Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Out Of State Hunting => Topic started by: Halo on January 05, 2013, 07:43:48 AM
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As some may know I was drawn for Wyoming wild any bison nonresident tag #19 out of 22. With the season coming to an end tomorrow I guess its time to post some pic's of my adventures. The season runs from mid August through the first week of January and takes place on the outskirts of the Grand Teton National Park in the National Forest and on the National Elk Refuge. I made three trips over pursuing bison making this hunt the most miles I have ever driven in an attempt to fill a tag. It was also the most I have spent on a tag at $2,502 so I was going to give it my all. The tag was also a good excuse to buy a new rifle, a Savage stainless model 116 Bear Hunter in .338 Win. Mag. with a Leupold VX3 4.5-14 CDS. I spent a ton of time and money trying different rounds for it and getting it all dialed in. With Federal 210 grain Nosler Partitions I got it shooting a 1-2" groups at 200 yards. My first trip over was in late October. I kind of wanted to wait until the bison got "haired up" a little in their winter coats and the heat would not be such an issue with that big of an animal on the ground. My time, being tag holder #19, that I was guaranteed access to the Refuge was December 15th to the 28th, as it turned out I was never denied access. I was told those were great dates and by then the bison would be out of the park and wintering on the Refuge, so I was optimistic. I figured when we headed out in October I might have to make a second trip but didn't think three would be in the cards. I guess I will start with pic's from round 1 and go from there.
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More pic's from Bison Quest Round 1, Late October.
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Even More Pic's from Bison Quest round 1.
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Last of the pic's from Bison Quest round 1.
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Great pics
Did you get a bison ?
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Well, round 1 was an education in hunting wild bison. Those things know the park boundary's like you would not believe. We only saw bison outside the park one time, that was at first light and when they saw us driving up the road from a half mile or more away they ran full speed back across the line and then came to a screeching halt and continued to graze 30' inside the park. The boundary is only marked every 50 yards with a post like a freeway road reflector, and most of those are missing or bent over from bison moose etc. rubbing on them. As we pulled up to within 50 yards of the now completely relaxed and grazing bison just feet inside the park We figured out there were other hunters just ahead of us on the road, including an outfitter pulling a horse trailer. So here are 3 tag holders, an outfitter and a half dozen other people standing around debating the zigzagging boundary with maps and GPS's and there 50 yards away are 450 bison that know exactly where the boundary is. That is where I realized I had severely underestimated my opponent.
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I have so dreamed of going there to photgraph moose. You are living the dream man! PS I put in for it every year, obviously have never been drawn. 8)
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Round 2 was the first week of December, This time it would be motel time, round 1 we took my travel trailer. When we hit Jackson on round 1 pulling the trailer it started to snow the minute we unhooked the trailer and snowed off and on the whole time. when we left I never saw anything but white on the road for the first 2 hours but was OK then. I didn't figure December road conditions would be as kind, that was one of the few things I was right about. So now its time for pic's from round 2.
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great pictures....
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WOW.. Awesome photos man .. that moose is a dandy ... :tup: :tup: Now where is your buffalo :dunno: :chuckle: :chuckle:
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More pic's from Bison Quest round 2, (first week of December)
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The photo op alone would be worth the 1st trip. Can't wait for the rest of the story.
Thx for sharing.
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looks like its going to be a successful hunt... :tup:
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Last of the pic's from Bison Quest round 2
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You musta scared that last bull moose. He dropped his raisins :chuckle:
See I didnt use a "bad" word
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Those are awesome pics.
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Congrats on drawing that tag. Enjoying the pictures and story keep it coming. :tup:
...There is on right behind you :chuckle:
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During round 2 we had been keeping an eye on a lone bull in the park near the northwest corner of the refuge for several days, but it refused to cross the Gross Ventre river into the refuge. one morning we couldn't find it in the park so off we go into the refuge. After hiking 9 miles along the North end of the Refuge we were giving up and almost back to the truck when the cell phone rang, It was one of the outfitters that knew I had a bull tag and was trying to drum up some business. He said he had 3 bulls spotted that looked legal, so off we went. as it turned out it was half of a group of 6 we had been watching and that had come within 30' of leaving the park while we watched them days earlier. To make sure the outfitter called a park ranger for a ruling on the bedded bison. After over an hour of the ranger looking at maps, GPS's and making calls it was decided that the closest bull was still 12",(yes inches), into the park. The other issue was the paved road was 20' away from the National Forest and in the Park, so if I went the 20' to get out of the park to make a shot if the bison moved over 12" It still could not be loaded there on a park road and would have to be taken to the nearest Forest Service road a mile away, uphill, through the timber. The outfitter said he would get his horses ans do it for $400 but then he made a deal with the ranger to allow us to load there if we took it guts & all so they wouldn't have a gut pile that close to the main road with a grizzly potentially chasing cars & park visitors. They had enough problems with grizzly's, one had been pepper sprayed & shot in self defense not far from there by 3 elk hunters days earlier. So with all that I decided that was not the way I wanted to do it so we left and went hunting as the bull got up and grazed further into the park.
