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We had a great time in Wyoming elk hunting with Big Country Outfitters. The scenery, experiences and people will be with us for the rest of our lives. We hunted our butts off for five days and our group ended up going 100%. The biggest bull being a 350, 6x6. An incredible success rate considering we were hunting mainly on public land. The last day of the hunt was wild. With one hour left in the season, numerous elk sightings behind us, and a blown opportunity on a group of six bulls earlier in the hunt, we got into a migrating herd of about 300 elk. It was something like you would see on National Geographic. We had watched the herd, on and off, from a mile and a half away for five days, hoping they would leave the ranch they were on and head in our direction. An hour before dark, as we watched a huge 5x5 muley feed a hundred yards away, a single cow broke from the herd and moved out. Soon the rest of the herd was stringing out being her. Let me tell you this was an incredible sight to see and one I will never forget . Amazingly every drainage and tree line they traveled brought them closer to our location. This was even more amazing because we were hunting a narrow strip of BLM surrounded by private ranches. It was as if the elk knew exactly where we were and were coming to visit. The elk gods were definitely with us that evening. We spread out along the drainage we hoped they would be coming up and waited. Three quick shots from one of my buddies, just over the ridge, let us know the herd was getting close. A second later a single cow came into view and made a b-line straight towards me and Linda. Little did we know she was being followed by 299 other elk!! Almost instantly there was such a mass of moving elk it was impossible to pick out a single bull and get a clear shot. We sat there in awe as the main part of the herd ran by without me firing a shot, we were hoping one of the stragglers would be a big bull. A minute later a couple small bulls passed and then nothing. Then a single cow can over the ridge and gave me a good shot so I took her. Wouldn't you know it, as the cow I shot was taking her last steps, two 5x5's came up the draw and trotted by 150 yards away. I'll will never forget the experience or the trip, it was what hunting is all about. This hunt would have been a success whether or not there was a single shot fired. We saw tons of moose, elk, antelope, eagles and about every other animal Wyoming has to offer. We also saw some huge muledeer bucks as they migrated through the area. I'll never forget the sight one snowy morning as we drove into a small canyon and ran into a "Wyoming traffic jam" as Kirby called it. The little valley was so full of moose, muledeer, antelope and sage grouse we had to wait for them to get out of the way before driving on. As has been said many times, hunting is much more than killing an animal, it's an experience and a way of life that only a hunter can understand. We are all unbelievably luck to live in a place where such experiences are still possible and to have people like Melanie, Kirby and J.J. who are willing to share these once in a lifetime experiences with others. Dan
& Linda Gibson |
