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It has been a few years since I took a trip to Wyoming to do a little target practicing. My son Landen will be hunting deer and elk for the first time this year and I have found no better way to get a child familiar with acquiring targets, loading a rifle and generally learning how to use a rifle under some pressure than prairie dog hunting. This provides a little stress to a young hunter and helps them work through this so that they can get a good quality shot off. This pays big dividends when your child is out deer and elk hunting.
The first hour or so Landen was a little stressed trying to find them in the scope and getting on them quick enough. It didn't take too long before he was working the action and blasting away all on his own. This worked great so that I could spend most of my time helping KB, my youngest. KB has a few more years before he will be able to deer and elk hunt.
I ended up only shooting a handful of times but that was all I needed. My closest shot was a prairie dog at 329 yards. I took one at 470 yards and set a new longest shot on a prairie dog at 900 yards on this trip. Check out the video of this shot.
It was a great day being able to spend it with all three of my boys. They had a blast, literally. What a fun day. Now it's time to apply the aloe vera on my sunburn. Ouch!
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243 WSSM A-Bolt Varmint Stainless coyote hunting.
When KB and I were hunting during the muzzleloader elk hunt we made some coyote challenge barks and had coyotes in four directions going crazy all around us. So I decide to take out my 243 WSSM A-Bolt Varmint rifle to see if I could find some to shoot when I went in to check my cameras.
On the way up the mountain, I set up to call for coyotes. After calling for a few minutes I spotted a coyote somewhat behind me on a ridge 199 yards away. I swung my rifle and shooting sticks around steadied and sent a 105 A-Max out to meet him. Well, it didn't work out quite the way I was hoping. Oops, I think that bullet sailed right over the coyote. I just educated that song dog. Dang it!
A later trip to the range showed the rifle was shooting an inch and a half high at 100 yards. Add the extra inch I dialed up for the 200-yard shot and I was probably around 3 inches high at 200 yards. Hmm.... I still should have hit the coyote but this might have been just enough to make me miss. Dang it!
After I went and verified that I missed I started hiking back to my Montero. As I hiked back along the path I had hiked in a came across a set of bear tracks crossing over my tracks heading around the hill behind where I had set up to call. I'm not sure how close the bear came to me but he was somewhere behind me within 100 yards while I was calling for coyotes.
I drove up the mountain further and headed in to check my cameras. About a mile up the mountain I crossed some really large bear tracks in the snow. I ended up crossing over these large bears tracks many times while I retrieved most of my cameras.
I decided to leave three of my older cameras up on the mountain to stay for the winter. I set them to only take a couple of photos per each trigger so that they wouldn't fill up the SD cards, hopefully before I could retrieve them in the spring. I'm excited to see what these cameras capture on the mountain through winter.
I ended up getting the large black bear on three of my trail cameras. Two cameras were taking photos and a Recon Force Full HD camera got some great video footage of the bear. (see the video on page)
Sadly, I found a lion killed fawn near my cameras. It appeared to have been killed a day or two before. The bear had sat down in the snow by the carcass but I don't think he ate much. Only the neck and brisket area around the rib cage had been eaten. The hair on the fawns chin had been mauled making me believe that a cougar had killed the fawn. Because of the fresh snow, there were only the fresh bear tracks going to it. I'm pretty sure it was a lion.
It was a beautiful and sad day to hike up into the area for the last time this year. I can't wait to see what the cameras capture through winter.
Track from the large black bear.
The 105 A-Max is shooting well just an inch and a half high and a little to the right at 100 yards. Given I dialed up an inch to take the 199 yard shot at the coyote I was around three inches high at 199 yards... just maybe enough to contribute to my missed shot.
It appeared that a mountain lion killed this fawn within the last couple of days. Notice how all the white hair under its chin is matted and twisted. It looks like a cougar may have had a hold of this fawn's face.
More of the large black bear's tracks in the snow.
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The 7x8 bull elk when I first found him on trail cameras in July.
My cow elk (shown just over the barrel) from where I shot her.
My CVA Accura V2 Nitride finish.
KB showing me some fresh elk tracks.
A porcupine chilling in the oak brush.
One of the few Ruff Grouse I saw while hunting. They have been a little scarce this year. I find that on wet spring years there are few grouse.
I found the 300 Gr SST muzzleloader bullet resting against the hide in the abdomen after it passed through from the neck/shoulder area of the opposite side.
