Hunting season on the Wyoming Range

[Missouri Sherpa]

I have had a few inquiries about my annual elk hunt and am sorry for the delay in getting this posted.  I had a long season beginning in August, getting our new building ready and setting up camp with my son for this year.  My elk hunt ended up being really short and sweet.  In all we had a great fall in Wyoming.  Shaun Webb spent most of the season with us and his help was most appreciated.  


On our way to HQ we drive by this fish hawk(probably an Osprey) nest on the Green River.  I saw a couple of these in the Pinedale area this fall.  There are several bald eagles and golden eagles in this area but I never saw any of them on these nests.
   


Antelope can be seen anywhere you look.  We had antelope in our yard just about every morning.  We are going to set up a waterhole and blind next fall and should be able to take a few antelope from there.  We are in a sparsely populated area next to a big parcel of BLM and there are numerous antelope to see.
   


 
This is our new building.  We fenced off a portion of it to keep horses and mules here.  We also have a well, septic system, hot shower, freezer etc. to make this a good place to hang out between hunts.  We had antelope coming in to drink from the horse tank within a few feet of the building.  We have a little quakie patch about 100 yards from the building where we want to set up a blind and water hole next year.

   


We had some bear troubles this year.  We packed some horse feed up to camp and had about 500 pounds of sweet feed get dragged off and/or ruined.  We had some snow first week of September and got a good look at the tracks of the animal making this problem.
   

80 pound bags of sweet feed, some dragged over 100 yards from the tack tent.
   


My son, guide and an archery moose hunter were charged by a grizzly bear around Sept 5.  Long story, short version ended up with a dead grizz at their feet.  Three men were very lucky to be alive after that charge.  This was a 7 year old, 600 lb. boar that appeared to be in good health.  We were to see several more grizz during our stay in the mountains.  There has been a pine beetle blight that has caused a failure of the White Bark Pine cone crop, which is a staple of the grizzly bears in the Yellowstone/Teton Region.  We have more surviving White Barks in the northern Wyoming Range than anywhere else in Wyoming so we can expect to see a lot more of the grizzly bears in the coming years.

You must go armed with some sort of bear deterrent in this area, especially if you are bowhunting.  Grizzly bear sightings, encounters and fatalities were at unprecedented levels this year.
   

[Missouri Sherpa]

This is our base camp on Mule Creek.  We were having trouble with a bear getting into the tack tent, cooking tent and guides tent.  With the recent bear attack everyone was a bit nervous about this bear.
   

This bear track was found in the mud next to the cook tent.  We were not certain if this was another grizz or a big black bear. The game and fish office told us this bear had to be killed or moved.  Once bears start going into tents people get killed.  I had a mission to complete before our hunters arrived.

   

 We had some mule deer hunters coming the next day and needed to get some groceries and more sweet feed up to camp.  My son, Shaun and I took a few pack horses up to camp.   Shaun took a shine to packing with mules.  All of our animals are pretty dependable and we did not have any rodeos all season.  Our first few trips to camp packing in hay we had some pretty nervous horses but they got used to it.  A local cowboy that rides this part of the range told us his horses go crazy going over the pass to get to our camp, likely because of the grizz he has seen there several times.  

I sent Jacob and Shaun back to headquarters with all of the horses and spent the afternoon and evening laying in wait for the bear to come in.  It was a cold breezy evening and the bear did not come in.  I spent a long cold night in the guide tent, between the tack tent and the grocery tent.  I put up some electric fence around all three tents but that did not really help me sleep much.  Morning came and I was unscathed.  I hiked over the hump to our toilet facility and was preparing to walk out the 4+ miles to the trailhead and meet Shaun to bring in another load of gear.  

