K Lazy Three Outfitters

2009

Hunting Season in Review

The summer packtrip schedule was lighter this year, so we had time to do a little new exploring along the way. The highlight was finding a herd of 25 bighorn rams together on our Scapegoat Mountain packtrip. Most of them being mature rams and I had to imagine which one I would take when the state finally lets me draw the highly coveted license.

September 5 – 11, One last fishing excursion for some, and the start of the archery elk season for others. The fishing for the native Westslope Cutthroats was productive and exciting, but not near as exciting as the archery hunters story of getting to observe a sow grizzly and her two cubs for nearly two hours! The bulls were making rub trees, but not all that vocal until the last day. Gregg and I woke a bull up from his year long silence and he was more than willing to talk to us. Over the course of three hours, the bull and I exchanged bugles at least 50 times. We set up and reset a half a dozen times, within 80 – 100 yards, but the bull had a natural barrier of an avalanche slide between us and him, even my best cowgirl talk could not budge him. We had a blast and I will revisit him later…

September 14 – 20, An opening day to remember! Brandon took Kevin and Mitch G. and a mere 8 minutes into legal shooting light, Brandon called a 5 X 6 in for Mitch. Then Mitch was on his own to field dress the bull, because a second bull was on the hook. By 8:30 a.m. Brandon had the daily double, as Kevin used his muzzleloader to harvest a 5 X 6 of his own. Meantime, about 6 miles away I had the father & son combo of Paul & Zack. They told me that it was Paul’s turn to shoot this year, as Zack was the one that shot a bull the last time they were here. As daylight broke, I had Zack into position in an avalanche slide, and Paul was with me “for the bugle hunt”.  By 8:00 a.m. we had a bull talking to us and we were closing fast. We had the elk pinpointed and we were with-in 250 yards. I asked Paul, “Do you want to have some fun with him, or should we just go over there and shoot him?” I don’t remember getting an answer, but I can remember seeing the look in Paul’s eyes and it said he was ready to bag a bull no matter how the situation presented itself. We advanced another 75 yards – “Take him”. A couple of shots later the 5 X 5 was on the ground &15 minutes after that we heard 2 shots ring out from the avalanche slide where Zack was posted. When Paul and I returned to the slide, we found Zack still in search of any evidence that he had hit the bull he had been shooting at. With Zack directing Paul & myself to the game trail that the herd of 30+ had used to cross, we began our search… No blood in the area and my emotions being to sink. As we began to broaden our search, I found a young broke off sapling that looked out of place. As I approached the broken tree, my emotions did a 180. Zack’s first shot had hit its mark! A huge heavy horned 6 X 6 bull was his reward and my daily double was completed by 9:30 a.m. Guy had the father & son duo of Mark & Mitch. They had gone to the same area that the archery bull had been so vocal just a few days prior. Through a series of being patient and then being aggressive with the cow talk, the 5 X 5 came straight from his wallow in the thick timber. When the bull finally stopped, he was a mere 50 yards from Mitch and all he could see was the bull’s head, the eyeball seemed to be the perfect spot for the crosshair, no tracking needed on that bull!

With 5 bulls on the ground and daytime temps getting up to 80 degrees, we had our work cut out for us. We did get 4 of the bulls packed into camp on the same day that they were harvested and Jerry was headed out to the trailhead with the meat by daylight on day 2. On day 3 I had Mark & Mitch and Mark is “feeling the pressure” from his compodrees in camp. We had started up a ridge before daylight, but across the canyon on an adjacent ridge there were two bulls talking it up. We decided to abandon our hunt plans and go toward the bulls. Two hours later, we found ourselves in the midst of three mature bulls, all trying to keep their harems together. We had gotten close enough to see some of the cows fewer than 50 yards, but the bulls were wary. The day is heating up and the bulls are shutting down for the day. One bull just can’t quiet be quite though. By 12:00 p.m. Mark had his big long-tined 6 X 6 bull and we are 6 for 6 in camp!

September 23 -29, It’s been a full week since we have pursued the elk and all of us guides are chomping at the bit to get the bulls going again. We are all expecting a second “season opener” in back to back weeks. The first day was ok, as Glen took a nice 4 X 5 mulie. Then Mother Nature took over, with temps reaching the high 80’s. We were in tee-shirts from morning to dark and the elk seemed non-existent. On the last day, Glen marched into a dark hole and found a cow frozen in her tracks because she was so surprised to see a human. Glen was happy though, he had his hunt double and it made up for the last time the group was here, because they were 3 for 4 on the bulls and he was left empty handed. The week made us all reflect on the fact that this is a true fair-chase hunt and anything can happen. On the harvest stat sheet, we were 4 out of 6 in the second hunt of 2008, problem is, that the elk and Mother Nature run on their own schedules.

