Post by: MerriamMagician on June 30, 2020, 04:05:20 PM
Post by: Karl Blanchard on June 30, 2020, 04:11:08 PM
Post by: Buckhunter24 on June 30, 2020, 04:38:57 PM
Post by: MerriamMagician on June 30, 2020, 05:57:03 PM
After doing lots of research and watching a lot of videos, I wanted to try my luck at the highcountry mulies in Regions H and G. In September of 2018, I took my girlfriend on a part vacation-part hunt scouting trip to Yellowstone, Teton national park, and all over the Greys river country. I had two goals on that trip: Propose to my girlfriend at her favorite place in the shadows of the Tetons and decide if that was the hunt I wanted to do. It was an emphatic yes to both of them. I had a specific basin in mind I had found over countless hours of Google earth research. I liked this basin because it was all cross country to get in it, no trail anywhere near it. I never hiked into that basin that year, but I found a elevated spot where I could glass into the basin from far below. The first morning I glassed into it, I saw 27 bucks in there. And that was from a vantage spot that only allowed about 30% of the basin to be visible. It was hard to tell size from glassing the bucks with my older spotting scope almost 4 miles away, but I could definitely make out some big frames on quite a few of them. Needless to say my mind was made up that I wanted to hunt Region G!
Post by: actionshooter on June 30, 2020, 10:05:53 PM
Post by: jackelope on June 30, 2020, 10:41:59 PM
Post by: boneaddict on July 01, 2020, 05:21:30 AM
Post by: Skyvalhunter on July 01, 2020, 06:08:53 AM
Post by: kellama2001 on July 01, 2020, 06:18:34 AM
Here we go... just in time ... we need this thread.
:yeah: tagging also
Post by: ganghis on July 01, 2020, 08:13:15 AM
Post by: 2MANY on July 01, 2020, 08:31:04 AM
Post by: Jonathan_S on July 01, 2020, 08:32:33 AM
You bought a ring before you bought good optics????
Haha. Added the wrong Swarovski product to the online shopping cart!
Post by: archerykraze on July 01, 2020, 08:32:59 AM
Post by: Widgeondeke on July 01, 2020, 08:57:54 AM
You bought a ring before you bought good optics????
Haha. Added the wrong Swarovski product to the online shopping cart!
:yeah: :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
Post by: BoomWhop on July 01, 2020, 08:58:18 AM
Post by: MerriamMagician on July 01, 2020, 10:54:05 AM
a moderately heavy pack, and a good deal of HIIT workouts. I wanted to be in the best shape possible for the hunt and I was doing just that. Another challenge that I faced was that backcountry hunting was something new to me. I've spent plenty of time in the backcountry hunting and hiking, but always just day trips. I realized that I needed to invest in backcountry gear also. I spent most of the year slowly accumulating all the gear I would need.
Soon enough it was June and Wyoming published the draw results. I had drawn G with my 7 points. I breathed a sigh of relief as I looked at the draw odds. If I remember right about 34% of non-residents with 7 points failed to draw the tag! Talking with others I know how have hunted the same region before, one use to be able to draw with just 1 or 2 points. Gotta love point creep and tag demand out west. :yike: I kicked my training up even higher over the summer. Late in July I wanted to test myself in a real backcountry adventure. I loaded up everything I would need for my deer hunt and packed 5 miles into the GPW for a 3 day trip. It was 4k of elevation gain and I felt I handled it pretty well. The next 2 days was a bit frustrating as I spent a lot of time glassing and seeing just a handful of deer. I couldn't help but wish I was already in the Wyoming highcountry at that moment. I know what awaited me there was a heck of a lot better than anything that can be found in Washingtons highcountry areas. The countdown to Wyoming was on!
Post by: 2MANY on July 01, 2020, 11:24:09 AM
You had to bring trekking poles into this already...??
Oh my.
