I previously did a "flash update" with the results of our elk hunt in Wyoming. It was such an epic event that I am planning to do 3 or 4 more posts about it (as time permits). I have a lot of content in photos and videos. Some additional content is gradually finding its way to me from other hunters in camp, etc. I may modify these posts over time. When I am done, I will put the links to all of the posts at the bottom of each of them.
This post will be a general overview about the Thorofare region in Wyoming, how I found this hunt and what was involved in preparing, and some information about the our outfitter and camp.
About the Thorofare Region
Here's a screenshot from google maps. The resolution may not be great so here's a link to a pin for our actual camp in Google Maps. Elk Camp in the Thorofare
On the upper left is Yellowstone National Park. On the upper right is Cody WY (where we started). On the bottom left is Grand Teton National Park. In between these landmarks is a huge roadless and mountainous area - the red pin shows where our camp is. It is located in the Teton Wilderness. Teton Wilderness Area
There are several kinds of public lands administered by the federal government. Almost everyone is familiar with Yellowstone National Park. National Parks are managed to provide access and comfort for the public. They are also a refuge for the animals. They are a no hunting zone. But roads are allowed, hotels and campsites exist, concessions and tours operate, utilities are provided (power, water, cell towers). Human improvements to provide ease of access are available.
National Forests are another class of public land that are managed to maintain a sustainable resource - the trees. Commercial activities can occur in National Forests under permit (logging, grazing, mineral extraction) but the primary objective is to maintain the health of the forests. There are some access roads. Power tools and machines can be used. Hunting is generally available in National Forests.
Wilderness Areas are a completely different class of public land that are managed to preserve the landscape in a manner similar to what existed before modern man intervened. There are no access roads or utilities. Machines are forbidden. The public can access the Wilderness Areas to hunt and fish but they can only do so without the use of modern machines. As mentioned previously, the Thorofare Region is located in the Teton Wilderness.
The area in northwest Wyoming is a huge checkerboard of public lands of the various designations. The Thorofare River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River upstream of Yellowstone Lake. The Thorofare region generally refers to the drainage of the Thorofare River including many tributary creeks (Hidden Creek, Open Creek, Elk Creek, etc). It is stunningly beautiful. Here's a taste:
About This Hunt
I had heard mention of "hunting the Thorofare" for years. Teddy Roosevelt did it. My friend Jim did it 20 years ago and raved about it. The name "Thorofare" refers to the hordes of animals that pass thru this region during seasonal migration.
I have been using a booking agent to book my hunts ever since we were ripped off by an outfitter that we booked direct (that's another story). Brian Stecklein at Hunt Nation has steered me to some very good hunts. Hunt Nation - Booking Agent I've seen "Thorofare Hunts" in their catalog for years but have been immediately turned off by the 8 to 10 hour horseback ride into camp. I am not a horseman and I am not young.
But my son Eric started coming with me on my western hunting trips and he had not experienced a true wilderness hunt (or a hunt while they are bugling). Brian said you have to do it - there's no place like the Thorofare. Jim said you have to do it. And I decided that, if I'm going to do it, I better get it done soon.
So in October of 2019, Brian booked Eric and I with a hunt in the second rifle week (September 28 to October 5). The outfitter was Bill Perry of Hidden Creek Outfitters. Hidden Creek Outfitters I did not realize at the time of booking that Bill actually now has four camps in the Thorofare after acquiring several competitor's operations. We ended up in the Teton Camp (trying to rebrand it as the Thorofare Camp). The other camps are Hidden Creek, Open Creek, and Mountain Creek. More on them later.
In the period after booking this hunt, a minor worldwide event known as the Covid-19 pandemic occurred. This created uncertainty about whether it was wise to proceed or whether the outfitter would be able (or allowed) to proceed. We were least concerned about the time in the mountains and most concerned about getting there and back. Eric ultimately came up with an elegant solution - he bought an RV trailer. Our rig for the trip:
To do this public land elk hunt in Wyoming, you must first draw the elk tags. Eric and I each had two preference points (one bought last year and one bought this year). With two preference points and applying for the premium out of state license (more expensive, increases odds of draw success), we were able to draw successfully. Cayla at Hidden Creek handled the party application for Eric and me (to insure that if one drew, we would both draw). I believe that applications were due in January and results of the draw occurred in May. The hunt actually takes place in Elk Unit 60.
The Camp Itself
I will write a separate blog post about getting to camp (the ride in). Suffice it to say that it is beautiful, grueling and terrifying. More below on preparation and fitness.
