The Season of Stupid (& elk)

[Khunter]

Put it to a little practice since one of my guys was over training for a tree climbing competition… for some reason it won’t let me add the screen shot of the video but I’ll try to figure it out. It went well but glad the meat won’t be 3 feet off the cart and with the weight over the tire it should be great!

Edit: just ended up loading the video

you could come test it in SE Idaho with some quaeters I plan to stack up soon.

 

[Flatbrimmer]

Ok, so hunt number one is 7-10 miles deep and I’m hoping to reduce the number of trips out. I posted a few pics on the metal working thread but for all intents and purposes the elk cart is finished up. (Minus the recommended brake from a few, but may keep it this way)
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Very nice but looks like it weights as much as you and I!!?

 

[Flatbrimmer]

Question!
Shooter packs? Passenger hunter gets the cart?

 

[Dsnow9]

Very nice but looks like it weights as much as you and I!!?

Weight is around 30 lbs I think. I’ll check it today.

 

[Dsnow9]

Question!
Shooter packs? Passenger hunter gets the cart?

Hahaha. There is no water so I will haul water in with the cart. If that sucks or isn’t working I’ll drop the cart and grab it on the way out.

 

[Dsnow9]

I was wondering about it tipping from side to side. Looks like it could be real handy.

Even when my buddy’s weight shifted side to side it wasn’t horrible. I was pulling him around in sandals and went over some bricks and stuff without dumping him. The wheel is 6.5” wide which helps a lot.

 

[Dsnow9]

Very nice but looks like it weights as much as you and I!!?

37.3lb

 

[Deleted member 52098]

Hahaha. There is no water so I will haul water in with the cart. If that sucks or isn’t working I’ll drop the cart and grab it on the way out.

He who built it gets to use it! I’ll haul my water in on my back, hopefully just in time to help @Dsnow9 haul the first elk out. Nothing like a 20 mile day to start the trip!

 

[Flatbrimmer]

Hahaha. There is no water so I will haul water in with the cart. If that sucks or isn’t working I’ll drop the cart and grab it on the way out.

You two are characters man I love this thread. I hope we get the aftermath of success on camera because if it’s anything like I think, the hats are going in the air like a wedding, hugs and hollering and “snow” angels getting made in the dust and sand.

 

[noharleyyet]

 

[Deleted member 52098]

It’s been a weekend of gear and tent testing here as this is my last free weekend at home before we head out. Next week I’ll be scouting the CO unit with @Dsnow9 and the following weekend my father is in town / it’s WY opening weekend. My biggest task this weekend was getting a feel for setting up the new 14x20 Davis tent and whether I could easily do it on my own. They say the 14x20 is the largest size you can do solo and I can see why. All in all, took me about 45 mins my first time and except for a dumb user error that ripped the front door a bit, it went really well.





Next, I had to cure the stove as they say it’s smokes a ton its first time out. And they were not kidding, I’m glad I didn’t skip this step as it smoked a lot and I wouldn’t have enjoyed that step in the tent the first time. The good news though is that fires start up fast and this thing cranks the heat. Given that last years 3rd and 4th CO season were some of the coldest ever, I’m looking forward to maximizing the heat factor inside.




Last but not least, I had to get more volume for our WY backpack hunt, so I treated myself to a new K4 5500 and it didn’t disappoint. It packs down really well when empty and carries a load as perfectly as its little brother, the K3, did. But with more room, some upgraded geometry and subtle new features. Pack weighed in at 65 lbs with 4 days water, food, clothes and gear. That made me very happy to see and felt like a feather on my back.



It was a pretty solid weekend, and I feel as ready as I’m going to be for opening day. Nothing left to do now but stay healthy and soak up all the family time I can before heading to WY. Looking forward to a freezer full of elk after 4 days in WY

 

[DouglasR]

@Dsnow9 figure out a way to get 2 shimano 4 piston discs mounted on that thing and you might be able to quit climbing trees.

 

[Dsnow9]

@Dsnow9 figure out a way to get 2 shimano 4 piston discs mounted on that thing and you might be able to quit climbing trees.

For a different type of hunt the brakes would be a necessity. This hunt I should be ok without them. Worst case scenario I’ll drop the cart and let the handles dig in.

I think I would need a different type of tire or get real creative to add disk brakes.

Added some quick release straps to aid in the uphills

 

[elkfanatic]

Hope you get to try out your cart with a couple elk! Good luck!

