See Pics of the below stories and complete Success Report of All Hunters by going to Success Report for 2003

December 2003 Newsletter

Hi folks!

   We had another great year of hunting!  Killed some big ones, like that one at the top of this page that Rich Kettlewell killed, [click to see pic ] as well as some other great bucks, and a very high success on elk.  But first….

Email Folks Get Hunt Report First

     I have an email newsletter list so I can update people as soon as it happens at hunting camp, or important news between quarterly newsletters.  For most of the season I would come in at the end of a hunt and quickly report on the week’s success and activities and then send it off to you who have subscribed.  It was fresh in my mind and those who got it were a) anticipating their upcoming hunt with me

b) remembering their previous hunt with me c) hoping to hunt with me and bag one for themselves.  To sign up for the email list, go to my website at JacksonHoleOutfitters.com and on the Home page, a ways down on the left, there is a link to go to the Newsletter page, and on that page is the sign-up block.  Your email address you put in there is not shared with anyone for any reason whatsoever so you will never get on any spam list.  I don’t even have access to the email addresses, as it is automatic.  I cannot send attachments to that list, which could potentially have viruses, so it is 100% safe.  It is a great way for you to get news from me in a hurry and it saves me a lot of postage,  so sign up there.  After you sign up, let me know so I can remove you from my snail mail list.  If any of you get this newsletter via email and still get it snail mail, I would appreciate letting me know so I can remove you from the post office list.

Rich Bags a WHOPPER!

In four days of hunting Rich Kettlewell had seen 38 bucks,  none of them quite big enough.  The afternoon of the fourth day he was sneaking along the rim of a bowl, where guide Grant had placed him, and spotted a huge-bodied deer feeding.  When the buck raised his head, Rich gasped, then calmly raised his rifle and decked the monster buck.  It had a 34 1/2 inch spread and talk about a huge body!!  That buck probably weighed almost 400 pounds on the hoof.  It field dressed at about 300 pounds.  Incredible trophy!!

JayDee Breaks His Elk Jinx!

Jay D. Crouch arrived at camp telling tall tales about the several elk hunts he had participated in.  His claim to fame was that he had never seen an elk on previous elk hunts.  I promised him that we would break that jinx in the first hour of his hunt.  I paired him and his hunting partner, Eugene Lofgren, with Grant.  Grant had found a big herd of elk just two days before elk season, and promised to put them right in the middle.  He made good on his promise, as before daylight they had elk all around them and bugling bulls, too.  Right at daylight Jay D. and Eugene missed a huge bull, long shot, then Jay D. killed a 6x5 bull & Eugene hit a big 5 pointer which we tracked for hours and never found.  While hunting with Eugene, we had a cow elk looking at us just a half mile from the road.  Eugene was nice enough to let me borrow his rifle and get my meat.  We quickly quartered it and then I packed it out the next morning.

Garners Garner Trophy Bucks!

Phil and his son, Jason, teamed up on a couple of great bucks which they killed within 15 yards of each other, 15 minutes apart.  Grant put them in a rough basin and on their sneak Jason killed a really great 27 incher.  Another big buck was with it, but Phil passed it up, wanting a bigger one.  When the big buck showed up a little later Phil decided “what the heck” and killed it.  It was heavy beamed and 29 5/8 inches wide, just barely under 30.  Great bucks!

Paul Bayne Scores Again

Paul is a darn good shot.  When he gets the chance he doesn’t miss.  He first hunted with me several years ago and killed a nice six-point bull.  He has hunted with me every year since, being successful most years.  He has become such a good friend that I take advantage of him and make him work for his hunt. He picks up hunters at the airport for me, which entails a lot of early mornings and late nights and a lot of miles. He also helps set up camp in late August. He and I sat in the dark on opening day with elk bugling all around us.  Just at first light a cow elk appeared 200 yards down the slope and Paul whacked her.  He and Myra just love elk meat!  As we were going down to it we saw several other elk including a big herd bull.

Archery Elk, Great Opportunity

For those of you who want a great hunt with a lot of action, try an archery elk hunt.  Jim Windham saw several big six-point bulls and lots of bugling.  He had a big 5 pointer just 15 yards away and two steps from being killed.  Jim was at full draw and the bull stopped behind a tree with just his nose and antlers sticking out.  Jim held the draw for eternity, when the small herd of elk spooked and ran out about 50 yards and stopped.  One cow walked past Jim at 20 yards and he decided a cow in the hand was better than a bull in the bush.  Good shot!  She went about 200 yards and toppled off a steep hill.  We had a devil of a time packing her out.

Hunt Raffle Includes Tag or $$

The Wyoming Outfitters and Guides Association has a Commissioner’s Tag, courtesy of Game and Fish Commissioner Kerry Powers.  We are raffling it off for $20 per chance, and we are combining it with a hunt with any WyOGA member of your choice.  That can be elk, deer, or antelope.  If you prefer you can take $5,000 cash instead of the tag and hunt.  Contact the Association about this at (307)265-2376 or see details on our website at WyOGA.org.

