gillettehunter
AH legend
This hunt starts a long time ago. 23 yrs ago Wy instituted a point system for resident hunters for moose and Bighorns sheep. This past winter I took a good long hard look and decided I could no longer wait to try and draw a premium unit to hunt moose. I had 21 preference points. It looked like probably 8 plus years to draw one of those premium areas. Too long as I just turned 61 and had a double knee replacement in the summer of 2017.
At SCI I found Bob Beck of Star Valley outfitters. He operates south of Jackson Hole, perhaps 40 miles. He had been hunting his unit for around 10 yrs and told me he had never seen a dead moose on the ground, a horse or in a truck. He also said they often saw moose going out deer hunting. I decided to take a chance and try for a big bull that I hoped lived in their area relatively unmolested. They have seen good bulls each year but have not had a moose hunter in camp.
I talked to him about their deer also. Last yr they took 2 over 200 inches! Big bucks. He said they try to average 180 on their deer. Very nice indeed. So I booked a moose/deer combo for not a lot more than what some outfitters wanted for moose alone.
As a Wy resident I wanted to drive to camp so I could bring the meat home in my truck. Camp is about 8 hours away. The evening before I was to leave my 2016 GMC truck started missing, Badly. So bad the truck shook. We could little that night so the day I had planned to leave I showed up at the Gillette local dealership to see if they could look at it. I had a couple of days leeway as I planned to see my parents for 1 1/2 days in SE Idaho on the way. The Gillette dealership refused to even look at it to see if it might be a minor fix. Soo what to do. I had planned to drive through Billings MT to get there. The truck was bought there so I called to if they could help.
Luckily they save some time in each days schedule for travelers/emergencies. After deciding additional travel should not hurt it more we departed Gillette. Got to Billings at about 12 noon. At 2:30 they had a answer for us. Collapsed lifter. Result would be 5 days to get it up and running and a top half overhaul. Then the good news. First all under warranty. Next they would get a loaner vehicle for us also free. We explained due to the fact that we were hoping to haul back a moose we needed a truck. They were able to oblige that request with a new 2018 GMC with just 700 miles on it! By the time we were done we put almost 2500 miles on it. When we brought the truck back they just wanted to see pics. Great customer service!
My wife and I arrived in camp around 12:30 pm on Sept 14. The day before season opener. Maryann, my wife, is an avid photographer and took the truck to Jackson to spend the next few days looking for leaf changes in the landscape. In camp I found out that my guide, Brian who was one of the former owners, had foot issues. He had been working on a roof 5-6 weeks prior and slipped off landing on his feet. He crushed some bones and made walking tough for him. In fact he was still suppose to be in a boot and on crutches for another 1-2 weeks when I arrived.
So to make things interesting they had also assigned a new guide Spencer to help out. Bob also said he would accompany me when hunting to help out walking/guiding when Brian may not be able to Then Bob asked if they could film the hunt for their Extreme Outer Limits TV show. That meant 5 of us hunting as a group. So I agreed. The camera man's name was Ben. Great eyes. Big help finding and evaluating game.
There were around 9 other hunters in camp. Horses for all. The deer hunters were up by 3:30 and leaving camp at 4-4:30 to get up near timberline. Camp was about 7000 feet. Timberline near 9500 feet or so. We waited for first light as moose had been seen on the creek bottom near camp. Perhaps a mile out of camp we heard elk bugling in the distance. Something that I heard every day and never tired of. Lots of elk around. Archery season was open and we had a elk hunter in camp.
About 2 miles in we found our first moose. In fact in perhaps 400 acres there were 5 moose all told that we could see eventually. A cow and her calf. 2 small bulls perhaps 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 yrs old. Then there was one old bull. He was nicknamed the melk bull. Moose body and elk horns. No palmation. Nothing we wanted to take. As we rode further up the valley Bob spotted a great mule deer with a doe down low. Bob took a good look and exclaimed "that buck needs to die". So bailed off the horse, put in ear plugs and pulled my rifle out of the scabbord. I tried to get comfortable behind a downed log. I finally thought I was solid enough to take the shot. I could only see from the shoulders forward....... I pulled the trigger and just flat missed.... The next 2 shots were me trying to thread a bullet through a small hole in the brush. Maybe 5 inches... My 4th he was clear of the brush but in front of the doe. So I tried to stay up on the shoulder to clear the doe. At the shot Bob yells you hit him. He ran towards us briefly and the headed away. We ran down the trail and I took one shot as he was disappearing out of my life and this tale forever..........
