Phantom Hunter
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Just returned from unit 61 second season elk hunt. It took my buddy and I 23 points to draw. In 1992 as a first time elk hunter I killed a small bull in 61 and fell in love with the unit. Have been back a few times since looking for elk, deer, bear. Always enjoying the country.
Our trip this year started by following a snowstorm into camp. We had decided to do a “semi-guided” hunt with Allout Outfitters instead of bringing our own camp, horses,etc. That decision was made due to our age, physical condition, and a couple other issues. Going semi guided turned out to be a huge blessing. This semi-guided option included a camp, food, discussing plans and going over maps with the guides in camp. We hunted ourselves during the day while the guides were out with fully guided clients. This was our first time hunting elk during such a late season. We had heard bulls would be down lower and mature bull in nasty holes but our eyes were opened into the reality of this. The two of us would have never been physically able to pack out our bull on backpacks where they fell. Thankfully the young guides and packers of Allout were up to the task. Another thing that we “knew” but did not fully comprehend was how truly mobile we needed to be. Our salvation was we brought a Polaris Ranger as our 1 ton diesel ford was stuck in mud just off Divide Road for most of the season.
As for the actual hunt, we saw bulls from the day before the season all the way through Wednesday when Rick shot his bull. Most were 700-100+ yards off. It was hard to tell how big the furthest off really were. We only got into a cow herd twice, we saw same herd of 70 or so on two occasions then they moved on off somewhere else.
On Sunday morning we found a group of 3 bulls in a location we could close the distance to under 500 yards. We watched them for an hour or more before muffing a shot through dead fir trees at about 500 yards, luckily they did not spook badly. After more watching for another hour we spotted the biggest one which I muffed the shot on standing behind a small tree, and then watched him walk to some oak rush and bed down. Taking off on an hour hike to get around to a rim rock that put us just under 400 yards we set up for a shot. When he stood, I placed cross hairs high just behind the should and squeezed the trigger. The bull collapsed and never moved.
Our trip this year started by following a snowstorm into camp. We had decided to do a “semi-guided” hunt with Allout Outfitters instead of bringing our own camp, horses,etc. That decision was made due to our age, physical condition, and a couple other issues. Going semi guided turned out to be a huge blessing. This semi-guided option included a camp, food, discussing plans and going over maps with the guides in camp. We hunted ourselves during the day while the guides were out with fully guided clients. This was our first time hunting elk during such a late season. We had heard bulls would be down lower and mature bull in nasty holes but our eyes were opened into the reality of this. The two of us would have never been physically able to pack out our bull on backpacks where they fell. Thankfully the young guides and packers of Allout were up to the task. Another thing that we “knew” but did not fully comprehend was how truly mobile we needed to be. Our salvation was we brought a Polaris Ranger as our 1 ton diesel ford was stuck in mud just off Divide Road for most of the season.
As for the actual hunt, we saw bulls from the day before the season all the way through Wednesday when Rick shot his bull. Most were 700-100+ yards off. It was hard to tell how big the furthest off really were. We only got into a cow herd twice, we saw same herd of 70 or so on two occasions then they moved on off somewhere else.
On Sunday morning we found a group of 3 bulls in a location we could close the distance to under 500 yards. We watched them for an hour or more before muffing a shot through dead fir trees at about 500 yards, luckily they did not spook badly. After more watching for another hour we spotted the biggest one which I muffed the shot on standing behind a small tree, and then watched him walk to some oak rush and bed down. Taking off on an hour hike to get around to a rim rock that put us just under 400 yards we set up for a shot. When he stood, I placed cross hairs high just behind the should and squeezed the trigger. The bull collapsed and never moved.
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