   

Just as I left camp a bull bugled right behind camp.  I paused.  Before I could turn around two more bull bugles erupted from within a couple hundred yards of camp.  I rushed back to the hitching rail and could see about a dozen cows, a spike, a raghorn and a big 6x6 in the meadow next to camp.  I had a bow in camp that was not even strung up.  (I was laying for the bear with a 300 win mag)  I quickly put my bow bolt Shrew Classic Hunter together and adjusted the brace height.  I put broadheads on a couple of shafts and ran my file over them a few times to make sure they were sharp.  I grabbed my rangefinder Wind River binos, a couple of cow calls and a pair of gloves.  The elk were exiting the park as I came to the edge of the clearing.  I stayed within the edge of the woods and skirted the meadow until I caught up with the elk.  There were cows everywhere as I slipped in closer to the bugling.   I cow called a whiny sequence of demanding cow calls and hustled up the hill about 50 yards to the next elk trail.   As soon as I stopped moving there was another hair raising bugle directly below me.  I put my binos on him and he was only 39 yards below me at about a 40 degree angle.  I debated for a split second about going after the big 6x6 before letting an arrow loose.  I found the bright red bloody arrow laying where the elk had stood, complete pass through.  I did not know if I would even have time to hunt for elk and thought I should kill the first one I had a chance to take.  I have killed my share of 6x6 bulls and felt the need to have some elk meat this year.  My arrow was true and hit the bull in the heart which is my favorite shot on an elk.  The bull crashed down the mountain about 80 yards.  I followed a short blood trail and found him heaving on wobbly legs.  I passed another arrow through his lungs for insurance and he keeled over on the spot.  I retreived my unbroken arrow and headed on foot for the trail head.  I was supposed to meet Shaun at 09:00.  My elk hunt had only lasted about 15-20 minutes from the time I heard the elk until I found the dead bull.  As I got closer to the trailhead I could hear Shaun in the Ford V-10, grinding up the mountain.  He would not have to wait on me today.  My feet were light, my heart soaring, I still have the magic when it comes to elk.

   

Shaun and I loaded the pack horses and made it to camp without any trouble.  We then went to retreive my elk.  I took the quarters and hung them on the meat pole at camp.  I took the backstraps and tenderloins to the freezer and left a neck roast in camp for camp meat.  Shaun spent the night in camp waiting for the bear to return.  He did not see any bears but all 4 of my elk quarters were gone.  I contacted the fish and game office and they sent a couple of their bear agents out for a visit.  They could not tell me for sure if we were dealing with a grizz or a big black bear.  They found the bones from my elk, meat all gone.  They told me to be sure it was a black bear and not a grizz if I was going to kill it.  If this was a grizz they would have to come up and deal with it.  I spent that evening and the next morning sitting over the elk carcass.  The first day nothing had hit the elk.  The next morning there were chew marks on the carcass, so I settled in about 70 yards away.  5 hours later, problem solved.  Everyone rested better knowing the camp raider was gone.  We did not have any further bear visits in camp this season.
   


Sometimes you realize that we live in a small world.  No telling who you will run into while you are in Wyoming.
   

[Missouri Sherpa]

My son is running our outfitting business now.  He needed a good dependable horse for pulling a packstring and found out my main ride, Sylvester, was a pretty good mount.  I am happy to let him use my horse but I had to find another mount.

 

I have been using this horse, mainly as a packhorse for the last 4 years.  He has been a great packhorse and is tough enough to haul my butt around the high country for days on end.  He now has a new job working for me.
   

Here are some pictures of our hunting area.  First picture was taken around the end of August.  Everything is green, and lush.  This would be a good time to bowhunt for big mule deer.  I had a mule deer tag this year but I did not have any time to hunt with our schedule.  Maybe I will be able to hunt for Muleys next time I can draw the tag
   

This picture is of the same general area taken in Mid-October.  Conditions were pretty dry and noisy by now.  Usually this country will have some snow on the ground by mid October.  It may not look far but it is about 4 miles across this valley to the next mountaintop.  We have hundreds of square miles of this terrain to hunt within the range of our permit.   You need a good horse to get around up here.