Post by: DOUBLELUNG on July 01, 2020, 12:55:44 PM
Post by: MerriamMagician on July 01, 2020, 06:36:03 PM
The wind screamed on that ridge all night. After a long noisy night without much fitful sleep, it finally grew dawn and I was ready to spend some time glassing. I immediately spotted the same small bear. Within an hour I spotted 5 more working the same area. I fueled myself up with food and began my approach. The distance of a little over a mile ended up being some of hardest terrain I've ever been in. I crossed 5 or 6 boulder fields and made quite the discovery at one point. There was a whole mule deer skeleton stuck in a crevice between two truck size boulders. I've seen pictures in magazines of stuff like that before but never thought I'd run into anything like that myself. After navigating all the boulder fields, I then had to pick my way across a half mile section of steep hillside with chest high wildflowers. It was surprisingly difficult getting through them. I couldn't make it 10 yards without tripping and slipping all over the map. Finally I make it to a knob I had marked after what took me about 6 times longer than I thought it would have to cut that distance. Its nearly noon by this point and I peak over the knob. Aha, perfect, good size bear feeding 200 yards away.
Post by: 2MANY on July 02, 2020, 05:24:23 AM
Nothing beats the high country.
Post by: Widgeondeke on July 02, 2020, 07:38:16 AM
Post by: jstone on July 02, 2020, 08:37:41 AM
Post by: Alchase on July 02, 2020, 08:51:52 AM
Trekking poles!!!??
You had to bring trekking poles into this already...??
Oh my.
Those are "incognito Shooting Sticks" to everyone but the "uninformed"
:hello:
Post by: 2MANY on July 02, 2020, 09:50:02 AM
Post by: ELKBURGER on July 02, 2020, 10:13:02 AM
Post by: whacker1 on July 02, 2020, 10:19:57 AM
Post by: MerriamMagician on July 02, 2020, 10:55:14 AM
I pulled out some lunch and got situated for an afternoon sit. Only about 20 minutes later I spot 2 more bears, a chocolate and a black, both good size. Still tired from the hike over there, I watched them feed for about an hour, while considering a plan of action. The chocolate was about a quarter mile away and in a good spot to make a stalk on. The black was 500 yards below him feeding in a creek bed. I made my way over to the chocolate and got to 180 yards. I debated moving one knob closer to him that would have set me up for a chip shot, but decided against it after the first bear caught my wind at close distance. It really is amazing how tricky it can be to set up for a shot in the backcountry. After being impeded by tall wildflowers on the first bear, I now faced the challenge of trying to get steady on a steep downward slope. I got my spotter on him and starting recording through the phone skope. After quite a bit of adjusting I finally got into the best position I could muster. It was so steep I had my ankles wrapped around a sapling and my elbows buried in the dirt just to avoid sliding down the hill. I waited for a good shot and touched one off. He whirled out of a little stream he had been standing chest deep in and dashed off into some big timber. It was now 2 in the afternoon. I moved to a flatter spot and settled in to give him plenty of time before starting to track him.
Post by: Onewhohikes on July 06, 2020, 06:26:01 AM
Post by: MerriamMagician on July 06, 2020, 10:17:46 AM
That first day was the biggest highlight of the trip. The next 2 days I didn't see any deer or bear. I packed up camp and made the long descent out. Next stop Wyoming!
Post by: 2MANY on July 06, 2020, 11:31:03 AM
Post by: Onewhohikes on July 06, 2020, 11:32:40 AM
Post by: MerriamMagician on July 06, 2020, 02:24:24 PM
My plan since the scouting trip had always been to climb into and hunt the basin I had seen the 27 bucks in the year prior. Hardly a day went by I didn't daydream about that basin. I spent countless hours studying every detail of it over google earth, topo maps, Onx, and more. I had my camping spot picked out, backup camp spots, glassing points, stalking routes, and so much more. I printed out color satellite images from multiple orientations and view angles. And that was just for that basin. I did the same thing for about 8 possible different backup plans.
And finally it was September. With an older truck nearing the end of its long distance trip lifespan and a 14 hour drive to the unit, I elected not to do any summer scouting trips, but instead arrive several days early and hope to find a shooter to sit on. The opener fell on a Sunday in 2019. I left WA on Monday night and arrived in Wyoming early Tuesday morning to the sight of a fresh snow covered highcountry.
