A Grand Never-do-that-Again Hunt

Matt Post re-learns his father's lessons
by Cate Cook

There are some hunts, successful or not, that will be remembered forever as simply Great Hunts. Then there are those Trophy Hunts, made memorable by the massive rack, hefty size, one-of-a-kinder. Then there is the Great Hunt, and the Trophy Hunt, that nonetheless must be classified as a Never-do-that-again Hunt. And sometimes those come with plenty of warning, even a couple generations of hunting wisdom from Dad and Granddad. And yet...

Matt Post recorded a grand Never-do-that-again Hunt in the Pinedale area when he drew an early season tag last year. On the third day, the hunting party was enjoying lunch in the pleasant mid-September weather when they saw a bunch of elk coming off a hill about a mile away. They headed toward the game, coming upon a deep canyon first. Matt and the others dropped into the thick woods, and spooked elk from everywhere. When his younger brother bugled, one bull was tempted to come back, and Matt quickly dispatched him. The hunters took some pictures, caped out the critter, and hung the meat out of bear range. Then they faced the formidable task of climbing the steep canyon walls, a good 10 miles back up. With no horses, from the bowels of the pit, the thought crossed Matt’s mind that this was why his Dad had always warned him that no game was worth taking from the bottom of a gorge. That advice was even more meaningful eight and a half hours later, when he had labored to camp with just the rack! Dad was plenty impressed, until he found out where Matt shot the bull, and had to assist in the recovery of the rest of the elk. It took two long days to lift all the meat out of the depths. The photos Matt took remain forever on a single-use camera still at the bottom, but he did get a nice shot of his daughter between the wide spread of the horns. The real reward, Matt says, was to be able to get the nice 6x6 as a Christmas gift for his father. It seems his Dad had taken a giant 6 pointer 25 years earlier, with a 52" mainframe and 42" spread. With Matt’s gift of a dandy trophy cape, that bull could finally be finished into a full head mount; Ancient Ways Taxidermy of Fort Washakie is doing the honors.

For the Post family, hunting has always been a family affair, and Matt relates that he has been hunting and fishing the same area with his dad and granddad since he was 4 years old. This year will be no different, as Precision Outdoor Power closes its doors for a few days in the fall, while the family heads for Wyoming’s best backcountry. Matt looks forward to hunting the same area as always, but admits he probably won’t follow those elk down a canyon again. And one day he’ll be giving the same advice to his kids, with a great tale about how he learned that lesson, too.

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