When we looked at the video the 4th shot clipped hair and appeared to put a hole through the base of his antler... So near, but so far. I knew I had got excited and slapped the trigger, but that bad at 215 yds? As I looked at the scope I realized that the turret had caught on the scabbord and rotated to 6.25 MOA up from my 100 yd zero. So something like 12 inches high instead of the 2 1/4 I had set it at. Brand new Swarovski scope on my .30 nosler set up for long range hunting...... So I screwed up. I can tell you that for sure. The moved turret contributed..... So as I close my eyes I can still see him. My guides thought him to be a mid 180's buck... Close to a B&C buck.....
We continued up. My heart was about like whale crap. Right on the bottom. We saw some does and a couple of elk, but nothing to get excited about. Put almost 20 miles on the horses. Long day for all. Food in camp was good. First am was pancakes,bacon and eggs. That night was pork chops. Good solid meals. Beds were pads on a wood frame in canvas tents. Wood stoves in all of the tents for when it got colder.
The weather was terrible for this hunt. Highs in the 70's and lows in the upper 30's. Way too warm. Animals bed early when its that warm and stay in bed until late.
So day 2 we headed up the main valley trail. We saw one small bull on the way up. We saw some good looking habitat, but no more animals. We wound up high where we could see a large hillside. In this area the deer were bedding early. Often around noon they would get up, pee and eat a little and go back to bed. The they would do this again around 4 pm. If you spotted a good buck then a stalk could be made. We saw perhaps 10 bucks, but nothing to get excited about. The ride back to camp had the elk being very vocal and we saw a couple of small groups as we rode back.
I arrived back in camp to find my wife there. She had been called for jury duty. Fed court in Casper.... So the plan was she would call the clerk and see if she could be excused. If not she would pick me up in camp between 11 and 12 the next day so I could take her to get a rental vehicle. Steak for dinner that night. I'll try to continue on my phone. Laptop out of power...
At SCI I found Bob Beck of Star Valley outfitters. He operates south of Jackson Hole, perhaps 40 miles. He had been hunting his unit for around 10 yrs and told me he had never seen a dead moose on the ground, a horse or in a truck. He also said they often saw moose going out deer hunting. I decided to take a chance and try for a big bull that I hoped lived in their area relatively unmolested. They have seen good bulls each year but have not had a moose hunter in camp.
I talked to him about their deer also. Last yr they took 2 over 200 inches! Big bucks. He said they try to average 180 on their deer. Very nice indeed. So I booked a moose/deer combo for not a lot more than what some outfitters wanted for moose alone.
As a Wy resident I wanted to drive to camp so I could bring the meat home in my truck. Camp is about 8 hours away. The evening before I was to leave my 2016 GMC truck started missing, Badly. So bad the truck shook. We could little that night so the day I had planned to leave I showed up at the Gillette local dealership to see if they could look at it. I had a couple of days leeway as I planned to see my parents for 1 1/2 days in SE Idaho on the way. The Gillette dealership refused to even look at it to see if it might be a minor fix. Soo what to do. I had planned to drive through Billings MT to get there. The truck was bought there so I called to if they could help.
Luckily they save some time in each days schedule for travelers/emergencies. After deciding additional travel should not hurt it more we departed Gillette. Got to Billings at about 12 noon. At 2:30 they had a answer for us. Collapsed lifter. Result would be 5 days to get it up and running and a top half overhaul. Then the good news. First all under warranty. Next they would get a loaner vehicle for us also free. We explained due to the fact that we were hoping to haul back a moose we needed a truck. They were able to oblige that request with a new 2018 GMC with just 700 miles on it! By the time we were done we put almost 2500 miles on it. When we brought the truck back they just wanted to see pics. Great customer service!
