USA: Rifle Elk Hunt With Rising Son Outfitters In Montana November 2024

[375 Ruger Fan]

I just got home last night and will start a new hunt report on another incredible elk hunt with Rising Son Outfitters in Montana.

A view from elk camp


This hunt included an old hunting buddy that had hunted with me numerous times. Also along were two of my sons in law. Iggy had hunted with me in 2020 and taken a nice 280-ish bull on opening day. For my other son in law, Steve, this would be his first hunt out west.

Thread 'USA: Rifle Elk Hunt With Rising Son Outfitters In Montana October 2020'

Oct 12, 2020

USA: Rifle Elk Hunt With Rising Son Outfitters In Montana October 2020

Another Montana elk hunt with Rising Son Outfitters is about to start for me. In 2017, I took son-in-law #1 on this same hunt (https://www.africahunting.com/threa...on-outfitters-in-montana-november-2017.40896/ ) and this year it’s son-in-law #2’s turn. I was actually hoping to do this hunt in 2019, but when I contacted Randy and Dena Petrich at Rising Son (http://www.huntinginmontana.com/ ) in early 2018, they were already booked solid for both 2018 and 2019...

• 375 Ruger Fan
• elk
• Replies: 42
• Forum: Hunting reports USA & Canada

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[375 Ruger Fan]

November 1

All four of us were flying from different home locations. Three of us from Louisiana and one from New York. The Louisiana contingency all met up at DFW and continued onto Bozeman, MT. Steve, flying in from NY, arrived into Bozeman later. Everyone's flight went as planned, which was a nice change. We arrived a day early, to help get adjusted to the higher altitude and also enjoy a nice meal in Bozeman. The "Montana Ale Works" was located a couple blocks from our hotel on Main Street, and is rated one of the top restaurants in town. I had previously contacted @MontanaPat and @Bullthrower338 and they were able to meet up with us. It's always nice to meet with other AH members and friends!

November 2

Dena Petrich picked us up around noon time, and after a few quick stops we were heading east on I-90 to Livingston and then turned south into the Paradise Valley. The 3,000 acre Petrich ranch lies on the east side of the valley, near the town of Pray and just north of Emigrant Peak. All the mountains had a dusting of snow and more snow was in the forecast.

Upon arrival, we met up with Dena's husband, Randy, along with two of their sons, Zane and Zander. My first hunt with Rising Son Outfitters was in 2001, and Zane was 4 and Zander was 1. I've watched them grow up and they are now in their 20s and fine young men and excellent hunting guides.

A new twist to this year's hunt was we were going to use the outfitter's provided rifles. They are "Best of the West" 300 PRC rifles, suppressed and fitted with a Huskemaw scope. Instead of the normal, shoot your own rifle at a 100 yard target, we shot these rifles at 300, 400 and 500 yard steel plates. Before any of us shot, Randy, Zane and Zander went over many of the details of the rifle and scope. We were shooting Hornady 300 PRC factory loads, 220 gr ELD-Match. The results from the range were amazing! Shooting prone, using the rifle bipod and a backpack under the rear stock, all four of us managed the 1-1/2 pound trigger to perfection and hit the 9 inch steel plates with each and every shot. Well, there was one miss at 500 yards, but we blamed the wind on that one. These rifles were truly amazing! I did find the LOP to be a little short for me, but I figured with a heavier hunting jacket on, it wouldn't be a problem.

We then headed a couple miles across the ranch to where the hunting cabins are located. It seems each time I come hunt with Rising Son, they have added an upgrade or two. I was blown away with what had changed since my 2020 hunt. They had built a large, multi-storied lodge and ran electricity to this portion of the ranch. With three separate cabins, Rising Son is doing AirBnB business in the summer. We got settled into the 4 man bunkhouse, equipped with electricity, gas heater, hot shower, and flush toilet. Now in my golden years, I no longer "rough it" unless I have to. There's even a K-cup coffee maker in the bunkhouse!

Wake up call will be 4am and we'll get started hunting tomorrow!

 

[Voodooracer]

Good luck!!! I’m sure you guys will have great luck. Those views alone are to die for.

 

[Lee M]

Looking forward to this report. A good elk hunt is on my list in the near future. I have also not hunted in Montana.

