GoWild's John Hunter: Western Elk Hunt with Team SIXSITE

John shares the story of his first ever Elk hunt at White River Mountain Ranch with Team SIXSITE.

I’ll be the first one to admit, that up until last year I thought hunting the North American Elk would be an easy task. Oh, how I was wrong. 

After a tough public land hunt in the fall of 2017 in southwest Colorado where I came home empty handed, I was recently presented the opportunity of a lifetime to hunt at the magnificent White River Mountain Ranch.

White River is one of the largest remaining intact ranches of its kind in northwest Colorado. Totaling nearly 30,000 acres, its enormity is hard to fathom. Not only is the shear size of the property amazing, but the beautiful state-of-the-art lodge and structures are nothing short of impressive. Oh, and how could I forget? The animals! The place is crawling with wildlife - elk, bear, mountain lions, coyote, and mule deer. It's simply breathtaking.

Team SIXSITE

The ranch also happens to be the stomping grounds of SIXSITE founder Stephen Holley. And luckily for me, Stephen wanted to have someone from the GoWild team out for this hunt.

My trip was an experience that I could literally write an entire book about, but I want to save everyone from my subpar journalism skills and just cut to the chase - Elk are magnificent creatures. The hunts on TV make it look easy, and I will tell you right now, it's not. There was not a single day on the ranch that we did not hike at least 7 or 8 miles at a minimum elevation of 8,000 ft. For a Kentucky boy who lives his daily life at 800 ft. it made things a bit tougher.

What’s even crazier about this whole process is that you don’t even notice how exhausted you are until the end of the day because of the pure adrenaline packed into the hunts. Due to White River being a private ranch the animals feel much more comfortable and are overly vocal, which makes for some insanely cool hunts.

I have never heard more bugling or hoof pounding
in my entire life, not even on TV.

Five Days Of Hunting

The time we were hunting passed by like a whirlwind and I was fortunate enough to fill my tag on the final evening of my hunt. Nothing like waiting till the last minute! The bull I killed was the not the biggest bull in the world, but I was damn proud of him. I put in my time and hunted very hard to make it happen, which made my respect and love for the harvested animal that much greater.

Thank You SIXSITE

I owe a huge thank you to the people at SIXSITE for this opportunity to hunt such a world class ranch. I had the chance to meet some amazing, influential people on this hunt and learn some invaluable lessons. My week at White River Mountain Ranch is one that will stick with me for a lifetime.  

Congratulate John on the GoWild App. Download It Today. 

John Hunter has been hunting since his youth and is a professional angler. He is a team member of GoWild and leader in marketing and strategy. 

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