USA: Rifle Elk Hunt With Rising Son Outfitters In Montana November 2017

[375 Ruger Fan]

So starts another "Dave's wrong way adventure," crossing the big pond in opposite direction to go on a hunt. I left Lagos, Nigeria in late October and arrived back home in Louisiana. I had a little over a week to round up my gear, go shoot my rifle and get ready for my late season elk hunt. This is a hunt I booked about 2 years ago for me and my son-in-law, Jordan. Jordan is a very experienced deer and duck hunter, but this will be his first elk hunt. A lot has happened since I booked the hunt. Jordan and my daughter, Erin, moved from Louisiana to Midland, TX and also very recently recently welcomed the birth of their first child and my first grandchild. My wife and I have been spending some time in Midland, getting acquainted with our grandson.

Today we will enjoy watching the LSU football game and making our final gear and weapons check. Jordan is a southpaw, so I found a good deal about a year ago on a left handed Ruger in 300 win mag for him. He had a 270 he used for deer hunting, but we both thought a little more gun would be nice. I will be taking my 338 win mag and using Swift ammo with 250 gr A-Frames. A few days ago, we went to a really nice gun range on the south side of Midland and shot both of our rifles. (http://www.midlandshooters.com/)

Tomorrow (Sunday) we fly from Midland to Bozeman, via Denver on United and will start our week long hunt with Rising Son Outfitters (http://www.huntinginmontana.com/ ). I think this is my 8th hunt (7 elk and 1 blackbear hunt) with Rising Son and over the years I have become good friends with the owners, Randy and Dena Petrich and their 3 sons. The weather is setting up nicely with a light dusting of snow the past couple of days. We'll be in the saddle before daylight on Monday and can't hardly wait. Full report and photos to follow after the hunt, as I doubt I will post anything during the week.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Bozeman and surrounding area is heaven to me. Hope you guys do well!

 

[gillettehunter]

Best of luck. This time of year the weather can be a crap shoot. Some fresh snow can really be a help. A blizzard or sub zero temps on the other hand can make it tough. Have fun and enjoy the time with your son. Bruce

 

[Brent in Az]

Good luck. Cold weather, and heavy snow in the high country, makes for some good Montana Elk hunting.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Good luck! We’ll be waiting to hear your successes!

 

[mark-hunter]

This is beginning of a wonderful story!
Good luck hunting!

 

[enysse]

Can't wait to hear the hunting report!

 

[cpr0312]

Good luck! Look forward to updates and the report!

 

[Bullthrower338]

Good luck. Weather has been good in the high country and too warm down lower. There was enough snow accumulation up high the elk were migrating down and I hooked up yesterday. supposed to get more cold and snow toward the end of the week but I'm heading back to Houston Wednesday. Hope you get a big one buddy!
Cheers,
Cody

 

[Ragman]

Looking forward to the report. I've never shot a bull elk and I want one bad!

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Nov 12 2017: My son-in-law, Jordan, and I flew into Bozeman and all bags and rifles arrived. We were met at the airport by Dena Petrich. Dena had another hunter in the Chevy Suburban already, Peter, a doctor from back east. This was Peter's first elk hunt, so just like Jordan he was pumped up and excited to be hunting in Big Sky country. The 45 minute drive went by quickly and the Paradise Valley, south of Livingston, looked spectacular with lots of snow. Dena reported that all four hunters from the previous week tagged out on both elk and deer and that the entire season had been very good.

The red line is a rough outline of the area Rising Son Outfitters typically hunts. The heavy snow limited access to a lot of the back country, where I had hunted in prior years. The hay fields in the valley serve as a great magnet to attract and maintain a significant resident herd of elk, along with lots of mule deer on the slopes and whitetails in the lower elevations.

Upon arriving at the Petrich ranch we were met by owner, outfitter and guide, Randy Petrich. We also met the fourth hunter, James, a law enforcement officer from the midwest. James had hunted before with Rising Son, taking a trophy elk during archery season. All four of us hunters shot our rifles and everyone was good to go. We loaded our gear into another truck and headed up to the cabins on the upper end of the ranch, about 4 miles from the house. Each time I've hunted with Rising Son Outfitters, a noticable upgrade or addition is a pleasant surprise. A second cabin, larger horse barn and corral, hay shed and firewood shed have been added since my last hunt, four years ago. Also solar panels power the lighting system in both cabins. Both cabins have hot water, showers and flush commodes. The new caqbin, added in 2015, houses the 4 hunters. The main cabin is where Randy, Dena and Zane stay and also has the kitchen and dining area. All in all, a comfortable set up for a late season hunt. The archery season in September and the early rifle season in October are usually done from back country camps with wall tents.

Peter and James were going to hunt with Randy, while Jordan and I would hunt with Randy and Dena's 21 year old son, Zane. Zane has been guiding full time for 3 years, but has spent his entire life riding horses, hiking and hunting this area. After dinner Sunday night, the four of us hunters settled into our cots in the cabin and were anxious to get the hunt started on Monday morning. Of course it wouldn't be a hunting camp without at least one serious snorer, who will remain nameless.

