Anaconda and DS.....

[Deerslayer]

....only have 6 more days until they set out in pursuit of elks and muley bucks in the Flat Tops.

We're pulling out the maps and looking over "plan B" though, as a winter storm has just hit, and above 10,000' it can't be pretty right now. Waited all season with weather holding......then the bottom falls out the week prior........ain't it the schits!

 

[csutton7]

6 days is a lifetime when it comes to weather--but it's good to have a "plan B" just in case---legs in the air my friend.....chris

 

[ELKCHSR]

Storms are the best times to hunt elk. They take longer to move from point a to b. If the wind is blowing hard, it covers the noise one makes and if there is new snow, they are definatly easier to follow..Good luck..

 

[JB Florida]

I'll be thinking about you guys freezing your butz off while I'm sitting in a old oak in the swamp wearing a mosquito jacket and headnet to keep those boogers off

Wanna trade?

You guys catch a big one! OR TWO!

 

[Deerslayer]

We're totin'n in 6 tags Jb...so hopefully we'll "catch" a few

Your right Chris.....6 days and weather...anything may happen, but that pasrt of Co is notorious for whiteout once a big storm hits. so I ain't banking on getting in up there.

Elkchsr.....true, a storm can be good to hunt in.......but when a winter storm hits at 10,000-11,000' a week before entry, it tends to move the animals to lower elevations before our arrival. That would mean us having to stay down lower, which neutralizes the advantage of having horse to access the backcountry........don't get me wrong, I ain't about to surrender, just a little hacked that we probably won't be going to the spot we have researched for the last 6 months ...but we will make the best of it.....

 

[Elkhunter]

DS, the weather is going to break and then a warm dry spell will follow. Don't give up on Plan A just yet. It takes more than a little storm to push the big boys out.

I don't like white outs though

 

[Oak]

DS, I think it mostly rained on the West Slope. What did fall in the way of snow didn't amount to much.

Good luck.

Oak

 

[Elkhunter]

There ya go DS, it will be quieter now

 

[JB Florida]

See DS, Just Rain

Wanna borrow my mosquito net camos?
Get up there and shoot something!

 

[huntrluvr]

DS hope the weather clears up cause I wanna see some awesome pics of the area you are hunting in. Oh yeah a few dead animals would be nice too

 

[Moosie]

MArk, Send dsome of that Frigging Rain/Snow MY WAY... It's been the Dtyest, warmest, Chittiest weather hear in a LONG LONG time......

ON your hunting, Good luck to ya !!! Hope you guys score on filling some of those tags. Something needs to die this weekend !!!!

Sorry I ain't called ya back. We'll touch base while I'm drivin' Sometime getting ready to go through a mountain pass

YOU boys be safe and have FUN now, YA hear ?!? !!

 

[Muledeer4me]

I like Mark's plan
Always have a plan B,nothing worse then getting stuck in the high country with all your gear.
I remember another year like this ,no snow,everyone went high ,then the snow hit over night and alot of people were stuck.
Then next morning guy's were leading there horses out and had to leave there camp's.
Yep ,as you can tell im a chicken chit!!!!
You two have a great time whatever plan work's out.

 

[Deerslayer]

DEb.......I remember the season of '95 north of Steamboat.......a 3 foot snow hit without warning the second night.....followed by more snow the next sevearl days. Folks were stranded, and had to be airlifted down, and lots of frostbite and medivacs to emergency rooms with some loss of life from folks freezing to death up there. Some friends of mine left 4 wheelers, chainsaws, generators....everything they had, ...and could not get back in until the spring......at which time most of it was gone. But at least they are alive.

I don't worry too much about such things......as we did stay up there that week and made it ok......sitting in the trucks from time to time to thaw out, and only one of our group getting minor frostbite...and he didn't need that toe anyway ......but I know the Flat Tops can deliver snow without warning....and the elk stay until it gets bad...at which time they vacate for the low country and BLM.

