Hunting Outfitter in WYOMING

[CM McKenzie]

Here's a couple photos to wet your appetite. I suspect that @CM McKenzie and @TERMINATOR have similar photos from hunting the Thoroughfare. I shot my elk a 1 1/2 hour ride up and over steep ridges from camp. It took Harold Turner 2 1/2 hours to get to us with the pack mules. And it took us 3 1/2 hours to get back to camp with the mules loaded.

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Which camp did you hunt out of? The bull looks like he might be up in the big game ridge area. Your second photo looks like you are headed down mink creek.

Nice bull by the way!

 

[CM McKenzie]

I can confirm this

I will be making my second trip to Hawks Rest on the Thorofare w Yellowstone in Sept 2027

Their most popular hunt, bugling elk w Rifle in Sept is booked out till at least 2028. I booked Sept 2027 last January They are that good. Unit 60 General License 3-4 points depending on Regular or Special. Literally the greatest adventure of an elk hunt you can get in America.

They have other hunts besides their Sept hunt that are only booked out 1 or 2 years. The rifle bugling elk hunt in Sept at Hawks Rest is a adventure of a lifetime

I know there are other outfitters that do hunts in the wilderness near Yellowstone Park that are very good but I can only speak from personal experience about Yellowstone Outfitters

You are right…. The Hawks rest camp is hard to beat! I will have to dig around the photo albums and see if I can find a picture from the early 2000’s must have been 03 or 04.

On the third hunt we had a perfect storm come in, and we killed 10 bulls in 2 days. The smallest one green scored 353 and the biggest greened 396. It was a cool looking pack string going out to Turpin.

 

[Drunen]

Here's a couple photos to wet your appetite. I suspect that @CM McKenzie and @TERMINATOR have similar photos from hunting the Thoroughfare. I shot my elk a 1 1/2 hour ride up and over steep ridges from camp. It took Harold Turner 2 1/2 hours to get to us with the pack mules. And it took us 3 1/2 hours to get back to camp with the mules loaded.

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My oh My, I am not sure if I will be able to sleep tonight. That's just a beautiful sight!

And thank you to everyone for pitching in, I appreciate it!

 

[Drunen]

Wyoming is getting ready to change up their preference point system and the non-resident hunters who have been buying points are getting the short end of the deal. I have 21 moose and sheep points and still just a little short to draw.

I have done two antelope hunts with SNS Outfitters and they were top notch hunts. However, I am not sure I'd book another hunt with them. For my last hunt, I booked it in Sept 2021 for a Sept 2022 hunt. Three months after booking the hunt and paying the deposit, I received a letter telling me the price was being increased by $100 due to inflation. That didn't set too well with me.

You might contact Bruce (@gillettehunter ) as he is a resident in Wyoming and can help point you in the right direction.

Thank you for the information!

Hey, I also read your hunting reports in Montana with Rising Son Outfitters and that really looks like a nice outfitter and looks like a great time. I may look into them as well for the future. I did send them a message yesterday, so I am eagerly awaiting a response...

Great reports!

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Thank you for the information!

Hey, I also read your hunting reports in Montana with Rising Son Outfitters and that really looks like a nice outfitter and looks like a great time. I may look into them as well for the future. I did send them a message yesterday, so I am eagerly awaiting a response...

Great reports!

I have an archery hunt with Rising Son Outfitters in September 2023 and a rifle hunt in October 2024. Great Montana hunting and a fun week of being a cowboy.

 

[thi9elsp]

Which camp did you hunt out of? The bull looks like he might be up in the big game ridge area. Your second photo looks like you are headed down mink creek.

Nice bull by the way!

Boy, you are making an old guy try to remember 10 years ago? I just looked at google maps and tried to find the camp to no avail. I saw Mink Creek you reference. We left camp and the corrals and headed back the incoming trail then turned left and worked small meadows on our way uphill. My guide Stephen after the last meadow told me to hold on to the horse's mane, lean forward and hold on as we went up a very steep, forested hill and came out on a ridge that overlooked 4 or 5 meadows on the other side of a creek and worked their way up hill west to east.

We shot my bull in the last meadow to the east calling him in to the bugle. I saw him in the cross hairs come out the woods, then disappear into a small creek, before coming out and walking straight at us before turning broadside at 100 yards with the sun's rays behind him.

We had to radio another guide because we had no direct signal back to camp. Harold had to come the long way around to the west and north of us and drop back into where we were. We had to return that way.

In the photo below, the log in the foreground is where I was sitting and the far hillside is where he came through my crosshairs before walking to where I shot him.

 

[CM McKenzie]

Boy, you are making an old guy try to remember 10 years ago? I just looked at google maps and tried to find the camp to no avail. I saw Mink Creek you reference. We left camp and the corrals and headed back the incoming trail then turned left and worked small meadows on our way uphill. My guide Stephen after the last meadow told me to hold on to the horse's mane, lean forward and hold on as we went up a very steep, forested hill and came out on a ridge that overlooked 4 or 5 meadows on the other side of a creek and worked their way up hill west to east.

We shot my bull in the last meadow to the east calling him in to the bugle. I saw him in the cross hairs come out the woods, then disappear into a small creek, before coming out and walking straight at us before turning broadside at 100 yards with the sun's rays behind him.

We had to radio another guide because we had no direct signal back to camp. Harold had to come the long way around to the west and north of us and drop back into where we were. We had to return that way.

