deerhuntr4885
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October 21st found me sitting in front of my computer feeling sorry for myself because my hunting partner cancelled our trip to Montana. Believe it or not it took us four years to draw the big game combo! I know....impossible. But it happened to us. Anyway..I was reading everyone else's hunting stories on Monster Muleys so far this year. I remembered reading about someone looking for a hunting partner in the elk forum.
I looked that post up and found Bob Kim, AKA MAXXBOB1 on here. He had offered to hunt with someone else who was looking for a partner. I called him up and we talked on the phone and agreed to meet in Montana at his planned hunting area. I was ecstatic I had a partner for the elk hunt! Bob only had a cow elk tag and drove all the way from New Mexico to hunt cows. That is a hard core hunter!
I left Friday the 24th and drove all day and night. I was a little worried, hunting with someone I had never met before. It can be a little unnerving knowing that you are going to be stuck in a wall tent with a total stranger for the next week. I hoped we would get along but I had a good feeling about Bob after talking to him on the phone. When I pulled onto the forest service road there was Bob, waiting for me at the road. We shook hands and headed to camp. We didn't finish getting camp up until about 1:30 AM.
I brought my horses. The next morning we saddled up and headed about four miles into the back country to do some scouting. We found some beautiful elk country but saw very little fresh sign. We did see wolf and grizzley tracks though.
My new friend Bob and the Grizz claw marks. "We ain't in Kansas anymore!"
On day two we rode in the dark to our predetermined look out point. We got there about 45 minutes early and layed there on the hill. It was about 15 degrees at the time.
I took this photo as the moon was rising.
When the sun came up we did not see anything for the first hour or so. Nothing was moving, not even a doe deer. Here is Bob with my horses on our look out.
Bob and I got together to decide what to do next. I looked up the end of the basin, about 2 miles away. I glassed the farthest hillside and saw an elk feeding in the sun. From the bright yellow hide I could tell it was a bull. Bob spotted another one feeding close to the first one. Through my spotter I could see that the first bull looked to be a good one and the other was a four point.
In this photo you can see where the bulls were. The top right corner in the openings at the top of the ridge.
We jumped on the horses and headed up the basin. We tied them up and started walking. We got into the area just as the two bulls got back together and started heading to bed. They were walking single file up the canyon. I took off running after them, trying to head them off.
I got into alot of crunchy snow and decided to back out. As I did so I bumped five wolves at about 250 yards. I took this photo of three of them. There was a big black wolf and four grays in the bunch.
We spent the rest of the day laying in wait for the bulls to come back out. We took a lunch break in the meadow and let the horses feed. It was really sunny and I got a pretty good sun burn. Here is a pic of me and the girls enjoying the sunshine and the view.
We headed back to camp after dark without spotting them again. We were sure they were still in the area and decided to come back before daylight in the morning.
To be continued......
Mike Henne
I looked that post up and found Bob Kim, AKA MAXXBOB1 on here. He had offered to hunt with someone else who was looking for a partner. I called him up and we talked on the phone and agreed to meet in Montana at his planned hunting area. I was ecstatic I had a partner for the elk hunt! Bob only had a cow elk tag and drove all the way from New Mexico to hunt cows. That is a hard core hunter!
I left Friday the 24th and drove all day and night. I was a little worried, hunting with someone I had never met before. It can be a little unnerving knowing that you are going to be stuck in a wall tent with a total stranger for the next week. I hoped we would get along but I had a good feeling about Bob after talking to him on the phone. When I pulled onto the forest service road there was Bob, waiting for me at the road. We shook hands and headed to camp. We didn't finish getting camp up until about 1:30 AM.
I brought my horses. The next morning we saddled up and headed about four miles into the back country to do some scouting. We found some beautiful elk country but saw very little fresh sign. We did see wolf and grizzley tracks though.
My new friend Bob and the Grizz claw marks. "We ain't in Kansas anymore!"
On day two we rode in the dark to our predetermined look out point. We got there about 45 minutes early and layed there on the hill. It was about 15 degrees at the time.
I took this photo as the moon was rising.
When the sun came up we did not see anything for the first hour or so. Nothing was moving, not even a doe deer. Here is Bob with my horses on our look out.
Bob and I got together to decide what to do next. I looked up the end of the basin, about 2 miles away. I glassed the farthest hillside and saw an elk feeding in the sun. From the bright yellow hide I could tell it was a bull. Bob spotted another one feeding close to the first one. Through my spotter I could see that the first bull looked to be a good one and the other was a four point.
In this photo you can see where the bulls were. The top right corner in the openings at the top of the ridge.
We jumped on the horses and headed up the basin. We tied them up and started walking. We got into the area just as the two bulls got back together and started heading to bed. They were walking single file up the canyon. I took off running after them, trying to head them off.
I got into alot of crunchy snow and decided to back out. As I did so I bumped five wolves at about 250 yards. I took this photo of three of them. There was a big black wolf and four grays in the bunch.
We spent the rest of the day laying in wait for the bulls to come back out. We took a lunch break in the meadow and let the horses feed. It was really sunny and I got a pretty good sun burn. Here is a pic of me and the girls enjoying the sunshine and the view.
We headed back to camp after dark without spotting them again. We were sure they were still in the area and decided to come back before daylight in the morning.
To be continued......
Mike Henne
