started buying Wyoming preference points. At that time, we had no idea where we’d go or who we’d hunt with, we just wanted to hunt big bulls in Wyoming. Coming from Oregon, we had hunted with spike-only tags on public grounds in northeast Oregon most of the past 20 years. A few any bull tags drawn along the way produced some decent bulls, but not the class of bull we’d both dreamed of. We ended up with a hard-to-draw, coveted elk tag and a great outfitter in Tre Heiner, owner of Washakie Outfitters.
Even though Mike and I were both raised in rural western Oregon, I now live near Spokane, Washington. Mike made his way to my house the day before we were to leave for Wyoming. Up early Friday morning, we were headed east. After nearly 12 hours on the road, we made it to the bunkhouse Tre had secured as a base camp for us in the Cody area. Weather came early this year and prospects were good we would see a lot of elk. Weather forecasts for the week included some snow early and then bitterly cold temps, creating great conditions to keep the elk coming out of Yellowstone.
Saturday morning, we were up by 4 a.m. to a wonderful breakfast by Tre’s wife, Olivia. She kept us well fed with great food all week long. After a 30-minute drive to the trailhead, we were headed up the trail on our horses for the day by headlamp. Mike and I had been on horses before but were by no means experienced horse people. Within a couple minutes, we were crossing a good size creek in below freezing temps. My first thought was, “I hope this horse doesn’t trip and send me in the water for a pre-dawn swim!” Tre’s animals were all very sturdy, sure-footed, and reliable. My first morning mount was a slow walker and a rough trotter, but we got things figured out for the six-mile ride to where my guide, Chad, and I were to spend the day glassing for elk. We had just got to the spot when Tre and Mike (in front of Chad and me) bailed off their horses and pulled Mike’s rifle from the scabbard. Chad and I quickly followed suit and got the horses tied. There were elk in the brush between the trail and the river. Mike and Tre went upstream, climbing to a vantage point above the elk, and Chad and I moved slowly towards the river, staying downwind from the elk. I had not seen any elk initially, but as we got to the brush line, Chad spotted a small 6-point not 60 yards away. We were certain there were more elk there. It was just so full of deadfall and brush that we couldn’t see. We slowly picked our way downwind and into the deadfall towards the river. We were about halfway through when Mike’s shot roared. We saw the little 6 come out to the river, and then shortly after, we saw a very nice shooter bull step out, but he gave me no shot and disappeared upstream.
Mike’s bull was a beautiful, dark horned 6x6 with brilliant ivory tips. It was a little different for Mike and me as we watched Tre and Chad go to work getting the quarters off this bull. Mike and I are usually the ones with bloody hands when our group gets a bull in Oregon. We were assigned bear watch duty, which definitely brings a whole new aspect to the hunt we don’t yet have to deal with in Oregon!
The next several days were similar to the first with early mornings getting colder and colder, going out for five to six- mile rides into the wilderness, and glassing elk. We saw 40+ elk each day and always saw bulls in the 320" range. In fact, on Monday, I had a bull Tre estimated at mid-320s in my scope at a very shootable range. I had never shot a bull over 300", and that bull looked good to me. Tre suggested we hold off as we could find another one that size any day. I let him walk, and by the time we got back to camp that night, I was feeling regret. We saw more elk Tuesday but nothing to shoot, and the regret from passing that bull was getting worse. We only had two more days left.
Wednesday was another very cold morning. We started two days at 1 degree. The saddle warmers took awhile to get working on those mornings. We headed up another new canyon at first light. I was very glad we were on horses as we gained a ton of elevation in very short order. We came to some spectacular viewpoints to glass from. Mike spotted a couple bulls on the move up the canyon even further. We mounted up again and climbed even further. The elk were definitely moving this day. We cut some fresh tracks in the snow, so Tre and I went ahead on foot while Mike and Chad stayed behind to glass the countless acres of elk country we were in. The views that cloudless day on the top of the world were amazing! Tre and I climbed higher and higher until we could see a ridge that was near the unit border. We saw two good bulls and then a single. They all appeared to be shooter quality with one of them a monster. We were quite far from the horses and the other guys by then with no good access to where the bulls went. They were also headed towards the unit edge with no guarantee they would stop before they got there. We went back down to where the other guys had built a fire and were having lunch. They said they had watched a good bull bed down back the way we had come from.
After some lunch, we headed down the ridge to a lookout where we could try to locate that bull again. He finally showed. I looked once through the spotting scope and said, “Let’s go get him!” Tre and I left the horses and headed down to the bottom so we could climb back up the other side. It was a steep climb, but thankfully not the thousand plus feet we had descended! We found the bull across a small draw. After shooting the bull, we worked our way around to where he was. He was larger than I’d originally thought, no ground shrinkage here! He was the bull of my dreams – a giant (at least in my mind) 6x6 with long daggers and a beautiful whale tail. I was put on bear watch again while we got the elk quartered up. It was dark by the time we got down to where Mike and Chad had tied the horses.
This was a hunt-of-a-lifetime for me. Mike and I each took great bulls in some beautiful country. The adventure of bushwhacking places I didn’t know a horse could go, seeing tons of elk every day, and harvesting the biggest bull I’ve ever taken (providing food for my family in the coming year) will never be forgotten.
Login