westernslopehunter
Member
I grew up hunting but gave it up in high school because no one I knew hunted or had any desire to hunt. Your social life suffers if you are gone every weekend evening hunting. However, in 2010 I moved out to Colorado for work and started getting into hunting and fishing again. It started out with the fly fishing addiction, but quickly became hunting addiction around 2016.
I took my first elk in 2017 - a cow. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. That being said, I also craved the challenge and opportunity associated with getting my first bull. Struck out last season in my first archery elk season and so this year, went back to rifle. I picked up a draw tag in NW Colorado and actually had some friends who wanted to go hunt with me, including someone that I was mentoring who had never hunted before. That being said, he had more backcountry experience than myself.
We got to the trailhead Friday night, right before the season was set to open. The trailhead was packed - more people than I have ever seen at one trailhead before. We seemed to be the only crew that was hiking. We walked in 5 miles to our camp in the moonlight. It was unseasonably cold that evening. The prior evening had gotten down to about -10 F - this evening probably got down to between 0 -10 F. Despite that, I stayed warm with only a baselayer and Kiln hoody. It was a grunt to get back to our camp. I owe a lot to my buddy who camps throughout the winter as I probably would have chickened out in light of the temperature had he not pushed me. He already had camp set up and persuaded us to go in that night. It was one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever done as no headlamps were necessary. The moon seemed almost as bright as the sun.
Opening morning, we saw more bulls than I have seen ever before in my life. The only other people back where we were were outfitters/people on horseback - we were the only foot soldiers that far back. By shooting light, I had already glassed up two bulls. By 7:30 a.m., we had 3 bulls walking in the open about 415 yards from our position. I gave my buddy first shot opportunity but unfortunately he missed. It was his first ever shot opportunity for an animal and he was feeling that adrenaline a ton. I actually think that he grazed the ham of the bull, because he at first had a bit of a limp after the shot. Then the bull got up and seemed to run with no issues whatsoever. We went down to the shot location (that was covered in fresh, white snow) and after 2 or so hours of searching, did not see a single drop of blood. He was very, very upset, as I know we have all been in that circumstance. However, we talked it out and he eventually felt comfortable resuming the hunt later that evening.
There were shots from outfitters all over the area where we were located. I saw at least 10 bulls killed that first day. The elk clearly felt the pressure and were not hanging around in the open after that first morning. We decided to regroup that evening and talk strategy over some antelope tenderloins that we packed in from my earlier Wyoming hunt. Cooked them on sticks over a fire and it was the best meat I have ever tasted in my life.
The water situation was pretty rough with respect to where we camped. Our closest water source was about 200-300 feet straight downhill at a stock pond. The water was not exactly what you would call refreshing and it took hours to break ice/filter enough water for the day. We slept with filters/water in sleeping bags to avoid any freezing issues. The water situation was such that I definitely started to get dehyrdrated, though.
The next day, I felt pretty sick from dehydration and slept in. My buddy saw a few spikes that morning but no legal bulls. We decided to split up for the afternoon as we suspected that the elk had gone to timber/draws to avoid being seen in the open. I planned on "taking it easy" this day so I could recover.
I still-hunted down through a bottom/draw and checked out the dark timber extensively. There was elk sign everywhere, leading me to believe I was correct about my thoughts on the elk behavior. As I still hunted through some dark timber on a northern facing slope, I encountered a good looking field where the wind was blowing directly in my face. I decided to sit on the edge and see what might happen. I planned on sitting there until dark and hiking back up to camp with headlamp just to see what I might see.
About an hour passed by and I was starting to get really, really bored. It had been years since I hunted tree stands or had to exercise patience, so it was fairly brutal. However, I looked up after about and hour and a small herd of elk was literally hustling directly at me from less than 100 yards away. There was a big bull, a nice 5x5, and a spike in the group at a minimum, plus maybe 3-4 cows as well. It looked like maybe there were still some attempts at rutting at the moment, as the biggest bull was running around the herd a lot. Because they were coming directly at my position, I had no shot initially. The elk stopped in the clearing to feed a bit, but the spike elk got dangerously close to my location - probably about 40 yards or so. I thought he would walk right over me and blow all the elk out but by some miracle, he stopped. Instead, the biggest bull decided to continue walking in my direction and get uncomfortably close. Again, I did not want to take a frontal shot, so I waited and waited for my opportunity. Finally, he started to turn a bit uphill from my position at 40 yards and gave me a shot. First shot with the 7mm mag was a double lung and as the herd scattered, he was clearly struggling. He took about 20 or so steps and I put another one in him quartering away from me at probably 50 yards. Shot went through his heart and through his opposite shoulder, dropping him immediately. He was stone dead in maybe 10 or so seconds total. The other elk didn't know what was going on and milled around at probably 75 yards. If my buddy had been with me, he would have easily had the 5x5 bull as well.
