wshep820:

I've only hunted the West Elk Creek gorge seven times and that was when I was a lot younger and stronger.

The outfitter can't run you off. It's all public property and you have as much right to be there as he does. He has paid a concessions fee to get exclusive commercial outfitting priveledges in the area. But that does not exclude anyone else from hunting in the area. It's a free country. The outfitter camps at Rock Springs and he will have lots of hunters on the west rim as far north as Bonfisk Peak. They don't usually go much farther north than that. If you camped in Buck Hollow or on one of the ridges south of there (that's what I did), you might have the place to yourself. I hunted that area twice and got a respectable bull and a cow.

I had the best luck when I rented horses from Ferro's and rode into the bottom of the gorge around the lake. Stay below the high water line and you will always be on public land. I camped about three miles up-stream from where the Lion Gulch trail hits the creek. There are a couple of places on the east side of the creek where side gullies form box canyons with trickling waterfalls that make for great corrals and just need a few aspen poles at the entrance to keep the horses in. One thing nice about this strategy is that the outfitters hunters chase the elk down off the rim towards you.

I hunted the east rim twice and didn't like it because there were too many other hunters. But it's easy and if killing an elk is not your highest priority, then the east rim is the easiest and the most fun.

KC


Wind in my hair, Sun on my face, I gazed at the wide open spaces, And I was at home.