Also don’t forget about some of these important application dates:

February 29th …………..  Applications are due for Moose and Big horn Sheep.   ( Moose area 10, and sheep area 7)

  March 15th ……………….  Applications are due for Antelope  (area 89)

March 31st  ………………. Closing day of Mountain Lion season.  We are still hunting lions out here, and the conditions have been great!  It’s been one of the mildest winters I have seen, which makes it great for getting around in the backcountry while looking for lion tracks.  There is still plenty of time to book a lion hunt for this winter and tags can be purchased right over the counter.  Here is a picture of a big Tom we caught in my area not long ago, we didnt harvest him in hopes that someone would come out and book a hunt.  He’s still out there….Lets go get him!!

Big Tom caught and released

I have a couple spots open for spring bear hunts towards the end of May and the first part of June.  You can buy bear tags right over the counter, no applications or drawings.  We will be putting out our baits sometime around the second week of April, be sure to check in to our scouting page to see what kinds of  bears are showing up!

I want to strongly encourage anyone interested in lion hunting to call me as soon as possible.  There is a lot of information about my lion hunts that is NOT on my website.  If you think you don’t have time, or it’s too expensive, etc…….  it can’t hurt to call and talk about options.  There are plenty of options available to reduce price on these winter hunts, and the season is long enough that we can work around your schedule.  I hope everyone is having a good fall wherever you live, and your hunting seasons are going well.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Tom Nelson, Evan the cameraman, and myself, spent a lot of time hunting hard for Moose.  The rut seemed to be hitting hard the week before, and some warm weather this week seemed to really slow things down.  Cody spent some time spotting for us, and was finding some good bulls, but we were just a half day behind them.  On day 4 of the hunt, we ran into a bull doing a lot of talking about 400 yards up a snow slide.  We got set up and I started doing some calling.  The bull imediately showed interest and started his way down the slide heading straight towards us.  I did a little moving around, a little more calling, and the bull came right into Tom’s lap……..7 yards!!  Tom made a shot, I called and the bull stopped at 40 yards, Tom put another arrow in him, and the rest is history!!  The show featuring our camp and this moose hunt should air sometime in February on the Outdoor Channel.  Keep your eyes peeled, and I’ll try and post a time and date when I know the details.

The next few weeks we’ll be tearing down camp, putting gear and horses up for the year, and gearing up for the winter.  As soon as the snow starts sticking and piling up, we’ll be spending a lot of time looking for mountain lion tracks.  Long time HPO hunter, Mike Snider, will be coming out the first week of December to try and harvest a big Tom.  Our mountain lion season is open all winter long and I currently have a lot of open dates for anybody interested in doing some cat hunting.

I want to send out a big thank you to everybody who chose to come out and hunt with us this fall.  There are a lot of outfitters out there and hunters can go just about anywhere in the state to hunt big game.  We really apreciate the business, and hope everyone had a great time.  I also want to send out a congrats to all my guides and hunters this fall for not wounding a single animal this year.  Good shooting!!  We did have a few misses however, so you can never practice shooting too much.  Don’t forget that the elk application period is just around the corner during the month of January.  It’s not too early to be thinking about your fall hunting trip. Thanks for following us during the course of the season, I’ll try to post a few updates over the course of the winter to let everyone know what’s going on, and what’s coming up.

On the first rifle elk hunt, guide Cody and Larry from Idaho got into some elk early and took a real nice 5 point that was bugling and raking up a tree!!  Larry made a great shot and dropped the bull in his tracks.  Mike from Nebraska hunted hard the first few days and took a monster 6 point off of the “Brooklyn Wallow” at 35 yards!  This bull went less than 100 yards and piled up in the timber. After packing him out and taking care of the meat, Mike and I went deer hunting for a day and I was able to shoot a nice 28 inch 4 point with some kickers on both sides!  He was up in the high country where the big boys live, and we saw 4 other bucks that morning.   Dennis from Idaho hunted hard with Jake for 6 days, they got into elk nearly every day, but different complications left him with out getting a shot at a bull.  Last week was extremely tough!  On the second day of the hunt, Jake took Jared Jenkins out of camp and shot a beautiful 6 point!  They saw multiple bulls with a big group of cows, and everything fell into place. Jake stopped the bull at 250 yards and Jared made a great shot!  Later in the week we got about 5 inches of snow, which would normally be a blessing, but it seemed to put the elk into migration mode.  Elk stayed timbered, moved during the night, and started traveling long distances to get to more “late season” country.  The weather did however put the moose into rut mode.  Moose started coming out of the woodwork, and guides were seeing bulls everywhere.  This upcoming week Tom Nelson will be in camp filming a moose hunt for his Outdoor Channel television show “The American Archer.”  We also have an elk hunter coming in from Hawaii, so it should be a ton of fun.