We met in Cody the day before the ride in. The pandemic was playing havoc with the outfitter's normal routines. We met on the porch of the Irma hotel instead of in a meeting room. It was a big crowd (all 4 camp's hunters and guides) and I was glad to be outdoors.
The main activities were one-on-one meetings between each hunter and Cayla (settle the bill, get licenses, sign Covid releases, get your hat), listen to a couple minute orientation by Seth (important info), and, at the end, be introduced to your camp staff to turn over rifles and duffels for mule packing in the morning. We didn't learn who our guide was until we were in camp. There were a few things that weren't as normal or represented - apparently due to Covid. No group meal, no range sight in, no bear spray rentals (go to Walmart), no breakfast at Grannies (closed). The plan was to meet here at 6am the next morning to drive to the trailhead. Eric and I lost track of time while chatting over breakfast in the RV and we were "those people" who showed up 5 minutes late.
In the dark, we caravanned down to the trailhead. Eric and I had driven down for a look the day before so here's some photos.
At the end of the previous hunt, a system rolled thru that left some snow at the higher elevations. The trailhead is in the Shoshone National Forest. The trail is Deer Creek trail and it leads up to a pass at 10,400 feet.
Here's a couple screenshots from OnX showing the drive out from Cody, the Deer Creek trail, and our activity around the camp.
As I said, I will describe the ride in on another post. We arrived in camp shortly before sunset. During the week, Eric did this video tour of the camp. Teton Camp Tour Here are a few photos too.
This was a three-cot tent that Eric and I had to ourselves.
Since this is a wilderness, no machines are allowed. The solar battery charger that I used for my phone is a technical violation. But the camp is run on firewood that must be felled with a crosscut saw, dragged with a horse or mule, sawed into logs and split by hand.
Everything else has to be transported on mules that take a full day for one way into or out of camp.
And, we learned that there can be no permanent structures. So this camp has to be completely removed at the end of each season and then reconstructed the following year.
Preparation, Packing, Fitness
The outfitter supplied two different recommending packing lists. The differences were not great but when you're that far from the 7/11, you want to be sure that you have the right stuff. The overall allowance per hunter is a rifle, a bedroll, and two twenty pound duffels. I found myself cutting my bar of soap in half to make weight. I shouldn't have bothered - I didn't use it anyway. Here's what my stuff looked like.
The dark green bag in the back is my "day of" stuff. It included my padded bicycle underwear and the layers that I wore on the ride in.
One of my weight dilemmas was bear protection - bear spray, pistol, ammo etc. More on that later. We had relatively mild weather. It would be very difficult in late season with more layers. I managed to include a 20 oz Nalgene full of bourbon.
I knew that the ride in would be arduous (it was - but also terrifying). I knew that being at elevation would be a challenge - years ago I had altitude sickness while snow skiing. On all elk hunts, they always advise that you should be in shape if you want to be successful. So here's a little bit of my personal situation that may be helpful to those considering it in the future.
I'm a 66 year old fairly healthy specimen. I have no pre-existing health issues and I take no prescription medicines. Pre-Covid, I usually got to the gym once a week to do some lifting. My cardio has been less regimented but I am fairly active on my recreational farm in Ohio. I was about 25 pounds above ideal weight but the Covid situation actually helped me. With work from home and a travel ban, my diet improved and I was able to walk every day. From March to September I walked between two and five miles a day and I dropped about 10 pounds. Definitely not a marathoner but walking 17 minute miles is fairly brisk for me (even if it was on level pavement at 700 feet elevation without a rifle and pack). I was also doing 4 minute planks and 25 bicycle crunches daily. Here I am with my pumpkin harvest at my farm last week.
Okay, maybe it gave me credit for a little bit of the work that the horse did, but it was still a hell of a day. Anyway, you want to be pretty fit if you decide to try this trip. And don't forget the Alleve (12 hour pain dulling - not relief).
I tried to do some trail rides at home for a little saddle hardening. I have never had any formal training on horses and have only done occasional recreational trail rides when on vacations over the years. In 2008, I did do one elk hunt from a drive in camp that had a horseback component. Here I am on one of my three preparatory trail rides at home. This horse seems like a pony compared to what we rode on this hunt.
