If you have read either of my books, A Dakota Rod and Nimrod or The Dakota Nimrod Grows Older, both available through Amazon or Barnes & Noble, you know that I believe that anyone who likes to hunt should experience a western elk hunt. There’s one big problem – affordability. Other than waiting years to draw a bull elk tag in a choice area and then paying a hefty license fee ($692 Wyoming), along with approximately $10,000 for a quality guided hunt, the hunt is too expensive for many hunters.

There is an affordable option – a cow elk hunt. The licenses are far easier to draw and less expensive ($288 for Wyoming). The cost of a guided cow elk hunt is far more reasonable than a bull elk hunt, the meat is superior, and the overall experience is the same. What’s more important? The hunt or the antlers? What about the challenge? I’ve had bulls in front of me on most every cow elk hunt, and I’ve looked at them though my rifle scope knowing that I could have connected. I speak from experience. I’m two for two on New Mexico cow elk hunts, one of them unguided, and two for two on Wyoming cow elk hunts.

For this coming fall, partner Mike Hall and I have drawn Wyoming cow elk tags for the area north of Dubois in the Absaroka mountain range. Our guide will be Joe Hargrave (jacksonwyominghunts@gmail.com) who guided Mike and me in 2018 when we filled our tags in 15 minutes. I asked Joe for some details of our coming hunt as I wanted to relate his description in today’s column, and here’s his reply.

“The area is a mix of badlands, foothills, and timbered mountains. There is an abundant resident herd that resides here, but the targeted animals are the elk that migrate from the northwest over Shoshone Pass through the Dunoir Valley. I believe the herd count this past winter was 6500 plus animals in the valley. Hunting tactics will vary from the use of horses, ATV’s, snow machines, and truck access to feed grounds and migration routes. Much depends on the weather in mid-November, animal movement and location as to how they are pursued. I have experienced mild weather in November but have also experienced winter so be prepared for all conditions. There will be a fair amount of spot and stalk and setting up on migration routes that are used for an ambush.”

If you are a hunter, how can you not be interested or excited about Joe’s hunt description? For me, with the peripheral neuropathy in my legs, some climbing is difficult but possible with walking sticks. His description about waiting in ambush on migration routes appeals to me as I can sit patiently for long periods of time. Needless to say, I’m excited about our coming elk hunt. Hopefully you’ll give a cow hunt serious consideration. They too must be managed.

I’ll have to readily admit that if we, both Betsy and I, didn’t enjoy elk so much as table fare, I’d probably hang up the elk hunting part of my life. How does Betsy fix elk? The burger is fantastic in meat loaf and spaghetti sauce. I do back-strap and tenderloin steaks on the grill. The less tender cuts and steaks go into both stir fry and stroganoff which I dearly love. Last week Betsy made meat loaf from a 2017 package of ground elk that we had overlooked. It showed no aging or freezer burn what-so-ever.

I once again find my attitude toward the coming deer seasons rather puzzling. For the past four years I’ve viewed the successful hunts I’ve completed as my last. I don’t particularly enjoy getting up at five in the morning, sitting out in the often cold and always dark for an hour, and field-dressing my deer with the debilitating tremor in my hands. Last November, after bagging a fine whitetail buck with the able assistance of former student Chuck Zacharias, I told myself that this is it. I’ll quit on a high note at the top of my game! And then June rolls around and I apply for both West-River and East-River tags with thoughts of topping off the season with my muzzleloader. It seems that “I forget” rather easily.

See you next week.