So our 2014 elk hunt started off the first day with horse trailers and hunters in every spot that I wanted to go. We had walked back the two miles to spike camp and there were 6 guys on horseback already camped in that drainage. So we glassed the rest of the day and saw nothing and made a move to another area where I thought elk would get pushed from the hunters. The morning of day two we spotted a herd of cows that went into some timber and then the morning was pretty eventful after that.
We had a grizzly that came out of the drainage below us about 400 yards away and was walking around and at one point lay down for a few seconds like he was going to go to sleep. Then he changed direction and started heading up our way off to our left and disappeared into a draw. When we lost sight of the bear I had my cousin fire a shot across the drainage at a rock to try and scare the bear that would have been at the bottom where we could not see him. A few minutes later the bear pops up at our 10 o’clock and at 200 yards and is still walking in our direction. At this point I stand up and shout and wave my arms letting the bear know humans are here and for him to run off well that did not work.
The wind was blowing about 30 mph from him to us and when he saw me and came in just like a coyote would when calling and started to circle us. When he was at our 9 o’clock he was 111 yards away and I had my cousin shoot in front of him about 20ft and the bear ran a few feet back and turned around and kept coming. I fired two shots in front of him and he did the same thing he would run away a little and then turn around and kept coming. My cousin wanted to try and leave and go out the way we came the problem was the bear was heading that way and I said we are staying right here we will never beat the bear out of the drainage. I had reloaded my rifle and in the process did not stack the shells right so it caused a jam. I had to drop my foreplate and clear the jam and in the meantime the bear was now downwind of us at 80ish yards and all puffed up and walking slow at us. I was able to get my jam cleared and I reloaded and put the crosshairs under the bears chin. I said 20 more feet and I am shooting and the bear stopped at this point and looked at us and my cousin just touched off the bear spray and before it even had time to drift that way the bear had turned around and started running. Here is one Picture of the bear when we first saw him below us before he was a problem.
After about an hour we were sure the bear was gone we headed out of the drainage to have lunch and take a nap. After the nap we headed back into the same drainage to setup for the evening hunt since we had spotted elk in there that morning. We were glassing a hillside when I spotted some cow elk moving over the draw and in the back was a big bull. We watched them walk towards us for a while and then they stopped in the bottom one drainage over. So we made a sneak on them and when we came over the hill the Bull was standing by the loan small pine tree in the draw. This picture was taken the day after the shot.
We ranged the bull and he was at 321 yards so I dialed up the ½ Mill I needed and got a solid rest on the bipod. I wanted to break the front shoulder so that is where I held and sent the 350 SMK on its way the bull turned and started running straight away after he was hit and ran about another 60 to 80 yards. As he was running he looked hurt and when he turned and was running broadside I sent another one and I ended up hitting him at the second to last rib and the shot made flip over. The bull got up again and fell down and up again and fell down and it was over. The last time he fell he fell so hard that he pierced his flank with his back scratcher and we had a hell of a time getting that out of his stomach since he was also laying on it. On the way to getting to the bull there was blood everywhere he was dead on his feet and did not know it. I missed the shoulder bone itself by an inch or so and I think if I would have connected on bone he would have dropped right on the spot.
After a 5 year quest and a 30 year dream I finally had my first bull Elk on public land in a general season no less in Wyoming. The rifle used was a 375 Ultra Mag that I built with a 350 SMK leaving the muzzle at 2619fps. Here are the Pictures of my Bull.
We hunted the rest of the week and had seen some more bulls one that was a true giant but we could not get on them and it just did not work out. The weather was getting hotter each day and we saw less and less elk as the week went on. So my cousin went home without a bull but this is a hunt I do not think we will ever forget.
We had a grizzly that came out of the drainage below us about 400 yards away and was walking around and at one point lay down for a few seconds like he was going to go to sleep. Then he changed direction and started heading up our way off to our left and disappeared into a draw. When we lost sight of the bear I had my cousin fire a shot across the drainage at a rock to try and scare the bear that would have been at the bottom where we could not see him. A few minutes later the bear pops up at our 10 o’clock and at 200 yards and is still walking in our direction. At this point I stand up and shout and wave my arms letting the bear know humans are here and for him to run off well that did not work.
The wind was blowing about 30 mph from him to us and when he saw me and came in just like a coyote would when calling and started to circle us. When he was at our 9 o’clock he was 111 yards away and I had my cousin shoot in front of him about 20ft and the bear ran a few feet back and turned around and kept coming. I fired two shots in front of him and he did the same thing he would run away a little and then turn around and kept coming. My cousin wanted to try and leave and go out the way we came the problem was the bear was heading that way and I said we are staying right here we will never beat the bear out of the drainage. I had reloaded my rifle and in the process did not stack the shells right so it caused a jam. I had to drop my foreplate and clear the jam and in the meantime the bear was now downwind of us at 80ish yards and all puffed up and walking slow at us. I was able to get my jam cleared and I reloaded and put the crosshairs under the bears chin. I said 20 more feet and I am shooting and the bear stopped at this point and looked at us and my cousin just touched off the bear spray and before it even had time to drift that way the bear had turned around and started running. Here is one Picture of the bear when we first saw him below us before he was a problem.
After about an hour we were sure the bear was gone we headed out of the drainage to have lunch and take a nap. After the nap we headed back into the same drainage to setup for the evening hunt since we had spotted elk in there that morning. We were glassing a hillside when I spotted some cow elk moving over the draw and in the back was a big bull. We watched them walk towards us for a while and then they stopped in the bottom one drainage over. So we made a sneak on them and when we came over the hill the Bull was standing by the loan small pine tree in the draw. This picture was taken the day after the shot.
We ranged the bull and he was at 321 yards so I dialed up the ½ Mill I needed and got a solid rest on the bipod. I wanted to break the front shoulder so that is where I held and sent the 350 SMK on its way the bull turned and started running straight away after he was hit and ran about another 60 to 80 yards. As he was running he looked hurt and when he turned and was running broadside I sent another one and I ended up hitting him at the second to last rib and the shot made flip over. The bull got up again and fell down and up again and fell down and it was over. The last time he fell he fell so hard that he pierced his flank with his back scratcher and we had a hell of a time getting that out of his stomach since he was also laying on it. On the way to getting to the bull there was blood everywhere he was dead on his feet and did not know it. I missed the shoulder bone itself by an inch or so and I think if I would have connected on bone he would have dropped right on the spot.
After a 5 year quest and a 30 year dream I finally had my first bull Elk on public land in a general season no less in Wyoming. The rifle used was a 375 Ultra Mag that I built with a 350 SMK leaving the muzzle at 2619fps. Here are the Pictures of my Bull.
We hunted the rest of the week and had seen some more bulls one that was a true giant but we could not get on them and it just did not work out. The weather was getting hotter each day and we saw less and less elk as the week went on. So my cousin went home without a bull but this is a hunt I do not think we will ever forget.
The hunt was by Cody Wyoming and I wish you could hunt Grizzly's in the lower 48 but you cannot because the tree huggers take any state to court that tries to have a season and Wyoming was one of those states they had planned to have a Grizzly season this year and the courts shut it down.
