By CHRIS MERRILL Star-Tribune environment reporter
.
LANDER — At least three wolves were killed by Wyoming residents over the weekend, after the animal was removed from the federal endangered species list.

Large numbers of hunters reportedly prowled the state’s newly designated wolf predator area in Sublette County Friday, Saturday and Sunday, locals and outfitters said.

At least two wolves were killed near an elk feedground in the Pinedale area, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Another was killed, also in Sublette County, by a rancher, a local predator board member said.

The Star-Tribune received reports that a fourth wolf was possibly taken, also in Sublette County, but that kill has not yet been confirmed.

All three of the confirmed wolf kills happened in the Cowboy State’s newly designated predator zone for wolves, where the animals can be shot on sight without limits, as long as the time, location and sex of each kill is reported to the Game and Fish Department within 10 days.

Wolves were removed from protection under the federal Endangered Species Act on Friday, at which point the state of Wyoming took over management of the animals inside its borders.

Wolves in the state’s extreme northwest corner are now in the animal’s trophy game zone, and are still afforded some protection. Wolves in the rest of the state are considered predators, similar to coyotes.

Eric Keszler, spokesman for the Game and Fish Department, said the two wolf kills reported so far both happened Friday, about one to two miles west of the Jewett feedground outside of Pinedale. Both were gray-black, one male and one female.

One of the two near the feedground was wearing a tracking collar, said Scott Talbott, the Game and Fish official overseeing the state’s new wolf management program.

One rancher outside the trophy game zone killed a wolf Friday on his private property, said Cat Urbigkit, a member of the Sublette County Predator Board.

The rancher, who wanted to remain anonymous, was having problems with a wolf harassing his livestock, Urbigkit said. The predator board sent USDA Wildlife Services to assist the rancher, but he was able to kill the wolf on his own, she said.

Urbigkit, along with other locals, said there were a lot of hunters out over the weekend in Sublette County looking for wolves. Most of the 30 to 35 wolves outside the trophy game zone live in Sublette County.

“There has been a lot of excitement and interest for hunters in Sublette County,” Urbigkit said. “The predator board has nothing to do with that, but if the hunters are successful in their efforts, then hopefully the predator boards will not be called in on conflicts.”

The Sublette County Predator Board will not hunt wolves, she said, and will only respond when there is a conflict with livestock.

Terry Pollard, co-owner of Bald Mountain Outfitters, said he, too, knows many locals who went out wolf hunting over the weekend. He said most of them came back empty-handed.

“I think they’re finding just what we figured,” Pollard said. “These wolves are an extremely tough animal to hunt. There was a significant amount of hunters out this weekend, and very few of them were taken.”

The problem, however, is that many more wolves might have been killed and authorities don’t know about it yet, said Mike Leahy, the Rocky Mountain regional director of Washington, D.C.-based Defenders of Wildlife.

Because the predator area requirements allow people to wait 10 days before reporting wolf kills, the authorities who most need to know about the impact of the new wolf rules will be largely in the dark for days or even weeks, Leahy said.

“In a shoot-on-sight zone, a large number of the wolves could be killed before Wyoming Game and Fish or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service even knows about it,” Leahy said. “There could be big impacts to the wolf population that go underreported until it’s too late.”

Defenders of Wildlife is part of a coalition of 11 conservation groups that has notified the federal government about its intent to sue over the wolf delisting rule once the requisite 60-day waiting period is up at the end of April.

There are provisions built into the Endangered Species Act that theoretically allow citizens to seek an emergency injunction against a federal delisting decision, should sufficient need arise.

“It is too early to tell, but certainly if this number of wolves was killed in the first weekend, and this pace keeps up, we would certainly consider the emergency provisions,” Leahy said.

Well heads turned today as I let out a whoop from in front of my computer!  I was one of the few but proud, successful applicants for elk tags in Wyoming. 

I checked my results on the Wyoming G&F Draw Results  page.  Don’t despair if you didn’t draw an elk tag, though.  You still have until March 15th to apply for deer and antelope. 

Wyoming’s online application system is up and running.   There is links to frequently asked questions and a glossery of terms for the unfamiliar. So gather up your personal information, hunt information , and the info for the rest of your party, and make sure you have a credit card to charge in case you draw.  Best of luck.

