Wyoming Elk 2024

[Squid]

Elk Trip 2024


Day 1 (30th)

• 16 hrs on the road to hunting spot. Got the camp site I wanted, got everything setup and the then off to bed.

Day 2 (31st)

• Dad and I explored some Atv trails in the morning, afternoon/evening was spent glassing. No elk spotted.

Day 3 (1st)

• Opening day. 5 am wake up and drive to trail head. About 2 mile hike and spooked a big bull. 340” and I’m being conservative. 3 mile hike to lake and stopped for lunch. Another 1.5 to camp location. Setup camp and rested before evening glass. Evening glass was uneventful beside a lone Shiras moose.

Day 4 (2nd)

• Woke up warm for a change. Packed up camp and made the long trek back to the trailhead. Estimating 8.5 miles. One mule deer doe sighted. Still no bugles. Got back to camp late afternoon and made lunch. Then ran to the highway and got some ice. Got back and did some chores/waited for thermals to change. Scouted next to camp, saw a funky mule deer and ran into cows. Turned around and went back to camp for supper.

Day 5 (3rd)

• 5am wake up, drove to trailhead and hiked up to were we saw the bull on day 1. No elk, pushed on and spooked a mule deer doe. Hiked up the mountain and found a glassing spot, turned up two nice mule deer bucks. Went another couple miles further toward wilderness area. Turned up some fresher sign, started to circle back to camp. Found a nice glassing spot on the hike back. Massive scrape as well, 10 feet tall. Headed back to camp to make food. Called it a day with thunderstorm rolling through. Estimating a 8 mile day, and lots of elevation.

Day 6 (4th)

• Woke up and hiked to our glassing knob. About 1.5 miles. Sat there and ate all my snacks for the day. Spotted 11 cows around 10 o’clock. Decided to go hike beneath them in case bull was shadowing. Hiked within 1/2 mile of last location and stopped for lunch and a nap. Woke up to some rain, was quick shower. Hiked another 1/4 mile and it picked up and we hunkered down for another 2 hours. Finally got within 600 yards of last know position and sat until just about dark. Saw some storms moving in, so hurried back to camp. Was a wet Atv ride back. Supper then sleep!

Day 7 (5th)

• Early rise, off day with a job interview so headed down to town. Walked an area close to the highway. No sign so we drove the road a couple times. Bunch of mule deer, no elk. Went and got breakfast and did some chores. Had interview at hotel. Did some laundry had a shower and grabbed dinner.

Day 8 (6th)

• 3:15 wake up with a 2 hr drive back to the trail head. Saw a nice 6x6 on the road and a cow/calf right on the edge of my unit. Got packed and got to the trailhead around 5:45. Hiked 4ish miles up the drainage to a spot I scouted in the summer. Glassed till about 11. Headed back to camp to cook lunch and meetup with my buddy. Packed the bags and made an Atv ride to a camp site. Buddy and I went on a 4 mile hike in the evening. Lots of sign on second half. No elk sightings.

Day 9 (7th)

• Woke up a bit late after long day. Glassed for a few hours on a hill next to camp. Took a long hike to a ridge top to glass for the evening. No elk sightings that night.

Day 10 (8th)

• Early start at the glassing knobs. No sightings so we packed up and went back to base camp. Had a good lunch and then took off on a long hike to camp at a new lake for a couple days. Beautiful campsite, made a fire and had dinner then off to bed.

 

[Squid]

Day 11 (9th)

• Woke up and got a fire ripping and had breakfast. Started hiking north into some new country. Very rugid. Cow called in a few small spike bulls while we stopped for a snack. Besides that was uneventful day. Estimated a ten mile hike. Got back to camp late and made supper. Freeze dried meals are getting old. Going to have to do something different, can’t stomach.

Day 12 (10th)

• Slept in today. Got camp cleaned up and had breakfast, hit the trail around 8am. Hiked back to the trail head with some bad weather moving in. Had a good lunch and rested. Took an atv ride in the evening to try and find bugles. Heard one and chased it down. Found probably 100 elk and one nice bull. Wind was bad and with 30 mins of light we backed out

Day 13 (11th)

• 4:00 wake up to try and get back on the same elk. Couldn’t locate that herd, but heard some bugles on the way back to the atv. Decided to follow those and they were in a nasty ravine. Sure enough my buddy talked me into it. Got a response close, but we just ended up following him for an hour exchanging bugles. Took a death hike out and found 3 elk sheds. Got back to camp at 4pm. Ate dinner and went for a quick atv ride. Nothing so we called it an early night.

Day 14 (12th)

• Later start after long day and rainy morning. Made breakfast and drove the atvs to a glassing knob. Spotted some mule deer and heard a faint bugle. Spotted a herd on a different hill around 10am. Saw what looked to be a large bull with some cows working through a meadow. Made a plan to loop above them with rising thermals. Took about two hours and we got above where we last saw them. No elk, but fresh rubs and smell. Starting to rut more. Had to run down to town for a phone call. (Got a new job!). Grabbed lunch/dinner and some gas and headed back. Evening was uneventful with cold front moving through.

