| I felt like a kid, almost
giddy with excitement as I paged through my newly received hunting magazine. After several
years of being an avid hunter and outdoor enthusiast, I had decided to take my one true
trophy elk hunt. I filed through the pages with eager anticipation, each with its promise
of my dream hunt. After endless hours of ad research
and numerous reference calls, I selected Yellowstone Outfitters in Afton, WY. A number of
things lured me to their camp, one including their famous Hawk’s Rest Camp, measuring
28 miles from any paved road, the furthest in North America. I enrolled myself along with
my 15-year-old son Justin, my father Darrell, and a family friend Donny Joslyn for a
seven-day guided hunt in the rugged peaks of the land near Yellowstone National Forest.
With this simple selection, my appetite was set for what would prove to be a hunt I would
never forget.
During the selection process, one key thing that led me to
Yellowstone Outfitters was their willingness and effort to accommodate my diabetic son
Justin. When I had decided to bring Justin along, I knew one big obstacle we would need to
overcome was how to accommodate his diabetic needs. When I presented this problem to
Yellowstone Outfitters, their effectiveness and efficiency far surpassed my wildest
expectations. They willingly provided him with special meal choices and drinks, handling
the situation with extreme grace and class. Their effort made my entire party’s hunt
more enjoyable to the farthest capacity.
Next came the physical preparation for the coming events of
our hunt. I knew going in, myself being 38, my father and friend being 55+, that this
would prove to be a task in itself. I began jogging three miles per day, six days per week
to get myself in shape for the treacherous inclines of the Rockies. My father and friend
did similar. No matter how many miles we ran, nothing would prepare us for the coming
events of our excursion.
A year of eager anticipation and grueling preparation had
passed — the wait was finally over. My son, Dad and I took off from Phoenix, AZ to
Jackson Hole, WY two days prior to the hunt and waited for my friend to arrive from
Gillette, WY. When our party was complete, the outfitters met us at our hotel and drove us
to the trailhead. This begins our journey on the most exciting and unexpected rides of our
lives.
When we arrived at the trailhead, we met up with the three
other hunters who would be along on the hunt. We fervently packed our gear onto the horses
and began our daunting nine and- a-half-hour horse ride toward camp. Along the way I began
to feel ill, and by 10:00 p.m. I was severely sick with a bout of altitude sickness. That
night became one of the worst nights of my life. By 5:00 a.m. the next morning, camp owner
Lynn Madsen rode to the top of a near by peak and used our only cellular phone in camp to
call for a Medivac helicopter. Just as the morning sunlight creased the sky, I was
airlifted out of camp and transported to the Jackson Hole hospital where I was treated for
48 hours with severe dehydration. My son, father, and friend all stayed in camp for the
remainder of the week, filling both of their elk tags, one nice 5 x 5 bull and a huge cow.
I was released from the hospital with hope to salvage my
long planned hunting experience. I contacted Everett Peterson, co-owner of Yellowstone
Outfitters, who gladly agreed to place me in the next hunt. This, coincidentally, would be
the final hunt of the season due to the enormous amount of early season snow in the hills.
Peterson’s grandson and partner Chad Madsen rode the dreadful 28-mile decent out of
the camp to bring out the party which included my son, father, and friend, only to turn
around and ride the path back once again with myself and a new party.
With no health problems this time in, I was pared with
another hunter and owner Lynn Madsen was our guide for the next five days of hunting. That
night, Lynn and his crew began displaying their reputation of excellent accommodations and
food service. This was also the night my hunting partner and I decided that I would be the
one to take the first shots of the following morning.
Before the sun even had a chance to grace the morning sky,
Lynn, my partner, and I began our ride away from camp. Lynn had reported seeing some
animals outside Yellowstone Park and decided we should wait outside the park lines until
first light to see what would come. We anchored our horses and began to meticulously scout
the area with our binoculars. While we gazed upon a herd of about 25 elk lying on the side
of a hill, Lynn proceeded to the other side of the wooded area. With eyes as big as
saucers, Lynn came running back to us. "Hey! Get over here. This animal is huge! He
looks like he has a tree on his head when he turns."
When we finally came to the site where Lynn was, our eyes
could not withstand the glory. There, lumbering about 650 yards away along a side hill,
stood the most enormous elk I have ever laid eyes on. Not wanting to pass up this
opportunity, I raised my Browning A-bolt 7mm/Mag over the beast’s back and fired
twice. Silence. The animal didn’t even flinch. I rose again and fired two more times.
Again nothing. The elk then passed over a hill and disappeared. Thinking all was lost, we
waited. Then, about 400 yards away, the beast continued its path towards us. I raised my
rifle once again and fired another shot.
The animal immediately stopped and took one step down the
hill. Lynn confirmed this shot as a hit as I chambered another round to be fired.
Everything became slow motion as I fired the last shot. The din of the cartridge echoed
through the trees. This time, the elk buckled, tumbling end over end three times into a
down of trees. The silence was deafening. We waited several minutes to see if the animal
would resurface.
 We
then started over the hill where we last saw the elk. As we climbed over the hills, we
came across the magnificent creature. Lying there on the ground, twisted and wedged
between the piles of deadfall and trees, was an incredible 6 x 6 bull with an amazing 60-
inch spread. This animal was truly spectacular. His beams were grossly heavy and he was
very symmetrical. He looked like he had an entire tree turning on his head as he navigated
though the trees. Containing our excitement became an impossible task as we emotionally
gave several high fives.
After our jubilous celebration, Lynn began to cape, dress,
and quarter this enormous elk while my partner and I nervously watched for
Yellowstone’s infamous grizzly bears who have a habit of running towards shots to
claim the kill for themselves.
Yellowstone Outfitters again proved themselves resourceful
with their electric perimeter fence to ward off such events in camp. The entire process
lasted about two hours with Lynn magnificently caping this trophy in the field, thus
making my trophy mount possible. We left the animal behind to ride back to camp for
packing mules and additional help. Upon our return, we tied all of the meat and the huge
rack to the mules and headed back. The rack was so wide that while packing the rack, a
stick was placed between the points so that the rack wouldn’t hit the mule’s
feet.
The ride back to camp was an expectedly enjoyable one. When
we arrived back at camp we were pleased to find two more beautiful, trophy elk already at
camp, and by the time we left three more animals had been taken, all of trophy quality.
Yellowstone Outfitters effectively prepared and froze my
cape, hiring a world-renowned taxidermist from Cheyenne to pick up the rack and mount my
trophy, truly making this a full service hunt with a top quality outfitter. Just the
sincere nature of the concern over my illness and recovery, and the show of support and
eagerness to help made this hunt truly, a hunt of a lifetime.  |