 

[Hunt anything]

Just chiming in to be in on thread

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

November 3 (day 1 of hunting)

Wake up at 4 am. Temp in the low 20s and lightly snowing. We are the second week of the rifle elk season and there is a new moon. Ideal conditions! As we get dressed, we enjoy our first cup of coffee from the K-cup coffee maker. I can get use to this! We walk next door to the lodge and Dena is busy making breakfast, while our guides, Zane and Zander, are saddling 6 horses. About a half hour before legal shooting time, we ride out for our first hunt. Zander takes Iggy and my hunting buddy, KB, and they head south. Zane takes Steve and me and we head northeast. It is very dark, the type of darkness where you can't see the horse directly in front of you. Luckily, the horses can see. After riding for a few minutes, our eyes adjust to the darkness somewhat and it was gradually getting lighter as we got closer to sunup. Thirty minutes before sunup is legal shooting time and we got off the horses and slowly hiked up to a ridgeline. It was very windy and the snow was coming down pretty good. We glassed for a while and slowly side hilled around to the next ridge. The wind changed and was now at our back, so it wasn't good to continue and we backed out. We glassed in the other direction for a few hours and then headed back to the cabins.

The other group reported seeing a couple hundred elk coming out of the hay fields and working their way back into the high country. The wind was wrong for them to close the gap, so all they got was some neat video on their phones.

We were back at the cabins for lunch and a short nap. Due to the wind conditions, it was decided we'd drive a few miles up the road to Dena's parent's place and do a little whitetail hunting. They have a couple hundred acre hay field, right along the Yellowstone River. I noticed a small section of the hay field was fenced off with a high fence. Inside that area was a couple hundred round hay bales. The high fence is required to keep the deer out. It seems they like to eat a lot.

We quickly found a shooter for both Steve and Iggy. After a little cat and mouse with the bucks, Steve downed his first ever deer with a 300 yard shot. A little later, Iggy took his buck with a 240 yard shot. Great confidence booster for the both of them. The BOTW rifles and ELD-M bullet combo did the job! While not huge racks, these were both large body deer, around 200 lbs live weight.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

November 4 (day 2 of hunting)

The morning was a repeat of the prior day. Swirling winds and snow made it difficult for both groups. In the afternoon, Zane came up with a different plan for us. It would involve a long ride through a lower elevation trail and then doing some steep hiking. Zane brought some collapsible hiking poles for us, because of the treacherous snow and ice. Oh boy, this sounds like fun! I should also point out that it's a given that the guide is in great shape. My son in law, Steve, does Ironman triathlons. While I pride myself in staying in good shape, I am definitely the weak link in our group. Off we go, at one point the trail is pretty difficult and we get off the horses and lead them. We re-mount and ride a bit further and get to where we'll start our climb. Even though it's pretty cold, about 20F, off comes the heavy jacket and it's tucked into the backpack. The goal is to not break a sweat. Our climb is broken up with an occasional rest period to catch our breath and glass a bit. After hiking a bit, we come across a game trail with a fresh set of elk tracks. We follow it and get to an open meadow or park as they refer to the open grassy areas. We glass carefully, but no elk. We back out and climb higher and around the park and get to another park. Glass carefully, no elk, keep climbing. With only about 30 minutes of legal shooting left in the day, we arrive and another large, open park. The wind is blowing right in our face as we glass the area and spot several bulls on the far end. They are 250-300 yards away. We find a spot where I can get prone and still have line of sight on the best bull in the group. In the fading light, he is hard to see, as he is staying in one of the few small patches where there isn't any snow. The elk tan and brown blends in well with the tan grass and brown dirt and gray rocks. Zane ranges the elk at 240 yards. I lightly squeeze on the 1-1/2 pound trigger, the suppressed 300 PRC barely makes an audible noise over the howling wind. The bull took a few steps and fell out of sight. I noted the time of the shot was 5:10 pm, which is a couple minutes after legal sunset and 28 minutes from the end of legal shooting. None of the other bulls reacted, but continued to graze and slowly move away. For a minute or two, we were uncertain if my elk was down or one of the ones slowly walking off. None looked wounded, so we started to glass the area where the bull was last seen. Zane finally spotted it, it hadn't gone 10-15 yards. I had been somewhat skeptical of shooting ELD-Match bullets, but supposedly both the BOTW and Gunwerk guys recommend and personally use this bullet.

By the time we got to the downed elk, took a bunch of photos, cut out my tag and taped it to one of the legs and then field dressed it, it snowing hard and 6:30pm. We decided to leave the elk until morning and come back with a couple of pack mules. I figured it would take us an hour to get back to the horses and an hour ride back to the cabins. I was hungry so I ate a beef stick and protein bar as we started our hike. Going down hill was easier, but still slick going with the snow and ice. The ski poles definitely helped. We actually got back to the horse in about half an hour and back to camp in another 30 minutes.

The elk was a dandy! A 7x7, probably in the 330-340 inch range. He will look very good on the wall in my trophy room!