October 2 -8, Time to turn things around. An east breeze is blowing and that means moisture is on the way. Paul and I use the east breeze to our advantage and sneak into position on 50+ head with 2 legal bulls. We were within shooting distance for over an hour before the 6 X 6 we wanted gave us the shot. Turned out to be a great older 6 point bull that had the battle scare’s to prove he was the herd bull. With the 10 inches of new snow, we are seeing and getting into elk every day now.  The mulies are a lot easier to spot as well; Guy & Brian found a great 5 X 5 mulie with a 400+ yard shot. Dean & Kurt from South Dakota came prepared for the hunt, except for the brand of bullet they choose. Kurt and I waited out a 4 X 4 bull in the fog near the top of a ridge, before Kurt finally got a clear shooting lane at 160 yards. One shot and the bull’s spine was severed, one more at close range to finish him off. However, upon quartering the bull, I found the first bullet in perfect condition in the spine. On the same day, Brandon and Dean found a black bear sleeping in his bed at 190 yards. When the bear rose up to stretch, Dean fired. The bear jumped and was of in a flash. Dean was shooting the same bullet as Kurt and if it had zero expansion like on Kurt’s bull, the bullet probably had the same effect as a bite from a horse fly. When you are booking your next hunt with us, be sure to ask about the bullets that perform well and the ones to leave home.

October 11 – 17, Mike Shoup is the lucky guy this week, as he is the only hunter in camp. We saw several bunches of elk and 7 legal bulls in the four days that we hunted. On day four we decided to make our move on Bulge Mtn. In Mike’s previous three hunts with us he harvested his animals with a semi auto rifle and it showed in his shooting. I tell all of our hunters that it is shot placement over knock down power or number of times you shoot at an animal. So this year he decided to go extreme in the other direction and purchased a 300 weatherby magnum single shot. Mike gets the best shot of the year award, as he downed his 5 X 5 bull at 550 yards!

October 20 – 26, Elk everywhere! Brandon has Drew & Terry above 60+ head with 6 legal bulls. After both hunters empty their guns (twice) under 200 yards, Terry has a nice heavy horned 6 point for his wall in Pennsylvania. On a day that Tom stated that “he had seen 9 bulls that day”, Tom & John emptied their guns (until they had no more bullets) at a range of under 250 yards, which left Guy just shaking his head. Guy later said, “A 5 X 5 walked into one of the stray bullets and tipped over, then we put Tom’s tag on it”. On the same day I had Glenn & Jerry on the other side of the mountain and got into position on 30+ head with 4 legal bulls in the herd. Adam is over our shoulder with the range finder, “190” he whispers. I told Jerry, “take the first bull in line” and the shot rang out. Clean miss! As the second bull stepped up to the opening and stood, Glenn had his chance. He shot and I can tell the bull is hit, but is behind the vitals (that’s a nice way to say it was gut shot) Glenn shoots again and misses. I told Glenn to “wait until the bull takes one step forward and he will have a clean shot”. “Boom” the bullet sails into a dead tree in front of the bull. Then the bull takes his “one step forward” and Glenn is left digging for more bullets. As the fourth and final bull walks in the opening Jerry squeezes down on him, another clean miss. Half an hour later we finally get Glenn’s wounded bull on the ground. A total of 21 legal bulls were seen that week, with 11 opportunities and only 3 bulls on the ground! Our run of outstanding marksmanship had hit the skids.

October 29 – November 4, The first day was good as we had located several herds, most were too far to go after by the time they were spotted and we decided to hunt them the next day. Mother Nature showed up with vengeance for the next 2 days as the wind was over 50mph and the temps were in the single digits. Jon took a cow on day 4 and we had a big herd with two legal bulls spotted for the last day. The hunt plan was made and we had all the hunters into position, nearly surrounding the area and it’s game on. Guy has Charlie and Jim on point and is taking Dennis in for the sneak attack. Brandon has Bob and they are coming up from the bottom. Greg & I have Jonathon, Chris & Jon across the drainage to pick up any that try to sneak out. As Bob gets into position, he has a cow in his crosshairs, but he can see the tines of the 6 point moving around behind the cow. A 5 point and two cows come up and over the ridge toward us, but decide to turn and head away from us. As Guy and Dennis are in their final approach, they peek over the knob in front of them only to see Bob and everyone is wondering where the herd had vanished to. The pieces of the puzzle were put together that evening in camp, Brandon had went to block the most unlikely place for the herd to run – straight down hill. They all passed within 40 yards of him and he did not have a hunter with him!

            Reflecting back, it was another good year. Being able to hunt nice 6 point bulls from the opening day to the last day that we hunted, is a sure sign that 2010 in the Scapegoat should be equally as rewarding.

Deer Creeks November 15 – 18, Our mule deer hunts are really heating up since the 2006 Derby Mtn. fire. On the first day we took a huge heavy horned 5 X 6 and another good 5 X 5 mulie. On day two a whooping 6 X 8 mulie and we put a hunt on a bachelor bunch of 7 bulls. Those bulls eluded us, but I found another two bulls together and took Mike & Steve in pursuit. We walked right up on the two bulls and the war started at about 60 yards. I am not sure if any of the bullets ever hit a vital spot, rather I think both bulls had so much lead in them that they physically could not stand up any longer! Mike’s is a 5 X 5 and Steve’s is a nice 6 X 6. After the other hunters in the party see the huge bucks that we got in the first two days, a lot of nice 5 X 5 bucks were passed on.

