A blitzkrieg elk/mulie hunt with the Mrs

[wapiti792]

I just got home from a 4 day blitz of the Laramie Peaks area of WY with my wife. She told me about 6 months ago that she wanted to go, to see what I see...to experience all that I love. All I can say is that I outkicked my coverage when I married her. She doesn't hunt but understands my need to be in wild places. In Mudd's signature...how cool is that? Way cool.

I also had the pleasure of meeting two other Tradgangers there and left one with a bloody arrow and an animal down...but that is a story that needs to be told by the shooter.I am not he    

Day one after a fun flight, crappy car rental and normal travel woes found us in one of my favorite haunts. A place where I killed my first mulie a few years back. Long story short, we found a perfect cow elk for a stalk and the wind caught us. My wife was right on my shoulder the whole stalk and thought it was cool to have an elk barking at us. I thought it was like being kicked in the gut...so different us two    

 
*My stalkable cow...BUSTED!


 
*My old haunt...perfect mulie country

[Glenn29]

MORE!  

[Margly]

   

[steadman]

Keep it coming Mike  

[wapiti792]

After eating REALLY well at our hosts' cabin and getting a good nights rest my bride wanted to sleep in. I couldn't blame her as the miles we logged the day before were a bit much for flattlanders. She relented after seeing me start to prepare my gear for the day. Soon she was dressed with war paint on, ready to climb. I went to one of my many lookouts on the BLM to see if I could find a mulie that I stalked last year in the same bowl. After almost bailing and trying another look, I found him. Game on!

I marked an older looking tree to the spot where he was circling with his smaller friend to bed. I didn't wait for them to bed like I should have...


I had to dodge several mulie does in the 3/4 miles I had to cover to the big buck. They were everywhere! I even wished several times for a doe tag. Some of the shots were ridiculously close    
 

I found my tree, looking like a giant banzi tree in the middle of the sage flat. I knew the deer were close, both the 180 legend and his smaller 140ish buddy.
 
We were moving at a snails pace, and I had an idea where they were. I was right and wrong. Right place, wrong moment to not have an arrow nocked. I had wanted to climb into a little rocky/shady spot to get my final approach. As I stepped down off the little rock ledge at my feet at a mere 12 yards was the smaller buck bedded with the giant broadside at 18 yards still on his feet. I made my oversized frame as small as possible and reached for an arrow while givin' a wild-eyed look to my wife to show my horror. The little buck stood blocking my view of my buck. I passed on the smaller buck and like the paranoid grey demons that they are, both bounded off into the thick sage and junipers. All my wife could do was smile...all I could do is think of the stomach acid medicine I had in my duffle at camp. I had to lay there in the shade of that great pine and curse myself, the wind, the bow...whatever. I knew it was a great encounter and I am smiling writing this. We had several more days to find them again!

[wapiti792]

We found some great elk sign and decided it was time for a species change after that arse-kickin'.  We climbed into another part of the BLM and started glassing, and glassing, and glassing...for hours. We found some elk in a far off drainage and decided to make a play for that area the next day. Still fun just seeing all the different critters. I have no idea what this guy is doing at this elevation but with some lion scat around, he's risking it. My mate saw her first antelope in the oddest of places.
 

 All in all a good place to spend the afternoon. I love this place.

 

[wapiti792]

Back at the cabin...sporting our Hardcore Archery hoodies and having a cocktail to celebrate/remember our blown stalk. It was getting a little cool in WY. The elk were starting to bugle, and it was getting right.

We made a plan to try and get into some elk. I couldn't stop thinking of that giant mulie, but relented on my quest to try and find some walking protein. Uh...we found some        
 
 
Lots of them... we bumped a fat little bull going up. Then I put a stalk on a cow that I just couldn't cut off. Then we stumbled on the mother-load.
   

[RM81]

[wapiti792]

We dogged them for a BIT...meaning about a mile. They finally bedded in some really thick drainages. We elected to wait them out, have a sandwhich, and just chill. We had the wind and when the thermals changed we'd drop some elevation and get into them again (we hoped).

