I was a young 12-year-old boy when my neighbor asked me to go elk hunting with him in Wyoming. Unfortunately, I had to decline to help on our family dairy farm. Ever since then, I dreamed of elk hunting in Wyoming. I did a lot of research while I was deciding which unit to apply for in Wyoming and acquired help from the Huntin’ Fool Hunt Advisors. Since I did not have max points, we narrowed down a unit that was a mixture of private and public land that fit the area that coincided with my accumulated 11 points going into the draw. Most importantly, it was in an area that did not have grizzly bears. At 58, I am not sure I could outrun my guides.
I called a few ranches to see if I could get permission to hunt and possibly pay a trespass fee to access their land. I didn’t feel very confident with their responses. The next move was to look for a guide or outfitter. In my research of going over the list of guides, I picked one out of the hat and gave Jake Black from Backcountry Hunting Logistics a call. Jake was so patient answering my countless questions. I honestly felt that I had found my outfitter that would help me achieve my goal of shooting a trophy class bull. I did not have my own elk rifle, so Jake offered to let me use what he called “a real tack driving .338 Lapua rifle.” Anyone who shoots guns knows you need to feel confident with shooting it yourself. It is common practice with outfitters that if you wound an animal, your hunt is done. This haunted me all summer since I had not physically shot this rifle.
The moment I had been anxiously waiting for had finally come. I arrived in Wyoming on October 31st and met up with my guide, Mike Harshman. I needed to take some practice shots with this girl that was going to take me to the dance, the .338 Lapua. The first shot was at 100 yards, and another was at 350 yards. The rifle felt rock solid, and my fears had disappeared. One bull’s eye, and the other was one inch left.
This Wyoming November had record warmth in the 70s and a blue moon. Mike said, “No worries. We got this.” The first morning, we didn’t see any elk and decided to check out another spot. While driving, we met a local and had great conversation. He talked about elk, cougar, and wolf sightings. Mike said, “That explains why we have not seen any elk the last three days.” We would have to find another area. Now I was nervous – 70s, blue moon, wolves, and cougars! This is what is so great about hiring an outfitter like BHL, for dealing with obstacles like this.
For the evening hunt, we moved to another location and Harrison True joined. We started glassing, and I spotted a few elk and a possible good bull, so we headed to the opening we thought they would come out for a better look. What happened next was an elk hunter’s dream. After getting within 400 yards of the herd, we witnessed two of the bulls fighting in a clearing and soon two more bulls were going at it next to them. What a sight! We were trying to decide which one was the one we wanted. Then I noticed a lot more filtering into another clearing to our right. One really large bull was breeding one of the 20 or more cows. Daylight was fading fast as I placed the crosshairs on the bull. It was like a bees’ nest, and I couldn’t get a clear shot with so many elk.
We looked back at the bulls fighting, and I put the crosshairs on the one we liked. The bull was walking straight away, and I was waiting for him to turn right. Just as he did, I started to pull the trigger. Suddenly, another cow stepped in front of the bull. I immediately let off the trigger. I came really close to shooting a cow. Darkness had made it too hard to safely make a shot, so we called it a day.
The next morning found us at a vantage point where we could glass the surrounding area and would normally see elk. However, not this time. We checked out a few more spots throughout the morning but only came across two bulls that vanished into the timber before we could make a decision.
For the evening hunt, we decided to go where we were the night before that had so much excitement. Fortunately, there was just enough snow on the ground to help in spotting more elk about a mile away. We could see about 10 elk, which were mostly cows and a few raghorns. As we continued glassing throughout the evening, I kept looking back to see if any more elk became visible. Two bulls got my attention as they came into focus in my spotting scope, and I got really excited and told Mike he better take a look. It didn’t take him long to tell me to grab my stuff as we had to go.
The bulls were feeding away from us when we spotted them, so we assumed they would only be getting further away. I put my Ozonics on boost because I am a firm believer that it can make a big difference with your scent. We had approximately half a mile of ground to cover, and we were heading up the mountain as fast as we could. All of a sudden, Mike said “Stop!” There was a raghorn looking in our direction. We remained frozen, and the raghorn luckily moved on. The wind was blowing up the mountain to our left where we could hear the elk bugling and the cows chirping. I was really hoping the Ozonics would do its thing. We set up the rifle on some rocks to shoot into a small opening that the cows started moving through one at a time. “100 yards,” Mike said. I was hoping the rest would follow the script and keep moving through, but I really didn’t expect it. Every elk that came through the opening, I put the crosshairs on them in case it was the bull I wanted. There must have been 20 or 25 cows and raghorns that went through the opening and then the herd bull appeared.
I started to squeeze the trigger, and I heard Mike say, “That’s him!” I pulled the trigger, and the big bull instantly dropped. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. That was unbelievable! Just as I pulled the trigger, Mike said the other cows had noticed us and were getting very nervous. It’s a good thing he stepped out when he did.
Taking pictures of the amazing sunset with my bull and my new best friends, Mike and Harrison, was one of the best parts of the hunt for me. Once in a blue moon!
Thank you so much to BHL, Jake, Mike, and Harrison for making this possible.
Login