2020 Season - Priorities / Live Hunt

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Big year this year. 25th anniversary and my wife and I turn 50. Time to cash in some points. I’ll be hunting CO GMU 66 archery for elk in Sept and Deer Rifle (4th season) in 501. If you have any experiences you care to share, that would be great. I’ll get a scouting trip in this summer to 66. I worked at a dude ranch in CO so I’m familiar with where I want to start there. That was before the Hayman fire but I’ve been in the area several times since. Still have long shot apps out in NM and WY which are the only potential deviations to this plan.

I will have a buddy for one of the hunts but I don’t worry about hunting alone either. I long for the adventure and am thankful for health and flexibility to make it happen. Coming to realize more hunting days are behind me than ahead so just looking to soak it in. I’ll bust my tail and be bummed if I come up empty but I will enjoy every moment. Love to hear from you if you have any stories or pics to share about elevation, terrain, road advice, etc even if you don’t want to share specifics.

Good luck to you during these crazy times and in the draws. More updates to follow.

 

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Step 1, Apply. Step 2, 4th season CO deer and Archery Elk tag secured (13 + 7 points burned - yikes, lots of points). WY cow tag in back pocket if CO elk tag gets punched early. Let’s go!!!

 

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Dropping my oldest off to college tomorrow. That’ll be tough but happy for him. I know he’s excited. I just haven’t had time to do a scouting trip so I’m doing a hunting scouting trip 9/5 thru 9/9. I have a cousin that wanted to get exposed to back country hunting so he’s my partner this first hunt. Several access areas and a couple spots I want to see from E-scouting. We’ll see if we can kill one but if not, I’ll be back later in Sept for a 7 day+ hunt. It is all coming together. Lots of practice and exercise to help this flat lander be ready for elk at timberline.

 

[OverlordBear]

Following

 

[elkmo]

Avoid covid.

 

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Scout/Hunt trip is in the books. Bonus that I got to introduce a new western hunter to the back country. My wife’s cousin joined me on this trip. Never heard a bugle, seen an elk, moose, bear or mule deer in the wild. Check lots of boxes.

 

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Day 1 was travel day. Flew into Denver, picked up some supplies and headed to Lake City Area. Got a late start but began the hike into Plan A. Researched this like crazy and usually pretty good about finding areas. Flat lander (me) struggled to push thru and stopped after about 4 miles of what seemed like straight up hill. Up early and pushed on to Plan A. Never sleep well first couple nights.

 

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Day 2: Up early and close to the base of the primary target - high mountain lakes. Spot a youngish 6x6 in the big meadow and try to make a play. There was a small cut that I didn’t know was there. As I closed on where I thought the bull was, he’d moved up the cut to the edge of the trees. By the time we locked eyes, I’m not sure who was more surprised. Bull 1, hunter 0 but at least I’m in the game! Move onto setup camp at the most beautiful high lake with 12k+ peaks around you could possibly imagine. Trout literally jumping out of the water by the hundreds. Wish I had a fly rod set-up as I would have eaten fresh fish. Scout the area Within 2 miles of camp. Looks elky but just not enough sign. Could be where the lone big boy lives...but I’m not good enough to focus on one elk - I need opportunities - emphasis on the plural.

 

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Enjoy the calm night and hoping for some bugles in the night as the weather cools. Doesn’t happen. Always seems to take me a couple days to get out of busy-life-mode and settle into - what day is it again mode that is elk season. Decide to hike out in the morning and go visit plan B. My new hunting family member is doing great. In good shape, asking lots of questions, providing input based on what he’s seeing / thinking when asked and I’m enjoying seeing the spark get lit in someone else’s eyes. That night a field mouse jumps on the tent on his side. I slept thru it but he said he was sure a bear was attacking his foot up against the tent. May be awhile before he goes solo!

 

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Day 3: We are in the meadow at the base of the mountain, still 4 miles deep, by daybreak. The wind isn’t perfect for spying on the meadow. No elk sightings or elk heard so begins the hike back to the truck and drive to plan B. Halfway thru the hike out of no where we hear a bugle. I’m sure the elk heard us walking and wanted to know if we were elk. First bugle in the books for the newbie and first of the last 2 years for me. Thank you Lord. Game on - drop packs and up the mountain we go. Making noise and throwing some here I am cow calls. A spike bull rushes down and quickly spooks off. A couple cow calls and the bull bugles again. The bugles are a tone that I interpret to mean - Hey - I’m over here. The bugle is headed away and up the mountain at a slow pace.