My wife and I arrived in camp around 12:30 pm on Sept 14. The day before season opener. Maryann, my wife, is an avid photographer and took the truck to Jackson to spend the next few days looking for leaf changes in the landscape. In camp I found out that my guide, Brian who was one of the former owners, had foot issues. He had been working on a roof 5-6 weeks prior and slipped off landing on his feet. He crushed some bones and made walking tough for him. In fact he was still suppose to be in a boot and on crutches for another 1-2 weeks when I arrived.
So to make things interesting they had also assigned a new guide Spencer to help out. Bob also said he would accompany me when hunting to help out walking/guiding when Brian may not be able to Then Bob asked if they could film the hunt for their Extreme Outer Limits TV show. That meant 5 of us hunting as a group. So I agreed. The camera man's name was Ben. Great eyes. Big help finding and evaluating game.
There were around 9 other hunters in camp. Horses for all. The deer hunters were up by 3:30 and leaving camp at 4-4:30 to get up near timberline. Camp was about 7000 feet. Timberline near 9500 feet or so. We waited for first light as moose had been seen on the creek bottom near camp. Perhaps a mile out of camp we heard elk bugling in the distance. Something that I heard every day and never tired of. Lots of elk around. Archery season was open and we had a elk hunter in camp.
About 2 miles in we found our first moose. In fact in perhaps 400 acres there were 5 moose all told that we could see eventually. A cow and her calf. 2 small bulls perhaps 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 yrs old. Then there was one old bull. He was nicknamed the melk bull. Moose body and elk horns. No palmation. Nothing we wanted to take. As we rode further up the valley Bob spotted a great mule deer with a doe down low. Bob took a good look and exclaimed "that buck needs to die". So bailed off the horse, put in ear plugs and pulled my rifle out of the scabbord. I tried to get comfortable behind a downed log. I finally thought I was solid enough to take the shot. I could only see from the shoulders forward....... I pulled the trigger and just flat missed.... The next 2 shots were me trying to thread a bullet through a small hole in the brush. Maybe 5 inches... My 4th he was clear of the brush but in front of the doe. So I tried to stay up on the shoulder to clear the doe. At the shot Bob yells you hit him. He ran towards us briefly and the headed away. We ran down the trail and I took one shot as he was disappearing out of my life and this tale forever..........
When we looked at the video the 4th shot clipped hair and appeared to put a hole through the base of his antler... So near, but so far. I knew I had got excited and slapped the trigger, but that bad at 215 yds? As I looked at the scope I realized that the turret had caught on the scabbord and rotated to 6.25 MOA up from my 100 yd zero. So something like 12 inches high instead of the 2 1/4 I had set it at. Brand new Swarovski scope on my .30 nosler set up for long range hunting...... So I screwed up. I can tell you that for sure. The moved turret contributed..... So as I close my eyes I can still see him. My guides thought him to be a mid 180's buck... Close to a B&C buck.....
We continued up. My heart was about like whale crap. Right on the bottom. We saw some does and a couple of elk, but nothing to get excited about. Put almost 20 miles on the horses. Long day for all. Food in camp was good. First am was pancakes,bacon and eggs. That night was pork chops. Good solid meals. Beds were pads on a wood frame in canvas tents. Wood stoves in all of the tents for when it got colder.
The weather was terrible for this hunt. Highs in the 70's and lows in the upper 30's. Way too warm. Animals bed early when its that warm and stay in bed until late.
So day 2 we headed up the main valley trail. We saw one small bull on the way up. We saw some good looking habitat, but no more animals. We wound up high where we could see a large hillside. In this area the deer were bedding early. Often around noon they would get up, pee and eat a little and go back to bed. The they would do this again around 4 pm. If you spotted a good buck then a stalk could be made. We saw perhaps 10 bucks, but nothing to get excited about. The ride back to camp had the elk being very vocal and we saw a couple of small groups as we rode back.
I arrived back in camp to find my wife there. She had been called for jury duty. Fed court in Casper.... So the plan was she would call the clerk and see if she could be excused. If not she would pick me up in camp between 11 and 12 the next day so I could take her to get a rental vehicle. Steak for dinner that night. I'll try to continue on my phone. Laptop out of power...
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