Wyoming, Here I come!

Preserving the memory of a successful hunt is usually thought of in terms of antlers and shoulder mounts, meat in the freezer and pictures on the wall.  But for the successful elk hunter, elk ivory jewelery can be a way to get your wife or girlfriend to be a little more excited about your elk harvest.

What are elk ivories? 

 Elk are ruminants.  This means they have a four chambered stomach that is adapted to storing large amounts of grasses and forbs from early morning feeding.  Then, in the safety of hiding cover, the elk regurgitate the fiberous feedstuffs, continue to chew the bolus until the particle size is reduced further, and it passes on down the digestive tract for further digestion and absorbtion.  The teeth of ruminants are built uniquely for this task with lower incisors made for slicing off grass stems.   The molars are large and square, well suited to grinding up roughage.  Ruminants normally have no upper incisors, but instead have a dental pad in their place.  Elk are unique in the fact that they have two rounded canine teeth made of an ivory like material.  These are also referred to as “buglers” or “tusks”.  The origin of these is unknown and elk are the only member of the North American deer family to exhibit this unique dentition.  As elk age, plaque deposits combined with age and wear make interesting and unique designs in the ivories.  Usually Bull ivories are kept as keepsakes, but cow elk have ivories as well, although smaller.   Below are a pair of ivories from a winter killed bull on my hatband.  This picture shows the root and all.

 What can you do with them?

Elk Ivories are well suited to custom jewlery.  A search on Google under Elk Ivory will turn up a wide assortment of jewlers with custom designs that can be made with your ivory.  Commercial sources of elk ivories are available as well, if you were not able to collect your own.   One of the most well known elk ivory jewlery designers is Jensen’s Jewlers.  The have locations throughout the West including Idaho, Nevada, Montana, and South Dakota.  Their web page shows the wide variety of designs for earrings, cufflinks, belt buckles, keychains, necklaces, bracelets etc. 

 This Christmas, my wife will be getting a pair of Elk Ivory post earrings from Rod and Candy Huskey of Lazy J Corral in Hoback Junction, Wyoming.  On my way home from Wyoming this October, I dropped off my ivories, and told Rod to do what he thought was best.  I have to say the results were fantastic! 

While Rod and Candy don’t have a fancy website like other jewlers, the personal attention and customized design  makes me proud to have them create my keepsakes. 

If you are interested in contacting them, their phone number is 307-733-1554.  They have their jewlery shop and RV park at 10755 South Highway 89, Jackson, Wyoming 83001. 

My recent posts about my 2 week pilgrimage to Elk Country has raised some questions from my readers, so I thought I would respond to those I’ve received so far.

How many miles did you travel?  How long did that take?

I drove about 2400 miles total in my 2001 GMC Crew Cab who I affectionately call “Mighty Whitey”.  I made it to Oregon Elk Camp (550 miles) in 10 Hours.  From Eastern Oregon to Western Wyoming was a 2 part trip, but was a total of 14 .5 hours and 650 miles.  The return trip through Nevada was 940 miles. 

What did your bull score?

When I scored him in camp he was 259 before deductions for symmetry.  He netted 241.  That is still bigger than my 2006 Oregon Archery bull.

How much meat did you get?

I delivered 4 quarters totalling 360 pounds to the plant.  I got back nearly 250 pounds of boneless steaks, roasts, and ground meat.

What did you do with the meat? 

The meat I had custom cut and wrapped in Jackson by JH processing, a division of Cowboy natural meats.

What rifle, scope cartridge and caliber were you using?

I shot my bull with a Ruger Model 77 .300 Winchester Magnum.  Ammunition was a Federal Premium factory load with 180 grain Nosler Partition Bullets.

What was the weather like?

We had everything from sun to rain, sleet, snow, hail, and wind. The coldest was in the morning just before sunrise. It was as cold as 19 degrees, and as warm as 65 degrees.

What did you wear on your elk hunt?

In a situation like that layering is essential. I always wore Under Armour Cold Gear as my base layer. I wore Merino wool blend socks from wigwam, and REI. I wore Cabelas Microtex pants and shirt. I also had good results with a Woolrich wool shirt and Army surplus wool pants. For insulation I had a Cabelas Jacket, under Rain Suede Raingear, when I needed it, from Cabela’s. On my feet I had either uninsulated Danner Quarry boots or Hoffman 14″ pacs with 200gram Thinsulate liners. For my hands and head, I wore heatmax gloves, a polar fleece beanie or a Sage Creek outfitters ball cap.

