What an amazing experience my wife Jodi and I had with Carter Downing, Wes Silcox and everybody else at Wild Man Adventures Inc. The views and experience was incredible. Everybody in camp made us feel right at home. The horseback ride in was awesome. First morning and the first half hour of the hunt I passed a real nice 6x6 bull up at 625 yds broadside. Didn't wanna end the hunt that quick. Saw a few bulls that morning and then it started raining and down pouring and sleeting. We got high enough to glass and figure out where they would be the next day. Next morning we decided to hike up this mountain and see if there was a nice bull with those cows we saw. We figured it was the same herd we saw the day before. After what seemed like hiking up Everest for this flat lander we made it to the top
. Wes let out a bugle and a bull answered right back 400-500 yds away. We got on top of the rise and settled into some trees. Jodi threw me the tripod and I got all set up. After Wes and the bull bugled back and forth for a minute we realized he was coming to take a look at who was bugling at him. I adjusted the scope for where we figured he would pop out, 350 yds. He snuck out of the trees at that spot, bugled and looked right at me. Seeing how wide and nice he was I instantly decided to pull the trigger. Click. Forgot to throw one in the chamber
. Fortunately, cause Wes realized he forgot to plug his ears when it went click. I jacked one into the chamber real quick and sent one right at the crease of the shoulder. I saw it hit perfect and him suck it up so I jacked another round in and sent one into the same spot before Wes could say send another. The 300 Norma improved and 230 Berger did its job. Two rounds weren't needed but I generally unload my gun on big game if they don't drop right away. He went behind the trees and started getting tipsy and then he started rolling. After a hike around and down to him we found him piled up in some trees. While on cloud nine we sat down on the side of the mountain and enjoyed a sandwich while taking in the views and what had just happened. We rolled him down the hill about 300 yds before we could get him rolled over for pictures and processing. The knife from Wayne Meligan/Pirate Forge worked like a champ. The whole experience on how I got the bull was amazing. Getting him off the mountain and to the horses was a bit of a chore but was just another great chapter on this hunt. After getting all that squared away I spent the rest of the week chasing beautiful cutthroat trout a few hundred yards from camp. Anybody looking to experience the backcountry in Wyoming, Idaho or Utah get ahold of Carter at Wild Man Adventures. Carter, Wes, Garrett, Wynn, Hardie, John, Dale and Mike were an awesome bunch of guys and made the trip incredible. Thanks again guys and cant wait to be on the mountain with you again. Im really proud of my wife. She's never done a hunt on horses before and only rode them a couple times in her life. She rode up and down the mountains, landed on her feet, hiked up the mountains, helped pack elk down the mountains, all without a single complaint. Shes a grinder and Im really glad I got to experience it all with her. Definitely very fortunate my wife enjoys doing the same things I do.
