The Northwest Chapter Safari Club International

Gary Christensen, past president of the Central WA Chapter has sung
the praises of Pine Mountain Outfitters to me for a long time. He has hunted with
Joe Hardesty, owner of Pine Mt. Outfitters on several occasions taking 3 huge elk
that all scored over 400 SCI points including one massive 10 x 10 point bull that
scored 470 2/8.
Last year at the Inland Empire Chapter Banquet in Spokane, Joe and Gary
teamed up to make me an offer for a 370 to 390 class bull that I just couldn’t refuse.
My arm was not twisted too bad as I got to go on the first hunt, ride all the way to
Saskatchewan with Gary, Glenn Wallingford and Gary’s Son Brandon our primary
driver, chauffer, and deer hunter. Plus they did not even laugh when I said I was
going to bring my muzzleloader!
Glenn was making his third trip to Pine Mt. At age 83. He shot his first
ever elk there just three years earlier at age 80! Gary’s other (and smarter) son
Justin was going to fly up and meet us all at the lodge. He and his brother Brandon
Were only going to hunt White Tailed deer.
On day two of our travels, we arrived in camp just in time for lunch.
Soon after we had all of our hunting gear situated in our cabins and planned to look
over the ranch, see some elk, and prepare a plan for the morning hunt. I asked
Gary the dumb question of the day, “should I even bring my muzzleloader with me?” Gary suggested that I should bring it just in case.
I have shot several elk in my 50 plus years of hunting, but nothing like the very first elk we saw. It was a heavy 6x6 point in the
375 plus class. I thought about my muzzleloader in its case in the back of the truck as we watched this elk in some thick timber. My
second question was can we find this elk again tomorrow as we slowly drove away.
www.scinw.com
Saskatchewan Elk Hunt By Gary Tennison
It was not long before I had forgotten about trying to find that elk again tomorrow. We soon found a herd of five or six bulls
that were just as big, and some even bigger. Some of the elk were on the edge of a thick patch of timber giving us a good view of their
head gear; others were deeper into the trees and hard to judge. We looked them over as best we could while they were milling about
in the timber. It was nearly impossible to figure which one I would have shot if they were all standing broadside in the open and I had
thirty minutes to make up my mind. As the elk all disappeared deeper into the timber none of us ever did reach a concession as to
which one was the biggest of the big.
Less than an hour later we came into an open clearing and saw four huge bulls feeding. Even though they were all big bulls one
of them stood out from the rest. You just don’t often see and elk rack that is super heavy with 7x9 points and 13 inch bases. I knew
that even though this was our “scouting trip,” it was time to uncase my muzzleloader.
I loaded up and made a short stalk to a rock pile and got ready for a shot. The elk appeared to be unconcerned as they slowly
fed further away with each step. Naturally the bull I wanted was the furthest away at just over one hundred yards and standing in line
and behind one of the other bulls. After about two hours or perhaps closer to five minutes the bull I wanted was in the open and I took
my shot. When the smoke cleared I could see the three other bulls running off while the bull I had just shot stood still in his tracks and
as stiff as a statue, but only for few seconds before he went down.
My elk scored 388 2/8 and Gary Christensen took a bull that was 62 inches wide that scored over 400 SCI points. Gary’s sons
both shot big White Tailed deer while Glenn shot just what he wanted for meat, a big fat elk cow.
Joe Hardesty of Pine Mountain Outfitters has agreed to bring his booth and hunting info to our banquet in February. He is also
going to donate an elk hunt for our banquet auction. Joe’s camp is all run by generator but has comfortable cabins, great food, hot
showers, and plenty of big elk.
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