Where were you hunting?

My typical Answer is “Up No Tellum Creek. For the exact location the person who can point it out is named Helen Hunt. If you REALLY want to know, go to Helen Hunt.” By the way that is a smart aleck answer for folks that are prying, trying to find out my “honey hole”.
But let it suffice to say Western Wyoming.

In the last three years that I have been hunting in Western Wyoming, I have developed some lasting friendships with a variety of people I’ve come in contact with. Billy is one I always look forward to seeing. Now to look at Billy you might dismiss him as just another wrangler or cowboy. Once you talk to him, you realize that the saying “still waters run deep” holds true in this case. We have had some great conversations about books, music, botany, history, horsemanship, and hunting.

Billy was raised in Eastern Wyoming near Devil’s Tower. His father was a champion Wild Horse racer. Under his tutelage Billy learned the tricks of the trade well enough to win seven buckles of his own in the event. With family who ranched throughout the West, Billy had a wide variety of exposure to horses and cattle and gravitated towards any activity that involved horses. I was surprised to learn, while on a long ride back to camp from hunting, that Billy had worked in the movies as a teamster and rider. You can see him in the closing scene of Rambo III waving as John Rambo leaves. (he is wearing a turban, and mounted on the horse with the bobbing head).

Currently Billy works seasonally for a variety of outfitters in Wyoming, Montana and even Arizona, as both a horse wrangler in the summer, and a hunting guide in the Fall. In the spring he collects antler sheds from elk wintering areas. These sheds are used to fashion a variety of antler art items that can be found throughout stores in the Jackson, Wyoming area. He also has an antique shop he keeps in Jackson, buying and selling artifacts, and knives.

So the next time you are in the Jackson Hole area, if you see a dark hatted fella with a feather in the band and one on the stampede string, you might be looking at another example of the type of person that makes the West so special to me. Billy is a product of the cowboy code, and my world has been bettered by knowing him. Here’s to you Billy, Happy Trails Partner!

When we hit camp at about 1:30 or 2 pm., folks started boiling out of tents as we walked in. The guide started apologizing profusely for leaving us alone up there but when he got back to camp, the other guide had taken the pack horses to pack out a bull my uncle had killed (remember the shots we heard?) They weren’t even back yet.

The guides were amazed that a CALIFORNIAN could pack out an elk much less quarter one…I just grinned and told ‘em they just needed a copy of Joe Back’s book, Horses Hitches and Rocky trails! Besides, even a Cali country boy can survive!

By the end of 5 days we were 4 for 5 on bulls. My brother in law killed a nice 6 point 3 days later at 80 yards, Jerome killed a heavy 4×4 bull 1 day later, and my uncles bull from that day was a 3×4. The pack horses got a work out every day! We had a good time in the evenings!

The only pic I have of Mike’s bull. (Pretty good for a first elk huh?)

From left to right Jeromes, mine, and my uncle Colby’s elk racks

Now that we had the bull down it’s pretty straight forward right?

I sent the guide back to get pack horses, and to tell my dad and brother in law I had one down. They finally came up to my location after I walked down to the creek a 1/2 down canyon and waved to show them the way. We got out my Wyoming saw and started quartering the bull, in anticipation of pack horses arriving soon.

If you have never sawed through a back bone of a mature bull elk, let me tell you….You had better pack a lunch! It is one of the hardest tasks known to man. Just before you make it through another Vertebrae, the blade binds. You try to position the critter so that you can pull the saw, and finally, you hear the bone crack and you start sawing on the next vertebrae. All the way from the tailbone through the neck! Imagine sawing a juniper tree lengthwise in half that is about 10 feet tall and 6 inches thick…

I am done quartering elk with a saw. I will go gutless from now on….More about this in another column, I promise…

We finished the quartering job, and cut the antlers off and sat down for lunch with our eyes on the treeline 100 yards away. I had told them both about our bear run in and so we didn’t want to stick around a kill site very long. I stated as we worked on our roast beef sandwich that if the pack horses weren’t here by the time I finished my lunch that I was going to load the quarters on my saddle horse and walk out. Mike, my brother in law volunteered his horse also. We didn’t want to meet the local “Golden Bear”.

