Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting first time "hunt of a life time" elk hunt

Ed,

Yep, there's a world of difference between "wilderness" elk hunting and killing a mature bull!

Plus, have also done horseback wilderness hunts here in Montana, and while they were great, they haven't been anything near the BC experience. It's a different world, like the difference between, say, South Africa and the Okavango Delta of Tanzania....

At $26,000 for a 300" elk, it better be a hell of a horse back trip. Folks have lost their damn minds...........

Evidently you're one of the many "hunters" who believes B&C score is more important than the total experience....

If I'm wrong, please explain why.

"The total experience"... this in a nutshell John. I'd rather shoot a 300" six point in Northern BC wilderness than a 360" bull on some ranch hunt.

Some know the price of everything and the value of nothing...

Yep!

But might also mention that if you've never been on horseback much, a real wilderness HB hunt might not be a good idea without at least SOME horse experience beforehand. I wasalso lucky enough to grow up in Montana when horses were even common inside Bozeman. First rode a horse at age 3 in my parents' back yard--and also fell off when the big mare broke into a trot. (Eventually got a lot better, partly due to my first job out of high school as a ranch hand in eastern Montana.)

While horse-hunting outfitters tend to have very mild, well-trained stock, it helps a lot to at least do a little riding before going on a horseback hunt, which can be done even in many eastern, urban areas. But it also helps to due some up-and-down hiking "sideways," to strengthen both the inner and outer thigh muscles.

John,

Funny you mention the horse riding. I worked to be in pretty good shape but my prior ride on a horse was in 1981 and a leisurely one at that. Hard to condition the ride if you don't have access to a horse (my lame excuse). My 30" legs, with multiple stirrup adjustments, just ached at the knees for most of the trip as the horses were pretty stout. The tailbone blister was not good either. All to ultimately make the trip my most memorable.

I was lucky enough to grow up hunting elk via horseback and have also done a lot of backpack trips and river raft trips for them. Flew in on a DeHaviland Beaver on floats for one elk hunt and several moose/caribou hunts, all DIY. Rode well over 100 miles in the McKenzie Mountains on a guided horseback hunt. Been on the Arctic sea ice via snow machine and dog sled with subsistence hunters out of Barrow.

I won't pass an easy opportunity when I stumble onto one, but I certainly am prouder of the critters that I got to experience the whole schabang for. Some of my bigger antlers are thrown out in the corner of the barn, with 'lesser' trophies in the house. Just how I am, I guess.
Good luck to the OP, whichever route he takes.

With tranportation to the camp and getting meat and head out that hunt is well over $30,000.

I am sure it's pretty country but a Wyo Commisioner tag and horse back hunt is going to save a few bucks and way up size the bull.

To each their own but for $30,000 it's not hard to get a big bull hunt in awesome country on horses. Might cost a little more to go 1st class and have good riding mules.

Elk are magnificent animals and of course it’s very nice to take one of these regal animals; they are one of the greatest game animals in all of creation IMO. And superb on the table. But as discussed there are elk hunts and then there are elk hunts, varying by different aspects and in degrees of the whole experience.

In the rear view mirror, my two greatest experiences were hunts where I didn’t see a hair over the 6-10 days though others did. Both were wilderness hunts, one in the Bob Marshal of Montana and the other in the Wind River range of western Wyoming. Both were 8-9 hours in on horseback in spectacular scenery. Were they failed hunts? Not even in the slightest way.

These are a universe apart from a private ranch hunt using vehicles or Atv’s or even horses. There are many things to prioritize in your search and only you can put them in order.

Well stated George!

Same here. Big inch bulls are pretty cool, don't get me wrong, but a big 6X in BC would be a wicked experience.

Definitely agree with John. I did a horse back hunt in Alberta years ago. Tagged a 300 bull. I have done horseback/muleback hunts my entire life.I have taken a few bulls bigger than the one I took in Alberta. I have hunted elk for 57 years, only missing 2 or 3 season. All of them run together, but I remember the Alberta hunt the most clearly

This is an outfitter in Colorado with whom I have hunted twice when I lived in Los Angeles. Great camp, guides, food, and beautiful Weminuche Wilderness location. Plenty of elk but this is high country (thin oxygen) so take that into consideration. Also that weather can change on you in a couple hours from "bluebird weather" to "Ohh shidt!" This is a horseback hunt/camp. Rifle hunt for $9,000.00.


https://overthehilloutfitters.rezdy.com/catalog/32246/hunting

Good luck.

L.W.

One of the other things I've suggested to folks going on their first horseback hunt, with relatively little (or even no) previous time in the saddle is hiking up and down steep country sideways. This exercises the inner and outer leg muscles far more than straight-ahead hiking.

My long-time friend Dave Petzal (who was born and raised still lives in the Northeast) also took along a sheepskin pad, complete with wool, to put on the saddle on the few occasions he went on horse hunts. This did a decent job of preventing butt-blisters.....

Unless I’m just lucky, with enough horseback (or on a mule) elk hunts, the time will come when the transportation will become an adventure in itself.

One horse would pause at the slightest trickle of a stream, then leap over it as if it were a fence in an equestrian event. The first time was ugly, but then I knew what the pause meant. Another would like to turn his head to the left and back and try to nip my leg, no doubt conveying his affection for me.

A very memorable one was a big white, draft animal that scared me half to to death as he was being unloaded. I don’t remember if I was even able to look over his back. He was the most docile and tractable horse I’ve ever been on. He had a strange habit though of occasionally sitting down in the snow. Sitting down? Yes, I mean sitting down. That, fellow elk hunters, is a strange and frightening experience the fist time. Can you picture sitting in the saddle on a horse that takes a little break and sits down in the snow?

One last thing to do before you ever take the saddle — double check the cinch. The grouse got up under her nose and she reared up high. My saddle and me rolled over 90* with my off foot caught in the stirrup. Hanging on to the reins, I inadvertently pulled her into a tight circle with a buck or two thrown in. Ah, how to disembark without hoof prints up my back?

Now this part is also true. My best friend, a man of many talents none of which match his unsympathetic sense of humor, went into his rodeo announcer mode introducing me by name..coming out of chute #3…

Then there was my one and only mule, a huge animal…the smoothest ride I’d ever imagined.

Good luck L-Dave.

Sent you a pm

PM sent.

Osky

I would look in Florida or Texas 😂

Shot a nice 5x5 public land, general tag bull on opening day this past fall. 90 yard shot with a 308. 15 miles from home. Seems kinda boring with all these stores I hear. If someone wants to pay me 20k, I could put them on elk. I gotta get into that business. Jeez

Rarely is horse packing not an adventure—some are just more epic than others.

In the hills mules are great………