Elk and Mule Deer Hunting Journal2009 Hunting Journal A great success this year was had, starting with the spring bear hunt when we took two hunters from Texas, Ed and Tracy. We hunted the last week in may and broke through the snow banks to get camp set up before the hunt. What an amazing time of the year to be in the wilderness, watching new life appear as the snow dissappears. Elk were everywhere, grazing on the young grasses. I believe we saw over a thousand head of elk over the course of the week. In Montana, bear hunting is fair chase only, the use of dogs or baiting is prohibited. So the way we hunt is to horseback through and look at as much country as possible. At this time of year, bears also feed on the new grasses and sloots. Making them fairly easy to find in a sucluded wilderness enviornment. this was the first outfitted bear hunt in our area since 1988. Both Ed and Tracy were successful. Ed took a beautiful chocolate, and Tracy took a big solid black boar bear.    We had the oppurtunity to take archery hunters in September and had a blast chasing some of the largest bulls I've ever seen in the Lewis and Clark forest. The Campfire Productions owner, Andy Weichers, and camera man, Nick Hopp, came out and filmed a week of archery hunting. the hunt will be aired on Television starting in Jan. 2010 on the Fox Sports Channel.
The first week of the rifle season was awesome with a midweek snow storm and colder weather, it made for an excelent hunt. One morning we got on a group of eighteen elk and they were all BULLS!! "What a sight!" The returning bear hunters, Ed and Tracy, added to their years success as Tracy shot a 4x5 bull and Ed took a nice mule deer buck. The thrid week brought a couple form Minnesota, Kurt and Mary. Mary shot the biggest bull taken in our 2009 season. They were hunting together along with hunting guide, Jeff Perry. While riding horse back into a remote creek drainage they rode acrossed a burned off bench and saw the big bull. The three got off and tied up the horses. Jeff and Kurt were a bit shaken by the excitment of the moment, but Mary, was cool as a cucumber and downed the bull with one shot at 340 yards. Who said, "men make better hunters,"? Its a great blessing to be in this buisness and be able to meet and get to know people like the ones we had this year in Gods Amazing Creation. Thanks, Paul Ritchey and family. 2008 Hunting JournalThe best way to explain the kind of season we had this year , is to just say we were just truly blessed. Although we didn’t harvest as many elk as we generally do, we saw more elk in the area this year, and had more opportunities than we have had in the past. We also were seeing better quality bulls than we have seen before. I would say that the majority of the bulls we saw this year were over the 300 inch range, indicating that the herds are healthy and vibrant in this area. I can honestly say that out of all the hunters we had, no one left feeling dissatisfied. It was common to hear “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” We met some wonderful people and I can’t wait to go hunting with them again! It seems a journal need a good success story, when the hunter gets the big bull in the end, but this year I’m going to write about a day when the elk won. It was the 4th week of the season and we had 4 hunters in camp. There is a patch of green timber on the back side of the mountain from camp which is surrounded by the burn. There is over 100 acres of old growth timber and small new growth which always holds elk. The problem is getting them out. We devised a plan to set the four hunters we had at the upper end, then the guides would split up and walk through driving the elk from their hiding place. Guides, Dave and Joe took two hunters around the lower part and I took two hunters above on the ridge. Dave and Joe split up in the drainage in order to set the hunters up in strategic locations. While Joe was taking his hunter to a vantage point, they spotted three bulls across the drainage in the new growth timber. The bulls were less than 300 yards away, standing broadside. The problem was, the hunter Joe had with him had opted to apply for a cow permit , and couldn’t shoot the bull! Joe hurried and caught up with Dave and his hunter who did have a bull tag, leaving his hunter (pondering his decision to apply for a cow tag) to watch as the elk slowly grazed through the short green timber. When Dave and his hunter got back to were they’d left the first hunter, the bulls where well over 400 yards and out of position for a well placed shot. The hunters watched as the bulls slowly disappeared into the thick green timber, but they got a good look at the horn size of the three bulls. One was easily over 300+ inches. The other two were rag horns, with one being a 5X5. They decided to get back into the original positions and continue the drive. I placed my two hunters and met with Joe and Dave and began walking through the timber. Before long we heard crashing through the small trees in front of us knowing that the bulls where on the move. I was above Dave as we walked into the dense old growth timber toward towards the end of the drive. I saw several cows head out of the green and into the burn directly toward where I had placed a hunter. They passed within 25 yards of him. All of a sudden, I heard Dave give out a yell and there at the edge of the timber, several steps from walking out to where one of my hunters could get a shot, was the big 6X6 bull. The bull was determined not to leave the green timber. Dave, armed with only a stick and some almost “off colored words” was trying to cut off the bull from turning around and heading back into the thicker timber. The only thing was, he was chasing the bull right towards me! I waved my arms and yelled. The bull lowered his horns in a threatening manner and I got the message. Get out of the way! The bull passed me by at about ten yards, went over the ridge, and was gone. Dave’s hunter, who was below us had the other two bulls pass by him, but he let them go knowing that the bigger bull would soon appear.
