Our 2016 elk hunt will mark the time we fell in love with elk hunting; the number of bugles we heard and bulls we ran into was astonishing, the scenery and camaraderie only enhanced the experience. It's always by pure luck that I come across such wonderful places to hunt, luck and maybe networking I guess... I ran into one of my old friends last fall after he returned from a Colorado Mule deer hunt and he told me about Jeff Coldwell and Antler Quest Outfitters ( http://www.antlerquest.com/). With a growing business it has become extremely difficult for me to get away in the summer to scout out west for my hunts which is key to success on any hunt; the owner Jeff does it for you and sends you a professional scouting report, that can put you on game from day one. I had an idea of where I thought I might want to hunt from a friend of a friend in Wyoming, but when I called Jeff he told me doesn't scout in WY, but he had a friend that lived in NE Utah that might help me out. Enter one of the most selfless and knowledgeable big game hunters I have ever met. Stefan, was helpful and trustworthy right from the start, he was willing to scout in WY, but I admitted I had some serious reservations about the number of Grizzly bears in the country we would be hunting, he had a better place to recommend that was Grizzly bear free, I liked the sound of that! During the summer Stefan went on two scouting trips for us and the elk sign sounded too good to be true. My friends reminded me I have ran into people in the past that tell you what you want to hear and once you arrive for the hunt things are totally different, I believe strongly I am a great judge of character, so I told them not to worry Stefan is definitely a righteous individual. Also, after meeting one of Stefan's friends Art Helin and his wife at the deer and turkey expo http://www.arthelinoutdoors.com/ they only confirmed even further what I already knew you can trust a $600 tag, 22 hour drive and week away from work will be worth it if Stefan tells you so. His scouting package was impressive, dozens of photo's of the landscape we would hunt and elk, driving directions, hotels, locker markets to get the meat taken care of, GPS coordinates of places to camp and elk hideouts, we were all set! I have to give thanks to another person besides Stefan and that would be my good buddy Danny Clum aka the elk hunting master, even though he is way to humble to admit that. I had the good fortune to hunt with him for a few days in Wyoming last fall and learned so much about calling, tactics and navigation. Mostly I realized I didn't know anything about elk hunting or calling elk and had a lot to figure out. The nice thing about the internet and this time we live in now is any subject you want to gain knowledge on is at your fingertips Danny recommended I sign up for an online course at roehuntingresources.com and learn how to talk elk from Chris Roe's video's. That was a game changer and even though both bulls we ended up killing were mostly due to stalking rather than calling, I was able to call in a few elk for my buddies and have some very fun close encounters that I am certain wouldn't have happened without spending time on this course and practicing with my calls all winter
From the first morning as we hiked in at daybreak there were bugles in the air. We excitedly got camp set up and split into two teams: "A team" Jeff and I, "B team" Tony and Jesse and went our separate ways ha ha. Jeff and I had bulls bugling close to us until 11 am that morning which is pretty late I thought, we couldn't get anything to come into my calls, so after a nice nap on the mountain we started slowly still hunting across the ridge-line of the mountain we were on. We hadn't gone a quarter mile before I happened to stumble on a tree that was abnormally huge, I looked thirty feet up and noticed a black rug with a brown rug right next to it sitting on the tree's limbs. I looked over at Jeff wide eyed and pointed up, "bears" I whispered excitedly and reminded myself again how thankful I was we were hunting in black bear not grizzly bear country. It was a big black bear sow with her cinnamon colored cub, a very rare sight I thought. Our tags were valid for either an elk, wolf, bear or mountain lion, but these bears were safe, not only is it illegal and unethical to shoot a sow with cubs, I drove 22 hours for elk, I have killed black bear in Wisconsin. We moved on and admittedly looked back over our shoulder a couple times just to make sure Momma bear wasn't getting protective and craving a cheesehead for dinner. We got enough distance between us and the bears and started really getting into elk sign, I told Jeff to get set up and I would drop back and call. It took about 15 minutes of silence and a little questioning of whether I actually learned anything about how to call before I