   

   


Our camp is located on the far side of the trees where the yellow arrow points.  The elk I hunted were in the little valley right beyond camp.

   

[Missouri Sherpa]

Jacob glassing some elk on the far side of the canyon.

 

We do a lot of this, packing and hauling and packing and hauling.  Everything we use has to be hauled in from the trailhead and then hauled out.

 


We have abundant population of big mule deer in the Wyoming range.  If anyone wants first chance at these animals before the gun hunters get started on Sept. 15th, we offer a 5 day archery mule deer hunt from Sept. 1-5 only.   We have not had any archery mule deer hunters yet, so you could be the first.  From our early season scouting we know where to find these animals in velvet, in their summer pattern in early September.


 

 

[kung fu kid]

Beautiful country.  Looks like you had a fantastic trip.  Thanks for sharing your memories with us.


“All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom; justice; honor; duty; mercy; hope.”        
Winston S Churchill

[rastaman]

Hey John!  Beautiful pictures of some awesome country!

[JEJ]

John, your annual Fall elk hunting posts are something I look forward to reading every hunting season. You tell a good story, take great photos, and include info about the area's animals, plants, geography, history, etc. that really make me almost be there with you staring down at those bear tracks! I've never been able to go on a pack trip for elk yet, but your posts about how you use, train, etc. your horses sure have been good lessons for me if I ever get the chance. Thanks for posting, and keep a good eye out for those bears, they sure seem to be getting bold raiding your camps like that.    

[Follower]

Great escape for me today - thanks!

[Al Kidner]

Man.... I can't think why (other then working away) how I missed this thread!

Brings back so many good thoughts it's not funny!


The operation look a treat mate and I really think you need an aussie horse wrangler/bear shooer/photographer/firewood getter or Broad head sharpener in Camp!


All the best to Jacob for me,


al.

[Al Kidner]

Is that my old mate 'Tank'?

[Missouri Sherpa]

Yes,

I traded off a few horses that I thought wouldn't hold up to hard use all season long but I kept Tank, Lucky, Smoke, Sylvester and Fritz.  I have a dozen good mules now and will not be adding much in the way of horses unless they are draft crossbreds.

Do you recognize the appliance in this photo?

 

[Al Kidner]

Hahaha! John .... what sweet memories that brings back mate!

I thought you left it up there @ the wallow!

What a day that was... woofed at by that black/blue bear, more Elk then two stickbow hunters could handle, a face off with that cow at 8 yards and a tracking job through some bad bush!


That pic just made my day mate, many thanks.


I'll reply to your email asap. Cheers my far off friend.


ak.

[Hud]

Great pics and interesting story and pics of the bear, elk and deer.

[cacciatore]

Thanks for sharing, great story and pics.

[maineac]

Man great picts and stories, I would love to try for some of those mulies.  But since school starts that week I doubt the superintendent wold let me take the time off  

[Shaun]

I've been waiting for the guys to get back from WY before posting on this topic. It was a wonderful time and amazing place.

Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, must be packed in to camp (and packed back out after the season).

 

We set up camp in the mountains in August. The weather there can be unpredictable. They have a chance for frost every month of the year. This late August snow did not last, but it was pretty.

 

August is pronghorn season, bow opens on the 15th. If you were this close could you "pick a spot"?

 

back with more pics and stories later...

[Barney]

"No telling who you will run into while you are in Wyoming."

I seem to remember them fellers from somewhere        

Don't let them griz bother you too much....you never do get used to them.  I heard we've had nearly a record year for confrontations. I still laugh at the people who say "statistics show, you have a better chance of being hit by lightening than being attacked by a grizzly."

[Al Kidner]

Have you anymore pic Shaun?


ak.

[tradtusker]

Congrats on a great season buddy! Cool pics

[Charlie Lamb]

Lightening doesn't make me crap my cammies!!!