Late Henry's Cow Bison

[Jake538]

Hello Rokslide!

I’ve posted some comments here and there as I’ve browsed through this forum over the last couple of years. I’ll call myself an FNG from southern Utah County (originally Eastern Washington) , I’m in nursing school with a wife and baby boy!

To move on to the title at hand, I’ve drawn a Henry Mountain Bison Late Cow tag with 4 points. A once in a lifetime opportunity and I want to capitalize on it.

I will probably have a week long window to hunt considering my schooling and work obligations. and am considering hiring a guide as I have never set foot in the Henries.

I have a 7 rem mag, load suggestions? I was thinking 150 Barnes ttsx or 139 LRX? Not opposed to partitions or Swift A-Frames. My dad can do some reloading but I may have to purchase factory ammo.

Guide recommendations,
fitness recommendations,
bullet/load recommendations.
What distance should I expect to have shots at?

I’m all ears!

I’m very humbled to have this opportunity so young (29) and to share it with my family, friends and especially my dad.

I know there are so many posts about drawn tags with no follow-up. I’ll do a big write up with updates about this adventure as they occur.

Thanks in advanced!

Jake

 

[MuleyFever]

When is this hunt? I know that road access can become an issue on the late hunts.

 

[Jake538]

When is this hunt? I know that road access can become an issue on the late hunts.

Hunt begins December 27th through January 13th. I would anticipate poor road access and needing snowmobiles or SxS.

 

[johnnycake]

Hunt begins December 27th through January 13th. I would anticipate poor road access and needing snowmobiles or SxS.

That's a very good anticipation. I had that tag the first year it was created in 2012, and when I priced out renting the machines or horses I was able to hire a guide for about the same price as either renting snowmobiles or horses. And the guide came with horses, snowmobiles, and 4 wheelers if needed. I used Brett Guymon and he was fantastic! Brett now has his own outfitting company Apex Outfitters. Taylor Albrecht is another excellent choice for Henry's bison.

 

[Maddog58]

Just make sure it’s a good bullet, those are some tough animals

 

[Jake538]

I have selected PSC outfitting to guide me on this hunt. Looking forward to preparing this year and getting after it right after Christmas!

 

[Jake538]

I figure I will provide a brief wrap up of my hunting adventures down on the Henry Mountains.

The night before:
We made the drive down from northern Utah and saw some incredibly desolate country out along the south eastern/central part of the state. That night my guide had returned from scouting and reported finding a lone bull up at high elevation along a northern mountain of the unit. we sat, and talked for about 30-45 minutes when another outfitter spoke with him and let us know of their plans. speaking with my outfitter, he said that "Bison hunting is a gentlemen's sport" not nearly as much competition or secrecy.
With the lack of sighting from that night, it was determined that will check out the north end of the unit on the opener. It was disclosed that many of the other tag holders were going to be hunting a couple popular sections along the west side of the Henry's before it goes out into vast desert. If we could avoid being a part of the circus that is what was preferred. I should note that we were not going in on horseback and were covering the majority of our miles in trucks, side by sides, or ATVs.

