New Member here/ thoughts on were to applynextseason4myson

[Kevin W]

Hello Guys,
Kevin here from Iowa. I just happen to see cnelk\'s post about his elk double on another site and remember him from another hunting forum that went kaput!!! about 5 yrs ago. I reached out to cnelk and he told me about this site. So I joined and have spent a couple of weeks looking around this site and certainly like what I see. I put off posting until now but this Thursday my 14 yr old son and I will leave Iowa for Wyoming and the the Snowy\'s / Sierra Madre\'s area as he drew a general tag for elk this season.
A little about myself I am almost 50 and never hunted out west until my at the time 11 yr old son expressed interest in antelope hunting. Long story short I researched antelope hunting and 1 yr later my son (then a 12 yr old) and I went out north of Laramie and after he missed a buck on our second day he was fortunate enough to on the last day to get a nice buck. While I didn\'t get a buck the trip was an absolute success. I put him in for an antelope tag the next season in a different unit and again Kenny drew a buck tag. After the season had been open a couple of weeks we drove out to Wyoming and on the third day of our hunt Kenny took a really nice buck. So on the way home after the last trip Kenny asked about elk hunting, we talked about it a while and after we got back home I thought what the heck. I did a bit of research and put him in for a Wyoming elk youth general tag and low and behold he drew it. Once again he\'s the only one with a tag and we have 10 days set aside to hunt starting this Friday. Kenny will hunt archery and we will be hunting alone just the two of us.
I have been researching both the Snowys and the Sierra\'s since January and have received a ton of good info on both mountain ranges from members of the other hunting forums I frequent. We will be camping off the forest roads or in one of the many designated camping area\'s. We will be mobile and hope to first locate some elk then hunt. A grouse or two is on my son\'s list if the chance arises and of course we have a couple of fishing poles in the jeep should a stream look just too good to pass up.
I hope to be able to offer a report after our return and just like our past hunts out west regardless of success or non success we will have fun first and foremost. Thanks for reading and best of luck to everyone on their hunts this fall. Safe travels, Kevin Wilmes

 

[F M]

Welcome Kevin. I was on the old elk camp along with some others around here. Sounds like you and your son have had a couple of great hunts together already. Brad and John are hunting in Wyoming right now. Wishing your son the best of luck on his first elk hunt. And welcome again to BTO. :upthumb:

 

[bnsafe]

welcome, always good to have new blood and ideas. good luck on your hunt. its gonna be a success rather you put one down or not.

 

[mainebrdr]

Hello Kevin, Good to see you here! Hope you and your son have a great time. Just got back from an elk hunt with my son and it is always a good time!

 

[Ol' Arky]

Hi Kevin and :welcome:....... :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[iccyman001]

Welcome Kevin!!!! :wave:


I hope you find yourself right at home. We love having new people. :up thumb:
Good luck in Wyoming. I cannot wait to hear your post report. :dance2:



I hope you whitetail hunt too. I guess Iowa has some OK deer floating around there. :shh:

 

[cohunter14]

Welcome to the site Kevin! I was on the old site as well and have migrated here. A bunch of great folks here, so pull up a chair and join in the conversation. Looking forward to the report from your hunt! Best of luck!

 

[Don K]

Welcome about Kevin, hope you have a blast in Wyoming.

Just a tip, if you see a warden stop and chat with him. I was in Wyoming two years ago with one of my boys and a warden pulled into my camp to see how things where going. Long story short he really liked that I had my son with me, had me pull out my maps and helped us on some spots to go. His information was spot on,we had a incredible hunt and we still share emails back and forth.

What part of Iowa are you in? I have hunted south central numerous times and had a blast

 

[Swede]

It is good to have you here Kevin. I hope to hear more from you in the near future. Let us know how the hunt in Wyoming turns out.

 

[Baby Huey]

Welcome aboard Kevin! Good luck to you and your son!

 

[cnelk]

Good to see you on here Kevin!
And good luck in Wyoming, its a great place to hunt!

[The other forum that I knew Kevin from went kaput was a HuntingNebraska forum]

 

[Deertick]

Good luck ... that area of the state has a good elk population, and they should be whistling for you with your timing.

 

[Kevin W]

Thanks for the welcome guys!!! My son and I returned today from his elk hunt in the Sierra Madre\'s and Snowys. We were able to hunt 8 days (5 in the Sierra\'s and 3 in the Snowys). Being our first time elk hunting we had a great time and the learning curve was STEEP!!! Just a few things I learned, in no particular order of importance:
1). The physical aspect was extremely tough; the terrain in both ranges was VERY vertical in the area\'s we hunted.
2). The mental aspect of elk hunting is just as tough as the physical aspect.
3). Camping spots while quite common in both forests; most have a pop up tent, wall tent, trailer or 5th wheel on it.
4). Camping spots are NOT always occupied even if said spot has a pop up tent, wall tent, trailer or 5th wheel on it.
5). Camping spots are NOT always the place the hunters are hunting, many truly just sleep there and drive a truck or quad to another hunting area all together.
6). Spruce grouse are a nice way to take your sons mind off of tough elk hunting.
7). Brook trout fishing is a nice way for your son to spend the 80 some odd degree afternoons while waiting for the evening to go back out elk hunting.
8). Even though you see / share the mountain with a ton of other hunters they are most generally really good people willing to talk elk hunting at the trail heads.
9). The amount of land available to hunt in the Snowys and the Sierra\'s is staggering.
10). A locals idea of a quick hunt is a 4 mile walk; my idea of an all day hunt is the same 4 mile walk.

