Tom Powell kept looking for trophy Mulie during Elk season

By Kate Cook

When you’re after a trophy deer, hunting elk in the area as an excuse to scout for deer makes perfect sense. At least that was the thinking of Riverton hunter Tom Powell, who got a 2005 tag in the high-demand, limited draw area southeast of town. Elk hunting had opened two weeks prior to the October 15th opening of Mulie season there, and Powell had spotted an especially impressive buck the week before. With his wife also holding a tag in the quota range, and his son and a friend going on south to the general tag area, the party had high hopes when they headed in Opening Day.

Tom spotted his chosen buck within a quarter mile of where he had first seen him, and he began a sneak toward the big boy. Alert but cooperative, the Mulie presented himself, and Tom’s Ruger 77 -7 Mag did its job. The big buck received an elegant European mount, courtesy of Carl Anderson. After his wife took down a nice 4-point, the pair joined up about dark with the rest of the team. Hunting the general area south had been good, too. Powell’s son brought home a terrific 5x5, and his friend had a large 4 pointer. It was the end of opening day, and everyone went home happy.

Tom is please with the management of the limited quota areas, which provide quality hunts and trophy class animals for those lucky in the draw. But even with only general tags this year, he’ll be hunting elk and glassing for deer again. As decades of hunting Wyoming’s big game has taught him, there really is no bad hunt.

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