Man!!!

[mtmiller]

.........

 

[phutch30]

So my 12yr old son and I...and 3000 of our closest friends set forth from Dillon in the wee hrs of opening morn...

I think I had a solid plan. I had been watching some elk in a somewhat hard to glass area. They where there 3days in a row and came out fri eveining. Everything was looking good till some Ahole drove an atv down a roadless ridge at 9k feet @ 7am where we were.....theres no rds within a solid mile of this ridge. Anyway, Im sure the three guys laughing and hollering to each other walking down the skyline @ 712 had little impact on the outcome of the hunt after the ATV but were still super annoying. I counted 87 trucks and atv/utvs on the drive out. God I hate the opener.

Called the warden on the atv but in the dark @ 9k feet there was little chance of getting ID. Wont say what I wanted to do.

 

[phutch30]

This strangely sounds like one of our phone conversations about mid november.

I know! Im always telling you your a whiner.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Ended up getting a ride back to the rig from some road hunters on Sunday. We had just hit mile 13 out 15 on our 10 mile hike and they pulled up.

Never have I been so happy to see roadhunters in my life.

 

[kansasdad]

We had just hit mile 13 out 15 on our 10 mile hike ......

Is this the new math I keep hearing about?

 

[Ben Lamb]

Is this the new math I keep hearing about?

we got a little confused coming off the mountain.

 

[tjones]

we got a little confused coming off the mountain.

Maybe groggy from the nap?

 

[BlakeA]

So my 12yr old son and I...and 3000 of our closest friends set forth from Dillon in the wee hrs of opening morn...

I think I had a solid plan. I had been watching some elk in a somewhat hard to glass area. They where there 3days in a row and came out fri eveining. Everything was looking good till some Ahole drove an atv down a roadless ridge at 9k feet @ 7am where we were.....theres no rds within a solid mile of this ridge. Anyway, Im sure the three guys laughing and hollering to each other walking down the skyline @ 712 had little impact on the outcome of the hunt after the ATV but were still super annoying. I counted 87 trucks and atv/utvs on the drive out. God I hate the opener.

Called the warden on the atv but in the dark @ 9k feet there was little chance of getting ID. Wont say what I wanted to do.

Sorry to hear about that. People suck!! Unfortunately I'm sure there were a lot of others doing the same thing. I will never understand what people are thinking...

The "opener" for MT rifle elk sounds like something I never want to experience. I would rather stay home and watch football then deal with all of that. It really is "Party" hunting.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Maybe groggy from the nap?

I was fresh as a daisy when we started back to the truck.

 

[tjones]

I was fresh as a daisy when we started back to the truck.

Current weather conditions would make sweating likely, 10 miles would seal the deal. Fresh as a daisy-not.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Current weather conditions would make sweating likely, 10 miles would seal the deal. Fresh as a daisy-not.

I will admit that the chaffing is especially brutal today and my legs are a little tired.

But when we started back down the mountain, I was well rested and only somewhat stinky.

 

[RobG]

So my 12yr old son and I...and 3000 of our closest friends set forth from Dillon in the wee hrs of opening morn...

I think I had a solid plan. I had been watching some elk in a somewhat hard to glass area. They where there 3days in a row and came out fri eveining. Everything was looking good till some Ahole drove an atv down a roadless ridge at 9k feet @ 7am where we were.....theres no rds within a solid mile of this ridge. Anyway, Im sure the three guys laughing and hollering to each other walking down the skyline @ 712 had little impact on the outcome of the hunt after the ATV but were still super annoying. I counted 87 trucks and atv/utvs on the drive out. God I hate the opener.

Called the warden on the atv but in the dark @ 9k feet there was little chance of getting ID. Wont say what I wanted to do.

That stinks. I've been lucky that nobody has been in "my" spot the last few years but a new guy was there this year and I think he blew the elk out. I sometimes wonder why I go out on the opener. When I glassing the slopes I see every bowl or saddle staked out by dudes.

 

[onpoint]

big game opener isn't the only crowd pleaser.....

 

[phutch30]

When it got light I glassed up 13 people sitting in the open on a long grassy ridge a mile below us. They were spread out about 100-200 yards apart just facing the trees. If it wasnt for my kid I'd had found it somewhat comical in the sense that yoou can either blow up or laugh about it.

 

[Carnage2011]

My opener was good. I hiked in 4.5 miles before daylight and got to a good vantage point. It got daylight and I spotted a good bull. There was literally no one in sight and I was able to get in range and shoot it. Only saw one person all day, but I did see around 75 elk and 100+ mule deer. If I could figure out how to post a picture from my phone i would.

 

[MHMT]

Haha. We saw a ridiculous amount of people, but I don't think we saw a single person further than 300 yards from their ATV. It's kind of entertaining to watch road hunters. Hardly any of them stop to glass or even have binos with them. I bet we watched ten people drive by a bull that was feeding a half mile from the road, not a single one saw it.

 

[JEL]

My son lives in Dillon and said it was crazy there this weekend. I went antelope hunting. Had the area mostly to ourselves once you got away from the road. Hit a block management area for deer on Sunday and never saw a sole there either. We tagged critters both days. I haven't been elk hunting on opening weekend for years.

 

[Carnage2011]

Can't seem to figure out how to attach a photo.

 

[Carnage2011]

...,,,,,,,,.....

 

[belly-deep]

Good lord you guys complain a lot. Did anyone shut up and kill something?