A Western hunt for elk is something that a lot of sportsmen dream of doing. It’s a once in a lifetime trip for many, but there’s more to a successful hunt than just filling your tag and harvesting a big game animal. My first trip to Montana on one of my excursions out west for an elk hunt left me with many fond memories that I’ll never forget.
We had applied for an elk tag earlier in the year in the area west of Cody, Wyoming, our favorite place, and failed to get our nonresident license for the second or third time. We decided to give Montana a try for an elk as they had a guaranteed combination nonresident license which included deer, at a cost of about $900.00 if my memory is correct. We received our pricey licenses and made our way to the ranch in Gardiner, Montana.
It was an absolutely beautiful day in “Big Sky Country”. It started out cold, but as the day progressed and the sun climbed high into the Montana sky, it warmed quickly. It seemed milder than normal for a fall day, but the warm rays of the sun were greatly appreciated. I took in a deep breath of fresh mountain air and glassed the far hillside with my binoculars for any signs of an elk.
The day started early as we woke about 4am and headed for breakfast. Eggs and toast washed down with some black coffee was just what I needed. We grabbed our gear as I gulped down the last bit of my coffee and we headed out to get some horses. We arrived at the barn a few minutes later and saddled up our horses and loaded our rifles and packs. I put my left foot in the stirrup, grabbed the saddle horn and climbed up into the saddle. I sat in the saddle for a few minutes thinking about how lucky I was to be in Montana right now. I was hunting elk from a horse in some of the most beautiful, wild and remote country in the world. We had acquired deer tags also, so I would take a nice buck if the opportunity arose.
I rode several miles of back country with my guide. The smell of fall leaves was in the air and the season’s colors brought the mountains to life with their vivid display. The intense blue sky and bright, white, puffy clouds seemed to stretch on forever. My guide, Rock, stopped and got down from his horse. He tied it up and said, “We’ll go on foot from here.”, so I jumped down and tied up my ride. It was nice to stretch my legs after the horseback trip up the mountain.
Rock told me that we were going to climb over the hill to our left and hike up to a spot where he had a few ground blinds built overlooking a grassy field. Deer and elk spent a lot of time feeding there and it might be a good spot to sit for a while. The climb up the hill was a bit steep, so I took off my coat and lashed it on the back of my pack. We had to stop several times so I could catch my breath. The weight of my pack and rifle combined with the higher elevation was tiring me out. We got to the top of the hill and walked a few hundred yards across the top of a grassy ridge to our destination.
Rock’s blind was built between two small shrubs with a few bucket sized rocks in between, supporting a couple of small logs. It looked inconspicuous enough and had a nice rock in the back that I could lean against when I sat down. The log on top was just right to rest my rifle on for a shot down the hill. We were at the top of a long, narrow, grassy slope with small groves of trees on either side. It reminded me of a ski slope. Rock said the deer and elk would normally come out of the trees at the bottom and feed across to the other side of the grassy slope, but they could walk across anywhere along the hill. It would be about a 250 yard shot to the bottom. That should be an easy shot as I was using a 300 Win. Mag. Winchester Model 70 and I had it sighted in at 200 yards.
Rock and I sat for several hours looking down the hill for a nice deer or elk, but all we had an opportunity to see were five or six mule deer does. Not one buck. They did come out just where Rock said they would. The weather was nice for this time of year, so I didn’t mind sitting out in the sun. It was a great day to be outside enjoying the weather. Rock suggested another spot to go after lunch to still hunt, so we decided to eat lunch and go check it out.
We made our way back toward the horses without seeing any game that we were after. Rock said he wanted to take me on the other side of the trail from where we left the horses. He said there was a game trail on the other side of the ridge that was pretty active with deer and that elk came up that side of the mountain regularly into a large stand of Aspen trees that was there. We checked on our horses and had a drink of water before heading out for the afternoon’s hunt. I couldn’t wait to see what was over the next hill.
We walked toward the ridge through some open terrain. Walking as quietly as I could and scanning the surrounding area for game I was surprised to see a couple of sage grouse without spooking them. We skirted around them so as not to startle any game that was nearby. The ridge had a sparse scattering of assorted sizes of Douglas Fir along the edge, so we tucked ourselves in between a few of them to hide our silhouettes. We sat here for a few minutes and glassed down the side with our binoculars to study the area. Rock made a series of calls with his elk call, but none responded. We decided to hunt one more spot after sitting here for a bit. Rock had another good spot nearby that we could get to on foot.
I headed north along the ridge with Rock. We still hunted slowly and quietly as we moved using the tree trunks of the Douglas Fir growing along the ridge as cover. We followed the ridge about a half of a mile, and then turned off to our right toward a large hill that looked as though it was made up entirely of large boulders. The mighty Douglas Fir trees disappeared as we walked through a rocky meadow sparsely covered with grasses and sage. We arrived at “Boulder Hill” and hunted our way to the top following a heavily used game trail with lots of fresh sign. We reached the top of the hill and what I saw on the other side was magnificent. It was a brand new landscape painting waiting for me to explore.
A large stand of Quaking Aspens spread out before me in all of their glory. They were tall majestic beauties with spectacular golden yellow leaves. Most had already lost their leaves to the impending winter weather, but some of them still retained their leaves to give us a terrific show. The bold color of their leaves was highlighted by the unique, contrasting white color of their bark. Wow, what a sight to behold! I wish I could have seen them a week or two before when they still had all of their bright leaves.
This would be a great spot to hunt as wildlife love Aspen trees for foraging all year long. The bark on these trees is special as it carries on photosynthesis, which is normally done by the leaves on other trees. Aspens are able to continue to produce sugar during the winter when most other trees are dormant. This provides energy to game and wildlife which feed on the branches and bark. The thought of animals feeding in the Aspens combined with the heavily used game trail leading into them gave me a surge of energy. I couldn’t wait to get in there!
Scanning the ground for sign, I spotted a smooth, ivory colored tip, as well as the rest of the outline of a beautiful treasure protruding from the leaves. Rock simultaneously said, “Hey, look at that!” as I was bending down to pick it up. It was a magnificent five-point elk antler. The smooth and shiny ivory colored antler glistened in the sun. There were no rodent chew marks on it either like I’ve found on deer antler sheds in the East. I got to it before the rodents did! This was going to make a great display. That was a great way to end a day’s hunt. With a little luck, I would be able to get it into my checked duffel bag on the airplane on the way home.
The following day’s hunt was a completely different story. That’s part of the adventure. It was a whole new day with different weather and different circumstances. I wondered what the next day would bring as I went to bed that night after a long, fun day of hunting. I couldn’t wait. I think I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.