 

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Because we have a short trip planned and I don’t really know what I’m doing anyway, we push on. Making noise as we go and occasionally cow calling. Eventually, I decide to get aggressive. We angle parallel to gain elevation and keep the wind in our favor - not pursuing directly. I start raking a tree loudly. It was as if the bull‘s bugle went from friendly to WTH is going on. If you do that again, I’m gonna come down there and whip your... so I did it again. The bugle reply had emotion and I told my buddy to stay here and rake just like I was doing when I motion. I move up 50 yards and have two shooting lanes. Motion for raking. Another emotional bugle and then silence. I sense he’s coming and listen intently for any sign of a branch breaking or antler’s clicking brush on the approach. Arrow is locked, feet are squared, I am ready. All is quiet and then I see him turn, catch a glimpse of a massive white antler in my opening at 35 yards as the bull turns to run back up the hill. Cow call and raking leads to another bugle at less than 100 yards. And then silence. Happens fast, so close and then the moment passes. Dang it.

 

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From his angle, my buddy saw the bull in all its glory 35 Yards from me, about 75 yards from him. I couldn’t see it and only needed 2 more steps to make it happen into my shooting lane. Lots of coulda, woulda, shoulda for me but very thankful to have had the opportunity and to share the experience with a potential future elk hunter. I almost feel sorry for my buddy. I know September will never be the same for him now unless he’s chasing elk. The remainder of the hike back to the truck went much quicker after the encounter. Then, it was onto plan B.

 

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On the way to plan B, we stumbled onto a gorgeous meadow that cut way back off the road and what appeared up into some high country. A quick glance at the maps told me there was a short road that cut into the meadow just ahead. Multiple camp sites along the road - too good to be true anyway, right off the main road. I love to stop and talk to people - particularly when I can tell they are hunters. There was some activity in the area and people are willing to share stories. I learn so much about general tactics, elevation of the game and I’m always amazed how much people are willing to share. We gave a wide berth to the meadow and hunted some dark timber a few miles away that evening. Lots of sign but sheep flocks moved through that evening. That is one dedicated cowboy following them around. They pay for usage of the land so just part of multi use public land.

 

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That evening we met a CO native with a deer tag and muzzleloader elk tag. He grew up in the unit and shared ideas about our game plan in the morning. He told us about some bucks he was chasing and the strategies he had used successfully in the past. I am so thankful for people that share information like that. I don’t want specifics necessarily. I just appreciate that hunters are willing to help each other learn And apply skills to help them have a more enjoyable adventure. His recommendation was to get an early start where we were headed - big country and steep.

 

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Day 4: this would be our last day because a storm was expected to hit CO and we needed to drive 5 hours back to Denver for a return flight home the next day. Our adventure was to the original plan B. 4:30a and we were in the car for a short drive to the trailhead. Packs loaded and we were off. It’s 2 miles up the valley before deciding which hill to attacK. No bulls were bugling so we crossed the creek And headed up. There was sign all over. After climbing a couple hours with a steady wind in our face, we stumbled onto a cow. I was doubtful she was alone but no other elk were spotted. We finally reached the destination meadows 1500’ above the valley floor. There was more sign in the timber than the meadow but it was clear that plenty of elk were in the area at some point. As we worked our way thru the meadow and to the edge of the timber, we crossed paths with a cow moose and calf at 50 yards. I’ve heard cow moose can be aggressive so there were a few anxious moments as we stared each other down. The calf ducked into the timber and mama followed close behind. These are the memories I relive the rest of the year until the next elk season.

 

[bbright]

The storm began to make its presence known. The wind picked up significantly and the temperature began to drop. We continued on exploring new ground inspite of the wind direction not be that conducive to sneaking up on game. Taking a side hill approach thru some deep timber, we began to see a number of ravens. There were some angus cows in the meadow and I saw the back half of one behind a tree. I got within 15 yards of the “cow” and my buddy behind me, who had a different angle and could see the other side of the tree, started aggressively whispering bear, bear, bear. By the time I turned around to see him fast walking away with eyes the size of dinner plates and then looked back at the cow, I caught a glimpse of a huge black bear making tracks the other way. The bear was chowing on a dead cow elk. Don’t see that every day! We decided to pack out and drive back to i25 to avoid missing our flight. The snow closed roads requiring a detour. Whenever we got cell service, it looked like we remained in the center of the storm. 8 hours later we covered what normally take 3 hours. But we made it thru the blizzard. Next trip starts a week from tomorrow. I’ll drive back up there with my buddy for 1 more week of elk hunting. I’ll try to take more pics and hopefully have my hands on some antlers in at least a couple.

 

[Western Traveler1]

Nice write up. Close calls are fun and for me the coulda shoulda woulda’s are easy to see.
Good luck on your next trip. I hope you close the deal and post a photo or 3.

 

[bbright]

After a short week+ back at the house and office, we hit the road Friday 9/18. My oldest is a pitcher in college and had a scrimmage scheduled for 4p in Ft Worth. Cost us a couple extra hours of drive time but it was great to see him play and give him a hug afterwards. Then it was off to CO. We drove thru the night with a couple hours of sleep roadside. The drive from Waldenburg to Lake City is just beautiful. The aspen were on full display in all their golden glory.

 

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