Monday, Nov 13

Our first hunting day started with a 5 am wake up call. The weather report says it will hit 50F today, but much colder and snow the rest of the week. Bacon, eggs, toast, coffee, juice, etc are ready at 5:30 and we are ready to saddle up and head out a little after 6am. Sunrise is around 7:30am, so legal shooting is 7am. The nice thing about a late season hunt is the days are short. A morning hunt is about 4 hours and you are back at the cabin for lunch, warming up and a nap. As we ride out of camp, Jordan is a little apprehensive of riding a horse in total darkness. The horses are amazing and really help to cover a lot of ground and get you to where the elk are. A short 15 minute ride and we are already spotting large herds of elk returning to the high country after feeding in the hay fields during the night. Unfornately, all the elk are cows and we have bull tags only.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

A few photos of the cabins, corral, etc:

Main cabin

New cabin where 4 hunters stay, equipped with propane heater, hot water, shower and flush toilet

Corral or Kraal

During the first day of hunting, we are pretty much focused on elk, but a really nice, heavy 5x5 muley is sighted from our glassing spot. We watch it awhile, range it at about 250 yards and decide it's too good a deer to pass up. By the time Jordan gets set up, the deer is a little over 300 yards away. Jordan touches off a round from his 300 win mag and no immediate reaction from the deer. A clean miss. The deer continues to walk away, in search of does, as the deer rut is ramping up. Zane and Jordan pick up and attempt to close the gap, but the deer eludes them. It's happened to all of us and is part of hunting. So ends the first day of hunting.

Nov 14 (Tuesday) Much colder weather (20F), wind and snow greets us. Pretty much a repeat of day 1. We see lots of elk, mostly cows and deer.

Peter took a very nice 5x5 mule deer late in the day.


Nov 15 (Wednesday) With the fresh snow, we go find some tracks and follow them. We get a bit concerned when we also see two sets of wolf tracks. After a couple hours of hiking, we find a herd of about 20 cows and 1 young but legal bull. We try to get within range to get Jordan a shot, but the wind isn't right. Another 50-60 elk that we couldn't originally see join the group we are stalking and move slowly away. The cows are in the way of the lone bull and no shot is possible.

Zane tells us to stay put and he'll hike back to where we left the horse and bring them to us. He is only gone about 45 minutes when he comes with the horses and reports he heard some shots and thinks Peter and James, hunting with Randy, might have downed something. Sure enough, they stumbled into a drainage and found a group of about 20 bulls. Both James and Peter were able to take a bull, but the pack out was pretty tough. We headed back to the cabins and helped Zane get 4 pack mules ready to go help his dad and the other hunters, while Jordan and I had lunch and a nap.

Photos of pack mules and 2 elk racks belonging to Peter and James. The last photo is both elk quartered up.

We're half way through our 6 day hunt and still haven't put something on the ground yet. The weather forecast is for more snow and cold temps, so we are optimistic and having a great time.

 

[cpr0312]

Its exciting to see elk daily, hoping you guys are able to connect!!

 

[Shootist43]

Judging from the outfitter's success rate, you will be connecting shortly.

 

[Lee M]

Keep it coming.

 

[tarbe]

Thanks for sharing your hunt with us Dave.

I love that hat in your intro!

 

[Wheels]

Great looking area.

Looking forward to the rest of your report!

 

[Brent in Az]

Paradise Valley is a magical place.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Nov 16 (Thurs) was more of the same, get to a good glassing location and see if we could spot something and then utilize the horses to go after them. At one the glassing spots, not far from the cabins, they have some chairs stashed under a tree. They certainly make sitting for several hours more comfortable.

This is the view from the chairs, looking upslope. Sort of looks like a ski slope.

This is the view from the chairs, looking down slope and into the hay fields in the valley.

In other locations, you just have to learn to accept what mother nature gives you.....

Nov 17 (Fri) Another snowy, cold day. After a morning of glassing, we are riding back towards the cabin when Zane spots a 5x3 mule deer. We move to some cover behind some trees and dismount. I stay with the 3 horses while Jordan chambers a round in his 300 win mag and moves with Zane to get into shooting position. From my vantage point, I can't see the mule deer. What I later learned was the deer was staying, facing straight at them. However, the deer was staying where the terrain blocked his body and only his head and antlers were visible, at a range of about 200 yards. Jordan got set up on Zane's shooting sticks and with one shot dropped the buck where he stood. When we reached the deer, the entry hole was in the left eye and exited out the right ear. No meat damage that way!

On Friday afternoon, we are glassing again when we see another decent mule deer at about 350 yards. The 5x4 buck is clearly interested in a doe, a little downslope from him. We watch him awhile and I ask Zane if we can make a stalk on this guy. We quickly make a plan to drop down the other side of the slope and move around the hill. Jordan would stay put and actually have a pretty good view of us stalking this deer. The wind is right and we quickly get to a spot that should put us about 200 yards from where the buck was originally standing. We see the buck, along with a doe, just going out of sight over a small ridge and decide to pursue. Jogging in 6-8 inches of snow at 6500 feet elevation didn't seem too hard, but the combination of deeper snow and steeper slope started to wear on me. We managed to get to the ridge, catch my breath and get set up for a shot. Distance was 290 yards. One shot from my 338 win mag appeared to hit the mule deer and it quickly disappeared. After watching for a few minutes, the buck and doe appeared again and were both walking over the next ridge. Off we went again in hot pursuit. I think we crossed a couple more of these small drainages and we were running out of daylight. As we slowly came over another small ridge, we spot a doe standing about 40 yards downslope from us. Looking through his Swarovski binos, Zane spots the buck bedded down near the doe. The buck starts to get up and I quickly put another Swift A-Frame into him and he goes down.........and then starts sliding down hill. The joy of downing a nice deer is offset by knowing this could be a tough job packing it out. Zane quickly alleviates my concerns by letting me know that we can drag it further downhill and get to a road. Zanes phones his dad (AT&T cell coverage is surprisingly good), Randy, and he'll bring a truck to pick up the deer. I end up riding back to the cabin in the truck and Zane hikes back to Jordan and the horses. While Zane and I were chasing the buck, about 20 elk bedded down about 100 yards from Jordan. All were cows except for 2 spike bulls, which are not legal shooters.

With one hunting day to go, both Jordan and I have our mule deer tag punched, but still no elk. Stay tuned.

 

[Abeln]

Dang! That mulie looks like it has some wapiti in the gene pool!