We loaded the front quarters on my horse with a basket hitch and crows foot, using 50 foot of 3/8 kernmantle climbing rope that I always carry in my pack (I was going to get rid of it but not now!) I half hitched it around the horn and looped it around the cantle of the saddle. The hind quarters I used a barrel hitch with 100 feet of Parachute cord, that I won at our annual 3-d archery shoot raffle! I put the liver in a garbage sack in my Badlands 2200, and put the rack in the meat packing pullout and we started down off the mountain on our 6 mile hike back to camp.
 

So Dad and Mike (the Bro-in-law) set up low on the left side of the ridge, while I took the guide up higher to watch some other clearings. He had guided last year, but had never been in this country before. His instructions were “Go with the Martin’s they will show you every thing you need to know.” I call that pretty high praise from our outfitter….My father and uncle have hunted this country for 6 years prior, and it was my third year in there.

We had 3 bulls bugling in the drainage, and it wasn’t even light yet. We did the “sneak and peek” over through three or four clearings. We saw a wallow that looked the size of a Doughboy swimming pool and finally when it was light enough to see, spotted a herd of elk, a mile away at the head of the canyon. We could see bulls fighting, so I wasted no time dropping of into the draw and crossing the creek over to the timber on the other side.

Now the guide said we RAN all the way to the elk. I’m pretty sure I just kept a quick walk. That Marathon training paid off, I guess. About 1/4 mile before we reached where we want to be, in the downfall, just after first light, I heard a growl….More like a grumble BROUGHHH BROUGGHHHH……but didn’t see the bruin making it. My guides eyes got REAL wide…..

Well my guide had his .460 drawn and asked me if I had a shell in the chamber on my .300 Win Mag. I nodded and motioned for him to watch our back as we continued to move in on the elk. We continued through another quarter mile of downfall timber without seeing the bear and came within 200 yards of the edge of the clearing when I heard shots ring out from the next ridge. I kicked it into high gear, worried that it might have spooked my herd but I was relieved when we reached the edge of the clearing and I started seeing elk.

It was the perfect set up. The sun was rising behind us, and the wind was in our face. There were three mule deer on the left side of the clearing, and we could hear cows and calves chirping to one another. There were 3 bulls and numerous spikes all bugling and posturing. As we had come through he timber we could occasionally hear bugles. one of which was low, gnarly, snarly and downright growly. When I heard it again when I had the herd in view, I saw the bull that was making it and had my gun up and resting on the web of my hand as I gripped the trunk of a small pine.

I had to wait for him to feed another 20 yards and clear some cows and calves before I took my shot. I ranged him at 170 yards, put the crosshairs on his shoulder and squeezed the trigger………

BOOM!

Down he went like a ton of bricks. The whole basin came alive with elk running everywhere….Then they all stopped and looked around. I had time to glass the rest of the herd and count the bulls remaining. If my dad and brother in law had been there they could have filled their tags as well. Finally, a smaller six point started pushing cows up the hill, but there were elk in the open even after we stepped out of the trees. We walked up to the bull on the ground with my guide beating me on the back telling me what a great shot I’d made.

met my Wyoming hunting crew in Southern Idaho and we traveled east, arriving a night an Day before the opener.

Our crew consisted of myself, my 33 year old brother in law Mike, my 65 year old father, my 63 year old uncle and a 52 year old Basque from Nevada named Jerome. We were all experienced horsemen sowe had our horses saddled and we scouted our way around the beaver ponds we were going to cross in the dark the next morning. Our guides appreciated our “Take charge” attitudes….

I didn’t sleep a wink that night and met the outfitter dressed and ready to go at 3:30 in the morning. After saddling horses, and eating a hot breakfast we were on the trail, under the full moon at 4:45 in the AM. We had company at the beaver pond as a couple of riders from another camp crossed the creek with us leading the way. They got ahead of us and even took the fork in the trail we had planned to go up. So we had to improvise, and chose the other side of the ridge.