When I first walked up to him, the size of him was shocking. I thought my shock at how large elk are was over after killing the cow in 2017. Wrong. This bull was way larger, hundreds of pounds larger. He expired in the middle of a field so I didn't have any trees I could use to prop up quarters or ultimately flip him. It was getting towards dark, so I gutted him and took off all the hide on the "up side" plus those quarters/backstraps. I then took my first load up to camp about a mile uphill to get some additional help from my buddy. We weren't very concerned about spoilage with how cold it was getting at night.
My buddy was ecstatic and essentially gave up his hunt for the rest of the season to help me pack out the bull. I don't know what I would have done without some help - it was 6 total miles back to the trailhead. I would have eventually gotten it out but it would have taken more days. As it stands, it took us both 2.5 days to pack him out. My buddy actually carried two boned out rear quarters at one time straight uphill back to camp. Had to have been 160 pounds. We had to bone him out to get him out but I have to admit I really, really dislike boning out quarters. Seems like the meat just gets that much dirtier.
Weirdest experience was going back to the bull at first light to finish butchering him the next day. Got there and there were some mules/horses parked right above where the carcass was. We walk down (in shooting light) and some southern boy is sitting (I kid you not) 10 feet away from my dead bull with the antlers sticking up above the clearing grass. Not a doubt in my mind he was planning on taking the bull or at least the antlers had I not gotten there at first light. Never seen anything like it but a huge reminder about how much pressure those out of state hunters are for success with how much they spend to hunt through outfitters. We talked to some guys (different dudes) about the hunt and they paid $2800 per guy just to have an outfitter haul their camp into where we were located. Not guided at all - just packing service. My buddy and I did this hunt DIY on public land for the price of the resident elk tag itself.
Best experience of my life and so glad that I did it as a backcountry hunt vs. hiking from my truck each morning. It was an experience and the brutal packout is something that I will remember for the rest of my life. What a hunt.
I took my first elk in 2017 - a cow. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. That being said, I also craved the challenge and opportunity associated with getting my first bull. Struck out last season in my first archery elk season and so this year, went back to rifle. I picked up a draw tag in NW Colorado and actually had some friends who wanted to go hunt with me, including someone that I was mentoring who had never hunted before. That being said, he had more backcountry experience than myself.
We got to the trailhead Friday night, right before the season was set to open. The trailhead was packed - more people than I have ever seen at one trailhead before. We seemed to be the only crew that was hiking. We walked in 5 miles to our camp in the moonlight. It was unseasonably cold that evening. The prior evening had gotten down to about -10 F - this evening probably got down to between 0 -10 F. Despite that, I stayed warm with only a baselayer and Kiln hoody. It was a grunt to get back to our camp. I owe a lot to my buddy who camps throughout the winter as I probably would have chickened out in light of the temperature had he not pushed me. He already had camp set up and persuaded us to go in that night. It was one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever done as no headlamps were necessary. The moon seemed almost as bright as the sun.
Opening morning, we saw more bulls than I have seen ever before in my life. The only other people back where we were were outfitters/people on horseback - we were the only foot soldiers that far back. By shooting light, I had already glassed up two bulls. By 7:30 a.m., we had 3 bulls walking in the open about 415 yards from our position. I gave my buddy first shot opportunity but unfortunately he missed. It was his first ever shot opportunity for an animal and he was feeling that adrenaline a ton. I actually think that he grazed the ham of the bull, because he at first had a bit of a limp after the shot. Then the bull got up and seemed to run with no issues whatsoever. We went down to the shot location (that was covered in fresh, white snow) and after 2 or so hours of searching, did not see a single drop of blood. He was very, very upset, as I know we have all been in that circumstance. However, we talked it out and he eventually felt comfortable resuming the hunt later that evening.
There were shots from outfitters all over the area where we were located. I saw at least 10 bulls killed that first day. The elk clearly felt the pressure and were not hanging around in the open after that first morning. We decided to regroup that evening and talk strategy over some antelope tenderloins that we packed in from my earlier Wyoming hunt. Cooked them on sticks over a fire and it was the best meat I have ever tasted in my life.
