First year trying out of state. A buddy and I drew a Wyoming General Elk tag. I popped out 2 hernias 2 months before the season. Thought i was going to have to cancel the trip I've been planning for 6 months, but against everyone's advice, I kept with the plan.
We met up with a friend in Pinedale. They showed us a couple of general areas.
Hunting was tough. 9,000ft of elevation. 15-25 degree lows and 20mph winds.
The first 2 days we did not see anything except some beautiful land.
We got dumped on. The weather was sunny one minute, and a blizzard the next. The good news was, this got the elk moving.
By day 4, we had put a lot of miles on the boots and had nothing to show for it. I had glassed some elk from a mile away. We tracked some in the snow to no avail, but did track a big bull and cow moose.
The locals were super nice. We only ran into maybe 7 hunters during the 6 days we spent in Wyoming, and they were all very nice. We all shared info about where we were seeing elk/sign.
On day 5 we were driving up to a spot at around 9300ft elevation, when we saw a group of 6 cows cross the road. They were @ 800 yards away, and were hesitant to cross. The cows were looking back into the woods and calling. I worked my way to a rocky point while my friend made a big loop through the woods that the cows had came out of. It was 15 degrees out so I figured I was going to get cold, but things heated up quick.
It took all of 5 minutes for a spike to show himself.
I cleared away the 12 inches of snow on the rock in front of me and got steady. I ranged him at 450 yards but he was working his way towards me. I held still and let him get into a more comfortable range.
He darted across the road below me and stopped at 350. As I put my crosshairs on him, I noticed a small rock 10 yards in front of me was in my line of sight. I had to wait for him to move again.
He took off running again across the flats. As he was getting close to the timbers I let out a loud grunt and he stopped dead in his tracks.
The new Tikka 300 win mag with 180 gr barnes dropped him like a rock @326 yards. He never took another step.
I had the spike cut up and loaded into the truck before my buddy got back to me. I got lucky because he was only 40 yards off the road.
Back at camp:
Nothing special, but a trophy to me. As recent as a month ago, I was not sure I could make it due to the pain. I bought a nice hernia belt and it keeps my guts from popping out, but was super uncomfortable.
My buddy shot a cow later on that day and I helped him get that cut up and packed out.
Got to put some new gear to the test this hunt. Proved a lot to myself, and we have 2 freezers full of good clean meat. Wyoming was a blast, and I look forward to going back again.