Post by: MerriamMagician on July 08, 2020, 09:49:45 AM
At dawn the next morning I ate a quick breakfast and made my way up and into the basin. It was a bit of a grind for about an hour as the cross country route I took ended me up in the thick, nasty creek bottom. Eventually I popped out and was able to navigate my way a bit easier on game trails. As I made my way up I noted a ton of fresh elk sign. Several bulls were welcoming me with a chorus of bugles as I kept chugging upward. I was pleasantly surprised when I made it to my destination in under 2 hours. It was over 4 miles and 1800 feet of gain and I made it there much quicker than I anticipated. I set up camp, hung my food, and was off searching for a good glassing spot. I spent all afternoon glassing and turned up 7 bucks. None of them were what I was looking for. The elk really put on a show too. It was constant bugling from 5-6 bulls around the basin all day long. I have yet to hunt elk in Wyoming, but I know where to go when it comes time for that! Around 4 pm a herd of around 70 elk feed out across the canyon. There were 4 satellites and one really nice 7 point bull. I got so distracted watching them I barely remembered I was hunting for deer! 4 other bulls ended up showing themselves around the basin later that evening, all of them good solid 6 points. As the day drew to a close I was hopeful for what he morning would bring. The snow was completely gone by now and the basin was back to its stunning hue of green and red colors. I crawled off to bed excited to see what bucks I could spot in the morning. Sleep came difficult that night. Excitement, nervousness, and what sounded like half the country's elk population bugling their brains out made for a tough time getting any real sleep.
Post by: MerriamMagician on July 08, 2020, 09:51:41 AM
Post by: MooseZ25 on July 08, 2020, 10:18:37 AM
Post by: jjhunter on July 08, 2020, 10:24:10 AM
Post by: ctwiggs1 on July 08, 2020, 11:18:30 AM
Post by: 2MANY on July 08, 2020, 11:25:10 AM
Post by: MerriamMagician on July 08, 2020, 01:22:01 PM
I prefer to hunt the deer that motivated folks walk by. :chuckle:
With the obsession of most hunters to go as high as possible, I think a lot of nice bucks in the mid elevations get overlooked. I seen a 170 class buck right from the Greys river road the year before the hunt. He was feeding mid day just a few hundred yards off the road around 7400 feet elevation.
Post by: CaNINE on July 09, 2020, 10:23:10 AM
Post by: ctwiggs1 on July 09, 2020, 11:41:08 AM
Post by: RightPlace-RightTime on July 09, 2020, 08:19:40 PM
Post by: MerriamMagician on July 10, 2020, 09:29:03 AM
Meanwhile the elk just kept going about their business in full rut. At that point, part of me wished I was bowhunting for elk in there. The big 7 point and his harem were extremely predictable after watching them for 3 days, and there were satellite and challenger bulls running around everywhere. There was one evening where I saw some 11 bulls out and about, all of them screaming.
I did get to see some pretty cool feats of nature while in there. One of the bucks closest to me was a small 4 point still in full velvet. On the second day I watched him thrash a tree for 2 hours and shred off every last bit of his velvet. His antlers were blood red for the rest of the day, but by the next day had dried and looked like normal hard horn antlers. I also seen a big black bear display some interesting behavior that could have had something to do with fewer bucks being in the basin. He popped out mid day on the third day and was frantically running around over the exact route one of the solo bucks had taken that morning. He almost appeared to be tracking the deer, running with his nose close to the ground on the exact travel route the buck had been on. Later that evening he was back again, and this time he actively chased a solo buck around for a bit and then the 2 bucks that had been hanging together. I certainly wonder if his harassment of the bucks is why there was less in there last year. :dunno: And of course there was plenty of elk fights going on.
With only 2 nights and one more day till the season started, things wern't looking the best. I jokingly created a hit list of the 4 biggest bucks in the basin, naming them the grand and glorious names of Average Joe, Subpar, Red Hook, and A bridge too far. :chuckle: At that point I decided I was gonna bail. Some advice I had got from multiple people was that if you were scouting a basin for 2-3 days and didn't see anything good by then, you had probably seen most of what was in there and should move on. I waited till the next morning to get in one last glassing session to see if anything else would show up. It was the same 10 bucks the next morning, so I took down camp and made my way out of the highcountry.