Even though my son didn\'t get an elk on this trip (nor did he get a shot) we did hear and see elk (which were two key aspects we wanted to accomplish). We also had a great time and learned a lot. That said I am not sure if I would do a Wyoming general non resident elk tag again though; it\'s a hunt with alot of resident hunters so the idea that the tag #\'s are \"limited\" really only applies to and limits to the amount of non resident hunters. I think saving up points and trying the draw for a truly limited tag area (resident and non resident) may be the next elk tag my son and / or I try for next.
Still all in all it was a great time and well worth the planning and expense of the trip. Thanks for reading, Kevin.

 

[bnsafe]

sounds like you had a good time, learned alot, and accomplished some goals.
if your next hunt is gonna be a limited tag area you will prob be waiting awhile for a tag. apply for those, but have a backup plan to hunt another area while you wait. you will keep learning bout elk and its not a good time to learn while on a hunt you waited years to draw. and you might be surprised with what you can find in the open areas.

 

[Kevin W]

Understood bnsafe, thanks!!! Along with the limited tag application we will research cow tag hunts as well so we can keep the learning curve going. Kevin.

 

[bnsafe]

im not a elk pro nor do i claim to be. but also consider finding a spot you like and hunting in for a few years. i have two spots i hunt that i like. i have seen elk in both for several days in a row, then went back last year and never saw a elk there. were they passing thru, spooked, etc. i dont know, havnt hunted them enuf to know the yearly go to spots to find them. that takes alot of time and effort, but in the end you will have a decent spot you can count on, and have alot of fun doing it. good luck, and again, take all that with a grain of salt.

 

[iccyman001]

Kevin,

sounds like you guys had a good time and were still successful being able to accomplish your goals of hearing them and seeing them! :upthumb: :upthumb: :upthumb:

 

[Kevin W]

Kevin,

sounds like you guys had a good time and were still successful being able to accomplish your goals of hearing them and seeing them! :upthumb: :upthumb: :upthumb:

Thanks we were Absolutely successful, we had a good time. Going into this we were realistic: 1st time elk hunting, my 14 yr old son had the only tag, we didn\'t / couldn\'t prescout and the tag historically has like a 17% success rate. We knew the odd\'s were stacked against us being successful. Not that it couldn\'t have happened. We were within range of a legal cow things just didn\'t work out.Even though I was told by a good friend that it would be a physically hard hunt; as a flatlander from Iowa who had never been on a mountain hunt or even a mountain hike I couldn\'t even fathom what a \"hike / hunt\" up the mountain each day actually entailed.
While I had a good time knowing what I know now I probably wouldn\'t try for another general non resident wyoming tag. Way too many hunters for my liking in the area\'s we hunted and this was archery; I can only guess that the rifle season would be even busier. Nothing wrong with that just not what I prefer.
Part of our hunt was also learning from other hunters by making an effort to talk to other hunters at the trailheads we hunted after our morning hunt and hike out to the road or trailhead. In talking too the other hunters in the area we talked about elk hunting of course but we also heard from two separate groups (on different days) that told us they had come from the Jackson Hole area just a few days prior. Grizzly encounters spooked them enough to come south and hunt. One group ran two grizzlies out of their camp once the first night, ran them out twice the second night and three times the third night; they didn\'t want to push their luck a fourth night as the bears were just getting bolder and they were not getting any sleep. The other group said they saw more grizzlies than elk in their first two days of hunting and came south to try to eliminate the grizzlies sightings. Crazy stuff, my son and I talked about the can of bear spray we carried and how it just looked woefully inadequate. I was glad we weren\'t in the Jackson hole area as first time elk hunters that\'s for sure. All in all we had a great time. Kevin.

 

[Kevin W]

So as many of you know from above my son was unsuccessful on his / our first elk hunt. I am not interested in hunting myself but my son would like to try again next season, so I am on the research again. Knowing that he is 14 now and he could qualify for some youth hunts can anyone offer thoughts either posted here or via pm (if you wish) on a youth hunt that we could consider? I will check with the state agencies regarding youth hunts but actual experience with a youth hunt would be preferred. Thanks in advance, Kevin.

 

[Don K]

New Mexico has great youth hunts if he can draw. Two of my boys have been there and it was great. PM me if you like and I can share our experiences