I have been looking forward to hunting with a muzzleloader for elk this year. Normally I archery elk hunt but this year I was really busy with other commitments in August and September so hunting the first of November with a muzzleloader was a better option for me.
This summer I also had a nice 7x8 bull on two of my trail cameras. Based on reviewing my trail camera footage from the previous two years most of the elk leave the area for the rut, especially the larger bulls. I was hopeful that some bull elk would be back in the area in November, in particular, the 7x8. Hopefully, come November during the muzzleloader season things settle down and the 7x8 bull would move back in the area.
Opening morning I worked my way back into the area were Dallen had taken a cow elk during the rifle elk hunt. As I worked my way into the area I ended up sitting right where Dallen and I sat when he shot his cow. I was sitting near the end of a narrow meadow that meanders down the edge of quaking aspens, oak brush and maple trees.
While setup in this location, close to a CWMU property line, I started cow calling and within minutes had a bull bugling on the CWMU heading in my direction. Every few minutes he would bugle a little closer and I would answer with a group of two to three different cows calls. Eventually, the bull had moved past my location and bugled but he was still on the CWMU. It appeared the bull knew where the no-fly zone was. He was paralleling the property line and wanted me to come to him. How do they know where they will get shot?
Shortly after hearing the last bugle to my left I turned back to my right to see a lone cow elk coming around the exact same bend in the meadow that Dallen's cow elk came around during his rifle elk hunt. It was complete deja vu. I swung my CVA Accura V2 muzzleloader around, cocked the hammer, lined the Vortex 1x24 scope on the edge of her neck/front shoulder and filled the air with a blast of smoke. The 300 gr SST just crushed the cow dropping her right in her tracks.
With the cow on the ground, I pulled out my range finder and ranged her at 68 yards. I figured Dallen's cow was at 75 yards when he shot her. Dallen's cow ran off 30 yards before her lungs filled up and she tipped over or both cows would have fallen within yards of one another as they were both standing in nearly the exact same spot when we shot them a couple of weeks apart.
I was glad we both had purchased the $30 cow tags this year. It worked out great for us to fill the freezer.
I spent much of the remaining day boning out the elk and hauling it up and out of the canyon. I took the exact same game trails up and out of the canyon that we did with Dallen's cow elk.
One thing I will remember from the day I shot the cow, is that I noticed I was peeing dark brown. Something a couple of CT scans later showed I have a 6mm kidney stone that I will have surgery to remove later this month. Oh, joy!
After a couple of days I was back out looking for the 7x8. I ending up hunting six days, two completely full days and four half-days of hunting. On one evening I had a five-point sneaking past me in the really, really thick oak brush at just 30 yards. Unfortunately, he never stopped and it was just too thick to find a hole through the brush to thread a bullet. It was cool hearing the bull coming through the brush as I could hear his antlers scraping across the oak brush. Through the narrow gaps in the brush I was able to recognize the bull as a wide five-point I have bugling and chasing smaller bulls on trail camera from October 20th. You can see this video on the page.
Four days into the hunt I was sent a photo of the 7x8 taken by another hunter right near where I had just hunted. I was right, the 7x8 did move back into the area for the muzzleloader hunt but someone else found him before I could. You can see some full HD video of this bull in July on this page below.
One evening my youngest son KB went hunting with me. We found fresh elk tracks all over the place but nothing standing in the tracks. KB did find a shed elk antler and we also found a NOAA weather balloon with the styrofoam enclosed instruments and we sent it back in the mail to the NOAA. KB is fun to take hunting. He is getting so excited to be able to hunt deer and elk himself.
For the last couple days of the hunt I couldn't find an elk to save my life. I found fresh tracks and dropping all over the place but nothing standing in any of them. It appeared for the most part that my muzzleloader hunt and during Dallen's rifle elk hunt we were always in the right spot at the wrong time which often can be the case with hunting elk. When you are in them you're in them, when you're not, your not.
Elk season didn't give Dallen and I many opportunities for a bull. That's just how it rolls sometimes. I did have a lot of fun getting out in the woods enjoying all of God's beautiful creations and it was nice to fill the freezer with cow elk meat. There's always next year, yes next year.
My CVA Accura V2 with my cow elk.
KB found this elk antler while we were looking for elk.
KB hunting with me.
Selfie of KB and me hunting elk.
The 7x8 bull elk on trail camera in July.
Another photo of the 7x8 bull elk on trail camera in July. He doesn't look too healthy right now but I'll bet the the rapid antler growth elk have really take a toll on them in May, June and July.