Roadlesshunters 2017 Adventures

RoadlessHunter

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This is the kind of buck that I'm looking for this year.

We are guaranteed Wyoming general elk and deer for my wife, son, and I.

I hope to finally get an antelope tag this year. The draws will be out next week. I'm excited that my 12 year old will be able to hunt this year.

We had a good time in the Uinta's fishing to get the year started off, but it's time to start scouting for the Wyoming general elk and deer season.

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It has been a crazy summer and I haven't had much of a chance to get out and scout. We completed our annual 30 mile Uinta Mountains backpacking trip a few weeks ago. The fishing was slower than last year, but we still caught a few good sized fish.

I finally drew my antelope buck tag, but it was my second choice and its muzzy only tag with crappy dates on the season. I may not even use that tag.

It will just be general Wyomning tags this year.

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We found a nice bull elk a week ago. He should turn out nice.

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I final made it to the Wyoming High Country. I really like this typical buck with big brow tines. We only saw 5 bucks this trip, but it only takes one big one to make the trip worth it.

I judge him between 26 and 28 inches wide.


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We covered 13 miles this last trip to find 35 different bucks. It has been hard to find decent bucks this year. I still hope to turn up a giant. I made a video with a few highlights from our last trip.



Nice 5x5 with no width.
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Well the 2017 Wyoming mule deer hunt is history. Now its time to catch my story up. Opening morning found my dad, my son, and I hiking in the rain and fog. After reaching our destination all we found was fog and rain. We spent the rest of the day around a fire until the last hour of light. Then the fog lifted and we saw 3 little bucks. Day two we didn't get out of bed until noon due to heavy rains all night. We headed to a different area for the night hunt. After hiking in 3.5 miles we rounded the ridge and I spotted 4 bucks at 80 yards. After a short discussion my 12 year old decided to shoot the 26 inch 4 point, but buck fever took over and he missed the buck. We jump the bucks one more time an hour later without any shot opportunities. We decided to head back towards the truck and ran into another group of bucks. I yell shooter buck to my son and dad, since they were 100 yards down the ridge from my location. After the bucks disappeared we move down the hill and located the herd again. The biggest buck was a nice long pointed 28" 4x4. My son took aim and fired the bucks took off and disappeared around the hill. That was miss number 2 for the night. Day 3 we slept in again due to the heavy rain and fog. I took my son home since he had school the next day and came back for two more days of hunting. Day 4 we hiked in looking for the brow tine buck from my scouting footage. Three guys on horses passed us up on the way in to our spot. I figured all was lost, but we kept at it. They messed up when they stop at the start of the basin to go glass from a knob. We passed them up and headed into the basin. As we rounded a corner I spotted a little buck between two trees and could see another one in front of him. I tried to get a better angle and they headed back the other way. Then I heard my dad say one of them is a great big bugger. I watched as they came into view, little buck, then the brow tine buck, he was good but not great big. Then there he was 35 to 40 inches wide pig with nice looking points all around. His horns just kept going up and out. Scope cover off, shell in gun, cross hairs on the buck, boom. I'm still reeling from that miss. We ranged it at 175 yards. I ran up the hill to get another shot, but that would be the first and last time we saw that buck in 2017. We tracked this buck for awhile and his horns were so wide that he would move 2 feet off the trail to get around the trees on the sides of the trail. I hope he made it through the hunts and will be in the same area next year. Another hunter must have located him at some point, because we saw them every day in the same area even after the snow was a foot deep. Chances at bucks like this don't happen often, and I MISSED. We looked for him the rest of the day and the next with no luck. We saw 20 other bucks in the area with the biggest of them in the 26 inch range.

This was our fist trip will get to the next trip later.

Warming up around the fire.
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Lots of snow !!!!!!!
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Our second trip deer hunting was similar to the first trip. We experienced lots of cold and wet weather. We decided to hit a spot with lots of south facing slopes, because the north slopes had anywhere from 8 to 12 inches of snow. The south faces were pretty clear of snow. After 3 miles of hiking we started to see bucks. We found on that looked good at about 1000 yards. As we headed in fro a closer look three other hunter were sitting on a point glassing. We passed them up and headed around the basin to size the bucks up. We caught up to the buck 2 basins to the east. At first we saw two little bucks, but after they saw us and headed into the basin below I could see a giant typical that had been in the trees. My wife and I moved to the next basin and my dad dropped down to push the herd around the hill. It worked perfectly as the 4 bucks appeared 175 yards below us. I told my wife to shoo the second one as I was putting a shell in my gun. After I raised the binoculars again I could see the big on switched places and was now the first one. On the other hand my wife missed that the first buck was out in front of the rest of the herd. She pull the trigger aiming at the third buck which she thought was the second buck, but the gun just went click. I have never seen a center fire riffle not fire with a bull in before this happened. Then she lined up on number 2 thinking it was buck number 1 and fired. Buck number 2 rolled down the hill and into the scrub pines. At that point I grabbed my gun and tried to shoot the real number 1 buck, but I missed. He was 30 inch wide typical 4 point with tons tons of mass and long points. After the dust settled my wife was pretty happy, but really wanted the wall hanger buck. My dad hauled out the back straps and hind quarters. I hauled the head and the front shoulders.

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My 2017 general season bull is down. Story and pictures will soon follow.
 
