My Trip Of A Life Time

[Travis Bertrand]

Jon boy, when I first read your post I fell in the "irresponsible" judgement. I've been thinking about what you are doing since then and I've changed my mind. What you are doing is every mans dream! DO IT!!! Kick some butt, take lots of photos, write in a journal every day(or diary) when you settle down you might not ever have the chance to do this again until the kids are out of the house. I hope you will be giving us updates, that is one thread I would subscribe to for sure!

 

[Jon Boy]

Ill be trying my best to document it Dr! Maybe ill do a live hunt, we will see how my phone coverage is.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Do you have several different areas lined out that you want to hunt?

 

[Jason Snyder]

Definition of IRRESPONSIBLE


: not responsible: as

a: not answerable to higher authority <an irresponsible dictatorship>

b: said or done with no sense of responsibility <irresponsible accusations>

c: lacking a sense of responsibility

d: unable especially mentally or financially to bear responsibility
— ir·re·spon·si·bil·i·ty noun

— ir·re·spon·si·ble·ness noun

— ir·re·spon·si·bly adverb


See irresponsible defined for English-language learners »


See irresponsible defined for kids »


Examples of IRRESPONSIBLE

He's too irresponsible to keep a job for more than a week.
She made irresponsible comments that helped cause the riot.
It would be irresponsible to ignore the threats.

What is there that is irresponsible? It's only irresponsible if you have obligations to keep that you would not be able to by doing this trip? If you don't have any of these, then there is absolutely nothing irresponsible about it. Too often people want to think in terms of what "they should do" when there is no reason at all to think that there are no other acceptable alternatives.

If it's not illegal, immoral, or unethical then I don't know what the hangups would be.

I have a job, a family that relies on me, and financial obligations to meet. It would be irresponsible for me to take three months off UNLESS I could make prior arrangements to cover all of my obligations. It sounds like you've done that, don't worry about anything else. Enjoy your trip!

 

[Jon Boy]

Do you have several different areas lined out that you want to hunt?

Yes, im actually struggling with that at the moment. I saw a ton of elk in the beartooths this spring while bear hunting, but ive never hunted it and im not sure how much pressure it takes before they hit the private land and dont come back out. Im real familiar with how to hunt another area that has good amounts of elk and had my shot at two bulls last season during rifle season there. With both areas private property and hunter pressure are big issues, even deep into the back country. I encountered that last year when I was back packed in my go to spot but still got into elk most days.

What would you experienced elk hunters do in that situation??

For deer, I have a number of spots that all have excellent trophy potential as ive experienced in years past, but thats taking a back seat until I kill an elk. I would like to say its going to take a very nice deer for me to pull the trigger on this year. I will say its been a down fall for me, when the elk hunting gets tough, I go kill deer. Trying to over come that. I will say it will definitely be easier this year as I killed my biggest buck last year, and feel he was pretty darn respectable for my standards, gunna have to be bigger than him this year though.

 

[breacher]

Most of us only dream of a hunting trip like that. Good luck! Can't wait to read about it.

 

[actionshooter]

Go for Jon Boy! Sounds like a great adventure.

 

[Jarhead]

Good for you. I feel an obligation to offer you some unsolicited advice I learned the hard way. Take it for what it's worth. If you take your Danner Pronghorns be sure you bring the 1-800 number for Danner so you can call and thank them for ruining your trip. The Pronghorns are about as waterproof as my favorite flip-flops.

 

[caihlen]

Good for you. I feel an obligation to offer you some unsolicited advice I learned the hard way. Take it for what it's worth. If you take your Danner Pronghorns be sure you bring the 1-800 number for Danner so you can call and thank them for ruining your trip. The Pronghorns are about as waterproof as my favorite flip-flops.

This. My pronghorns were the single worst footwear purchase I ever made. Can you say OW!

 

[Jon Boy]

Good for you. I feel an obligation to offer you some unsolicited advice I learned the hard way. Take it for what it's worth. If you take your Danner Pronghorns be sure you bring the 1-800 number for Danner so you can call and thank them for ruining your trip. The Pronghorns are about as waterproof as my favorite flip-flops.

Strange, Ive done a number of creek crossings and worked with them in the rain for the past two months and never had an issue? Obviously once there completely saturated that get pretty heavy and a little damp but never really got wet feet. Im still looking into other boots, really likin the asolos my buddy has, but im on a strict budget.