Chuck and Patty Ann Sandberg are the owners and operators of Cowboy Free Range Meats in Jackson, Wyoming. Every year between 1,600 and 1,800 antelope, sheep, deer, moose and elk are handled by this couple and their skilled crew. Over the past 7 years my family has used their services for elk and deer processing after successful hunts in Western Wyoming. In addition to their wild game processing, the Sandbergs have expanded ther selectons to offer organic and free range meat headed up by Patty Ann. PattyAnn’s web site is
www.cowboyfreerangemeat.com

You may email them at patty@cowboyfreerangemeat.com

So with hunting season upon us, I thought that a Q&A session with Chuck about meat care would be helpful to our readers.

What common mistakes do hunters make in meat care when they bring animals to your facility?

There are several mistakes hunters make when they 1st get an animal
down.
1) So often hunters wait too long to begin dressing out their animal. They should get their pictures taken ASAP then immediately starting dressing the animal out….they can continue telling the story while they are doing this and enjoy retelling it after they have finished.
2) Too many hunters do not complete the dressing out process…a) they tend to leave the lungs and the esophagus (wind pipe) in the animal. They also tend to not remove the entire urinal track and all the manure from beneath the pelvic bone located between the hind quarters. Removing the wind pipe is critical especially in larger animals, re: elk, moose and buffalo. The enzymes in the wind pipe will cause the front half to spoil in only a few hours, especially if it is warm out. The front end of these animals retains so much heat that people don’t realize how quickly they can ruin 1/2 of their meat. Removing the wind pipe on deer and antelope is not as critical simply because they do not retain as much heat, however it is still wise to remove it so as not to take any chances. Still, leaving any of the entrails in an animal will effect the quality of how good your meat will taste.
3) Too many hunters let their meat get dirty, whether it be dust and dirt or grass and leaves. The dirtier your meat is, the more these outside influences seep into your meat and change the flavor. You also loose more meat because your butcher has to cut away more meat than on a clean animal. Dirty meat is very typical among hunters who “bone out” their animal in the field. Though they seldom have spoiled meat, I would say about 1 out 10 hunters know how to properly bone out an animal. Those who do know how usually are prepared with a clean tarp or blanket to do the work on and also with enough game bags to put the meat into when they are finished.
4) Never put your animal in a creek or water tank to cool it down. The bacteria in the water may cause who knows what to start growing on or in your meat. If you do wash your animal off with a hose (or clean water) the growth of bacteria is still increase and your meat starts breaking down much sooner. Butcher plants that clean animals this way usually have an additive in the water that will keep unwanted bacteria from forming on the meat.

Do you prefer to have the animal skinned when it comes to your facility?

Butchers prefer animals to come into their plants with the skin on the animal. Usually there is a skinning fee, but the advantages to leaving the skin on are numerous. First of all, the skin protects the animal when once it is dead similar to the way it protects it when it was alive. Primarily it keeps the meat clean and give less surface for flies and bees to get to.
If you are going to skin your animal yourself, be sure to do it where you can keep it clean and have as many game bags to put your meat into as soon as your finished. Too many hunters try to save a few dollars by skinning their own animal when they do not know how to skin properly or do not skin often enough to be proficient at the task of skinning. Many times, self skinned animals come in with huge knife cuts through out the animal. They don’t realize how much meat has to be made into hamburger rather than steaks because their animal is all hacked.

What is the best way to keep meat in camp cool during an early season hunt?

The best way to keep meat cool in camp during the early hunt (as well as the
later hunt) is simple….a) keep your meat out of the sun!, and b)hang it up, do not leave it laying on the ground or in the back of your truck! Again, the skin will protect the meat if it is properly and totally cleaned of entrails and wind pipe. If you are going to have several days in camp, you should quarter you animal…and leave the skin on the quarters. If you are going to have your animal mounted, you should cape it out at least up to the head. Do this by cutting from the middle of the back, straight up the backbone to the hump between the ears. Then cut around the middle of the body and keep your cut behind the shoulders. Then skin forward from there. This should be done immediately after you have “semi” field dressed your animal. By this I mean only cut it up the belly far enough to get the main mass of gut out. When you are finished skinning the front of your animal for your mount, you can also finish your dressing job by splitting the rib cage and removing the lungs and the wind pipe. If you field cape your animal be sure to have game bags to put your meat in. If you decide to skin any part of your animal or all of it be sure to have game bags…they will protect your animal just as leaving the skin on will.