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Yes.....keep typing.....awesome write up....keep 'er coming.
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Yes.....keep typing.....awesome write up....keep 'er coming.
:yeah:
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Yes.....keep typing.....awesome write up....keep 'er coming.
:yeah:
Yeah, what they said.
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One of the best stories on here in a while.......................keep up with the pictures
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A trip most of us dream about....Keep typing :drool:
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Round 3 we left December 28th for the final try. I called the Wyoming Game Department on the way over to have them set my Refuge permit out before they went home for the weekend as we would not get there until that evening. When I picked it up there were 19 other permits set out, definitely going to be some competition. They told me there had been 28 bison taken while we drove over when the herd crossed into the refuge and had been pushed back out. We just hoped there would be some scraglers that had broken off in the confusion. The Weather had definitely gotten colder, The first morning it was 5 degrees below zero when started hiking into the Refuge, 8 miles in that much snow in those temperatures is brutal.
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More Round 3 pic's
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The sheep were eating this chunk of ice that fell off a truck, I guess for the salt and minerals from the road.
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Well I have to take off for a bit but I don't have the heart to keep you guys hanging on the last pic's so Ill post them up and hopefully get time later for the story.
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Very nice sir !!!!!!
congrats
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Awesome story and pictures. That thing looks huge . How much meat did you end up with?
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Wow.. Looking forward to the conclusion.
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Nice bull, can't wait to hear the end of the story.
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I have so dreamed of going there to photgraph moose. You are living the dream man! PS I put in for it every year, obviously have never been drawn. 8)
Bone if you ever get drawn let me know, I now have a ton of info, maps, contacts etc.
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I will probably be hated for this but I put in for a ton of hunts all over but that was the first time I ever put in for Wyoming bison. It's better to be lucky than good.
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:tup: :tup: So jealous!!
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Awesome posts! thank you :hello:
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OK, December 29th, our first day of hunting on round 3, we hiked about 8 miles in the roughly 12" of snow at 5 degrees below zero, that is brutal. My feet were freezing even with the insulated boots with heat packs in them. After all that we only saw tracks and gut piles from the day before and a whole lot of hunters. Most of the other hunters had cow only tags so we hoped to hear of a lone bull or group of bulls from them but nothing. All we heard was, "you should have been here yesterday". After we got to the truck we decided to take a drive to the North end of the Refuge and see how close to the boundary the main herd was. Along the way we stoped at one of the bison hunting parking lots to see how it looked crossing the Gross Ventre River into the Refuge, we had used hip boots on round 2. There were a couple hunters sitting in their truck and the river looked the same, cold. The thought of changing boots on the other side of the river in subzero temperatures did not really appeal to us so up the road we drove. A little over a mile later I looked over and saw a lone bull bison through a gap in the trees. After a little figuring we thought it might be on the far side of the river and legal but we couldn't see exactly where the river was. I stood on the toolbox in my truck and was able to see that yes it was on the other side of the river and legal. It was only about 400 yards away but I was in the park and bison hunters are required to hunt only from designated parking lots. So back to the parking lot we go. When we get there the two hunters that were there in the truck are now across the river and hiking upstream toward the bull a mile up. We could only assume they had spotted the bull before us and were starting the stalk. With nothing we could do we just sat there waiting to hear the shot. While we waited another hunter and his wife pulled in and we talked with them for awhile, they also had a bull tag, so they drove up the road and looked at the bull and returned to sit in frustration and listen for the shot with us. While we waited we all, (other bull tag holder as well) decided to look over a log across the river it appeared some hunters had crossed on. As we sized up the snow covered log we noticed orange coming back down river, but it was 4 hunters not 2. We all waited to see how they crossed, one walked the log, one "cooned it" straddling the log, and the other two waded with boots they had stashed on the other side. We talked with them and found out they had cow only tags, they also said they talked to the other two hunters and that they had cow only tags. Suddenly we were back in the game.
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Awesome pictures! Saw some of them on Jeff's phone, now I need to put in for that tag. Congrats!
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Tagged for a good read!
