I thought a nice flower type picture was appropriate on such a cold day as it is today!

As you know, Weasel and I spent the day out playing in the mountains again yesterday.  What a great day it was too, nice and cool, sunny and just plain great!

We had decided that since the guides wanted us to check in at the Woodruff side ranch by 6:30 a.m. that we would spend the night in Evanston and so Weasel arranged for a room.  It wasn’t the type of room you might expect from a Howard Johnson, but it was what it was.  Long and narrow, but what do you need when all you need is a bathroom and a bed?

We did have a microwave, coffee maker, fridge and ironing board, but we could have done without all of that EXCEPT the coffee maker.  All that stuff just took up room in the already small place, but it was just fine for the two of us.  I have to say the bed was one of the most comfy I have ever stayed in for a motel.

The alarm(s) went off promptly at 4:30 a.m. and up we jumped, knowing we had a full day of hunting ahead of us.  So we went about making about 10 pots of coffee to fill our immediate needs and the cups for the road drive over to that ranch.

The roads were pretty slick all through Evanston and out to the ranch and so the drive was slow, but we made it and were the first ones there.

Speaking of roads in Evanston, I don’t think they have a budget for snow removal in that town.  I missed two turns in a row because I slid through the intersections…You guys need to work on that.

At the ranch, the first person to show up was an elderly guide named Amos.  Amos said he has been guiding at the ranch for over 40 years.  He doesn’t have a lot to say, but he means every word of it!  Welcome Amos, to Bears Butt Dot Com!  Hello Amos!

A hunter and trapper his entire life.  Lives somewhere around Woodruff.

So, next came another hunter and her escort.  Amos was quick to call the head guide and tell him there were too many people at the ranch.  He had room in his truck for the two hunters, but that left me and Pam’s escort and neighbor, Scott on our own.  We decided rather than to sit at the ranch and wait for a couple of hours for the other guide to come and pick us up that we would drive Pam’s truck and follow them, which we did.

The going was pretty slow and difficult for us.  Not that the truck couldn’t go in it, but it’s one of those beefed up high powered diesels with all the weight in the front and nothing in the back.

Amos was making the best trail he could for us to follow, but the wind had drifted the snow some and made it slow going.

The snow had a frozen crust on it as well and then under the crust was light powdery snow.  Some of the toughest snow to try and drive around in.

Besides the snow issues, we did start to see elk right off the bat, but couldn’t get on them.  Amos did give us a radio to communicate any sightings we might see, but we mostly just listened to what was going on.

Well, at the corner of Squaw and Trail, we met up with two other guides and one other set of hunters.

The other hunters were “guests of the ranch” as they did not hire a guide, but they had driven from the Tooele area to the meeting point at Lost Creek and had virtually ran themselves out of fuel.  So, we left their truck and Pam’s at this spot and climbed in with the guides.

For the time being, Scott and I were in guide Bryce’s truck, while Weasel and Pam were still with Amos.  Off we all went up the hill and in search of the mighty elk.  It didn’t take long before we were in an area where it looked like hundreds of elk had been feeding.  And then it happened.  The radio started to bark out elk being seen and elk being killed.  Two down here and one more over there.

Bryce turned his truck around and off we went to find Amos as both of his hunters had shot.  We arrived at Amos’ truck to find Weasel, Pam and Amos all out glassing the area.  They had shot at a couple of cows out on a knob around 400 yards down the hill.  Amos didn’t want to just go down there and look for blood until he had a spotter up high to see if any possible wounded ones were moving off.  So, that is why we found them where we did.  Besides, I wanted to be with Weasel when he kills his elk, as Scott did with Pam and so this put us back with them.

We went down to see if there was any blood and Weasel and I went off following a trail left by his elk.  Nothing.  But in our hike we went far enough looking that we had a heck of a hike back out.  Weasel was too layered up and had a bit of a heat stroke issue going on and was very light headed as we made the climb back to the truck.

You can see how steep the mountain is in this picture.

Well Amos, Pam and Scott didn’t want to wait for us to make the climb back up, so they headed off in search of more elk.  Meanwhile, Bryce waited the hour or so for us to make that climb up.

So, now we are together in Bryce’s truck and Scott and Pam are with Amos, this would be the pairing for the rest of the day.  By the way, Bryce doesn’t like to walk much and will drive to everywhere he wants to be.  Take that for what you think it means.  He is also always thinking ahead and wants to make the roads are as wide and clear of snow as he can for the next trip in…again, take that for what you might think I mean.

As the day progressed we saw hundreds of elk.  Bulls of all sizes and plenty of cows.  It is rumored that they want as many as 260 cows taken off the ranch this year and as of yesterday, they still had over 150 to go.  Good luck to all the hunters who have the tags!

Around 3 p.m. all the guides and hunters were down near the “black tank”.  Amos had found a band of cows mixed in with several bulls and couldn’t get his hunter a shot without some help from the rest.  So, with a similar ring as our last trip, the radio was blasting out who needed to be where and who was cutting them off and who was to turn them what direction.  The rodeo had begun!  Bryce came to a spot next to a fence, looking into a shallow draw and here came the elk, one behind the other and about 200, maybe 250 yards slightly down hill from us.  Weasel was out with the rifle resting solidly on the open door when one of the many, and I mean many, elk filing through, finally stopped and gave him enough time to drop it with a single shot!  Boom!! Elk down!  Good job Weasel!

A fat 2 and a half year old that will make for some mighty fine eating!  Thanks a million Bryce!  Great job of putting the Weasel on this one!

At the end of the day, 5 of 6 hunters had taken their cows and Pam was the only one that still had a tag, she will be coming back another day to try again.  She did have a couple chances to fill her tag, it just wasn’t meant to happen on this day!

Again, I have to say, this outfitting group (Wild Country Outfitters) of guides really work hard to get their hunters onto an elk!  They spend hundreds of hours out there and know exactly what to do and when.  If ever I get another chance to hunt on Deseret Land and Livestock property, I will absolutely go with the guided hunt option!  For the money, it sure beats trying to follow these guys around in your own truck, plus to be able to listen to the radio talk adds a lot more excitement to the whole experience!

Thanks again Bryce and all your crew for a most enjoyable couple of days this old man could have ever had in the outdoors!  You guys are the greatest!

Bears Butt

December 13, 2013