I've been meaning to post about this hunt for a while - and Jdubs outdoor posts with pictures finally motivated me to do it.

I got really lucky and drew a great elk tag in Wyoming (a limited entry area with about 8% draw odds) on my first try. I live in Wyoming, and even though I grew up in Utah I always hunted in Wyoming since we had family and hunting history there. But this was a unit I'd only driven by, never hunted it, and only scouted it online.

I took 2 trips in the summer there, camping with my two boys and doing as much driving, hiking and glassing as I could to learn the unit and where the elk liked to hang out. This was a ton of fun and was more great outdoors time with my boys. The area is great for summer camping even if you don't hunt it.

Wyoming is gracious enough to let you hunt during the archery season, and if you don't succeed you can return and hunt during the rifle hunt with the same tag. This is what I did. Because of time constraints, I only had 3 days at the beginning of September to hunt archery. I went alone, slept in the back of my truck and hunted my guts out the frist week of September - no luck. It was hot, the rut was not kicking in yet and there was LOTS of smoke from nearby fires. I could glass and find elk, but as a novice archery hunter couldn't close the deal.

For rifle I had two long weekends. The first one I hauled down a friends camper, arrived at 2 a.m., caught some sleep and started hunting at 5 a.m. I made the foolish mistake of driving in the dark to an area I'd yet to scout out. It turned out to be a good spot for elk, but others knew this already. I'd driven in and camped 200 yards from a family who'd been hunting the drainage all week. I moved camp, had some close calls, but couldn't close the deal. Of my four days I hunted with a friend of family all but one - the one day alone was tough mentally.

My last week I was all alone. Four days. And after two days of cold, wind and no shots I was breaking mentally. It was really tough when I made a stalk on a nice bull early one morning only to have the wind change - he spooked to one ravine over where I heard a shot. I'd bumped him right to another hunter.

If you've never hunted alone, it's hard to describe how tough it can be mentally. I was beat and really depressed. My last day I slept in until 7 and started mentally making excuses to give family/friends on why I didn't kill a bull. I watched wild horses all morning and wished the elk would hang out in the open all day like the horses do. Then in the afternoon things changed.

I spotted a good bull resting in the shade - astoundingly low (in elevation) and close to settlement. I watched him and the group he was with for a few minutes, made a game plan, then went after him. I circled way around to get above them and have the wind in my favor. I got real close to where I'd seen him bedded but he'd moved, I kept seeing other elk in the trees but couldn't find him. There were elk all over the the canyon I was in, so I needed to find a bull fast before I was busted and they all disappeared. While trying to find him I bumped a big group he'd been with and was lucky they ran across an opening in front of me at 150 yards.

Things happen FAST with elk. They're not like idiot mule deer who bound away 50 yards then stop and look back at you. When elk spook, they get out of Dodge..... This was no different. I quickly spotted the largest rack in the group, brought the rifle up and made the shot as he was headed towards timber. He stopped after the first shot so I put one more in him to finish job.

I was STOKED!! It was a huge swing of emotion, and an incredible experience. I'd shot my largest bull to date in an area I was lucky to draw - with literally 30 minutes left in my hunt. He's not a monster, but still a mature 6x6. And he's one of the best bulls I'd seen in the unit. By the time I had him quartered, it was dark. I put his head on my day pack and hiked back to my truck.

Luckily my cousin and hunting buddy lived only an hour away. He'd hunted with me the previous week but was tied up during this particular week. Luckily it was Friday night, and he was just finishing work/family obligations and was free. He drove up to the area and met me with all his gear so we could pack the meat out together.

Honestly, this was the best part of the hunt. Under the stars on a cool, clear night one of my best friends and I hiked back up the mountain to haul out the meat. We had to do two loads, each taking a front and then a rear quarter until the job was done. We laughed, joked, quoted movies, remembered past hunts/pack-outs and planned where we wanted to hunt together the following year. We started around 9:30 and finished at 2:00 am. By that time, it was just easier for me to drive the 4 hours home rather than to my cousins to sleep or stop and stay somewhere else. I was on such a high I didn't have any problem staying awake.

Whenever you're in the outdoors, make sure you take pictures and write down the memories. The bull I harvested tastes great, and he'll soon be on my wall next to a Red Stag my Grandfather killed in Germany while stationed there with the USAF. Each time I see him, I'll be reminded of the highs and lows of that hunt.