mightyhunter
New member
I only hunted in my home state of Wyoming in 2011. My hunting is DIY on foot with a rifle. I don't use horses or ATV's. I will be 57 years old next month. I had three tags in 2011 for moose, elk and deer. With my preference points, I drew a LE bull moose tag in 2011 for Area 10. I was very familiar with this Upper Hoback area. I don't believe that it is a highly sought area. It is about an 8 hour drive from my home. The area I am most familiar with (Area 11) is almost devoid of moose. My moose hunting started just before the September 26th elk opener. My son and my hunting partner accompanied me for the first 4 days. We saw no moose, little sign and temperatures were just too high. A total bust.
I went back solo on October 9th.. I hunted hard for another 4 days concentrating in the Cliff Creek and Upper Hoback Areas. I had some rain and snow. Most of the trails were a muddy mess from the horse traffic during elk season. I saw no moose and very little fresh sign. I hiked about 50 miles in those 4 days. Another total bust. When I got back, my hunting partner called me to help him pack out his elk. He had taken a nice 300 B&C class bull in my absence. He ended up sharing one front shoulder with a grizzly bear we know as "Ol Backscratcher".
It was my plan to head out October 23rd for one last shot at a moose. On Friday, October 21st (last day of the general elk season) I went elk and mule deer hunting. I ran into 3 branch antlered bull elk late that afternoon about 6 miles in the backcountry. They were all 5 points with the largest about a 250 B&C class bull. The bulls were broadside and standing still within range. Because of my location, and my plan to leave for one last try at moose, I let them pass.
On October 23rd, I headed to the Hoback solo for the last try at a moose. I hit it hard on 23rd and covered about 10 miles up the Greyback ridge just out of Hoback Junction. No moose and there was a controlled burn in the area. On the 24th I hit the trailhead on Cliff Creek two hours before first light. I did about 12-13 miles and got back to the truck that afternoon. No moose again. I hit Gibbs Creek that afternoon and covered another 5 miles. My a** was dragging by this time. I camped at another trailhead with the plan to hit it hard on he 25th.
On the 25th of October, I got up hours before daylight to head into an area I had never scouted before. With temps in the low teens, I started out with my headlamp on and ran into a father and son team (Chad and Zach) who were going into the same drainage for elk. They invited me to tag along for the walk in the dark. About 3+ miles into the drainage, we parted company in the dark. I headed South and they headed North. I positioned myself in a good glassing spot looking over some very moosie looking country. While freezing my a** off, I glanced to my right and saw a bull moose heading up a steep ridge that was north of my position. I ranged him at 439 yards and immediately got a dead rest over my pack. I fired 3 times and hit him twice. I was using my custom Howa in .300 WSM with Barnes 180 grain TTSX. He stumbled down the hill and died about 30 yards from the trail I had walked in on. I spent the day butchering and hanging him by myself. My right shoulder is still trashed. Chad and Zach came by and they graciously agreed to carry my gun out and also the bull's horns. More importantly, they agreed to call my son and let him know where I was and what I had done. I carried a front shoulder out that night. I hit the Elkhorn Bar for a burger and made some calls. My son arrived from Colorado late that night. My hunting partner arrived on the morning of the 26th. We spent the day packing moose meat out. The bull had a 42" spread and after the lack of success for the previous 10 days, I was glad to have him. As a word of advice, hunting moose solo without horses at my age is not a great idea.
I took the day off on the 27th. I started deer hunting on October 28th. I hit the Sunlight/Crandall Area that day. Lots of snow and the deer were moving. We were in about 6 miles from the trailhead. We saw about 60 mule deer and numerous small bucks. No shots were fired. That area would close after Monday. Rather than hit this area for the last day of the season, we hit another backcountry unit that would stay open through November 10th. On November 1, I took a makeable shot at a nice 170 class mule deer buck. I missed and was glad I did. When we went to check for blood we were accosted by two grizzly bears who had come to that shot.We had a long standoff at 30 yards until they vacated the area. If the buck was down, this would have been a disaster. No sign of a hit. On November 2nd, I made the decision to shoot the first decent 4x4 that showed. My son was coming with his fiance to mule deer hunt in a few days. I didn't want to be hunting when he came. That morning I took a 20"-21" 4x4 with eyeguards with a neck shot at 215 yards. We had him out by that afternoon.
