I just got back late Fri night from an elk hunt in Wyoming with my youngest brother Darrell, his best friend Keith and myself. We had cow tags in Unit 11, which is between Laramie and Rawlins at Elk Mountain. We hunted with Elk Mountain Outfitters and had a really great time. We stayed in a small cabin that had 4 bunks, a wood burning stove, lantern, small table and chairs and a nice front porch that looked off over the mountains.
Our hunt started on Sunday so we drove to Cheyenne on Friday and spent the night then goofed off in Laramie at the University of Wyoming campus a while Saturday and then met the outfitter at camp just before dark. We got our gear put away and shot a few arrows to check our bow sights and after dark, when their one other hunter came in, we had dinner together around a huge table in the big main cabin. It was a beautiful log cabin with 3 different types of sheep mounts, caribou, moose, deer and elk mounts. The outfitter and his son were really nice people and a pleasure to hunt with all week. The wife/mother cooked all the meals for us. Days started at 4:30 getting up and a hot breakfast at 5:00. She then gave us all a bag with sandwich, fruit, granola bar, a couple candy bars and some pb crackers for snacks and lunch to take with us. We hunted most days till 10:00 am or so and then came in and got a nap and then went back out from about 3:00 to dark. It rained almost every day, usually morning and night. Here is a look at some of the country we were hunting. From this vantage point one night I was watching a nice shiras bull moose with a cow, several herds of elk and several hundred antelope as well as a couple beavers working in a pond below me.
The first morning hunt Keith sat a treestand and had a small bull about 50 yrds from him for 15 minutes, Darrell saw some cows but could not make a move on them and I saw nothing. I saw nothing that evening either but they went to a different area about 3 miles away and saw several herds of elk, many they could have shot easily with rifle but could not close the distance for bow. The next morning me and my guide, the father, went to the area in the last pic and glassed a small herd moving through a draw and because of some miscommunication with the other guys (He thought they were going to be at the head of the draw the elk were moving up to bed) we didn't go after the elk and just watched them walk over the hill. The other guys had not stopped there and had gone back to where they were the night before. We finally made a move on the last 3 of the herd going up and got within easy rifle range but again no bow shot. The other guys were seeing lots of elk every time they hunted the other area but not getting shots either. Next morning I watched a lone cow go into a patch of aspen in the bottom of a draw from my high glassing point and after she didn't come out, I made a long circle and came into the timber from the downwind side and slowly worked through it. She had laid up in some really thick alder bushes and even though I was glassing and looking like crazy, I was almost past her when she bolted and never even saw her in that thick stuff...only heard her and my guide was watching from above and saw her come out. I was within 10 yrds of her but it was just too thick. Had no sightings that night and decided that the next morning, day 4 of the 5 day hunt, I was breaking out the .270. The area we were in and the tag type we had, we could hunt with any weapon we wanted anytime from August 15-Jan 31. Keith also decided to get his rifle out, a 7mm mag, so the next morning he and I hunted together and Darrell went with the guide he and Keith had been with all week alone and stuck with his recurve. About 9 that morning, he sent me an sms message with a pic of a fat cow. The guide got him into some thick aspen close to a bedding area and a bull chased the cow past him. The guide was 20 yrds behind and when Darrell drew his bow, he mewed and stopped her. He didn't know that Darrell was drawing while the cow was behind some brush and she stopped at 12 yrds with only her neck showing. She didn't spot him and trotted out in the open. He said he never had time to think, just shot instinctively and center punched her in the chest. She piled up in 100 yrds and they were able to find her quick because her calf was standing beside her.
Our hunt started on Sunday so we drove to Cheyenne on Friday and spent the night then goofed off in Laramie at the University of Wyoming campus a while Saturday and then met the outfitter at camp just before dark. We got our gear put away and shot a few arrows to check our bow sights and after dark, when their one other hunter came in, we had dinner together around a huge table in the big main cabin. It was a beautiful log cabin with 3 different types of sheep mounts, caribou, moose, deer and elk mounts. The outfitter and his son were really nice people and a pleasure to hunt with all week. The wife/mother cooked all the meals for us. Days started at 4:30 getting up and a hot breakfast at 5:00. She then gave us all a bag with sandwich, fruit, granola bar, a couple candy bars and some pb crackers for snacks and lunch to take with us. We hunted most days till 10:00 am or so and then came in and got a nap and then went back out from about 3:00 to dark. It rained almost every day, usually morning and night. Here is a look at some of the country we were hunting. From this vantage point one night I was watching a nice shiras bull moose with a cow, several herds of elk and several hundred antelope as well as a couple beavers working in a pond below me.
The first morning hunt Keith sat a treestand and had a small bull about 50 yrds from him for 15 minutes, Darrell saw some cows but could not make a move on them and I saw nothing. I saw nothing that evening either but they went to a different area about 3 miles away and saw several herds of elk, many they could have shot easily with rifle but could not close the distance for bow. The next morning me and my guide, the father, went to the area in the last pic and glassed a small herd moving through a draw and because of some miscommunication with the other guys (He thought they were going to be at the head of the draw the elk were moving up to bed) we didn't go after the elk and just watched them walk over the hill. The other guys had not stopped there and had gone back to where they were the night before. We finally made a move on the last 3 of the herd going up and got within easy rifle range but again no bow shot. The other guys were seeing lots of elk every time they hunted the other area but not getting shots either. Next morning I watched a lone cow go into a patch of aspen in the bottom of a draw from my high glassing point and after she didn't come out, I made a long circle and came into the timber from the downwind side and slowly worked through it. She had laid up in some really thick alder bushes and even though I was glassing and looking like crazy, I was almost past her when she bolted and never even saw her in that thick stuff...only heard her and my guide was watching from above and saw her come out. I was within 10 yrds of her but it was just too thick. Had no sightings that night and decided that the next morning, day 4 of the 5 day hunt, I was breaking out the .270. The area we were in and the tag type we had, we could hunt with any weapon we wanted anytime from August 15-Jan 31. Keith also decided to get his rifle out, a 7mm mag, so the next morning he and I hunted together and Darrell went with the guide he and Keith had been with all week alone and stuck with his recurve. About 9 that morning, he sent me an sms message with a pic of a fat cow. The guide got him into some thick aspen close to a bedding area and a bull chased the cow past him. The guide was 20 yrds behind and when Darrell drew his bow, he mewed and stopped her. He didn't know that Darrell was drawing while the cow was behind some brush and she stopped at 12 yrds with only her neck showing. She didn't spot him and trotted out in the open. He said he never had time to think, just shot instinctively and center punched her in the chest. She piled up in 100 yrds and they were able to find her quick because her calf was standing beside her.