I posted a bunch of pictures on the Fall Photo Gallery page of the last few hunts, and also success photos on the elk, deer, and bear hunts page.  Thanks again to everybody who’s been out hunting over the last few weeks, and congratulations to those who were fortunate enough to fill their tags.  Keep checking in, and we’ll see what happens over the next week.

First year guide, Jake Wyatt has been working for me full time since this spring, and we spent the first week of September setting up hunting camp getting ready for hunters to arrive. Deb Harpster is back in camp again this year as our camp cook, or as she should be called, camp chef.   Last week three archery elk hunters from the midwest showed up and we had a great time stomping around the hills.  I was expecting the action to be slow, the weather to be hot, and the bulls not wanting to play with us.  I was mostly wrong.  We saw lots of elk, some early signs of the rut, and a lot more bugling than I was expecting.  Danny from Iowa, had two bulls within 20 yards in the first three days, but chose to pass and wait it out for a bigger bull.  On day 6 Jake called in a nice 6 point to 53 yards, and Danny just barely missed his mark, and the bull lives on.  After having several close encounters with some nice bulls, but not being able to pull the release on a bull, Neil form Nebraska decided to fill his elk tag by taking a nice fat cow at 35 yards on a wallow.

Tomorrow we head in for another week looking for a bull elk with a bow, a mule deer with a rifle, and a black bear with a rifle.  It should be fun!  Everybody who is planning on hunting with us this fall should be very excited!  We’ve been seeing great numbers of elk and deer, including some monster bulls!  Things look promising, and I’ll try to keep posting updates and new trail camera pictures each week, including success photos.

     On a different note, I’m starting to get a lot of interest for next fall and even into 2013.  If you have any interest in doing a hunt with us, it’s never too early to start talking and planning.  Starting now, throught the end of September, nonresident hunters can purchase a preference point for elk, deer, moose, antelope, etc…. from the wyoming game and fish department.  This can all be done on-line on their website.  The cost is roughly $50 and SERIOUSLY increases your odds of drawing a tag when you are ready to hunt, whether it’s next year or the year after.  If you are thinking of hunting out west in the future, give us a call and we can help with any planning or questions that you might have.

Upcoming events:

The application deadline for mule deer is March 15th!!  That’s just around the corner!  We have outstanding deer hunting out of our camp, and you can combine your elk hunt with a deer hunt!  Don’t forget to apply for region H.   Also….Antelope applications are due March 15th.  Antelope hunts are becoming more popular, and they can easily be combined with a deer hunt.  Apply for Antelope area 89.   If you’re not looking to hunt this fall, preference points can be bought during the months of July and August.  I strongly recommend you do so, this will dramatically increase your odds of drawing when you are ready to hunt.  I’ll post a reminder this summer for anyone interested.

The annual Wyoming Outfitters and Guides banquet is comming up, April 1st.  This year it will be combined with the Jackson Hole Association and will be held in Jackson, Wyoming.  There will be good food, good company, and lots of prizes, auction items, and raffle give-aways.  This year Hoback Peak has two big game awards presented to us, one for largest non-typical archery elk, 1st place, and one for Mountain Lion, 2nd place.  You can see pictures of our awarded big game, and read the featured article of Mike Snider’s hunt with us, in the newest issue of Wyoming Outdoors Magazine.  The magazine is available at WYOGA’s website.

Thanks for visiting!