Day 1:
We set out around 5:30 in the morning from a local town to get out to our first hunting area. That morning the temperature was mild which is not the norm this time of year, but we would gladly take it. However, the closer we got to the mountains the more the wind kicked up and it began to snow/sleet on us. taking cover behind the pitiful half windshield of the side by side was my only cover from the elements. as the sun began to rise the landscape began to quickly unfold, I have never experienced this type of topography in my entire life. Let alone on a hunt, to my south a mountains shot straight into the sky as much as 10,000 feet. To my north a landscape that looks to be more acquainted with mars than anywhere on earth. we would dip into coulees and ravines and find some solace from the the wind, only for it to return as soon as we would find our way out of a wash.
Once we finally stopped, we followed our guides as they showed us a well used spring. This is were I saw my first bison track and feces. It looked promising, they figured the sign was perhaps a day or two old. It was then determined that we were going to hike onto a lower flat so we could glass into the surrounding mountains and junipers in hopes of spotting some bison meandering about the area. At the top of the flat we got out our glass and attempted to glass for about an hour with little to show for it. the wind and snow reduced visibility to maybe a few hundred yards and would only let up briefly to check out what could possibly be up on the mountain. Our efforts were rewarded with a single mule deer doe.
I was taught quickly that bison hunting is not like deer or elk hunting. Rather than set up in a "good looking area" and wait and glass, you were better off to glass an area for typically 15-20 minutes and then move around to the next glassing area to see if you can turn something up. This meant, lots of miles in the side by side. After our first spot proved fruitless, we glassed up another area that consisted of more rolling hills covered in junipers. This would have been an excellent area to find a cow bison. Unfortunately we never turned anything up. this story repeats itself a couple of more times as we push further south into the mountains and then back out into the flats and springs.
After a quick lunch, it was decided that we would go push south into the mountains closer to some of the popular camping areas within the Henrys. As luck would have it, the further into the mountains we got, the more it snowed and it completely cut off visibility. By the point it was close to 3:30 in the afternoon. With no end in sight for the storm, we decided it would be best to drive back out and call it a day. We then loaded up the quads, headed back into town and had some burgers at a local restaurant.

 

[LoH]

poke

 

[Jake538]

poke

Back at work, school, and taking care of my baby. Planning on finishing the write up here in the next day or two

 

[Jake538]

It goes without saying that the logistics of a OIAL hunt can prove daunting. This particular season date was December 27th-January13th. This meant It was peak holiday season and my friends have careers and families like I do. The fact that two of my closest friends were able to make it out with me on this hunt felt borderline miraculous.
Back to the logistics of this hunt, I am thoroughly convinced unless you know the Henries very well, have access to good machines, and are in decent shape you might be able to pull this late cow hunt off without an outfitter. As I said in an earlier I chose to go with PSC Outdoors after speaking with about 10 different outfitters including Albrecht. I worked closely with Josh and Trever on my hunt, without their expertise and connections I'm convinced My dad and I would not have been successful.

On to the story,
The night of Day 1 of our hunt, we had finished up dinner and regrouped back at the local cabins we were staying at. Trever came over and let us know that he had received some intel from a fellow outfitter. Turns out that this other outfitter had successfully helped their nephew harvest a cow on the opener and they basically dropped us a pin of where they were at for us to try tomorrow (a gentlemen's hunt). With that news, the excitement was high in the cabin.

Day 2 Part 1:
We woke up at 4:45 as we had a long drive to get where we needed to be. This time rather than go north, we ventured south for almost an hour before we started to hit some dirt roads. The temperature was frigid, not a cloud in the sky. We unloaded the UTV and the quads and began riding further north into the mountains. Once it was light enough to see the landscape Josh pointed out Mt.Pennell and Mt.Emily to me. Even in our OHV's we were gaining a ton of elevation and distance. The road eventually turned into a trail, and that trail quickly devolved into a rock garden that just happened to go uphill. As we reached the top of the trail our greatest fears had been realized. there were hunters already parked with their quads, and there were bison tracks all over the trail with the fresh snow from the day before.
Trever and Josh went over and chatted with the other hunters, they were glassing down in to the bottom of several large draws that were going west towards the desert. It was then determined that we will go up the mountain and look into the many draws and ravine up high to hopefully find a cow at some point during the day. It was emphasized that we were probably going to be hiking and glassing for the rest of the day so we should load up on food and water. An inspired statement to say the least.
Not even a mile in we began to approach a large crest. Trever went ahead of the group to carefully check out what was on the other side. We sat about 60-70 yards back when we saw Trever making excited motions with his hands over his head. we hurriedly made push to up to where he was. We had finally spotted our first herd of bison.

