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What was your success rate last year?
I have never ridden a horse, what do I need to do to get ready to hunt?
Do you have your own horses or do you rent them?
What is for dinner?
Will I see a lot of elk?
What is the weather like?
What makes your hunting so good?
How do I get a elk hunting license?
How do you hunt for elk?
Do you offer drop camps?
How long are your hunts?
What else is there to do around Cody, Wyoming?
Do you guarantee that I will shoot a bull elk?
Q. What was your success rate last year?
A. We believe that a successful hunt is much more than whether a bull elk was
killed. A successful hunt to us is a hunt that that you remember over
the years and never forget. It is a hunt that combines incredible
scenery with ample game, good accommodations, wonderful food,
knowledgable and capable guides. For me as a hunter, it is all about
the experience and the memories. It is a hunt that makes you feel
alive. You can go to a high fence area and shoot a huge elk, but will
your experience be one to remember? We understand that hunting is
about the experience and about your memories and if you get an elk then it is the icing on the cake.
For the past 40 years
this camp has averaged
better than 80% success rate per Gary Fales who between himself and his father outfitted this
area for over a half a century.
In
2007 we had 16 rifle elk hunters and our hunter took home 11 bulls
all of which had 6 point on at least one side. We had five rifle elk
hunters that did not get an elk and of these five, two took shots and
missed, two more passed on a 5x5. Overall opportunity for our rifle
elk hunters was 15 for 16.
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Q. I have never ridden a horse, what do I need to do to get ready to hunt?
A. You need to know the basics of how to ride a horse. The more experience, the better. In the past, some
hunters were not able to ride on their own and their guide had to lead
their horse around. This can be frustrating for both the guide
and the hunter. For a successful hunt, you need to be able to
ride a horse.
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Q. Do you have your own horses or do you rent them?
A. At this time, we have a herd of horses and mules around 50 head in Cody, WY.
We will only put hunters on the safest horses in our herd. If we get a new horse and he is not proven yet,
then our staff will ride him until we are certain that he is safe. A
rented horse might be a wildcard, he might be safe and he might not be. We
value our clients and your safety is our responsibility and we take
that very seriously. It costs a lot of money to keep a herd of horses
this large, they eat a lot. It may be cheaper to rent horses, but in
our opinion, it is not the best way. A bad horse can ruin your hunt and
a good horse make your hunt a great experience.
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Q. What is for dinner?
A. We know that a good cook in camp cooking fantastic meals helps make a great
hunt. We will eat steak, pork chops, lasagna, spaghetti, ham and
smoked turkey for some of the meals. For breakfast we will have bacon
and eggs, pancakes, biscuits and gravy. Our cook will also be cooking
fresh baked deserts daily. We will also have grits and cheese grits
for our southern hunters. If you like coffee, then there will be a pot
ready for you. Also, we will have southern sweet tea. There will be
plenty of snacks and new for next year, we will have southern boiled
peanuts. Don't worry, you will have plenty to eat.
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Q. Will I see a lot of elk?
A. Most hunters will see elk every day. There is a lot of elk in this valley.
There are resident elk herds with many elk and we are only 9 miles from
Yellowstone National Park and many of these elk migrate through our
area in the later hunts.
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Q. What is the weather like?
A. Snow is possible on any of the hunts and you will need to be prepared. The
days can warm up into the 50's during the day in the early hunts and at
night temperatures will drop below freezing. We will give you a list
of items that you will need to bring. When the sky is blue it is
very blue - not much smog here.
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Q. What makes your hunting so good?
A. A number of things. First of all, our hunting camp it is very remote. It is
in the Thorofare River valley at its headwaters that back up to the
continental
divide. It is about 20 miles on horseback to get to there and our
hunting area is huge. It is about 8 miles long and about 6 miles
wide. It is lot of area and we only hunt 8 to 10 hunters per
hunt. That is not very many hunters per square
mile. Our camp is close to Yellowstone and the elk don't
know where the border is. Yellowstone is over 2.2 million acres
where there is not any elk hunting allowed. The Thorofare valley
has thousands of acres of grass in meadows and there is always plenty
of food for the elk.
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Q. How do I get a elk hunting license?
A. Please see our License Info page for complete instructions.
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Q. How do you hunt for elk?
A.
For the younger hunters in good shape, we will spot and
stalk. For the older hunters, we will spot and stalk but
also slow down and sit and rest as you might require. In the
morning, we might ride and glass for elk and find a herd that has
a good bull in it. Next we get on our horses, ride and get close
to them paying close attention to the wind. Then we stalk them
bugling or cow calling depending on the phase of the rut. Now
this is real hunting -
absolutely no comparison to a truck
hunt.
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Q. Do you offer drop camps?
A. No. Our elk hunt area is deep in the wilderness. Wyoming law prohibits
nonresidents from hunting in wilderness areas without a guide.
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Q. How long are your hunts?
A. Our elk hunts in the Thorofare Valley will be a maximum of 8 days. The first
day will be your ride into camp. It will take 7 to 8 hours to get to
camp.
Day 2 to 7 will be hunting, a total of 6 days. On the last day,
day 8, we
will head back to civilization.
We
normally have a meat run back to Cody on day 4 or 5 of your 8 day
hunt. The hunters that fill their tag early in the week have the
option to leave early and return to Cody at this time or they are
welcome to stay in camp for the rest of their hunt. When I say 6
days of hunting, if you fill your tag, you won’t still be hunting -
it is a figure of speech. There was some confusion about this and I
want to make sure that I am clear. If you kill an elk early, we can
take you out on day 4 or 5 depending on the hunt, but if you want to
stay for your full time in camp, that is fine.
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Q. What else is there to do around Cody, Wyoming?
A. In
town is the Wild Bill Cody museum which has been featured on television numerous
times. Another great option is to rent a car and site see.
You can travel to Yellowstone National Park. South of Cody is Kirwin which is a ghost town in the
mountains. Another nice drive is up in the Beartooth
Mountains on the Beartooth Highway. You could spend a week site
seeing.
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Q. Do you guarantee that I will shoot a bull elk?
A. Absolutely not! This is a wilderness hunt and there are no fences.
Year after year, this camp has averaged 80% - 85% of the hunters going
home with a bull; however, there will be some that will go home empty
handed, but that is hunting. For the entire state of Wyoming in 2005, there were
3050 elk hunters that hunted with outfitters and 1679 went
home with an elk. That is 55% average for the state. Please verify
for yourself at
http://outfitters.state.wy.us/news.asp
. For
me as a hunter, it is all about the memories. Some hunts stand
out in my mind more than others. For me, all my hunts in this
camp are the hunts I always think about. I hunted in this
camp for three years as a paying customer before buying this camp.
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