 
*Wife sporting her KUIU...she has better gear than me    

A about 6 pm we heard our first bugle and got into position. Coarse the first animal I could have killed was a bull. With no bull tag the raghorn five got real close, his picture made, and a bit of a scowl from me. Dang elk.

 

We worked around him into a bedded herd of 25 elk. One herd bull, 3 spikes, and 21 cows. We set up shop as close as possible and watched the show. The ball was in their court...I just hoped one of the cows closed the last 30 yards to the end of my range.

 

[wapiti792]

Well after waiting around for the elk to move we thought we had it made when another orbit bull topped the hill with 26 other cows. He basically herded them all to the waiting 6 by 7 who promptly took them over and ran his butt back up the hill. It was some sight to see. A herd bull with 47 cows, all within 50 yards, cow talk and bugles like you can't believe. We had a marginal wind as the thermals changed but decided moving was worse than waiting. Here's our hero and the lady of the day:

 

 

[wapiti792]

Finally the orbit bull from before came slipping back in and tried to put a cow in my range. This pic of her was just before he showed back up. She was 40 or so here, out of my range. When he came in she got into the red-zone quickly.
 

For me though, it was bad. Just as she got to me the herd bull charged him, scattering the cows and putting one scared raghorn 5 into our laps! He spooked, whirled, and barked. The other elk got nervous and fed away. It was some sight seeing them go, and for not the little shoving match between testosterone laden bulls, we'd have a dead elk. As it was we got the show of a lifetime and a newly whooped 5 by 4 at 5 yards. One last look at the boss as he fed away:

 

[NoCams]

Thank you Mike for sharing with us who live vicaroiously thru your hunts ! Did I spell that right ? Been a lifelong dream of mine to spend a few weeks out west hunting Elk. Keep it coming my friend !  

[steadman]

Time to get a bull tag for the area Mike!! For the record your wife looks better in the hoodie too  

[Igor]

Great stuff ....you're a lucky man in more ways than one with a woman like that!


Congrats...in many areas

><>
Glenn

[wapiti792]

The last day came and the morning was as bit as crazy as the first, second and third. We spotted our mulie bucks right out of the gate. We hung back and followed slowly behind them until we had a good wind and a bedding location. After almost losing them my shadow spotted a white rump in the rocks above. Luckily they didn't see us and the stalk was on.

We were able to close the distance to 60, then it was me alone. We didn't want to risk too much noise in those rocks. I kicked my boots off and made my way to about 35 yards from both bucks. As I looked for my final move a puff of wind touched my ear and the game was up. No mulie buck for me this year...but what a dang hunt. A four-day blitz of my favorite mountain.

The final climb of the day was to find more protein...we got on another small band of cows and I thought we were golden. I cow called and was answered by a cow with a very small calf. I asked my wife about the cow and got the thumbs down. Had it been a whole herd with a little calf recruitment, and I would have shot. The cow spooked and ran off from the calf. I cow called and the little calf walked up to us at 3 feet. That ended our hunt...we counted coup on the calf at 3 feet. I tried to touch it just to see but 6 inches away from his rump and the gig was up. No pics of that as my wife was crying and smiling at the same time and simply didn't take a pic. I love those animals and those mountains and can't wait to next year. I believe a very wise man once wrote "Possibilties are all a bowhunter wants." Boy did we have them. Thanks for reading my friends.

 
*My rig: Talltines longbow
 
*Me and my shadow
 
*Another Tradganger with a story to tell you when he returns from Cowboy Country

[jimmerc]

Awesome, Thanks for bringing us along!!          

[Rick Butler]

Good story and great pics!  

[wapiti792]

Those mulies and cow elk won't have to worry about my yeti carcuss stalking them for a couple of years. I am doing a mountain goat hunt next year but this pic will be with me for a long time. Me, my bow and the sage.
 

Finally, here is a bird that will blow a stalk. Don't know what it is or why it made me jump like a scalded 'yote. Somebody help me. I thought I was being bitten by a rattler!
 

[Ragin Bull]

Thanks for sharing Mike  
 Almost as good as being there.  
Well o.k. it's not.
But it does make a guy want to be there.
AS Igor said.....Your a lucky man.

[wapiti792]

Folks photobucket is doing some strange things with my pics. Thanks for the thoughts and yep...I married up