 

[Jake538]

That picture is indeed deceiving. Through the spotting scope, it doesn't look too bad. But a quick verification with the range finder showed that this heard was around 1400 yards as the crow flies. We sat there and watched them for a good 10-20 minutes. Trever and Josh both felt confident that there were cows in the group. I gave the green light that we should get closer to see what we can do. I offloaded some of my gear with Josh who would stay on the ridge to spot for us, and we then began to make our way through the sage brush and scree towards the herd.
Not too far down from the ridge we spotted a group of bucks working their way up the other side of the hill. one of the bucks we saw easily a 180" class mule. I was reminded of the reputation of the Henrys. I wish I would have taken a photo of him, but it was a very cool to see a nice buck like that.
We kept dropping in elevation when Josh radioed to us that there were 2-3 cows roughly 600-700 yards below us (not in the area as that herd that we spotted earlier) more towards the our west approaching a large drainage. excitement was high as we continued downward. we approached a smaller crest and I was instructed to to load a round into the chamber and that things may happen quick. My adrenaline began to spike as we approached some large boulders that would separate us from the cows. as we approach these boulders and becomes evident that these cows (if they are here) are not close. So we sat down and began to glass. sure enough, at the very bottom of this ravine, which I cannot emphasize how big this country is. We spot what looks like a least 1 bull with a couple of cows. They keep popping up, and then soon altogether disappear.
Listening to your outfitter I think is paramount to your success on a hunt. With that being said, Trever and Josh made me feel involved in a lot of the decision making process and that helped make this hunt still feel like my own. We decided that unless that small herd began to work their way up the ravine or up the hill towards us, we weren't going to drop the low to chase after them. It was simply too far. That turned out to be the right call, at first we saw a few bison funnel out towards another group of junipers well over a mile away from us. That group of 3 quickly turned into a herd of well over 70. An amazing sight to see. Even from a distance.

 

[Jake538]

As we were glassing, talking, and deciding what we should do next. Adrenaline quickly took hold again. behind the hill we just moved down, we saw 4 bison standing! a quick range showed them to be roughly 600 yards out. Too far for my comfort level. So we quickly began covering ground to get closer to them. It was steep, thick country. we stopped in a position roughly 450ish yards out (still too far for me, I wanted to be under 400 yards) and were able to put some proper glass on these 4 bison. The spotter revealed the worst case scenario.

Bulls. not just any bulls either, a toad was in our midst. We relished their company as we took some pictures. They really are incredible animals. A wonderful reminder of the American Model of Wildlife Conservation in action. Our wildlife and wild places need to be protected.

 

[EastHumboldt]

The suspense is killing me!!

 

[Jake538]

Day 2 Part 2:

We called Josh over the radio and told him to come down to meet up with us. A decision had to be made. The herd that we had originally spotted was still in the same exact area from earlier in the morning. As we grew closer to them in our other attempts it grew readily apparent that a straight forward stalk was not in the cards. There were 3 large steep ravines between us and getting within shooting distance of a cow. We would be in over 2 and a half miles to get to the herd. The alternative was to either leave bison to find bison somewhere else on the unit which is never a guarantee or to get after this herd. The weather was perfect, high 30's, not a cloud in the sky, and both my friends who were on a time crunch were on the mountain with us. Nervously, I opted to go after the herd that we spotted this morning. Which one may ask, why nervously? Honestly, I was nervous of my own capabilities. Over the last 5 years (basically since Covid) I've allowed myself to get out of shape. I worried that me taking extra time would ruin the stalk, I wouldn't be able to contribute much if anything to the pack out. No one had forced me to get out of shape, I just allowed life to get in the way of what I should be prioritizing. It was a wake up call.
Josh and Trever reassured me that we would get this cow out and to not worry about the pack out. We had plenty of time to execute the stalk. At this point it was about 10:30 in the morning and I estimated it would take roughly two hours to get into a position to shoot.
The first ravine was the steepest, we were dealing with a combination of scrub oak, mud, ice, scree, and sage brush and an incline that made slipping treacherous depending on where you landed. We made it down the first ravine, me tailing behind the rest of the group, we then hiked our way out of the first and cross alone a large sage brush "flat" even though we were still gaining elevation with each step.
The second ravine proved to be far more gradually with a good descent and ascent. After another quick jaunt through a flat we approached the third ravine. At this point we had my two friends stay back along the ridge while Trever, Josh, My Dad, and I would continue down and up the third ravine. The descent was short and fairly steep, the ascent proved to be more technical, it was on a south facing slope. We encountered significant soil variation ranging from slick mud to slick ice, with a little scree mixed in for good measure. The only benefit of this climb was that we had finally approached the junipers and there were branches to help grab onto while stumbling my way up the mountain.
Out of breath, I felt a little confused as to what I was seeing. The steepness decreased slightly while we walked into a small juniper forrest. This is not exactly what we were expecting as we went over the stalk earlier in the morning. Rather than the edge of the junipers opening into a small draw; the treelike ended and roughly 200 yards of uphill, scree, and deadfall remained between us and a potential shooting position for the bison.

