Last year when I turned 80, I didn’t go on a single hunt. That was the first time that has happened in over 60 years. Hunting has been a big part of my life ever since I came to Alaska back in 1965! My goal this year was to do at least two hunts and hopefully more.
My first hunt was the family hunt. It was in the area that I said I would never go back to. My main reason for going again was a couple weeks before season it started to rain and in fact there was flooding in many areas of the State. It was also forecasted to rain at least half of the days that we would be hunting. With those kinds of water levels, I decided to go.
Notice anything weird in this photo? I have on two left foot hip boots. First time ever for this dumb mistake. I didn’t want to bring my new ones so I just grabbed what I thought was a pair at the cabin. Never checked them before I left. Could have been a disaster but Thor had a new pair that he wasn’t going to wear. Dumb, dumb!
Once we arrived at the launching point it looked like the water was high so I felt great. We got on our way and made it to our normal base camp spot. This year with three Solar’s we made it in with only two trips per boat. I went on the first trip along with Nate and Jared. As we were setting up camp Nate took a quick break and started glassing the hillsides. It didn’t take him long until he spotted a bull. We got out the spotting scope to take a closer look. Our goal was a 60+” bull. This guy wasn’t that but he looked like an old bull and my first guess was 54-58”. We went back to getting camp set up and when Sagen and Thor arrived from the last trip I told them they needed to check out this moose. There were several debates on his size but most thought he needed a closer look.
Base camp.
The next morning, we had three spotting scopes set up trying to locate that bull. Once we found him, he walked back into the trees and we lost him again. Thor stayed back at camp to give us hand signals if needed and the rest of us motored across the river to try to get a closer look. We worked our way up on the hillside to where we thought he might show up. After sitting there all day we never spotted him. Once back at camp Thor told us that he was out in the open that afternoon but the brush and trees kept us from seeing him. The plan was to go up again the next day but farther down the river so we could have a better view. Since Thor saw him last, he would lead the way.
Thor pointing to where he had seen the bull the day before.
We didn’t spot him before we left but figured he was still in the area. We got up on a knoll that was just below where Thor had last seen him. After about an hour of glassing Thor and Sagen along with Nathan and Jared decided to go farther up the mountain and start “calling.” That left Nate, his dad Brian and me to watch the action, and what a show. It didn’t take long before a cow came out of the thick brush and about twenty-five yards behind her was the bull. We had a ring-side seat. Jared was the shooter and had planned on using his Winchester Model 94 .30-.30 that my wife and I had given him for Christmas some years ago. She had given it to me back in the 70’s. The cow walked right by Sagen and Jared at about 15 yards and came to within 6 yards of Thor and Nathan. Jared decided the bull just wasn’t what he wanted so they passed on him at about 20 yards. What a show we had. It was as good as any kill. I was glad I was there to share that experience.
Sagen checking out the bull.
The bull.
Once we made it back to camp, I noticed that we had lost 5 to 6 inches of water and the lower channel that we usually use to come into camp had closed or dried up. Our only exit now was above camp. That channel closed the last time I was there. We ran up river the next day and never spotted a moose and on our return, I could see we lost another 3“of water. It hadn’t rained since we arrived and it didn’t look like rain anytime soon. I told Sagen I personally wanted to leave the next day. At my age my brain just can’t handle the thought of getting stuck with no exit from base camp.
Going up river.
The next morning Sagen took me back to our launch point and I headed home. I went back in three days to help get everything out. We didn’t get a moose this year but we could have so we had a great hunt.
My final hunt this year was an elk hunt in WY. Sagen and I had been buying preference points for the last eighteen years. I told him this year we needed to put in because I didn’t know how many more years, this old guy was going to be able to climb those mountains. This was going to be a DIY hunt with friends helping us get on public land using private land. I have four friends that live in Wheatland, WY. I have been on three guided elk hunts with one of those friends, Dan Artery and took an elk with him twenty years ago. On those hunts I had passed on numerous elk looking for something in the 340-350 class. This year it was to be a “Booner,” or nothing. Sagen was like me in the past looking for something close to 340-350. In years past that was obtainable. My grandson Nathan volunteered to be our packer and just wanted to see some of the western country. I was looking forward to sharing this experience with Nathan and Sagen.
Once we arrived in Wheatland, our friend Brian Artery, Dan’s nephew told us that we could access Federal public land through his personnel property to the West. He had placed a couple of 40’ Yurts on the land to use as a get-a-way place. They were set in a great area and we would park there to access the land.
Opening morning elk.
Nathan between the two Yurts.
Opening day as we were driving up the hill to the Yurts, Sagen stopped our vehicle and said, “elk!” About two to three hundred yards to our left going up the mountain was thirteen cows followed by a 250 or so point bull. As they disappeared into a draw, we were ecstatic. Nathan was videoing and we thought, this is going to be great. However, after hunting hard for three days we never saw another elk, except a group of 30+ that had crossed the road in front of us in the dark about 5 miles from our hunting area.
Elk country around the Yurts.
More of the country around the Yurts.
Looking toward Black Mountain.
Nathan and me spotting in the Yurt country.