November 20 – 23, Everyone is a return hunter this week, so they know what is in front of them. Randy took a nice 4 X 5 mulie that upon closer inspection was 10 – 11 years old and defiantly on his way down due to his age. Joe said that he “was not going to pull the trigger unless it was a big one”. Later that same day we had a buck jump up 40 yards from us and I said “Shoot him, he has a kicker”. Neither of us knew what was laying in front of us, as we walked up to the buck, he kept getting bigger and bigger. His 28 ½ inch, 6 X 7 mulie was a keeper. Brandon got Bobby into position on a great heavy horned, deep forked 5 X 5 mulie, I heard there was more than one shot, but Bobby still came away with the buck. We have found three 6 point bulls together and we will hunt them in the morning. The next day, the three bulls are where we expected. Brandon took two hunters above them and I have two hunters across the draw from the bulls. There was a reason the three bulls were living on the side of that ridge, as the wind gave up our position at the last moment. Guy took the father & son duo of Franky and Brandon and Brandon made a great shot on his 5 X 5 mulie at 246yards, not bad for 15 years old! Franky and I unexpectedly rode into a bunch of deer and they were running everywhere. We tied up our horses and with rifle in hand, gave pursuit. Most of the mulies had gone only 100 yards, but there was not a shooter buck in the bunch. Nearly ten minutes later and across the draw from us, there was a monster buck. Both Franky and I concurred that the buck was standing at a range of 500 – 600 yards and our range finders are back at the horses!  For another 20 minutes we watched the buck and eventually he walked over the ridge. When we returned the next day to try and find the buck, I ranged the distance from the previous day, it was 407 yards. It’s not an automatic shot, but Franky said he had taken a buck last year at 455.

November 25 – 28, It’s Thanksgiving and its Bruce’s lucky day. We’ve seen several 4 points and a couple of smaller 5 X 5’s and I have been telling Bruce that there are bigger bucks around. Then we found him! The monster buck from the week before. We watched him walk over a ridge just like the week before and I thought he was gone again. Our only play was to get into position and hope he fed back toward us before dark, but as we were getting into position a doe came back over the ridge toward us and the huge buck was in pursuit. We were within range, but the buck bedded behind a downed tree. While we were waiting for the shot, Bruce jokingly asked “Do you think he’s big enough?” To which I replied “Well, if you don’t think he is, then I’ll be taking your gun”. When the buck stood up and exposed himself at 285 yards, one shot through the heart and the 28 ¼ tall, 23 inside spread 5 X 6 is headed to Iowa!  A 4 X 4 and three more nice 5 X 5 mulies round out the hunt.

 I hope you had an exciting and productive 2009 hunting season. We just finished up our Scapegoat Wilderness and Deer Creek hunts with this season being another successful year! We harvested 16 brow-tined bulls and 14  mule deer bucks, which gave us a 56% harvest and a 78% opportunity rate. The 2009 animals can be viewed at  http://www.klazy3.com/pg/hunting1.html  Be sure to call several references for any hunt you decide to go on, we list ALL of our previous years hunters at  http://www.klazy3.com/ht/references.html

 Our Scapegoat Wilderness 2 on 1 hunt rates are $3800.00 per person, broke down as follows. $600.00 down to book your hunt spot, $1200.00 due 1/15/10, and the balance of $2000.00 is due upon arrival for your hunt.

 Our Deer Creek 2 on 1 hunt rates are $2600.00 per person, $600.00 down, $600.00 1/15/10 and the balance of $1400.00 is due upon arrival for your hunt.

2010 License Rates:  All licenses have a March 15^th application deadline

Outfitter Sponsored Combination(Elk & Deer)(guaranteed)  $1250.00                           Outfitter Sponsored (Elk only guaranteed)                             $  995.00                                       Outfitter Sponsored (Deer only guaranteed)                          $  995.00                                    Random Draw Combination (Elk & Deer)                             $   663.00  50% chance of draw Random Draw (Elk only)                                                        $   613.00  50% chance of draw Random Draw (Deer only)                                                     $   363.00  20% chance of draw

Thanks to all--from the hunters, to the crew, cooks, guides, packers, and their families, and to my family (especially Julie)!  20 some years from now, when I am nearing the end of my run in the mountains, it won't be all of the animals we called in or stalked and harvested that I will recall; it will be the friendship and camaraderie of the back country experiences that I will cherish. See you on the mountain next year!

  If you are thinking about hunting with us in 2010, the current available openings are listed at http://www.klazy3.com/company/payment.html   Don't let another year slip by you, these remaining hunt spots are filling up!

       SHOOT  STRAIGHT!  Brett