What can a hunter do to make processing his meat faster and easier for you?

Hunters can make my job easier by bringing their game in ASAP, by keeping their meat clean and by trying hanging tendon on the hind quarters. When you cut the rear legs of your animal, there are too lumps at the knee joint…cut in the middle of the lumps “closest to the ground”. This will be the “lower” lump of the two and also the “smaller” lump. Too many times the hunter cuts the large lump because it is the main joint of the knee, but this also causes you to cut the joint that holds the hanging tendon to the knee, making it more difficult to hang your animal from the hind quarters.

Many hunters worry about getting their meat back, how do you keep track of who’s is who’s during the Fall rush?

Every hunter we get will definitely get their own meat back if they will take the time when they first come in to make sure we put their name of all parts of their animal. ( ie: If you a have 4 quarters we would put 4 name tags on). These tags stay on the animal until it is removed from the cooler to be processed. We only put one animal on a cutting table at a time and your name tags follow your animal clear through the wrapping process until it is put on trays with your name on the tray. We never put 2 different hunters animal on the same tray. Any hunter is welcome to take a tour of how we cut and keep track of each animal…you can spend the whole day if you like…but you will know you are getting your own meat and all of it if you
will take just a minute or two to come watch how we do things.

What should a hunter know if he wants his meat shipped to his or her home?

If a hunter wants to ship his meat home, he can take it on most airlines as excess baggage or he can ship it via FED-EX. UPS will not allow more than 4.4 lbs of dry ice, which is not enough to keep your meat frozen during the shipping process Shipping averages about $3.00 and up a pound. Remember an elk might yield as much as 230 lbs… of pure meat…on top of this is the cost of preparing your shipment. You would be buying 3 to 4 shipping boxes, plus putting 10 lbs of dry ice in each box for overnight delivery and 20 lbs in each box for 2 day air delivery. A large bull could cost over a $1000.00 just for shipping cost. Our suggestion is to drive and bring a very large cooler….usually a 140 quart will hold most elk….but a very large elk or a moose will probably require another cooler.

What services do you offer, what do they cost?

Our basic cost for processing is 85 cents per pound of the “hanging” weight. This means, no hide, no head, no legs. Elk usually weigh between 300 and 400 lbs. This includes making the hamburger. Adding beef or pork fat to your burger is a little extra. We also offer pressed and ground jerky, salami, summer sausage and polish sausages, however these items are not made from your animal. They are made from the trim designated by each hunter if they want some of these items. These are made at in bulk at around 200 lbs per batch. They are a mixture of antelope, elk, deer and moose. Thus they are “wild game” products. Because of the volume we must do it is impossible to make any of these items from your own animal. We also offer “breakfast sausage”which does come from your own animal and is made at the same time as the rest of your meat is being wrapped.

We also have a small retail store, where we offer buffalo, elk and organic
meat. These are farm / ranch raised animals and are processed at USDA
plants located in Idaho and Utah. Our store also offers unique gifts for
any hunter to bring home. These include unique wild game cook books, special
seasonings for wild game, huckleberry products and many other gift ideas you
would not find in most stores.

Where are you located, and how can a customer contact you?

We are located at 1655 Berger Lane (P.O. Box 1618) Jackson, Wyoming 83001.Turn west at the last stop like going south out of Jackson, which is the
“HIGH SCHOOL ROAD” take your next right which is “GREGORY LANE” and your next right which is “BERGER LANE”. Go 1 block and we are on the left hand corner. We have a large white and black buffalo sign located in front of our building and are easy to find.
Our phone numbers are 307-733-4026 or 307-732-0496. During the heart of theseason we get so busy with customers standing right in front of us that the
phones can be hard to answer, so please leave a message or try calling back
later. We do check are messages several times daily and will get back to
you ASAP.
We are open “every day” including Sundays at least from 8am to
6pm….usually later when we know animals are coming in.

Our motto is “YOU GET YOUR OWN MEAT AND ALL OF IT”. This means we use yourown meat for steaks, roasts, burger and breakfast sausage. We never keep any of your meat of give it to anyone else.

www.cowboyfreerangemeat.com
patty@cowboyfreerangemeat.com