 

[Firebird]

Beautiful bull-congratulations!

 

[gillettehunter]

Nice bull! Congrats. Looking forward to the rest of the story.
Bruce

 

[Bullthrower338]

Always good to see you Dave and had a great time. Congratulations to you guys on a successful hunt!

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

November 5 (day 3 of hunting)

It's election day, but since we all early voted, our focus is on two things today: Packing out my elk and getting the other guys an elk or a target of opportunity if a nice deer is spotted.

Iggy is going to hunt solo with Zander this morning. The rest of us are going with Zane and a couple of pack mules to pack out my elk. With four horse riders and two mules, we hunted our way to where we left my elk the night before. After about an hour of riding, we arrive and luckily no signs of bear activity and no birds pecking away at the carcass. Zane capes out the big bull for a shoulder mount. Then he removes the head and quarters up the elk. Having several helpers to hold and pull the legs helps to make the task go quicker and safer. Each quarter is loaded into a saddle bag, which is hooked onto the side of each mule. Loading elk quarters onto a pack mule is a four man job. Two to do the lifting and setting the quarter on the back of the mule. The third guy stands on the opposite side of the mule, helping to stabilize the quarter. The fourth guy (me), holds the lead on the mule and tries to keep it calm and keep it from moving. The two lifters then pull the saddlebag open and gradually lower the quarter into the bag. The head w/ antlers are loaded on top of one of the mules. We then slowly ride back to the lodge. Upon arrival, the quarters are transferred to a flatbed truck and will go to the meat processor later today.

After a hot cup of coffee and retelling of the story of the how Zane and I stalked the big bull, we got word that Iggy, hunting with Zander, got a nice 6x6 bull. Iggy is now two for two, as he got a similar size bull during our 2020 hunt with Rising Son Outfitters. The pack mules will be getting their second workout today! It's interesting to note that although we are using these impressive long range "Best of the West" 300 PRC rifles, both my shot and Iggy's shots were in the normal 200-250 yard range. We definitely were hunting and not long range shooting. Again, the 225 gr Hornady ELD-Match bullet performed. Another one shot kill and the elk didn't go very far.

 

[MontanaPat]

Congratulations Dave on the super hunt success. Glad you all had a good trip and thanks for the invite to join you, your family and @Bullthrower338 for dinner in Bozeman the night before your hunt began. I always enjoy meeting other AH members and putting a face with their screen name

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

November 5 (day 3 of hunting) continued

My son in law, Steve, lives in New York City. Downtown Manhattan to be exact. Steve made the decision to take a cow, instead of a bull, given that he doesn't have the space for a rather large trophy. So Steve and Zane went cow elk hunting and soon the mules were back at work. Steve, a first time hunter, actually took the longest shot of the week, 340 yards. Once again, the BOTW 300 PRC did the job. Another one shot kill. I rode out with the pack team and saw 30-40 mule deer. No big bucks, but lots of does. We made quick work of Steve's cow and now had three elk tags punched, as well as two deer tags. Life is good!

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

A short video showing us packing out my elk.

 

[Rickmt]

Way to go guys! Glad you had a great hunt !

 

[LivingTheDream]

That is an amazing elk you got, congratulations!! Sounds like you guys had a hell of hunt!

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

November 6 & 7 (day 4 & 5 of hunting)

KB was the only one in our group still looking to punch his elk tag. He hunted hard both days, but an elk wasn't in the cards for him. KB did however find a very nice, heavy antlered whitetail!

 

[Firebird]

Very cool whitetail!

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Final Comments:

I've been hunting with Rising Son Outfitters since 2001, about a dozen hunts over 23 years. They do an excellent job and really know the area they hunt, on their 3,000 acre ranch and the larger, adjacent national forest area where they are the exclusive outfitter. The have the cabins, tent camps, horses and mules to make for a wonderful hunting experience.

To give you an example of their in depth knowledge of the area and animals, Zander took a look at my bull when we got it back to camp and said, "I have the sheds from that same bull." Sure enough, Zander drove down to the barn and came back shortly with a pair of shed antlers. What blew me away was when Zander said he picked up the sheds about 10 miles from where I shot the bull.

We hunted five days. The four of us harvested three elk and three whitetail. I could have easily shot a whitetail, I just simply passed.

I plan to return for another hunt with Rising Son Outfitters in a few years. They are booked up solid for the next couple of years, so if you want to experience a top notch elk hunt, you better get on their waiting list. If you are interested in an archery elk hunt, you can probably get in a little sooner.

 

[Nyati]

Great hunt, congrats !