I purchased a 10 Elk hunt along with 3 friends, I consider myself a beginner horse back rider even though I’d been on horses many times but never more that a couple hours on somewhat level or slightly elevated ground.
Our camp was Wolverine Creek, hunting the Big game ridge area, the ride in was long, about 6 1/2 hours with four short breaks.
The last 2 1/2 hours ride in to Wolverine Creek was middy and got worse the following days with snow melt and run off.
Grizzly’s were prominent and seen most everyday hunting although at a safe distance.
One of the camp horses fell victim to a grizzly while out grazing, the guides claimed the horse was sick but they were very quiet about it and we only became aware of it because the game warden rode in to camp and told us there was a grizzly lying on a kill just down the trail from camp.
Opening day was a white out at times, our guide spotted elk but nowhere close. We rode up higher trying to get around on a small herd but the snow just got worse. We built a fire and tried to wait it out. About 1:30 we broke from our fire and rode down the mountain back to camp about 4 hours. The trail in to camp had gotten worse, it was a sloppy mess and treacherous.
We camped in tents with wood burning stoves and a electric fence around us at night. Camp food was just food, nothing special. The cook was a college age young man with limited experience and the meals reflected his experience. You would think meals would be a substantial part of the plan! Seeing how you leave camp at 4:30-4:45 am, ride hours to hunt then eat a mediocre lunch and ride back another 4 hours or so for less than desirable meals.
The riding was not for the faint hearted, the riding was extreme to say the least. The horses fell, slipped and slid. One of my fellow hunters horse fell four times resulting in him coming off three of those times injuring him.
Another hunter experienced a “runaway” the horse bolted for no known reason and the rider wasn’t able to stop the horse. The guide wasn’t able to get to the hunter and horse in time before the hunter had to bail off the horse which resulted in injury from rolling time after time. The horse was spooked, the guide went to retrieve the horse and it stood up on its hind legs kicking with its front hooves like in a movie.
The hunt went 2 for 4, one hunter gave up after his thrill ride and the other got one shot in four days of hunting. The guides were not or didn’t appear equally qualified, their knowledge of the back country was good but they seemed detached the entire time, all business for the most part.
The camp staff were good at their job, Maggie and her mules were great.
Back at the lodge the cabins were clean but seems they have a towel shortage. Two nights I was there our cabins were shorted towels. The food at the lodge was just ok.
The staff at the lodge were nice and attentive, the Turners are all business and I guess that’s ok to.
In closing, think long and hard about paying 1,250.00 for a non resident license and paying triangle x ranch 5,636.00 for 10 days of possible hell.
The lower camps seemed to have done better with much less riding and better weather.
