Todd Graf, along with friends, Alex and Jamie, recently made the trip back out west in pursuit of bugling bull elk with the crew at Table Mountain Outfitters. Todd hunted elk in Colorado last fall, but after several years of applying and obtaining points for Wyoming elk, he and the guys were finally successful at drawing the tags.
Wyoming offers a unique elk hunting experience like no other place. Ample public and private lands holding elk make Wyoming aย truly special place. The work of Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) and committed landowners have made Wyoming an elk hunter’s paradise. In fact, RMEF numbers show that they’ve conserved 1,105,360 acres of land for the elk in Wyoming.
Wyoming elk country is hard to beat.
The guys were anxious to be in camp with Scott and Angie Denny, owners of Table Mountain. Scott and Angie have been friends and supporters of Bowhunting.com from the start. They are some super fine people that work tirelessly for their clients. And this hunt would be no exception.
Wyoming greeted the guys with warm temperatures and some hard headed bulls that were holding tight to their herds. The guys did their best to pull some of the satellite bulls away from the herd but with changing winds and too many eyes picking them off, the conditions never allowed them to get in close enough.
The calm before the storm.
The guys covered lots of ground, with 3-4 mile hikes being the norm. “It was completely different from the thick terrain we hunted in Colorado last year,” says Graf. “Wyoming offered a more open-country hunting experience. It was some really cool terrain.”ย The guys got down to business on day 2 and shed first blood of the trip. Graf’s friend, Alex, scored on a bull after calling it from over a quarter mile away. It was a textbook hunt.
The guys were excited when Alex punched the first elk tag of the trip on day 2.
Over the next couple days the guys experienced about every kind of weather imaginable. But when the temps fell from 85 degrees into the 30’s, things changed quickly with the elk.
Grabbing a quick lunch from the Yeti cooler while taking a break on the mountain.
“Things went crazy on day 5 with the weather,” says Graf. “It was raining, lightning, hailing and snowing. But through all that, we noticed elk several miles away. And when the storm let up, the elk came alive. It was crazy!”
When a cold front rolled through the area, the elk action heated up quickly.
Forty-five minutes after the storm blew through, both Todd and his buddy, Jamie, had killed their bulls. Jamie’s first shot at his bull sailed high. Fortunately the bull reacted and ran towards Jamie, giving him a second chance. His second shot was right on the money and the bull died quick. As the guys celebrated Jamie’s success, bulls continued bugling, so they jumped right back into the action to get on a bull for Todd.
Jamie and Todd with the bull Jamie killed shortly after the storms blew through.
A few minutes later Todd’s bull came on the scene and presented a shot. Todd’s shot wasn’t where he wanted it, but he made good with a follow-up shot and sealed the deal on his Wyoming bull. After a tough few days, and some crazy weather, the guys had killed two bulls in 45 minutes.
A great bull for Todd on the last day of his Wyoming elk hunt.
Three hunters – three bulls. That’s a pretty strong five days of elk hunting.
Gear List
Bow – Mathews Halon 32, Sight – HHA King Pin, Rest – HHA Virtus, Broadhead – NAP Thunderhead Nitro, Clothing – ScentLok, Optics – ScentLok
A big congrats to Todd, Alex, Jamie and the crew at Table Mountain on an unforgettable Wyoming hunting experience.
Give Scott and Angie a shout if you’re interested in booking a deer, elk, antelope, or bear hunt in the years ahead at www.tablemountainoutfitters.com.
Be watching for this hunt on an upcoming episode of Bowhunt or Die.