 

[Deleted member 52098]

10 days away and it can't get here soon enough! I was lucky enough to get a free hotel stay in the mountains this week while my wife visits her mountain accounts and it turns out that @Dsnow9 was also going to be up here visiting family. So we put a scouting and shooting day on the books for Friday. I came up a day early to drive the unit and get a feel for a few of the potential glassing and camping spots for our 1st and 4th season hunts here in the mountains of CO. It was also nice to really test out the new truck and get a feel for how it performs as well.

It turned out to be a great day battling rutted out roads, sporadic rain storms and really chatty archery hunters. Anytime I passed someone or came near a camp, someone flagged me down to chat. Not sure why everyone was back at camp during the day, but to each their own. I heard story upon story of seeing elk, but them not being chatty enough to call in. It's been pretty quiet in my neck of the woods too, so maybe the rut is going to be a little later this year. I mean summer didn't really start in the mountains by us until mid to late June, maybe the elk are off too.

My first stop turned out to be a good one. Glasses up 4 cows, 2 spikes and a bull. I couldn't get my magview gear on fast enough, so all I have is this spike being the only one wiling to feed out in the open after they moved through the trees to a new spot. It was fascinating watching these elk move through thick timber and getting to do so from a slight above angle, it was awesome.




After watching these guys feed for a bit and hearing a clap of thunder, I got off that high point and back in the truck. Upon heading down, I looked over to my right and thought I saw a really odd shape sage bush. Well the minute I hit the breaks, this sage bush jumped up and starting trotting away. and then turned around and started trotting toward me. It was the oddest thing. But he's small, so he's probably used to people passing on him




I then left this general area of the unit, drove out and back to the highway, and headed further east into the unit. Down an even more rutted out and rocky road, and up and up and up. As if seeing elk and deer already weren't enough, I was fortunate enough to spot 3 rams, including a tagged ram that I have now named Slurpee (tag 7-11). Slurpee had a set of balls on him that looked ready to breed the next generation of rams for Colorado and for RMBS to work to converse habitat for. A few texts to the one and only @Oak and it sounds like this guy is roughly 7 years old and @Oak even had a picture of him from March of 2021. I get now why some people enjoy Bighorn sheep so much that they just head to the hills to watch them. They are fascinating creatures. in this case, these guys were splashing and drinking in a creek, then as fast as you could blink your eye they were halfway up the hill and feeding up. What an end to an awesome day.




I have a ton of awesome landscape pics, but as @trb so elequotenly put it... then you would know where we are hunting and it would get even more crowded. But needless to say it was a gorgeous day in the mountains - leaves are changing, there was some low lying fog and off in the distance some snow capped peaks. Fall is coming... and hopefully a full freezer too!

 

[Deleted member 52098]

My father arrives first thing Tuesday, so I decided to get fully packed today. Pack weighs 63.2 lbs without my gun, so it will be just shy of 75lbs going in as I am sure I'll add another layer of clothing just in case. That includes 15L of water (just shy of 4L per day), which if my math serves me correct is about 33 lbs of just water. It's probably overkill on water, but there is nothing worse than running out of water.

Can. Not. Wait.

 

[trb]

My father arrives first thing Tuesday, so I decided to get fully packed today. Pack weighs 63.2 lbs without my gun, so it will be just shy of 75lbs going in as I am sure I'll add another layer of clothing just in case. That includes 15L of water (just shy of 4L per day), which if my math serves me correct is about 33 lbs of just water. It's probably overkill on water, but there is nothing worse than running out of water.

Can. Not. Wait.

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Where are the elk getting their water? Private?

 

[Dsnow9]

Where are the elk getting their water? Private?

Private mostly, or some nasty, stagnant, cattle retention ponds. The filters would do the trick in a survival situation but that's about it. Nice thing about water weight is you can lose it before the trek out.

 

[Deleted member 52098]

as some of you may remember from my write up last year, before I left on my hunt, my then 8 year old presented me with the craft below on the right. Last night after dinner, she excitedly ran into her craft area and came back beaming with the craft on the left. It's cracked to all shit and super glittery, but her antler work is improving... hopefully my hunting does too lol. She also told me I am getting 4 elk this year... with no real awareness that I am actually holding 4 elk tags.

Let's hope she's right.

 

[Dsnow9]

Well, I get in the truck in a couple days so it’s about time time get packed and throw the ice blocks in the freezer. I’m not all prepared and planned out like @MtnElk over here.

I’m just glad the ice packs are in the freezer.



Now back to work…