(Final count: Elk 3, Hunters 0) But what a fantastic day!! This year, Samuel from Virginia shot the largest mule deer buck (a nice 24" 4 point), and Pat McGuire got the biggest bull, making his record 50% on bulls harvested since he has been hunting with us for the last 8 years. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2007 Hunting JournalThree bull elk were harvested during the first week. Twin brothers from Maine hunted hard and went home with a bull apiece. One of which was a very nice 5 x 5 bull. Paul and Jerimi were able to guide Larry Bishop from Florida to within 200 yards of a magnificent 7 point bull on Wednesday evening. They started their day with a 2 hour horseback ride to a remote ridge top. As the shadows lengthened, they spotted a dozen head of elk coming out of some green timber. The elk crossed a ridge top and began feeding in an open lush meadow. The last two elk to come into the meadow were bulls. Although half a mile separated the men and elk, Larry and the guides realized that one of the bulls was significantly larger than the other. The elk were grazing and moving at a quick pace, so Paul and Jerimi took Larry on a high hurdle race through the dead fall trees on the ridge opposite the elk. Paul and Jerimi were able to quickly cut the distance between them and the elk. This maneuver put Larry into a shooting position directing above the elk. Jerimi helped Larry locate the bigger of the two bulls in the group. With a very nicely placed shot, Larry downed the big 7 point bull. Larry Bishop also harvested a nice no typical muley buck. We saw several mule deer bucks with antlers spreads over 30 inches wide. A couple of missed shots and being in the right spot at the wrong time gave these monsters an opportunity to just get bigger. Maybe next year we’ll get a shot at the trophies that have developed as a result of the big buck genetics in the Lost Fork drainage. On the fifth week of the hunting season, all the hunters were successful at taking elk. We almost had the group of hunters tag out that week but we needed to harvest one more deer. Robert Yeager from Michigan took a heavy 24 inch antlered muley that week, the largest harvested that season. Thanks to everyone who came hunting with us this year. It was a pleasure having you. Eagerly waiting for next year, Paul Ritchey -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2006 Hunting JournalWe had hunters for one week in Archery season. They saw elk every day. One hunter shot at a 5x5 bull at a distance of 25 yds. The arrow hit a tree branch and was deflected. For the first week of Rifle season, we had a little snow and cold--it got warmer later in the week. On the first afternoon, Patrick McGuire (on his 6th trip with us) went to sit and watch for game. He has two meadows that are his favorite spots to watch. He chose the lower meadow while his Guide and another hunter went up higher. Patrick was sitting by a pine tree when he heard a twig snap--there was a bull elk walking out of a patch of timber less than 100 yds, away. He got him with one shot--a nice 5x5. It was the same place where he got a bull 3 yrs. ago. This is the biggest bull Patrick has taken. Pat's record in the years he has been hunting with us; in 2001 - 4 pt. mule deer; 2002 - 4 pt. mule deer; 2003 - 2 pt. bull elk and a mule deer buck; 2004 - 3x4 mule deer; 2005 - 3x3 bull elk; 2006 - 5x5 bull elk. On Monday, guide-Dave Eness and hunter-Don Waggoner, were hiking through an old burn area following tracks. The Guide said he would make a big loop--hoping to drive some elk Don. He chased two bull elk towards Don--one of them turned and ran back towards the Guide who hollered at it to keep it from running over him. The other bull stepped over some logs, stopped and looked towards Don who dropped it with one shot. It was a 4x4. On Tuesday, Paul Santos (on his 10th trip with us) and Clayton were riding up the West Fork trail when they came to a deep cut. Paul spotted a deer lying down on the other side of the cut--he thought it was a doe. Clayton said "no, it's a buck." Paul said "no, it's a doe." Paul looked through the binoculars and said "it's a doe."; Clayton still said "no, it's a buck." Paul asked "where are you looking?" When Clayton explained just exactly where he was looking, there was a nice buck lying down in an open spot. (The doe was under a tree.) They dismounted, Paul got his gun and went down below the horses. The buck got up and then another buck got up--they were very similar in size. There were about 1 doz. deer there. Both bucks started running up the hill and then stopped--one continued up the hill, the other going to one side. Clayton whistled, the buck stopped and Paul shot. They found it lying in some dead poles with it's head sticking up about 3' above the ground because it was wedged between two poles. It was a 4x5 with a 24" spread. Tuesday evening, guide--Dave Eness and hunter-William Loth, had spotted elk way across Lost Fork canyon up high on the ridge. The next day, towards evening, they went up to the ridge where they had spotted the elk. They were lying down over a little ridge where they could watch the meadow. They watched for quite awhile without seeing anything so when the Guide said he spotted elk coming out of the timber into the meadow, William thought he was joking. There were about 10 cows and calves who came quite close to them. (The elk were eating.) Once in awhile the elk would look up an act nervous--when they would catch a whiff of people scent. Further away a spike elk came out of the timber. When a calf started running, the spike disappeared, but he came back out again. William couldn't decide whether to shoot at the spike--there might be a bigger bull come out of the timber--so they waited. Once in awhile the elk would get a scent from them and act like they might leave. William was ready to shoot at the spike at least two times, when more elk would come out into the meadow--they were cows and calves. Finally, he decided he'd better take the spike while he had the chance--before all the elk took off. He dropped it at about 75 yds. It was the first elk he has shot. Contact us at: Paul Ritchey, 606 E Montana St., Lewistown, MT 59457
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