smelled him and I do mean smelled the bull! I was looking over my right shoulder when the scent absolutely filled my nostrils, I quickly looked to my left and locked eyes with a small bull only 15 yards away. I had two thoughts: First how did something that big sneak in on me so quietly and what the heck is my cousin doing not sending an arrow at this thing. The bull turned and trotted away and I slowly crept up to Jeff where he told me he was having a hard time getting a clean shot at the bull, before it left, I thought that could be true, but he might also have crapped his pants when he saw his first bull elk and was trying to recover from the shock. Either way I didn't get long to tease him before another small bull was coming in, we were both pumped up on adrenaline now and as we went to move in position to try and kill it Jeff dropped his rangefinder out of his hand and I watched in amusement as it rolled end for end a good hundred yards down the mountain into some brush. If Jeff wasn't flustered before he sure was now and me being the supportive friend that I am chose to laugh at him more than help him look for that expensive piece of equipment. The first day ended for us with more bugling, but no more elk sightings, we got back to camp excited to hear how Jesse and Tony did and share our stories. They had an equally thrilling first day as they ran into a bobcat mother and her kittens and of course some elk. After they spent 5 minutes trying to keep it a secret they finally blurted out that Tony had shot a great bull and they wanted our helping tracking it in the morning. We crawled into our tents and spent the night being serenaded by bugles. I remember waking up at two am thinking wow that bugle was close, it sounded like we had elk rutting within 300 yards of camp a lot of nights, you just couldn't beat this experience. We woke up before dawn and hiked to where Tony took the shot, the blood was sparse, but the amount of bugling elk in that area was not! We decided to take a break from trailing Tony's bull and see if we could call in another one, Jesse and Jeff got set up and I started calling, the bull was bugling, but after twenty minutes I started thinking he was with cows and wasn't interested, I slowly started creeping up to where Jesse was and as I rounded a big pine tree I saw a bull standing in the meadow looking for the cow he was hearing, I ducked behind the tree and called a little more thinking Jesse should smoke that bull at any moment finally after a few tense moments I heard Jesse's let his bow rip, bow hunting is a game of inches and this bull narrowly escaped unharmed. I remember Jesse being a little down after the encounter and telling me he felt he probably just blew the only chance he would get that week on a bull, I laughed and told him with all the elk we are hearing and seeing he will get a chance at redemption. We ended up bumping Tony's bull and never finding it, we all felt awful for Tony they described it as a real trophy size animal. That evening we stumbled upon multiple herds of elk coming together and the bulls were screaming out bugles every thirty seconds for over two hours and raking trees with their horns trying to act as tough as they possibly could to keep their rivals from stealing their harem of cows. It was euphoric for sure. Jesse looked at me as he dropped his pack and told me he was going in the opposite direction of me to chase bugles and we would meet up again at dark. Jeff and I quickly realized these bulls were not going to leave their cows and come to our calls, so we started stalking side by side about thirty yards apart from each other. I could see a bull in the meadow on the edge of the woods and as I was closing the distance on him he chased a cow back into the woods Jeff had just gotten to; I figured he would be back out in the meadow before too long and I would get my shot, then I heard Jeff's bow go off and knew that bull was gone, I immediately started calling to try to get the bull to stop running if Jeff put an arrow in him hoping he would die closer to us. I waited a few minutes and turned to stalk towards a couple other nearby bugling bulls as luck would have it a bull came running towards me from behind to investigate my calls and by the time I turned around we were 15 yards from each other face to face, dang! he bolted out of there offering no shot. I got back to Jeff and told me he hit the bull, but wasn't too confident in the shot placement. My head was pounding from two straight hours of adrenaline pumping action, I was dehydrated and exhausted, but could care less this was a day to remember. We hiked back to camp thinking we probably wouldn't find that bull. The next morning we all four went in to track and found out Jeff hit the bull perfectly, (he's always such an optimist) ha ha. One down, three to go, nice job Jeff!