Sagen and Nathan in the pine’s out of the wind.
As it began to snow.
On day four as we pulled up to the Yurts the snow was coming down fast and the wind was blowing hard. I will have to say the wind blew every single day at least 30 MPH with gust to 50-60. It was brutal! We sat there for about an hour with no change so we decided to go hunt in some timber about an hour away. Another friend Don Farrier had told us about this area to hunt when we wanted a change of scenery. It had public access from a small county road. It was a fairly tough climb initially but once on top it was easy going. We found an old four-wheeler trail on top and we slowly hunted along it. About an hour into our walk on the trail, we cut what looked like a big bull’s track walking right down the middle of the trail. Since it had just snowed, we knew it was fresh. Sagen and Nathan followed it as it dropped off the mountain. After about a half an hour and not seeing anything, they returned to the four-wheeler trail. We made it off the mountain at dusk. Another day without seeing an elk.
Brian had told us earlier that we could hunt the land surrounding the Artery cabin after a couple of his cousins who had elk permits left the area.
That evening when we called to check in with Brian, he said that one of the cousins had taken a small 6x6 and with everything going on, high winds and not spotting any big elk they were leaving a day early. He said he would take us up there the next day around noon to show us the area and give us some points for the On-X Hunt App to help. That sounded great but we thought we should at least hunt someplace close to Wheatland until we met up with him. So, we hunted one of Don’s old spots.
The next morning, we drove about twenty-five minutes out of Wheatland checking out the Johnson Reservoir Area. Seeing nothing we headed back to meet up with Brian at noon. Once we had cell service, we read a text from Brian saying he had parked his 4-Runner at the motel filled with gas. He had told us earlier that our rental, a Ford Exhibition 4-wheel drive would never make it to the cabin and he would let us use his vehicle that was set up for off road use. I gave him a call and he told us when we finished loading the 4-Runner to text him and he would come over in his ranger and we could follow him to the Artery property. We followed him for about an hour and half on some really rough roads crossing a creek three or four times before we made it to the parking area. He was right there was no way the Exhibition would have made it without some damage.
Brian’s 4-Runner.
My 300 point elk from a previous hunt.
I had hunted this property on two different guided hunts and had taken my elk there twenty years ago. Since those were guided hunts, I didn’t remember most of the logistics. I did know there were lots of deadfalls and blowdowns. There was also a giant forest fire that happened about seven years ago which left many more deadfalls. This makes for some difficult climbing.
Wind or Lenticular clouds.
More Lenticular clouds
Evening Lenticular clouds.
Nathan and me in the wind.
Bull Knob.
The On-X Hunt App with Brian’s drop points and my way points. I would highly recommend this app when hunting in unfamiliar country.
Brian had texted me drop points for my On-X Hunt app which really made it easy to follow and keep us from getting lost. I love that app. He took us to his first glassing point and showed us where his cousins had taken their elk and many of the main landmarks. What a tremendous help that was. With that he said, good luck and goodbye. After he left, we hiked to his next glassing point. That evening we spotted eight different bulls. Only one was close to what Sagen was looking for, about a 340 or so. It was about 5 PM when we spotted him with another bull. I knew it would take us close to 45 minutes just to get to him not counting a stalk. It was getting dark around 6:45 PM. So, no matter what we did we would most likely have ended up spending the night out. We made the decision to wait until the next morning and hoped he stayed in the area.
Sagen and me as we are walking in.
Walking in at first light we were excited to see if the big guy had stayed around. From the same glassing point, where we had spotted him the night before, we spotted our first bull around 9:30 AM. In fact, we spotted 12 bulls scattered around what they called Bull knob along with a herd of about 30+ cows and some small spikes. But the big guy didn’t show. However, his buddy was standing right where he had stood the previous evening. After everything disappeared or laid down, we headed over to where we had last scene the big elk hoping he might be on the other side. It took us about 45 minutes just as I thought. We sat there all day in the howling wind. I think some gusts were at least 60-70 MPH. Crazy wind every day!
Top of last ridge.
Last day lunch.
It was our last hunting day and we headed straight to our last glassing spot. The wind was howling, even harder than the day before. Unreal! About 10 AM Sagen got a glimpse of a bull as it disappeared over the far ridge where the cousins had taken their bull. He said, all he knew was it looked high and wide. It was a long way off, but since this was our last day and Sagen really wanted to go he led the way. Once on the ridge we hunted both sides. It was a great area and if we had another day we would have stayed closed to dusk. We never spotted another elk that day.
Nice Mule deer that Sagen and Nathan spotted.
We did 24,665 steps or 10 ½ miles on our last day. I think we hunted hard averaging 20,000 steps per day or about 9 miles at 6-7000+’ elevation. I truly believe if we would had a couple days that the wind wasn’t screaming or if we hunted a couple more days around the Artery cabin, we would have taken an elk. But as we say in the hunting world “that’s hunting.” I want to thank Brian and Don for their help. Without it we couldn’t have done the hunt. This was a fairly hard hunt and I feel truly grateful that I could still do it. How much longer, only God knows but I do know I’m still kicking!!