The water situation was pretty rough with respect to where we camped. Our closest water source was about 200-300 feet straight downhill at a stock pond. The water was not exactly what you would call refreshing and it took hours to break ice/filter enough water for the day. We slept with filters/water in sleeping bags to avoid any freezing issues. The water situation was such that I definitely started to get dehyrdrated, though.
The next day, I felt pretty sick from dehydration and slept in. My buddy saw a few spikes that morning but no legal bulls. We decided to split up for the afternoon as we suspected that the elk had gone to timber/draws to avoid being seen in the open. I planned on "taking it easy" this day so I could recover.
I still-hunted down through a bottom/draw and checked out the dark timber extensively. There was elk sign everywhere, leading me to believe I was correct about my thoughts on the elk behavior. As I still hunted through some dark timber on a northern facing slope, I encountered a good looking field where the wind was blowing directly in my face. I decided to sit on the edge and see what might happen. I planned on sitting there until dark and hiking back up to camp with headlamp just to see what I might see.
About an hour passed by and I was starting to get really, really bored. It had been years since I hunted tree stands or had to exercise patience, so it was fairly brutal. However, I looked up after about and hour and a small herd of elk was literally hustling directly at me from less than 100 yards away. There was a big bull, a nice 5x5, and a spike in the group at a minimum, plus maybe 3-4 cows as well. It looked like maybe there were still some attempts at rutting at the moment, as the biggest bull was running around the herd a lot. Because they were coming directly at my position, I had no shot initially. The elk stopped in the clearing to feed a bit, but the spike elk got dangerously close to my location - probably about 40 yards or so. I thought he would walk right over me and blow all the elk out but by some miracle, he stopped. Instead, the biggest bull decided to continue walking in my direction and get uncomfortably close. Again, I did not want to take a frontal shot, so I waited and waited for my opportunity. Finally, he started to turn a bit uphill from my position at 40 yards and gave me a shot. First shot with the 7mm mag was a double lung and as the herd scattered, he was clearly struggling. He took about 20 or so steps and I put another one in him quartering away from me at probably 50 yards. Shot went through his heart and through his opposite shoulder, dropping him immediately. He was stone dead in maybe 10 or so seconds total. The other elk didn't know what was going on and milled around at probably 75 yards. If my buddy had been with me, he would have easily had the 5x5 bull as well.
When I first walked up to him, the size of him was shocking. I thought my shock at how large elk are was over after killing the cow in 2017. Wrong. This bull was way larger, hundreds of pounds larger. He expired in the middle of a field so I didn't have any trees I could use to prop up quarters or ultimately flip him. It was getting towards dark, so I gutted him and took off all the hide on the "up side" plus those quarters/backstraps. I then took my first load up to camp about a mile uphill to get some additional help from my buddy. We weren't very concerned about spoilage with how cold it was getting at night.
My buddy was ecstatic and essentially gave up his hunt for the rest of the season to help me pack out the bull. I don't know what I would have done without some help - it was 6 total miles back to the trailhead. I would have eventually gotten it out but it would have taken more days. As it stands, it took us both 2.5 days to pack him out. My buddy actually carried two boned out rear quarters at one time straight uphill back to camp. Had to have been 160 pounds. We had to bone him out to get him out but I have to admit I really, really dislike boning out quarters. Seems like the meat just gets that much dirtier.
Weirdest experience was going back to the bull at first light to finish butchering him the next day. Got there and there were some mules/horses parked right above where the carcass was. We walk down (in shooting light) and some southern boy is sitting (I kid you not) 10 feet away from my dead bull with the antlers sticking up above the clearing grass. Not a doubt in my mind he was planning on taking the bull or at least the antlers had I not gotten there at first light. Never seen anything like it but a huge reminder about how much pressure those out of state hunters are for success with how much they spend to hunt through outfitters. We talked to some guys (different dudes) about the hunt and they paid $2800 per guy just to have an outfitter haul their camp into where we were located. Not guided at all - just packing service. My buddy and I did this hunt DIY on public land for the price of the resident elk tag itself.
Best experience of my life and so glad that I did it as a backcountry hunt vs. hiking from my truck each morning. It was an experience and the brutal packout is something that I will remember for the rest of my life. What a hunt.