2017 General Elk Hunt Wyoming.
Day 1
It was cold 16 degrees at camp as we left 1 hour later than we had planned. It was shooting light as we headed up the hill. 5 plus groups had already headed into the area with half of them riding horses. After we made it a 1/4 mile up the hill, I spotted a herd of elk two canyon over and around a mile away. The herd had 30 cows and one 6-point bull with shorter points. It didn't take long and the masses opened fire from who knows how far away. The bull ran across the top of the ridge unscathed. A half hour later a herd of 20 cows ran across a hill side about 900 yards from us. The canyon again erupted with gun fire and after 20 to 30 shots that morning in the canyon we saw a total of zero dead elk. Late morning, we found a sunny hillside and laid down for a nap. About 30 minutes into my nap, I sat up just in time to see 15 cows and a nice bull run into some trees across the canyon. I estimated them to be 1 mile away, so we finished our nap and started to work our way around the head of the canyon. After 4 hours and many falls down the slick hillsides we were in position to make a stalk on the patch of trees where the elk had disappeared 5 hours earlier. We had spotted 2 cows on the trip around the top of the canyon.

We pushed the patch, but only found fresh tracks with no elk. It was getting late, so we started to head down off the mountain. My 12-year-old was tired and was ready for a good rest. We had covered 8 miles to that point. He sat on a log, while my dad and I walked to the edge of a small basin to determine which way we would exit the canyon and make our way to the main road. I looked back and signaled to my 12-year-old lets go. He was 100 yards behind us at that point. I walked 20 yards and looked down the hill. I saw an elk take off and could tell he was a bull. I got ready for the shot and realized my son was not going to make it in time for a shot. As the bull came out the other side of the trees I ask my dad how big is he and he responded big enough. I'm not sure what the first shot did, but the second one knocked him down just before he dropped out of sight over the ridge. It looked like a hurricane had hit on the other side of the ridge with dust pouring into the air. We expected him to be piled up on the other side of the ridge, but nothing as we rounded the hill and looked down the draw. We could see the roll marks and then it looked like he got back on his feet and ran off. I told my dad and son to look in the next draw and I would try to follow his tracks. They started yelling and I ran to the next canyon and finished him off. He only has 5 on each side, but is my best elk to date.

My wife and 11-year-old met us at camp and we spent the next day hauling the elk out. The last day we went to my bow hunt area, but only found tracks.

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We did our own Euro mounts with help from my neighbor.
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My wifes buck Euro mount

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The last elk hunting trip of the season had its highs and lows. We decided to hit our trusted spot and headed in for the morning hunt. First thing in the morning we spotted 4 cow elk at 200 yards, so things looked good at that point. That was the only 4 elk we saw that morning. My dad pushed the canyon just west of us were I shot my bull last year. All we saw between us was fresh bear tracks and my dad found a 6-point shed. That afternoon we moved 50 miles to the south, but we saw no elk that night. In the morning we made a push down a ridge, but only saw tracks with no elk. At this point we had 1/2 day left and decided our best change was back to the other location for the night hunt. As we started up the hill my dad spotted anther shed out in front of us. It was a nice heavy 6 point shed. Just after the shed find, I spotted an elk across the canyon.
So my dad decided to look for the other side of the six point and my son and I moved up the ridge for a better look at the elk. After traveling 500 yards up the ridge we planned to swing down and around to get a closer look at the elk. Halfway back around I spotted another herd across the canyon. This herd had a big bull a little bull and 10 to 15 cows. I ranged the elk at 630 yards, which is out of range for my son. We dropped down to a point below that was closer, but at that vantage point we couldn't see over the tree that blocked the elk. I looked at the GPS and we had 1.5 hour to sunset. we waited hoping the bulls would feed out. At 30 minutes to sun set we decided to move down the canyon closer to the truck and hopefully a better view of the elk. It worked and we spotted the elk feeding towards us. The big bull had feed into the thick pines, but the little bull was making his way down the hill. At 430 yards all the elk started to feed across a clearing. I told my son to get ready and were to aim for that distance. Cow calf cow cow calf and I said he has to be next. All of a sudden, the little bull crossed the clearing at full speed. At this point we had 35 minutes of shooting light. I told my son maybe they will hit the next clearing which was 313 yards away. 10 minutes later and they started to pour into the clearing. 15 cows enter the clearing and then the big bull feed up to the edge of the nob above them, but never quite came out of the trees. The small bull did feed out and I told my son it's the little bull or nothing with light fading. He set up and shot 4 shots across the canyon at the bull. I think buck fever must have taken over and he missed all four shots. We crossed the canyon and to followed up on the shots, but we found not sign of a hit along his escape trail. I guess there is always next year. My dad did find another 5-point shed bringing his total to 3 sheds for the trip.

Wyoming 2017 was a fun year and my 12 year old sons first year to hunt. Next year will be even better, since my next son will be able to hunt.

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A special thanks to Founder for the Hunter Challenge Backpacks from 2015 and 2016.

I used the Easton Pickup XT 3000 to pack my elk out and like it enough that now I use it as my day pack. It's light with lots of room. The pack also has a netting that pulls out and straps to the back of the pack, which works good for strapping sheds to the back of the pack.

My wife uses the Stake Out XT 1500 and loves it.

Both packs have lots of storage pockets and ride well loaded down heavy.

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The Crew getting ready to pack my elk out.
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I was surprised to see this scene on the winter range in very South West Wyoming.

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Yes look closer that is a white tail mixed in with a buck and doe mule deer.



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