 

[Jake538]

At the edge of the junipers, Josh instructed me to chamber a round. At this point I had chambered and unchambered twice, the adrenaline fatigue was real but this time I felt confident we were getting an opportunity. We walked slow and methodically to take care and make sure we weren't creating too much noise. Stopping periodically to see what the wind was doing. Fortunately for us, the wind was in our favor with the morning thermals dying off.
Eventually Trever spotted two calves feeding across a draw we still couldn't see up on top of the other side of the hill. We really slowed down, and then we saw a portion of the herd. There was a bull ( or so we thought) bedded underneath a lone juniper with a couple other cows and he was locked in on us. We took a quick range, we were at 160 yards. But there was something off. Josh told Trever, " I think that bull is a cow" the horns were curved in a way the more closely resembled a cow, the face named more slender than a mature bull's face would look.
Then I kid you not, we sat there for 20 minutes while Trever and Josh debated whether we were looking at a cow or not. This whole time she is staring right at us. They even took a picture of the bison and sent it to their dad to confirm. This whole time I am terrified the wind is going to switch and the whole stalk would be for not. Sure enough, Trever's dad texts back that it is a cow. At this point Trever and Josh give me the green light that we want to shoot her. They were saying this is the biggest cow they've ever seen.
This cow must have been the matron of the herd because she was far more spooky and began to move down the hill. we set up the tripod quickly, I saw her, but there was far too many branches and deadfall in the way to make a good shot. The cow began moving with more haste down the hill. Josh grabbed the tripod and him and I scrambled down the hill roughly 10-15 yards. It felt rushed positioning the tripod just right on the uneven terrain. The cow was not waiting for us certainly.
The sticks finally felt secure and the height would have to be good enough ( all this setup took maybe 10 seconds, but feels like an eternity in the moment). I get my crosshairs on the cow, I remember finding her front leg moving just off it to the right and squeezing off the shot. The 7mm bark echoed throughout the canyons. (168 grain Berger VLD going roughly 2900 fps for those curious). I saw her head rear up almost vertically in my scope, and before I finish chambering another round, I hear " you got her". She went down right where she was at. a clean humane shot at 180 yards. High shoulder completely destroying her lungs. down for the count right there.
Pictures and ending coming soon. I need to take my boy for a drive to get him down for his nap.

 

[robby denning]

HECK YA!!!!!!!!

thanks for taking us along. And remembering to come back with the hunt report.

waiting pics!

 

[realunlucky]

Bison are such cool creatures and the Henry mountains are so unique themselves, what an amazing combination for an adventure.

Thanks for sharing the story and looking forward to the pictures myself. This brought back a flood of memories from my own Bison hunt.

Sent from my SM-S926U using Tapatalk

 

[Derek-307]

Great write up. Congrats

 

[EastHumboldt]

 

[Chris in TN]

This is awesome.