My son and his fiance showed on the evening of the 7th. We hit it hard on the 8th. My son and I saw a fabulous old buck that day. We both felt he was around 28" wide. Despite the fact he was close, he managed to stay safe in the timber and got away. The three of us went out again on the 9th. At first light, we ran into a dandy deep forked 4x4 with a 24"-25" spread. By the time we had field judged him, he was moving out with 4 does. My son was unable to connect. Later that date, we stumbled onto a decent dark horned 4x4 with good mass. He went down with one shot at 219 yards. The buck was about a 160 B&C.
I went back solo on October 9th.. I hunted hard for another 4 days concentrating in the Cliff Creek and Upper Hoback Areas. I had some rain and snow. Most of the trails were a muddy mess from the horse traffic during elk season. I saw no moose and very little fresh sign. I hiked about 50 miles in those 4 days. Another total bust. When I got back, my hunting partner called me to help him pack out his elk. He had taken a nice 300 B&C class bull in my absence. He ended up sharing one front shoulder with a grizzly bear we know as "Ol Backscratcher".
It was my plan to head out October 23rd for one last shot at a moose. On Friday, October 21st (last day of the general elk season) I went elk and mule deer hunting. I ran into 3 branch antlered bull elk late that afternoon about 6 miles in the backcountry. They were all 5 points with the largest about a 250 B&C class bull. The bulls were broadside and standing still within range. Because of my location, and my plan to leave for one last try at moose, I let them pass.
On October 23rd, I headed to the Hoback solo for the last try at a moose. I hit it hard on 23rd and covered about 10 miles up the Greyback ridge just out of Hoback Junction. No moose and there was a controlled burn in the area. On the 24th I hit the trailhead on Cliff Creek two hours before first light. I did about 12-13 miles and got back to the truck that afternoon. No moose again. I hit Gibbs Creek that afternoon and covered another 5 miles. My a** was dragging by this time. I camped at another trailhead with the plan to hit it hard on he 25th.
On the 25th of October, I got up hours before daylight to head into an area I had never scouted before. With temps in the low teens, I started out with my headlamp on and ran into a father and son team (Chad and Zach) who were going into the same drainage for elk. They invited me to tag along for the walk in the dark. About 3+ miles into the drainage, we parted company in the dark. I headed South and they headed North. I positioned myself in a good glassing spot looking over some very moosie looking country. While freezing my a** off, I glanced to my right and saw a bull moose heading up a steep ridge that was north of my position. I ranged him at 439 yards and immediately got a dead rest over my pack. I fired 3 times and hit him twice. I was using my custom Howa in .300 WSM with Barnes 180 grain TTSX. He stumbled down the hill and died about 30 yards from the trail I had walked in on. I spent the day butchering and hanging him by myself. My right shoulder is still trashed. Chad and Zach came by and they graciously agreed to carry my gun out and also the bull's horns. More importantly, they agreed to call my son and let him know where I was and what I had done. I carried a front shoulder out that night. I hit the Elkhorn Bar for a burger and made some calls. My son arrived from Colorado late that night. My hunting partner arrived on the morning of the 26th. We spent the day packing moose meat out. The bull had a 42" spread and after the lack of success for the previous 10 days, I was glad to have him. As a word of advice, hunting moose solo without horses at my age is not a great idea.
I took the day off on the 27th. I started deer hunting on October 28th. I hit the Sunlight/Crandall Area that day. Lots of snow and the deer were moving. We were in about 6 miles from the trailhead. We saw about 60 mule deer and numerous small bucks. No shots were fired. That area would close after Monday. Rather than hit this area for the last day of the season, we hit another backcountry unit that would stay open through November 10th. On November 1, I took a makeable shot at a nice 170 class mule deer buck. I missed and was glad I did. When we went to check for blood we were accosted by two grizzly bears who had come to that shot.We had a long standoff at 30 yards until they vacated the area. If the buck was down, this would have been a disaster. No sign of a hit. On November 2nd, I made the decision to shoot the first decent 4x4 that showed. My son was coming with his fiance to mule deer hunt in a few days. I didn't want to be hunting when he came. That morning I took a 20"-21" 4x4 with eyeguards with a neck shot at 215 yards. We had him out by that afternoon.
My son and his fiance showed on the evening of the 7th. We hit it hard on the 8th. My son and I saw a fabulous old buck that day. We both felt he was around 28" wide. Despite the fact he was close, he managed to stay safe in the timber and got away. The three of us went out again on the 9th. At first light, we ran into a dandy deep forked 4x4 with a 24"-25" spread. By the time we had field judged him, he was moving out with 4 does. My son was unable to connect. Later that date, we stumbled onto a decent dark horned 4x4 with good mass. He went down with one shot at 219 yards. The buck was about a 160 B&C.
