as usually I can't have just a normal hunt
So here we go
We knew we were going to draw Wyoming general tags this year so we just bought points in Washington and went about our business. Well Covid hit and we were not even sure we would be able to go. Fast forward to May 24 and I am helping a technician in my shop and get knocked into the alignment pit and land on a metal step and break my greater Trochanter. Go to the ER and Dr says 12 weeks minimum on crutches with no weight on it. No weight til 1st of Sept and then he releases me to walking with 1 crutch til 1st of Oct. Work my butt off in PT but definitely out of shape when Oct 16th rolls around and we leave for Wy. Also on Aug 1st my dad has a major stroke.
. Physically he is doing well and gets around okay but gets tired very easily and mixes up words alot when talking.
The 4 of us .2 brothers, dad and myself leave for Wy about noon on the 16th and drive straight through only stopping for bathroom and fuel. We had packed all our food before we took off so we had that covered. Show up on the 17th right at daybreak and the cabin my brothers and I rented is not available til 11am so we decide to drive around and see if we can see anything. Wind is blowing 30mph with gusts to 60 mph. See a lot of deer and moose but no elk. We head back to the cabin and unload all our stuff and drop dad off at his brothers and we got out to hunt for the evening. See 1 cow about 1200yds away. Next 6 days bring more of the same mid 60's during the day, tons of wind and no elk sightings. Getting a little discouraged but see weather is supposed to be moving in so hopefully things will change.
Dad says he has a place he has not been to in 30 years but always held elk if he can remember how to get there. We take off at 2pm and head out. Right before dusk we see some elk so my younger brother and I think about a stalk but we are convinced by other people the elk will stay where they are while we drive past at about 1/2 mile. Start to drive by and elk take off into the woods.
Next morning, way before the crack of dawn, we take off and head back up as we believe the elk will be back in place they were the night before. We wait until daylight and start glassing and spot the herd in the trees. Younger brother and I decide to use opposing ridge as cover and walk down it as far as we can and get a elk or two. We start off and realize immediately that the ridge is way steeper than we thought so out come the walking sticks and we start making our way down.
I spot a bull clear down in the bottom, next to the river that looks really good and we are looking for another one but can only seem to find cows, calves and young bulls. We get to were we are 540 yds from the bull in the bottom and can't get any closer without walking right out in the open. We practice alot and am comfortable with that shot so we get set up in the prone position and 225 accubond does its job and bull elk down. Right after that we start glassing again and the elk did not spook at all so we find a good glassing point and start looking for a bull for him. Eventually we do find a big blonde bodied bull trying to sneak out the back door and Kurt hits him with the first shot and he rolls down the hill about 50 yds but then gets up and takes off. Crap. We walk down to the trail in the bottom and meet dad and older brother and find a cow for dad to shoot so he hammers that one while Kurt takes off tracking his bull. About 1 hr later I hear two shots down in the bottom and go down there to find my brother with his bull that he shot in the middle of the river. Brrr!!! We quarter all three elk out and start packing out. We get to the truck with 3 quarters of the cow elk and call a friend of ours with pack horses and he says "no problem. I will meet you at 7:30 in front of your cabin and we will pack them out. So we go get the last two loads of t elk from the cow and head home with visions of pack horses and Paniers in our heads. When we left it was 43 degrees with no wind and dry ground. Next morning there was 12 inches of snow and -17 degrees and wind blowing 20-40mph. Not to bore people with the details but two stuck pick ups one with a horse trailer attached to it and truck sliding into another kind of set the tone for the day.
We get everything unstuck and home with no major damage and decided we will just pack out the elk the next day on our backs.
The next morning we are at the trailhead at 8am with 2 JetSleds and take off. We get back to the truck with all the elk meat and heads at 5:15 and totally worn out but happy. We hunted two more days for another elk for my brother but never could put it together. Overall 3 for 4 with two mature bulls and tons of memories and we did find a 5 point dead head to kind of cap the trip off. Drove home in 17 1/2hrs and dropped the skulls off with Joel at Black River.
