I went on my first ever Big Game Hunt last October .
What an experience that was , from start to finish it was unreal .
Starting with registering for my Sportsman’s card which gave me the legal right to shoot a Big Game animal .its a course that is similar to hunters safety and proficiency all in one . Once that was passed I was able to start collecting my “preference points” , one per year and it takes a minimum of three to allow me to apply for a Tag . I had three years under my belt at this stage , three points for Elk and three points for Pronghorn .
I had a buddy whose a resident in Wyoming so I wouldn’t be out the extra few thousand dollars to take on an outfitter .
he advised that I apply for my Elk , his advice was “ apply now , nobody draws on their first application, you’ll be put in the draw but you will not be successful and you’ll gain an extra ‘Free’ point for next year “ ...happy days I thought .However , I couldn’t apply for Pronghorn as that year they required 5 preference points to apply , so that meant two more years to wait ! , so my thought was wait another two years and I could get to shoot both , anyway ...I paled like my buddy said and lo and behold didn’t I Draw ! , the money was taken from my bank , I was in now ! , arrangements had to be made for flights to Wyoming for that October ( this was March ) ...
But boy was it a hunt ! , 21 days I had booked off work , two weeks of that was to be spent in Wyoming hunting .
I hit the ground running , I arrived on a Saturday evening at around 9 pm ,...and at 5 am I was leaving my buddies house headed up a mountain with a gun on my shoulder and ammunition in my pouch . We climbed this mountain and made it to where we needed to be to look for Elk before daylight , we saw plenty of cows and calves but no Bull , I was asked if I wanted to take a shot .. I was like ‘ hell no it’s my first day ‘ ... he was pleased as punch . Then as we sat on and watched them spread out over the side of the mountainside and then over the top to their bedding area I couldn’t help but think of an saying I had heard previously “never pass up on the first day that you would take on the last day “ ...had I done the right thing ?
HELL YEAH , I was pleased with myself , I’d shown restraint ! And what was I gonna do for the next 12 days or so ? Lolol
My buddy had elk ,Moose ,Bear and Deer tags ,,so I was buzzin’ .. if anything else showed he was up !
Three days in and climbing various mountains at from 4:00 am and still nothing ,,,, but the experience was nothing less ,,unreal , unparalleled sights and sounds and smells . We took a break and went to yellowstone .....and goofed about a bit with targets ,,I took some shots at a 400 yd’s target ,,my furthest before this was around 150 yd’s . Again my host was impressed , he had nothing to do only tell me when to shoot . Anyway .... the following Saturday ,,I was up ,,, Elk that were elusive all week appeared right where we saw them the previous week ,,all over the mountainside , cows , calves ,,,and at least one Bull ...my tag was good for any one of them ,,, I was on the bipod ,,had picked out a cow and was about to squeeze ..when my buddy called ,,” there’s a Bull , do you want him “ ...hey yeah !! ... so I found him in my scope , dialled the ranged distance 541 yd’s ,,, and sent it ! .... down he went ..no messing .
I kept the scope on where I’d saw him fall , reloaded and waited ,,,I saw nothing move . I got up and used my binoculars ,, still couldn’t see him , the shrubbery under where I’d saw him was obscuring my view ......I had to get closer !
We walked up the mountainside to where I’d saw him last ,,,and there he was , not 10 yd’s from where I’d scoped him ,,,dead as hector ,,,I was buzzin now .
My buddy was only too glad to take the pictures ,,and soon got to work boning him out ,,his freezer was gonna be full ,,,he wasn’t a huge bull but a 5. X 4 ,,but he was MINE ,
I carried that skull down that mountain on a high , it weighed nothing ! ... I wasn’t able to bring him home because of CWD ,,but I have the memories and the pics
What an experience that was , from start to finish it was unreal .
Starting with registering for my Sportsman’s card which gave me the legal right to shoot a Big Game animal .its a course that is similar to hunters safety and proficiency all in one . Once that was passed I was able to start collecting my “preference points” , one per year and it takes a minimum of three to allow me to apply for a Tag . I had three years under my belt at this stage , three points for Elk and three points for Pronghorn .
I had a buddy whose a resident in Wyoming so I wouldn’t be out the extra few thousand dollars to take on an outfitter .
he advised that I apply for my Elk , his advice was “ apply now , nobody draws on their first application, you’ll be put in the draw but you will not be successful and you’ll gain an extra ‘Free’ point for next year “ ...happy days I thought .However , I couldn’t apply for Pronghorn as that year they required 5 preference points to apply , so that meant two more years to wait ! , so my thought was wait another two years and I could get to shoot both , anyway ...I paled like my buddy said and lo and behold didn’t I Draw ! , the money was taken from my bank , I was in now ! , arrangements had to be made for flights to Wyoming for that October ( this was March ) ...
But boy was it a hunt ! , 21 days I had booked off work , two weeks of that was to be spent in Wyoming hunting .
I hit the ground running , I arrived on a Saturday evening at around 9 pm ,...and at 5 am I was leaving my buddies house headed up a mountain with a gun on my shoulder and ammunition in my pouch . We climbed this mountain and made it to where we needed to be to look for Elk before daylight , we saw plenty of cows and calves but no Bull , I was asked if I wanted to take a shot .. I was like ‘ hell no it’s my first day ‘ ... he was pleased as punch . Then as we sat on and watched them spread out over the side of the mountainside and then over the top to their bedding area I couldn’t help but think of an saying I had heard previously “never pass up on the first day that you would take on the last day “ ...had I done the right thing ?
HELL YEAH , I was pleased with myself , I’d shown restraint ! And what was I gonna do for the next 12 days or so ? Lolol
My buddy had elk ,Moose ,Bear and Deer tags ,,so I was buzzin’ .. if anything else showed he was up !
Three days in and climbing various mountains at from 4:00 am and still nothing ,,,, but the experience was nothing less ,,unreal , unparalleled sights and sounds and smells . We took a break and went to yellowstone .....and goofed about a bit with targets ,,I took some shots at a 400 yd’s target ,,my furthest before this was around 150 yd’s . Again my host was impressed , he had nothing to do only tell me when to shoot . Anyway .... the following Saturday ,,I was up ,,, Elk that were elusive all week appeared right where we saw them the previous week ,,all over the mountainside , cows , calves ,,,and at least one Bull ...my tag was good for any one of them ,,, I was on the bipod ,,had picked out a cow and was about to squeeze ..when my buddy called ,,” there’s a Bull , do you want him “ ...hey yeah !! ... so I found him in my scope , dialled the ranged distance 541 yd’s ,,, and sent it ! .... down he went ..no messing .
I kept the scope on where I’d saw him fall , reloaded and waited ,,,I saw nothing move . I got up and used my binoculars ,, still couldn’t see him , the shrubbery under where I’d saw him was obscuring my view ......I had to get closer !
We walked up the mountainside to where I’d saw him last ,,,and there he was , not 10 yd’s from where I’d scoped him ,,,dead as hector ,,,I was buzzin now .
My buddy was only too glad to take the pictures ,,and soon got to work boning him out ,,his freezer was gonna be full ,,,he wasn’t a huge bull but a 5. X 4 ,,but he was MINE ,
I carried that skull down that mountain on a high , it weighed nothing ! ... I wasn’t able to bring him home because of CWD ,,but I have the memories and the pics
FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTY ONE YARDS? 
