Though born in Wyoming and having spent much of his life here as an avid hunter, one goal had always eluded Mike Berryman: Bagging a bull elk.
About two weeks shy of turning 67, he met that goal Thursday, on the opening morning of rifle season in the South Fork area near Cody.
“The feeling was amazing. That’s why we hunt up there in God’s country. That makes you feel that you can still do it,” Berryman, who lives in Ralston, told Cowboy State Daily.
A younger hunter, Jake Robl of Cody, was also out that morning and happened along at just the right time to help Berryman pack the bull to his truck.
“He told me it was his first bill, at age 67. When he said that to me, I was amazed,” Robl told Cowboy State Daily.
No Bull
Berryman was born and partly raised in Powell. His parents divorced when he was young, and he split his time between them.
When he was with his mother, they traveled the country for her work, but he frequently returned to Wyoming to stay with his dad.
He moved back to Wyoming for good about 20 years ago.
He always loved hunting and took full advantage of Wyoming’s rich opportunities.
As the autumn hunting season passed year after year, he got many pronghorn and deer, and several cow elk.
But he could never seem to get a bull elk in his crosshairs.
"I always kept an elk tag in my pocket when I was deer hunting,” he said.
When he headed out on opening morning, he was hunting elk specifically on an over-the-counter general tag.
The area he was hunting allows for shooting either a bull or a cow on a general tag.
And he suspected the hunt would end like so many others had, with a cow elk to fill his freezer with steaks, roasts, and burgers.
Done In 45 Minutes
As he’s gotten older, Berryman said he has learned to “never get too far from the truck” on solo hunts. And he usually hunts alone.
He picked out a spot where he could park his truck under the cover of trees and hunt elk a reasonably short distance away.
And he knew elk moved through there, so he felt confident about filling his tag.
“I was a little late getting up there," and the elk showed up before he had time to hike to the vantage point he’d selected.
“There was a cow staring at me from about 300 yards away, and I started to set up to shoot her,” he said. “Then I heard a bull bugle, softly, and decided to wait.”
Over the next few minutes, more elk started to appear. And then a “raghorn,” or small bull, showed up.
“I wanted to shoot him, but he wouldn’t come out from behind the cows,” Berryman said.
As frustrating as that was, it turned out to be fortuitous because after a few minutes a “big six-by-six bull” made his appearance.
The bull trotted uphill for a way. And when he stopped, Berryman used his rangefinder to put the distance at 574 yards.
That’s farther than he’d planned to shoot, but he knew he wouldn’t get another chance. He’d also frequently practiced shooting at great distances and learned how to calculate scope adjustments.
One shot from his Weatherby 7mm PRC and the hunt was over, about 45 minutes after it started.
“He walked about 30 yards and just fell over,” Berryman said.
‘Don’t Hunt Elk Alone’
After the initial rush of dropping his first bull, the reality of just how huge they are started to sink in.
“I have advice for other hunters my age. Don’t hunt alone,” he said.
“Quartering out a bull elk is not like quartering out a deer. After taking the quarters off one side and trying to roll that big guy over to get the other side, it was all I could do,” he said.
Robl said he and a friend spotted the antlers of Berryman’s bull from a distance and decided to go have a look.
“We asked if he would like us to help him, and he said, ‘Oh yeah, sure!'" Robl said.
After the quartering was done, Robl’s friend had to leave. Robl and Berryman packed the elk back to Berryman's pickup.
It was perhaps 600 yards, but it was downhill.
And on old knees, it’s much tougher to carry a heavy pack downhill than uphill or across level ground.
“Wyoming hunters are the best in the country,” Berryman said of the others’ willingness to help.
That’s just the way things are done in the elk hunting community, Robl said.
“If I were out there at his age, I’d want somebody to help me,” he said.
Taken For Granted
Prominent outdoors writer Jim Zumbo, who lives near Cody, knows all about hunting as a senior.
He’s turning 86 this year and has antelope, deer, and elk tags to fill this fall.
When he heard about Berryman killing his first bull at 67, Zumbo was impressed.
“That’s quite an accomplishment. The older you get, the more problems you’re going to have getting around in elk country,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “I’ve always said that elk are the hardest species to hunt, except maybe for bighorn sheep and mountain goats, because of the country they’re usually in.”
Hunters shouldn’t let age stop them, but they should be mindful of the things they took for granted as younger men and women, but that change with time, Zumbo said.
As one gets older, balance becomes more of a challenge, and many people develop “back issues,” Zumbo said.
He agreed with Berryman that, past a certain age, it’s best not to try hunting alone.
And senior hunters can seek out elk tags for areas in the low country, such as the tags he has this year.
“I used to write when I was younger, 'If you’re not walking at least five miles, you’re not really hunting elk,’ and I’ve since realized I was wrong,” he said.
Zumbo said he hopes Berryman’s bull is his first of many.
Berryman said it might not be the most massive trophy-sized bull, but for him, it’s the prize of a lifetime.
He plans to have a European mount made of the bull; that is, a mount with only the antlers and cleaned skull.
“I’m certainly happy with it,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
