Unit 77/Piedra Wilderness Elk Hunt

[nmmuley]

I am going on the second rifle elk hunt in the Piedra Wilderness. We will be hunting 7 days out of a drop camp approximately 7-8 miles in. Has anyone hunted this area before? What type of elk should I expect to see? Should I take the first legal bull I see? Any general information anyone is willing to share would be much appreciated.

 

[TK]

I don't know that I would shoot the first legal bull I saw but I would not be to picky. A 300" bull would be a stretch but it's possible. Anything over 250-260 would be a keeper unless you are willing to eat tag soup. You know the old saying, Don't pass up anything you would be willing to shoot on the last day.

 

[LESGO54]

i hunted unit 77 a couple years ago. i am courious as to which outfitter u got to do a drop camp. we are tryin to go back next year and thinkin about doing a drop camp. please keep my informed as to how u liked the outfitter or not thanks danny

 

[nmmuley]

I will definitely let you know how it goes. How did your hunt in Unit 77 go a few years ago?

 

[LESGO54]

IT WAS MY FIRST TRIP OUT WEST TO HUNT. I ENJOYED IT SO MUCH I WANT TO MOVE OUT WEST, JUST HAVENT CONVINCED THE WIFE. BUT IM STILL WORKIN ON IT. WE HUNTED IN BURNS CANYON FOR A FEW DAYS AND SAY A FEW ELK BUT THEY WERE ON PRIVATE LAND. WE SAY TONS OF MULLIES WITH SOME DANDIES IN THERE NEAR THE INDIAN RESERVATION LINE. WE HUNTED ON BUCKLE LAKE ROAD NEAR THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN BUT SAW NOTHING BUT OTHER HUNTERS. THEN WE WENT TO MIDDLE MOUNTAIN (I THINK) AND SAW A FEW COWS. HAD 1 BULL BUGLE AND COME CHARGING IN BUT WE THINK A COW BUSTED US CAUSE THEY LEFT FAST. OVER ALL I HAD A GREAT TIME. WALKED MY BUT OFF. WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME SCOUTING AND HUNTING AT THE SAME TIME AND THAT HURT OUR HUNTING A LOT. NEXT TIME I WILL GO SEVERAL DAYS EARLY.. I ALSO LEARNED TO CONCENTRATE ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN. THAT IS SOMETHING WE DIDNT DO THAT TRIP. WE HAVE ABOUT 6 FRIENDS THAT WANT TO GO NEXT YEAR AND WE WANT TO DO A DROP CAMP. WE BELIEVE THAT STAYIN IN AND NEAR THE ELK MAKES THE ODDS GO WAY UP.

 

[nmmuley]

Got back from our Unit 77 Piedra Widerness hunt on Sunday evening. Worked our butts off up there for 6 days and ended up taking one nice 5x5. Not quite sure how to post pics, but if someone can offer some instructions I will get a few pics posted.

 

[LESGO54]

keep me posted. we are sure we are going next year unless something major happens. cant wait for the pics and story

 

[mozey]

nmmuley,

Much congrats on your elk.

Did you see any muleys in there? I hiked in there today but only saw elk sign. I hiked a ways up Hell Canyon and then came back out Cold Water canyon. I had to come back out because I can't get out of work for the next three days. Mostly just saw evidence of elk; saw where three elk were killed and boned out in the same meadow in Cold Water.

I plan to head back up there on Wednesday. I'm trying to decide if I should head back into the same general area or try a new area--so I'd appreciate any response.

 

[nmmuley]

Sorry for the delayed response. We saw some great muleys during our 7 days up in there. The two best bucks we saw were a 26-28" 8 point on our first evening and a 30-31" 10 point on our fifth morning. Both of these bucks would have been wallhangers by anyones standards.

 

[nmmuley]

Attached are some pictures of the 5x5 bull we took during the 2nd rifle up in the Piedra Wilderness. We took this bull on the fifth day of the hunt. On the first night of the hunt we setup on a small park hoping to catch some elk coming out of the timber as the sun faded away. A small 4x3 and 4 cows came out like clockwork at around 5pm. Being the first evening of a 7 day hunt we decided to take our chances and hold out for a better quality bull. The next three days the temperature increased to the mid 70's and this coupled with hunting pressure in the general area shut everything down. We went three days without even seeing hair. It was really hot up there and most of the ground cover had dried out pretty bad, so we were having very limited success stalking through the timber trying to jump elk out of their beds. On the fifth day of our hunt, my brother had a suspicion that elk where using a patch of timber straight uphill from a 5-10 acre park as a bedding area and due to hot temps and hunting pressure, these elk were not moving until well after sunset. He formulated a game plan that he would come over the top of the mountain at around 4:30pm and bust the timber hoping to flush anything holed up down the mountain and through the park, where I was positioned to take a shot. As he reached the middle of the mountain, 2 bulls and 6 cows made a silent departure through some scrub oak and headed right across the park that my brother had stationed me at. As they reached the middle of the park, I chirped my cow call to freeze the herd and picked out the bigger of the two bulls. One shot through the vitals dropped this bull at about 185 yards. All in all, it was a very demanding and grueling hunt up there, but nothing beats the satisfaction that comes from taking a nice bull on a unguided public land hunt.

 

[LESGO54]

thats a good bull. u got any gps coordinances u wanna share. and what about the giude service u used for the drop camp. and how much did they charge. if u dont mind sharing this imfo. u can sent me a [email protected] thanks danny