In the photo below, the log in the foreground is where I was sitting and the far hillside is where he came through my crosshairs before walking to where I shot him.

View attachment 510556

Sounds like you were at the Mink Creek camp. They have another camp at the head of Falcon Creek they use for early season hunts, and one at Enos Lake they rarely use. Rumor has it; they just bought the Wolverine Creek camp. That is one of my favorite camps in the Wilderness.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

The moose/sheep points changes have already gone into effect. There's a lot more on the table that may change soon too. Price increases, at least for the NR special license, and potentially changing the NR general tag to a regional tag like the current NR deer. In my view, point creep is going to be really bad in the next couple years. As a resident of WY, it has really made it difficult for me to put together an elk hunt with two of my NR brothers. I can't even, in good conscience, tell them to keep buying points because I'm not sure they'll be able to catch up.

@Cornell Cowboy with you being a resident, you are more likely to hear of the changes in Wyoming. It was my understanding the Taskforce made recommendations for changes, but they have not been enacted as laws yet. Everyone believes they will change, but there will be some sort of transition period.

Perhaps Wyoming is implementing in 2023 the change from the 80-20% split to 90-10% split on the resident to non-resident license for Big 5 (sheep, moose, goat, griz & bison).

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

It appears things might improve for Wyoming non-resident elk hunters

 

[LivingTheDream]

90/10 passed, it is law now.

 

[Cornell Cowboy]

It appears things might improve for Wyoming non-resident elk hunters

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The consensus is that it's unclear how opportunity might change for NR. There's already more NR elk tags than given out than the 7250. If you're willing to pay high fees for a tag and an outfitter, then you may benefit, as that was the driver for the change. If you're a DIY hunter, the change will likely not help you. Ultimately, too many changes at the same time to know what the cumulative effect will be. The main issues facing elk hunters in WY are pressure and access. I doubt any of the changes will impact either of those in a meaningful way.

 

[Cornell Cowboy]

@Cornell Cowboy with you being a resident, you are more likely to hear of the changes in Wyoming. It was my understanding the Taskforce made recommendations for changes, but they have not been enacted as laws yet. Everyone believes they will change, but there will be some sort of transition period.

Perhaps Wyoming is implementing in 2023 the change from the 80-20% split to 90-10% split on the resident to non-resident license for Big 5 (sheep, moose, goat, griz & bison).

View attachment 510672

Yes. 90/10 was already passed. Conversion of moose and sheep to once-in-a-lifetime has already passed. The preference/bonus point change is on the docket for the current legislative session. I'm not sure where the 7250 change is in the process. I'm also not clear on what changes have to be handled at the legislative level versus the Game and Fish regulatory changes.

 

[375er]

The consensus is that it's unclear how opportunity might change for NR. There's already more NR elk tags than given out than the 7250. If you're willing to pay high fees for a tag and an outfitter, then you may benefit, as that was the driver for the change. If you're a DIY hunter, the change will likely not help you. Ultimately, too many changes at the same time to know what the cumulative effect will be. The main issues facing elk hunters in WY are pressure and access. I doubt any of the changes will impact either of those in a meaningful way.

Which brings up an economic point. For the rates I have seen advertised for a chance at pulling the trigger on ONE animal I personally I will be back in Africa following the track of an Eland bull in the Kalahari then hunting for 5 other things.

 

[Cornell Cowboy]

Which brings up an economic point. For the rates I have seen advertised for a chance at pulling the trigger on ONE animal I personally I will be back in Africa following the track of an Eland bull in the Kalahari then hunting for 5 other things.

No doubt! I'm looking forward to my first Africa trip in 2024. The only other place I've hunted (outside my home state of Wyoming and my grad school home in upstate NY) was an unguided Caribou trip to AK. I own acreage in area 7 for elk, but haven't drawn a tag for nearly 10 years... but I see guided hunts there going for $15k!! That's

 

[Firebird]

I have 12 elk points in Wyo but the outfitters I like are all between 10-15k so I’m seriously considering a self guided trip instead of my dream to do it on horses and mules with a quality outfitter. I would rather spend that kind of money in Africa!

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Yes. 90/10 was already passed. Conversion of moose and sheep to once-in-a-lifetime has already passed. The preference/bonus point change is on the docket for the current legislative session. I'm not sure where the 7250 change is in the process. I'm also not clear on what changes have to be handled at the legislative level versus the Game and Fish regulatory changes.

Just looked up the current bill before the WY legislature and the change from pref points to bonus points will be effective Jan 1, 2027.

https://wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2023/SF0088

 

[375er]

Just looked up the current bill before the WY legislature and the change from pref points to bonus points will be effective Jan 1, 2027.

https://wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2023/SF0088

**Note to self: How to legislate yourself out of business. STEP 1....

 

[375er]

I have 12 elk points in Wyo but the outfitters I like are all between 10-15k so I’m seriously considering a self guided trip instead of my dream to do it on horses and mules with a quality outfitter. I would rather spend that kind of money in Africa!

At 15K I think I smell Cape Buffalo dung in the air......(sniff, sniff)

 

[Cornell Cowboy]

Just looked up the current bill before the WY legislature and the change from pref points to bonus points will be effective Jan 1, 2027.

https://wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2023/SF0088

The preference to bonus point bill failed in the House. But the bill to raise NR license fees passed both chambers: https://wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2023/HB0200

 

[Fixfire]

Thanks for the update.