Day 15 (13th)

• Started the morning chasing elk as soon as we parked the atv. Could never catch them as bull seemed uninterested. Hiked out and saw a raghorn chasing a group of cows. Went to that area in the evening and it was a rut fest. Bugles everywhere, had a couple close calls but couldn’t seal the deal. Was one of the best days of elk hunting I’ve had.

Day 16 (14th)

• Went back to same area as previous day. Instantly picked up a nice bull and cows. Tried to make a move, but ended bumping them. Buddy and Dad found a few giants playing in a meadow about a mile away. Snuck up the valley, but they had already headed to bed by the time I got there. Sat there through the evening. Had a pretty cool encounter with 3 mule deer. One fawn came up to 3 yards. Headed up the draw with about hour left of light. Spotted 4 cows. Waited to see if they had a bull, but no bueno. Heard a bugle back at the meadow/pond, headed down and got busted by a 6x6. Should’ve stuck out the initial sit. Rookie mistake.

Day 17 (15th)

• Buddy and Dad left. All by myself now. Headed back to the pond for an all day sit. Couple bugles and a decent amount of atvs running around the area. Still had 6 mule deer, 1 rag-horn, 1 spike come through. Otherwise slow and long morning. Bugs can really interrupt a nap. Also, a bugle! Directly down wind. Had a small 6pt chasing a cow and calf come through. This was at 3pm. Stopped about 30 yards down wind and then ran out into the open. Cow gave me a shot at 40, but the bull ran to the other side of the pond. He was at 70. About the last 30 mins of light the far side of the canyon erupted with noise. Sounded like the woods was crashing down. Herd of about 30 ran to the pond with excitement. They all jumped in the water and then I noticed a nice 6x6 following. He got in the water as well. After about 5 mins a spike started pushing a cow towards me. And he didn’t like that one bit. He pushed him out and stopped at 50 yards. Perfectly broadside this was my chance. I drew… and punched that trigger like prime Mike Tyson. Watched that baby go about 4 feet behind his ass. The herd didn’t spook and he took about 5 steps. I knocked another arrow and settled through my normal shooting mantra. Level, push the pin through, slow squeeze. The arrow broke and I heard the nice thwack of a pass through. The bull ran about 50 yards and stopped. I knew I hit him, but not sure where. He looked like he was hurting. He bedded down behind a tree. I knew it must have been a good shot. But, the tough old boy wouldn’t give in. I waited and waited, but he wouldn’t put his head down. I tried to sneak in for a final shot and ended up bumping the cows. He followed and I lost him in the dark. I found the arrow and his bed, both showing dark red blood with no bubbles. Had me thinking heart and I couldn’t understand how he was still alive. I decided to back out and try to find him in the morning.

Day 18 (16th)

• Well I got about 2 hrs of restless sleep thinking I might have injured this bull. Got to my walk in spot at about 3am. Just sat and watched the stars till about 6 when I started hiking in. As light broke I started from his last bed. There was plenty of blood at the bed site. The trail was hard to follow in the sage, but I was marking last blood with my used arrow. I was so focused on looking for blood I got to within 10 yards before I saw the dead bull. I was relieved, he made it about 100 yards from his last bed before bedding again and expiring. Examined the shot and it looked like a perfect heart shot. After flipping him over I noticed the exit was in front of his leg. Must have been quartering more than I thought on the second shot. I got to work and started butchering. My dad and buddy had left, so this was a solo experience. Took me about 2.5 hrs to get it all processed. Then another 5 hrs to get everything packed out and driven back to camp. Took me 5 trips of hiking and 3 trips on the atv. Was big task, wouldn’t recommend doing it alone. Finished the day with some backstrap and four roses.

Day 19 (17th)

• Woke up at about 9am. Got camp all packed and headed down the mountain at around 10:30. Got into town and dropped off the meat at a processor. Got a big plate of nachos for lunch! Unfortunately, I got a call from the processor saying that there was some green meat in one of the rears and recommended throwing it. Really sucks, I thought he would be fine overnight. Might have been how long it took me to get it out, but being solo not sure what else I could do. Got a hotel booked for the next two nights while the meat was processed.

Day 20 (18th)

• Slept in at the hotel with no agenda for the day. Went and explored some local shops and bought some souvenirs. Went and washed my pack and game bags. Got lunch and returned to the hotel. Chilled/watched TV and made some phone calls. Grabbed some supper and headed to bed.

Day 21 (19th)

• Woke up and went to the processor. Packed up the meat and headed home! Dog was happy to have me back. Thanks for a great trip Wyoming!

Final Notes

• Overall this trip was everything I could have asked for. Some great memories with my Dad and good buddy. Wyoming is truly a beautiful place. This was my 2nd ever elk hunt and I learned a ton about elk behaviors and patterns. The elk I focused on ended up being way lower than I thought they would be, and they only had a couple days of good rut activity. A final thanks to the people of Rokslide for helping me along the way!

Isaac