Jeff with his first elk kill
Jeff enjoying the struggle of the pack out
Unfortunately, the weather turned very warm and the elk action slowed a little. We needed to pack out Jeff's meat and get it to town and put on ice, We got back to the trail head the next morning after spending the night in town and hiked in for a final few days of hunting. As we approached camp we kept hearing a bugle not much more than a quarter mile south of camp. It was decided that Tony and Jeff would continue searching for the bull Tony hit and Jesse and I would go after this bull. We had stalked halfway up the mountain towards his bugles, when Jesse asked if we should try calling him in from our current location, I told him calling doesn't seem to be working on the bugling heard bulls, we need to stalk this dude. After a nice climb to the peak of the mountain we found a wallow he had used that morning, but he hadn't bugled in over twenty minutes and we were starting to lose hope. As we were discussing our next move Jesse's Bull bugled no more than a hundred yards away. Jesse and I looked at each other wide eyed and salivating to kill this elk. We snuck to the edge of an opening, shoulder to shoulder and I grabbed Jesse by the arm and said "I see a cow" coming over the ridgeline above us, he responded "the bull is behind her" that was a magnificent image watching that bull chase his cow in our direction. We decided to split up I had eased maybe forty yards away from Jesse before I heard him shoot and the sound of thundering hooves running away. I ran up to Jesse and he was laying on the ground barely able to stand from an adrenaline overload. The bull was bugling in his face and he shot it at 15 yards face to face. We were excited and after Jesse gathered himself we started off on the blood trail, we heard loud crash over the hill and Jesse thought maybe we should back out and give the bull more time to expire, I told him to ease up and peak over the hill and if he didn't see it we would wait a while before tracking it further. Jesse quickly shouted to me that he saw the bull and we both sprinted to the dead bull and began hugging and dancing in celebration like two little school girls on Christmas morning. The bull had died in such a panoramic place Jesse and took our time taking some awesome pictures, soaking in the moment and talking about how grateful we were to get to experience the beauty of these animals in such a breathtaking place. We didn't start the butchering and packing out process on the bull for over an hour after we got to him we simply sat down and just soaked in the moment. I truly believe its one of those times you won't ever forget as you get older, the Sour Patch kids we snacked on never tasted better, I have never smiled harder in my life! Jesse and I will always make a great team, there is no animal we can't bring down together, we will kill many more animals in neat places, but your first bull elk will be hard to top; I don't think you get many moments that good in life, so they should be cherished. The conversations we shared up there and the struggle of the pack down to camp was all part of the amazing journey. Unfortunately, the weather took another turn for the worst and rain started pounding the area for the next couple days and it becomes very dangerous to drive a truck and trailer down the muddy mountain trail once things get wet and the hunt was cut a couple days short.
Jesse getting a well deserved midday nap with a pine tree branch, blanket to stay warm
Jesse moments after he took the shot with his beautiful, first bull.
Jesse's Bull maybe ran 100 yards after he shot it.
Jesse's Bull died in a perfect place for pictures and butchering duties
We always make a good team, but this hunt was the pinnacle for us thus far!
It was nice of Rambo to hike into the mountain to help us pack out Jess's Bull
I really wanted to take my first elk this trip I have put in tons of time and effort into elk hunting, I let my attitude get bitter after I knew my hunt was done and I wouldn't be successful this year, it was stupid and juvenile of me. I need to grow up and toughen up, the elk never care about what you think is fair or you have earned. I learned so much on this trip that will benefit my elk hunts in the future, but I still have more to gain. As I reflect back on the trip now I feel much better about it, the most important thing is that my mountain, elk hunting skills improved and I was able to help my friends get an opportunity they wouldn't have had without me. I know eventually I will get an elk, it might not be next year or the year after and that's okay, but I will never quit! Someday, I will get one and it's going to be extremely gratifying, to put to use all the bits and pieces of wisdom I have been gaining to use. I know I am drawn to elk hunting because its hard, the challenge make's us all better men, you must accept discomfort which is good to do from time to time in this soft culture we live in. There's no indoor plumbing, warm beds, vehicles or elevators if you want to get somewhere you get there by the sweat of your brow, and you will be rewarded with a breathtaking view and sometimes a big, smelly, adrenaline pumping bull elk. The next time I get a chance to chase elk I will be on the wrong side of 30, an older and wiser man I hope, that is starting to realize it truly isn't about the final destination or any trophy rack, its all about the journey and the memories made to get there. Thank God I'm an American and live in a place where this opportunity is available.
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