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As soon as we found out there were only cow hunters in the area, other than the any bison tag holder standing right next to me that we had earlier told about the bull, it was across the log we went. It was a little over a mile to the bull and when we started getting close we slowed to a crawl trying to figure out where it was. We soon spotted a brown shaggy back in the willow brush of the river bottom, and about a half dozen big bull elk scattered all through the willow brush around him. Two of the elk were almost directly between us and the bull bison. I didn't want to spook the elk during the stalk and blow the bison across the river and into the safety of the park so I decided to let the closest bull elk see us move a little to hopefully get them uncomfortable and give us some room for the stalk without blowing out too panicked. It worked the elk trotted a few steps then wandered off leaving the bison feeding contently. Now within 100 yards I would have to enter the willow brush to try to get a clear shot. I as quietly as possible picked my way through the brush to within 50 yards where I found a clear shooting lane that the bull was feeding towards, so that's where I sat up, bi pods out, waiting for my opportunity. Seconds later there he was, but he was quartering hard towards me, I had hoped to hit him behind the ear but that did not look likely so I waited, wind in my face and him feeding towards me, completely oblivious. Then he turned his head directly towards me, head down, still feeding. So that was it, I decided to take him head on in the neck just above his skull. One shot from the .338 and he was on the ground.
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That is a great looking bison, he has a realy nice looking hide. Thanks for sharing, great write up.
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:yeah: Nice Bull!!! :tup: Congratz!
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Just amazing
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Nice bull, sounds like an amazing hunt! :tup:
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Congrats on a great Hunt. I have really enjoyed the story and pics!
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What a great hunting adventure to read about :tup: on your trophy.
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Thanks for sharing your adventure, great write up. Enjoy all the great eats. And congrats.
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Awesome. Let us know how you got him back to the vehicle. A bison is a lot of meat to move. Thanks for the story and the pictures.
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Congrats on a nice Bison. Spendy tag
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:tup: Thanks for the story! Sounds super fun times. Lots o drivin. If you have pics of cuttin the beast up and packin out that would be cool to see?! :tup:
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very cool congrats to you and thanks for the great story!!! :tup:
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Great write up and photos as well. Thanks for posting and sharing your adventure. :tup:
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Thanks guys, I'll finish the rest of the story when I get a chance.
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Thanks for taking us along on that one! Looked cold! I have been looking at the bearhunter in .338 for alaska next year. Were you happy with it?
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Very cool hunt :tup:
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Thanks for taking us along on that one! Looked cold! I have been looking at the bearhunter in .338 for alaska next year. Were you happy with it?
I am definately happy with the .338 bear hunter. If you get in my neck of the woods let me know you can swing by and put afew rounds through it. I have a range out back to shoot out to 300 yards.
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Awesome story, great job :tup:
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Thanks for taking us along on that one! Looked cold! I have been looking at the bearhunter in .338 for alaska next year. Were you happy with it?
I am definately happy with the .338 bear hunter. If you get in my neck of the woods let me know you can swing by and put afew rounds through it. I have a range out back to shoot out to 300 yards.
Thanks for the offer! I am so jealous! I have but one little dream in this world and that is to be able to shoot off my back porch out to 300yds!
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Awesome, want to draw that tag myself. I loved Bison hunting in AK... Great write up and pictures are excellent...
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Great adventure! Congrats on your bison!
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Congrats on a nice Bison. Spendy tag
Nice Bison! And, not as spendy as a Yukoon moose, but sounds like just about as much fun. :tup: I think I'll look into that tag as well as others. ;)
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Congrats on a beauty!
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:tup:
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Congrats,
I met you at the 2.3 parking area just before you crossed the river and got your bull. I got my cow 12/31/12 on round 3 also.
though hunt!
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Love the pics , congrats on your kill :tup:
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Awesome, Congrats Menutt. Good to see you scored. What an awesome hunt. I heard the total take after the season was right at 200 between cows, bulls, residents & non-residents. I'm not sure how many of the 410 total tags were actually purchased so not sure of success rate but must not be to high.
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Great story and pictures.
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Awesome story and pics... thanks for sharing :tup:
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awesome, love that area that time of year, thank you :tup:
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Awesome hunt, some extreme weather! Sounds like all those rules and boundaries are a real pain in the (backside).
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awesome pic's and country, thanx for sharing :tup:
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Nice bull! icon of the west right there
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Geat pics and story, thanks.
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Thanks for sharing very cool. :tup:
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Congrats on both of your guys' kills!!
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My Bison skull is done. Got a cell phone pic from the taxi.
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no horn shells ?? sleeves ?? or what ever you call the black portion
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No, they are going on the head mount. That should be done in a couple months.
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Just catching up to this one now... Congrats Halo and Menut! :IBCOOL:
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Well, I made the 4th trip to Wyoming, to the Taxidermist. Here is what I got to see on my arrival. I think it turned out great.
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All Crated up and ready for the trip home.
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In the house awaiting a spot on the wall, a very large spot on the wall.
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Very nice! Need a big room.
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And he is on the wall. Just in a temporary location until I get his permanent spot ready.
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And here is the skull, not sure what I am going to do with it yet, just gonna sit on the commode for now.
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Here is the hide, at least the back half. Couch cover for now, not sure where it will end up either.
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And he is on the wall. Just in a temporary location until I get his permanent spot ready.
Looks great! :tup:
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Thanks for taking the time to share with us! Felt like I was there!