Short Elk Hunts

We had a short elk hunt this year.  Opening morning we had 7 hunters and 5 of them killed elk the first hour while one of the others hit a big 5 pointer.  Besides the elk killed, two big bulls were shot at.  The hunter who didn’t shoot had a bad case of asthma and only hunted the first day.  Two days later a 12 year old, Brant Buchanan from Texas, came and hunted for two days, then came back a week later and hunted with me for one day.  He saw a herd of about 40 elk and passed up a spike because we had seen two huge bulls, 350 class, at the bottom of the canyon.  Unfortunately he didn’t get the big boys.  Then toward the end of the season, after camp was torn down and finished, Matt Amundsen called and asked if he could hunt the last three days of the season.  So Matt and I went out on Oct 29, climbed a heck of a mountain, and peeked over the ridge.  Sure enough, the herd of elk was right in the same place that Brant and I had seen them, but while we were trying to spot the big boys the fog rolled in and a huge snowstorm pinned us down under a tree.  We had an enjoyable 6 hours nursing a fire and swapping lies while it laid down 6 inches of snow.  Then when the storm broke the elk fed out, including 4 bulls, but not the whoppers.  A nice 6 pointer fed toward us and at 310 yards Matt plastered him.  It was a very very steep trek down to him, then quartering him and packing him on the horses mostly in the dark, then a very long hike out leading our horses.  A great day of hunting with a great guy!  Direct quotes from our conversation on the way out; Matt: “Have I told you how happy I am?”  Me: “Only about 20 times, but I don’t mind hearing it again.”

Other Great Trophies

We had so many good hunters and kills and stories this year I regret I can’t put them all in this newsletter.  Go to my website and then to 2003 Success Report for full details and pictures.  But for a brief rundown; Matt Janes killed a huge 30 1/2 inch heavy-horned monster muley with a 367 yard shot the first hour of his hunt, score 182.  Matt's friend, Brendon, got it all on video; the buck walking around, beating on the bushes with his antlers, the great shot, and the celebration.  I’ll try to figure out how to get the video on the website.  Guide Brian put him in the right place at the right time.  Craig McBride killed one heck of a buck, 29 inches, with one heck of a story to go along with it.  The wounded buck tried to kill Craig and would have gored him if Craig hadn’t tripped and fallen down a hill.  Don Callahan and guide Sparky made a very long stalk on a big buck way across a canyon while my brother Greer, Don’s friend Bill Fisher, and I stayed on this side and directed them to the bedded buck.  All three of us were watching through our spotting scopes and suddenly the buck's head quickly flopped down on the ground.  Three seconds later we heard the report of the rifle.  It was really neat! 

Todd Willard killed a nice buck, which I, Jonesy, misjudged.  I thought it was bigger.  I’m sure guide Tom wouldn’t have made that mistake.  Next time when I volunteer to go with Tom and his hunter he will probably politely decline.

Chris Degner killed a really nice buck, heavy and high, dark horns, old buck with some unique character to his rack, little stickers and cheaters. Great buck. Only took Chris 13 shots to bring it down. Chris was able to joke about that, fortunately, because those of us that heard the war thought he had gone crazy and killed the whole herd.  When we heard it was just one buck we ribbed him unmercifully. 

Don Bloch killed a heavy and high 27 incher right off the trail.  Guide Brian said Don was in the best shape of any hunter he has guided, and Don is getting a bit long in the tooth.  Don has hunted with us several times before.

And then there are the famous (or infamous) Ingram Brothers.  Brother Bruce Ingram hunted with us for the first time this year.  We had heard of their older, handsomer, and smarter brother, and we were anxious to meet him to see what a normal Ingram looks like. Brett drug him along and Bruce wasn’t disappointed.  Killed an old gnarly 26 inch trophy buck!!

Steve Calderwood missed a big 6 point bull elk on opening morning and then killed a spike a half hour later.  He hung around for a week and rode the hills, helped me pack out my elk, and helped us tear down camp.  Great guy, in spite of being Chief of Police of his city.

In Memorium

In 20 years of outfitting in Wyoming I haven’t ever had a horse die during the season.  This summer and fall I lost 4 of them and had to retire an old one.  My good friend, Duke, got sick and died in August. Ten days later Curly was dead when we arrived at the corral. Dino, real name Prehistoric because he looked like a dinosaur, tumbled down a mountain, gashed his head and fractured his skull. Three weeks later he was almost healed and then suddenly died.  Hunky died of a twisted gut a week after hauling him to Arizona for the winter.  Moe got arthritis in his hips and we had to retire him this fall.  So goes life.

Elk Hunts Available for 2004

I am pretty much booked up on deer hunts for ‘04, but we have some great elk hunting.  High success, lots of elk, and some big bulls.  We had spotted a couple of whoppers before the season but unfortunately some other guys on the same mountain killed them, scored 372 and 358.  I have a special price on elk hunts and I think I can get you an elk permit, almost 100% chance.  Call me!

Have a Cool Yule and a Frantic First!          Jonesy