Tony Geyman: 2005 Elk Hunt

After waiting 16 years to go on an elk hunt with my father, the day came when our group of 5 finally arrived at Rick and Rita's house in Grande Prairie, Alberta.

Once we got there we got right down to business taking care of licenses and such and of course a wonderful lunch prepared by Rita. Immediately, I knew we were in the right place. The hospitality offered to us by the Houweling family was second to none right from the start, plus we were informed that the elk herd was split up and the 4 from our group would be going to a secondary spike camp location rather than the main camp; (Later named "The Hilton" due to Rita's excellent cooking and the great mobile cabins and showers).

The trip into the bush was a four wheeling, mud flying adventure ending up at the camp location which consisted of a wall tent, a fire pit and plenty of wood. After settling into camp we enjoyed an excellent dinner of moose tenderloins grilled over an open fire by executive chef/elk guide, Mel.

My father and I had decided we wanted no less than 5x5 bulls even though it was our first hunt and both Mel and Rick said they had scouted decent bulls in the area. We all went to bed that night with full bellies and dreams of screaming bulls.

The next morning my dad and I went with Mel, "Hill-Billy" Jim and "The Boss" went with Rick. After about a 3 mile hike, Mel started cow calling and bugling (I think Mel may be part elk...). Immediately, we got three different bulls bugling back. My dad decided I should shot first and Mel got us moving pretty quick in the direction of the bulls. After about a mile trot, and passing by 5 cow elk and six mule deer, we came into a clear-cut. Mel started hitting the cow calls when suddenly a huge cow moose trotted past us at 40 yards. Then we heard the scream of a worked up bull directly behind a large brush pile about 60 yards away from us. Mel told me to get up on the brush pile quick because the bull was coming fast. Backpacks went flying and as I reached the top of the brush pile, the bull was running straight at us. The scope was on him instantly, five points left...five points right...40 yards...30...SCREAMING at us...20...CRACK!...the 190gr. Nosler stopped him on a dime. After my hands, legs and heart stopped shaking; I was able to hi-five Mel and my dad and breath normally. My first elk, the first day, by 8:00am. What a rush!!! But wait till you read my dad's story...

Many thanks to Wild Kakwa Outfitters for the hunt of a lifetime!

Tony Geyman, Wisconsin - 262-646-8238

Tom Geyman: 2005 Elk Hunt

After an exciting morning hunt with my son Tony, killing a nice bull, Rick took us to a different area to hunt. While driving, we spotted a decent bull on the side of the road and stopped to check out the area after he ran off.

Immediately we heard numerous bulls calling 1/2 mile into the bush. We decided that we would hike in and try to get close to one. As we ventured deeper into the bush we heard two bulls bugling about a mile in yet. Rick kept cow calling as we picked up the pace and all of a sudden a 5x5 came charging in right in front of us to about 25 yards. I was luckily behind a tree at the time and had a chance to evaluate him. I decided that he was not big enough to take and in an instant he realized something was wrong and bolted away as quickly as he appeared.

Rick came up to us and then we heard another deep, loud scream about 500 yards away, we all looked at each other and without a word, we were running in that direction. Again, as we got closer to the screams Rick began hitting the cow call, and told us to move up ahead of him about 50 yards. As we eased up ahead, my son told me to freeze as he could see the bulls rack moving toward us in the bush. It was a big 5x5 but all we could see was the rack. The bull closed the distance on us to about 20 yards and the brush was so thick I could not see him. My son kept saying, "He's right on your left, on your left!!" The hair on our necks was standing straight as the bull came to within 15 yards just screaming, and spitting and chuckling, and still no shot. Suddenly, the bull began to walk straight away from us and in an instant was about 40 yards away. Rick moved up and motioned us to move ahead. As we walked forward, Rick was chirping and seductively cow calling and then began to pick leaves off the bushes and snap twigs. I'll be darned if that bull didn't turn right around and come into 15 yards looking for a feeding cow. All I could see for the shot was his face looking right at us and Rick whispered for me to aim about 2 feet below his nose and squeeze. The .300 Weatherby Mag dropped the bull in his tracks.

What an unbelievable hunt it was. The professionalism and experience displayed by Rick to turn that bull was second to none. My son and I could not have been happier with the outcome of this hunt and not to mention Rick's son, Ricky, guided me to a 300 lb. black bear two days later. We were so happy with the hunt that we are going back in 2007 to hunt moose, and we can't wait to get there. Thanks to Rick and his family for an awesome experience.

Tom Geyman,
June-November: Wisconsin -608-727-2707
December-May, Florida - 941-387-0366