Camp/Outfitter Info
Hidden Creek Outfitters now operates four camps. We hunted the Teton (Thorofare) camp but I chatted with everyone about all of the camps. This is what I learned.
a.) Hidden Creek Camp - this is Bill Perry's original camp. It has a lot of dark timber which is an advantage in early season when the weather is warm and the bulls are still bugling. I got the sense that it was still good later too.
b.) Teton Camp - this is where we hunted. In early season, you are basically hunting the resident herd. I'm told that late season can be awesome as the elk stream out of the Park on the migration to lower elevations. The timing of that is very weather dependent. Most of the resident elk were up on the "airplane plateau" while we were there. This is an area at about 10,000 feet where a small airplane crash-landed years ago. It's about a 2 1/2 hour hairy horse ride in the dark to be up there at sunrise. But we saw a ton of elk up there even after 2 weeks of archery and a rifle week ahead of us. There are good places to hunt closer to camp but they are right on the YNP border. It seems that the weather has to be right to drive them out of the park. In our week, we had 4 hunters take bulls, one missed opportunity, and one who never got a shot (me). It was an awesome experience anyway.
c.) Open Creek Camp - this is a relatively new acquisition and I didn't learn too much about it. I heard it described as "big country". Can't imagine how much bigger it can be than what we saw. All three of these camps (a, b, c) are accessed via Deer Creek Trail on the South Fork of the Shoshone River.
d.) Mountain Creek - this is another recent acquisition. It is accessed via the Eagle Creek trailhead on the North Fork of the Shoshone River (off the road to YNP). As I understand it, you ride up thru a pass, down to skirt into the park, move over a drainage and ride back up into Mountain Creek. I'm not sure how tough this ride is or how it compares to Deer Creek. I didn't hear much about the quality or type of hunting in this camp. I don't think that it is on the migration route.
Other outfitters in the Thorofare - I heard or saw reference to a few.
On the ride into Teton Camp, after doing all the hairy stuff to get up over the pass, we passed another outfitter's camp. It has to be a couple hours shorter ride in but the last couple hours of the ride are the easiest/prettiest. I did not catch the name of this outfitter - Jay Lin(something)?
On our ride out, we let a mule team pass that had an impressive group of packed heads. I was told that this outfitter comes from a branch trail to the south after crossing the pass (on the way in). It might have a name or location like Woods Creek.
I was completely happy with Hidden Creek Outfitters, Teton Camp. I'm just mentioning other options that I heard of in the area. I honestly don't know whether the experience would be better or worse at any other camp than the one I did.
Bears (and Other Predators)
We saw one mountain lion track in the snow at elevation. Several hunters in our group saw a pair of wolves twice. They were curiosities.
I had heard about bears in the Thorofare - they are a fact of life. They are grizzly bears - the real deal. On about half the nights in camp, the dogs wound up and chased bears around our tents and out of camp. Some nights multiple times. Sheila and her dogs are awesome. You think twice before stepping out to pee at night. And a mule wandering by the tent can cause a heart attack before you know that it is a mule.
Hunters in our party saw bears every day. Sometimes they were within 100 yards of camp in broad daylight. Here's an Iphone video of one walking by as we were glassing. Grizzly Wandering By Anywhere near a carcass is a high hazard area from the time the shot goes off and for a couple weeks following. I believe the story that Grizzly bears in the Thorofare consider a rifle shot to be a dinner bell.
We experienced two bear encounters while tending to a carcass. I will tell that story in the day-by-day account. It was on a beeline and came as close as 20 yards before it was diverted. It had complete and total disregard for four humans yelling and waving with pistols drawn. As my guide said, "if it weren't for the dogs, we'd of killed that bear". I hope that's the way it would have ended. Awesome dogs.
Given our experience with bears, I did a quick google search on bear encounters in the Thorofare. I came up with this article. It was published the day we rode in. Bear Attacks
I was conflicted on bear protection. Bear spray or pistol? The pistol is a lot of weight and there's no easy way to carry it with backpack, rifle, binos, etc. Most of the time, you have a buddy nearby and/or a rifle in hand. And if you use the pistol, you have an endangered species investigation to evaluate your motive/actions. But if a bear gets on you for any reason, only the pistol will do you any good.
Bear spray and dogs are nonlethal deterrents. I have developed a healthy respect for for the brave little dogs. It was pure coincidence that we happened to be hunting with a guide who had dogs. They saved the day.
Wow, this got a lot longer than I intended. And I still have several more posts to write. It was quite an experience.
Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGreat write-up on the Thorofare elk hunt! I've been planning to tackle this region for my next elk hunting adventure and this post has provided some valuable insights. The tips on understanding the terrain and identifying prime elk habitats are especially helpful.
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