Post by: RightPlace-RightTime on July 10, 2020, 10:55:01 AM
Post by: jstone on July 10, 2020, 01:14:31 PM
So far.!!
:hello:
Post by: High Climber on July 10, 2020, 01:21:17 PM
Post by: idaho guy on July 10, 2020, 03:20:14 PM
Post by: MerriamMagician on July 10, 2020, 03:28:48 PM
Post by: SemperFidelis97 on July 10, 2020, 08:00:18 PM
Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
Post by: MerriamMagician on July 12, 2020, 10:23:54 PM
Post by: MerriamMagician on July 14, 2020, 06:01:28 PM
Getting down off the peak into the basin was a tedious chore as I had to descend 1600 feet down a sheer rockslide. When I finally hit the bottom it was getting warm so I quickly got out of my thermals and extra layers. I began working my way across the uphill slope of the basin. I still need to cover about a mile to get into good position. Just before I was into a good spot, things began to happen quickly. Out of seemingly no where the basin filled up with hunters. Things got hectic as deer blew out everywhere and shots rang out left and right. I couldn't believe it. What had looked to be a great morning was quickly reduced to a bust! I was beyond frustrated. I knew full well that the region gets lots of hunting pressure, but certainly didn't expect the sudden swarm of hunters all showing up around 10 am. Unsure what to do, I looped around to a high point where I could see down into all the basin. Amazingly, no one had killed a deer after all the shots fired and as fast as all the hunters had appeared into the basin, they all disappeared just as fast. Not wanting to climb up any more tall peaks, I elected to sit in the top of the basin the rest of the day. It was very slow and I only saw small bucks down much lower than I saw the other bucks. As the day drew to a close, I pondered my next move. Part of me wanted to climb up another peak in the morning to get into another basin, but I also considered staying in the same basin. I was pretty sure the other hunters had blown out all the deer, but there was one herd that I had lost tabs on during the hectic mid morning action. I decided to stay, and moved just a short distance away into a stand of alpine firs and settled in for the night. Despite it being just day one, I was extremely frustrated on how the day turned out. My biggest fear was that all the bucks were blown out and I was wasting my time staying in there. I called it a night, only to have another tough time getting any sleep.
Post by: ctwiggs1 on July 14, 2020, 07:42:14 PM
Post by: RightPlace-RightTime on July 14, 2020, 07:53:06 PM
I'm hooked
Post by: MerriamMagician on July 14, 2020, 08:49:26 PM
Post by: idaho guy on July 14, 2020, 09:04:30 PM
Post by: Widgeondeke on July 14, 2020, 09:52:10 PM
Post by: Skyvalhunter on July 15, 2020, 05:40:51 AM
Post by: MerriamMagician on July 15, 2020, 09:29:25 AM
Post by: MerriamMagician on July 15, 2020, 09:33:40 AM
Post by: ctwiggs1 on July 15, 2020, 09:35:31 AM
Post by: Widgeondeke on July 15, 2020, 09:48:24 AM
I'd take that buck on day 1
Post by: ganghis on July 15, 2020, 11:37:35 AM
Awesome buck, story, and pictures. Thanks for sharing and congrats
Post by: jstone on July 15, 2020, 11:39:03 AM
Thank You for the Adventure
Post by: Skyvalhunter on July 15, 2020, 11:41:56 AM
Post by: trophyhunt on July 15, 2020, 01:10:12 PM
Post by: teanawayslayer on July 15, 2020, 01:37:48 PM
Post by: kellama2001 on July 15, 2020, 01:44:05 PM
Post by: DOUBLELUNG on July 15, 2020, 04:43:21 PM
Post by: RightPlace-RightTime on July 15, 2020, 07:53:36 PM
Great buck and super cool experience you had.
Thanks for the story 👍
Post by: CaNINE on July 15, 2020, 08:43:10 PM
Post by: lewy on July 17, 2020, 09:02:55 AM