2001 success rates and opportunities

All of these past experiences with our hunters are to the best of my memory.  I am sure I will be leaving some of them out because I am not always with my other guides and their hunters.

Cast and Blast

 We had 3 hunters on the first hunt and killed 2 bears.  We treed one with the dogs and shot the other close to camp.

The second hunt we had 2 hunters and shot 1 large, very old boar.  He was cinnamon colored.  Both hunters also saw two other bears but could not quite get a shot.

 

Elk, deer, bear and lion combo hunts

First hunt: we had 4 guided hunters and 4 drop campers.  We killed an average 5 point, 2 – 5x6 bulls and a cow on the guided hunts.  The drop campers saw some elk and heard some bugling but did not get anything.

 

Second hunt:  We shot a 5 point, missed a 5 point and shot a bear for the three guided hunters.  The four drop campers did not get anything and did not see much either.  We also had 3 bird hunters/fishermen that week.  We had one of the best partridge and grouse years I have ever seen.

 

Third hunt:  We missed a six point passed up a five point twice and had lots of other bugling for 3 guided hunters.  One of our hunters fell off the horse so he was not feeling up to hunting hard.  It was a good hunt anyway.

 

Fourth hunt:  We had 3 guided hunters and shot a 6 point and a rag horn.  The third hunter passed up a 5 point.  We had lots of snow that week and made for some tough visibility.

 

Fifth hunt:  We had 7 guided hunters in two different camps.  There was a family of 5 in one camp and they shot 3 mule deer, a 6 point bull and a spike bull.  They saw a lot of elk and deer that week.  In the other camp we had two hunters.  They shot a 6 point bull and a 5 point bull and missed a 5 point bull.

 

Sixth hunt:  We had 4 guided hunters and shot 3 bucks.  They also missed 3 other bucks.  One hunter left on the first day because his legs were hurting and he had been having some problems with them so he did not get to hunt. 

 

Seventh hunt: We had 4 guided hunters.  We shot 2 bucks, a 5 point bull and missed a 4 point bull.

 

Eighth hunt:  We had 4 hunters but one cancelled out.  3 hunters showed up and we harvested 3 bucks and 1 rag horn bull. 

 

Overall I felt we had a very successful season.  We had 35 guided hunters and harvested 28 animals.  We passed up numerous animals that I did not mention in the above statistics.  Our bugle hunts started off strong and the deer hunting was very good.  I saw a lot of good, mature bucks this year late in the season.  Our late season elk hunting was not up to average but this last November was one of the warmest that I can remember in recent history.  A good friend once told me that if I could predict the weather, I would be doing more than outfitting.  Last season will probably stand out in my mind as one of the smoothest seasons we have had. More important than our success rates is our success rates of wounded animals that get away.  2001 brought us the first wounded animal that has gotten away from us in 3 years.  I hope we go another 30 years before we lose another one.  Losing game is just a part of hunting but it can be minimized by knowing your firearm and knowing your limits of how far you can shoot.  If you decide to book a hunt with us, we will do everything we can to help you get your game.  We can not however teach you to be comfortable with your firearm.  We have hunters all the time that go to the range once to sight their guns in and call that good.  You need to be comfortable shooting in the prone, sitting and even the offhand positions.  If you hunt with us you will work very hard to get a shot at any game.  It is a lot more fun riding the horses and mules back at night knowing that we have to go back the next day to pick up your meat.  On the other hand, riding back in the dark kicking yourself for missing is not much fun at all.  The other thing that you need to do to get ready for your hunt is have a good pair of broken in boots.  Having good boots, a comfortable rifle and a positive attitude are your only necessities, everything else is optional.  I have also found over the years that the hunters that are laid back and go with the flow are a lot more successful than the hunters that are uptight and feel like they are on a schedule.  I will save some of you the suspense; your hunt will probably not go perfect.  There is a chance the horses will run away, the tent may blow over in a violent wind storm, or any other number of minor details that can and will go wrong during our season.  If you face it positively, you will have a lot more fun on your hunt and positive attitudes usually bring positive results.  Good luck and I hope to see you soon. 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Travis Bullock