I love hunting snow, but also know that there was up to 3 feet up there a month ago, of which most melted the last few weeks, and I was just hoping this last blast that just hit us on the front range was kind over there......as a rule, I have found little elk sign in 3 feet of snow. It was crazy to plana late season hunt in there, but we really had little choice on the timing with me hunting with Indy a couple of weeks ago.
But the drought and a little luck may let us get away with it.

Last year, the DOW said the elk NEVER came out during hunting season because of the drought.

No problem Moosie....I was just going to tell you "elk down" for Indy.....but you know that now
Hope you shed some blood!

 

[A-con]

Hey DS, don't give up on plan A yet. Several reports from the area say that snow totals are low so far. DOW says about three inches, and it's melting off. Two more small storms are heading towards the area, one Sunday and another Tue./Wed. Both look small, and after that its just partly cloudy.

With a bit of luck, we will have three or four inches at the trailhead, and about six to eight up on top. The thing I'm worried about is mud, the trail could be ugly.
Lets talk on the phone this weekend.

 

[IndyJay]

I'm envious boys... wish I could be joining you! Hell, with 6 tags we'd still each have two! My blisters are all healed now, my boots are broken in! I'll even buy my own horse!

I know you guys will do real well. Good luck with the ponies Dan, I don't know what Marks' done to them but they're meaner than hell now... Austin darned near threw me off the firsat time I got on him. I swear Ransom was waiting to step on my head when he did! You'll be fine though!

Bring your coffee pot too! "ol DS just drinks Coke... and beer

 

[A-con]

Got the coffee pot & a weeks supply packed in my duffel.
Been watching the weather channel real close, if ya don't like the forcast just wait and it will change. Yesterday it was predicting a real storm, but just now it looks like a few light dustings of snow and then clear. Don't want to count my chickens before I shoot em with a .338, but I'm getting excited. Ponys & beer, elk & deer. My my my, it's going to be as good week !

 

[IndyJay]

Yes it will be.... I wish I was going to be there to join you. What are all these tags you guys have?

 

[Ithaca 37]

I hunted and guided in CO for about ten years while I was living in Steamboat Springs and one of the most important things was to be prepared for drastic changes in the weather and be flexible enough to take advantage of snow when it came during hunting season--which it usually did. The only variable was when, where and how much. We learned how much snow it took to get the big bulls and bucks moving out of the high country and where the migration routes were. We had some fantastic hunting when we intercepted migrations. It was important to know how to get into and hunt the whole route because the big boys never go any lower than they have to.

Many times I've seen hundreds of elk and mulies in one day as they were migrating. Those were the good ol' days!!

 

[Deerslayer]

Wish I would have been there with you to see that Ithaca! I think hunting the deeper snow can be as tough as it gets. I know some of the big boys stay back, but the general herds head out to lower feeding areas.....something about 2 or 3 feet of snow that iterupts their grazing habits

It can be a lonely cold world trying to cut a track in the deep stuff......covering miles without ever seeing a single fresh track. You need to KNOW what your doing and looking for rather than second guessing every step.....and that takes years of hunting the same area.....this will be our first in the particular area, though I know the peremiter from 4 earlier hunts.

Indy, we each have Bull tags, cow tags, and buck tags......so pretty much anything we see except muley does will be legal. That is the kinda hunt you go all week and only see a couple of muley does, right?

Surely we'll have some neat photos to post here whether we tag or not......my God, that sounds like something ol' Pug would say

 

[A-con]

No no no, we're whaking and stacking, and thats a fact Jack !
Bulls first, then I'll start spreding the love.
We'll have to acess the situation when we get there, I know where they summer, and I know where they winter, but I don't know what rout they use to get there.
I talked to a local this morning who said the snow aint that deep yet, but who knows about this last storm, it might be the big one !

Hey, I'm asking everybody this question;
How much snow do you think it takes to push the main elk herds down to lower range ?
Temptures up on top have been low 40s down to high teens at night. No big storms yet, but lots of littel ones dropping three to ten inches that melts off in a few days.
Do ya think there still up there ?