 

[2ski]

If you're ever in Bozeman, Kentrek has(or at least used to have) used pairs in their office that could be picked up for a little cheaper that people had traded in. If you wanted to try that route, I would go down to Sheels, not sure if Cabelas or Big Bear carry them, and try them on extensively. Walk around the mall for a spell if you go to Scheels, and really get a feel for them and decide if they will fit your foot comfortably. Heck, if you wear a 10.5, I would let you take mine out for a hike if you're ever up here, if you decided you liked how they felt in the store and wanted to put them into something steep.

As far as the Beartooths go, I would think you could easily get back where you're not going to see anyone. If you're staying mobile with your camp you can keep going. As far as elk going onto private land, start doing a little research. Go down to the FWP and see if there are any landowners in the area that would let you on, or look at a map and try to figure a few places they might go and ask now about permission. Go to one of those small towns to the east or west of Red Lodge and eat dinner in the local diner or something, have a beer in the bar, chat some people up and you might end up getting a lead on some private property to hunt.

 

[2ski]

Just re-read your original post, see you're setting up a base camp, not hiking in and setting up camp, so, it might be a little harder to get away from the people. If you are going south of Big Timber, there are a number of campgrounds that may increase your chances of seeing less people. Not that Big Timber doesn't see a lot of hunters, but it probably sees less weekend only guys from Billings.

 

[Ethan S.]

Best of luck to you, and I am looking forward to seeing how it all goes for ya! Don't put too much pressure on yourself, just have fun.

I was lucky enough to do a similar thing a few years ago and if I hadn't done it then I would not be doing what I am doing now. I wasn't really planning on that though, I just wanted to hunt for a few months straight.

 

[Jon Boy]

Just re-read your original post, see you're setting up a base camp, not hiking in and setting up camp, so, it might be a little harder to get away from the people. If you are going south of Big Timber, there are a number of campgrounds that may increase your chances of seeing less people. Not that Big Timber doesn't see a lot of hunters, but it probably sees less weekend only guys from Billings.

Oh ill be back packing in on the majority of my hunts just need a "base camp" to come back to, since I wont have any particular place to live haha

I very familiar with the area south of big timber but never had much luck elk hunting it. Im thinking im going to stick to the area I know best, in the mountain range to the north east of yuh

 

[Jon Boy]

Best of luck to you, and I am looking forward to seeing how it all goes for ya! Don't put too much pressure on yourself, just have fun.

I was lucky enough to do a similar thing a few years ago and if I hadn't done it then I would not be doing what I am doing now. I wasn't really planning on that though, I just wanted to hunt for a few months straight.

Would love to hear more about the trip you took.

 

[Jarhead]

Strange, Ive done a number of creek crossings and worked with them in the rain for the past two months and never had an issue? Obviously once there completely saturated that get pretty heavy and a little damp but never really got wet feet. Im still looking into other boots, really likin the asolos my buddy has, but im on a strict budget.

The pronghorns were waterproof the first season I had them, not so much the second. And I use sno-seal extensively. I have a friend who swears by pronghorns but he buys a new pair every year so he can keep his feet dry.

 

[Ethan S.]

Would love to hear more about the trip you took.

It wasn't so much one trip, but rather several hunts that occurred from mid August to the end of October. I started in Wyoming for antelope, then went to Colorado for a mule deer, and then back to Wyoming for elk. When hunting elk I met an outfitter and ended up working for him a month later. I still work for him and this year will spend three months straight guiding elk and deer hunters. After my elk hunt I hunted the high country of western Wyoming for mule deer with a rifle. I then spent a few weeks guiding, which was probably the best part of the entire season. At the end of October I headed back home, eastern Wyoming, and hunted for a whitetail. It was defiantly an epic season for me that I will probably never be able to match, hopefully you feel the same at the end of you trip!

 

[Jon Boy]

Sounds like a very cool trip Ethan! Make a post about it with some pics.
Ive dropped a grand this weekend on hunting, camping, and filming gear this weekend, just waiting for it all to arrive now.

 

[Ethan S.]

Sounds like a very cool trip Ethan! Make a post about it with some pics.

I don't want your thread to get off topic by talking about my hunts, but here is a link to another forum that I posted some of it on. The last part of my season, guiding and the whitetail I got aren't there, guess I just forgot to post them.

http://www.sagecreekforums.com/phpforum/viewtopic.php?t=11476

 

[Jon Boy]

What an awesome season. Hope mine goes as well.