HorseCreek
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I thought I would post some pics and story of my uncles Dutton elk hunt. It was one of the best LE hunts I've been a part of, but also one of the most difficult.
We had a great camp with awesome food and friends! Each night was spent by the campfire retelling old hunting stories of the good old days. Those are just as good to me as actually hunting! It brought back a lot of good memories and reminded me of why I love hunting. I can't wait til my son gets to come along and share hunting stories by the campfire.
The night before the opener we had some bulls located but weren't sure if any would prove to be shooters. It was my first time on the mountain so I was learning it on the fly. My uncle wasn't able to scout at all this summer because of living/working in Hawaii and getting married. He was counting on the knowledge of the unit from a few years before while helping some buddies on their hunt.
Opening morning found us up at 4:30 and on the trail to our spot. The bulls started going off just before light. We had bulls all around us bugling. As it got light we moved in on the closest bull but the wind swirled and he was gone before we saw him. This proved to be our story for the day. We stayed at it until the afternoon. Just before noon I was able to call two bulls in. My uncle got into position as the big bull came into view but he never presented a good enough shot in the thick cover.
That evening hunt we worked in to a 320ish 6x6 but decided to pass. We watched him play his cows and beat every aspen within his reach for about an hour from about 100 yards.
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday where all really slow besides one missed shot on a 350ish bull that was jumped out of his bed while on horseback. The area we were hunting turned into a ghost town for elk so we started looking elsewhere. Monday early afternoon we went for a ride on the 4 wheelers. We stopped at a glassing point. Immediately I was hit in the face with the strongest smell of elk I have ever smelled. We worked our way off the road down to the edge of the aspens to start glassing. A few soft cow calls later and we had two bulls across the canyon going at 2pm. Our wind was good in our face so we started in on them. After letting two 4 points walk within 20 yards we made our way closer to the bugling. We soon had elk all around us and the bull came out in to a meadow at less than 80 yards. We made the decision to pass on him at first. But after weighing how the hunt had been so far we didn't want to have to go home empty handed. My dad and I along with the horses had to be home Tuesday night and it was now Monday night. My uncle made a great slightly quartering to us shot and broke the front shoulder exiting out the second rib. His cows went down the canyon as he slowly made his way in to the timber before we could get another shot off. When we got to where he was standing we couldn't find any blood so we started tracking by his tracks. I found him laying under a pine about 100 yards in the timber and quickly had my uncle put another one in him to finish him off.
We quartered him then made our way out in the dark. I love the smell of elk on your hands after it's all said and done! The next morning we loaded the horses and made the trip in. We were back in camp in time for a great breakfast!
We had a blast even though the hunting was slow. We met some other great people on the mountain and shared stories and hot spots with each other.
I can't wait to get back in the elk draw after this year...that was a long 5 years!
These three bulls were killed from the same camp. Two of the bulls were fighting each other when they were shot.
Traditional >>>------->
We had a great camp with awesome food and friends! Each night was spent by the campfire retelling old hunting stories of the good old days. Those are just as good to me as actually hunting! It brought back a lot of good memories and reminded me of why I love hunting. I can't wait til my son gets to come along and share hunting stories by the campfire.
The night before the opener we had some bulls located but weren't sure if any would prove to be shooters. It was my first time on the mountain so I was learning it on the fly. My uncle wasn't able to scout at all this summer because of living/working in Hawaii and getting married. He was counting on the knowledge of the unit from a few years before while helping some buddies on their hunt.
Opening morning found us up at 4:30 and on the trail to our spot. The bulls started going off just before light. We had bulls all around us bugling. As it got light we moved in on the closest bull but the wind swirled and he was gone before we saw him. This proved to be our story for the day. We stayed at it until the afternoon. Just before noon I was able to call two bulls in. My uncle got into position as the big bull came into view but he never presented a good enough shot in the thick cover.
That evening hunt we worked in to a 320ish 6x6 but decided to pass. We watched him play his cows and beat every aspen within his reach for about an hour from about 100 yards.
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday where all really slow besides one missed shot on a 350ish bull that was jumped out of his bed while on horseback. The area we were hunting turned into a ghost town for elk so we started looking elsewhere. Monday early afternoon we went for a ride on the 4 wheelers. We stopped at a glassing point. Immediately I was hit in the face with the strongest smell of elk I have ever smelled. We worked our way off the road down to the edge of the aspens to start glassing. A few soft cow calls later and we had two bulls across the canyon going at 2pm. Our wind was good in our face so we started in on them. After letting two 4 points walk within 20 yards we made our way closer to the bugling. We soon had elk all around us and the bull came out in to a meadow at less than 80 yards. We made the decision to pass on him at first. But after weighing how the hunt had been so far we didn't want to have to go home empty handed. My dad and I along with the horses had to be home Tuesday night and it was now Monday night. My uncle made a great slightly quartering to us shot and broke the front shoulder exiting out the second rib. His cows went down the canyon as he slowly made his way in to the timber before we could get another shot off. When we got to where he was standing we couldn't find any blood so we started tracking by his tracks. I found him laying under a pine about 100 yards in the timber and quickly had my uncle put another one in him to finish him off.
We quartered him then made our way out in the dark. I love the smell of elk on your hands after it's all said and done! The next morning we loaded the horses and made the trip in. We were back in camp in time for a great breakfast!
We had a blast even though the hunting was slow. We met some other great people on the mountain and shared stories and hot spots with each other.
I can't wait to get back in the elk draw after this year...that was a long 5 years!
These three bulls were killed from the same camp. Two of the bulls were fighting each other when they were shot.
Traditional >>>------->
