ColoradoHunter719
Member
Thanks to all of you who shared with me some information regarding GMU 181, Kremmling, CO. We managed to tag 2 bucks on Veterans Day Weekend!!!
After an unsuccessful 3rd year of hunting Elk in GMU 54, Colorado it was time for our Mule Deer tags. Unfortunately, due to life and work, we were not able to make it to GMU 181, Colorado before opening day; in fact, we arrived on WED afternoon, 4 days after opening day for 3rd Rifle season. Like Randy Newberg likes to say: We only had “5 days to Figure Out, Sort it out and Pack it out”.
Day 1 (WED Afternoon): We were able to drive around our unit and learn the land better. We were able to confirm some spots for the morning hunt and saved some points via our OnXMaps. We only saw a few Does here and there but no bucks at all.
Day 2 (Thursday): We took the wrong dirt road into an area with some deep snow and we ended up getting stuck for a few hours. We were trying to get unstuck for most of the morning, until another hunter came around and was able to pull us out from a nasty hole. By that time, our morning hunt was gone. Evening hunt was also a little uneventful. We only had a few encounter with some Does and we were only hoping to see a buck or two; however, those bucks never received the script.
Day 3 (Friday): We received some more snow during the night and we were able to drive into an area which we marked during our e-scouting. We had no problem driving into the area at Zero Dark Thirty because the roads were frozen (different story after the sun came up). During this morning hunt we finally saw some bucks but not near our area; more like two or three miles away. (Look at center of the pic)
At around 10:00 hrs we decided to hike back to the truck and drive around to the other area in order to be closer for the evening hunt. At this time of day, the roads were super muddy and slippery and just our luck, we broke a Front Axle CV Joint. Keep in mind that we were about 8 miles from a main road, on a Friday before Veterans Day, outside Kremmling, CO a little town with only one towing truck service company willing to drive to our location. Well, yes, this unplanned incident killed our day 3 hunt. Lucky for us, the guys from Fettig Auto Repair Shop were able to recover our truck, gave us a ride back to a hotel in town, ordered the part and agreed to work on the truck Saturday morning during Veterans Day just because we are Veterans and wanted us to be successful with our hunt. If you ever hunt around Kremmling, CO, make sure you have Fettig’s number because these guys are the best in customer support, price, and quality of work. Listen to this. After arriving to their shop, they introduced me to one of their clients, another hunter who was picking up his truck from the shop. The hunter offered to drop me and my hunting buddy at our hunting spot the following day and the mechanics from Fettig’s agreed to drive to our hunting spot upon fixing our truck. Best Veteran Day support ever!!!
Day 4 (Saturday): a fellow hunter who already had his tag punched, stopped by the hotel at 04:30 hrs, took us to a Kum & Go to get some joe and snacks then drove us to a spot we wanted to hunt that morning. We offered some gas money again and he declined it. He stated “Glad to help other hunters and Veterans.” Luckily for us, this morning I was able to take this buck, which for me was big enough and my first buck ever. We took care of the buck, and waited for the mechanics to bring our truck back. Truck was fixed and delivered to us that afternoon. We placed the first buck in the coolers and glassed some bucks for Sunday Morning hunt.
Day 5 (Sunday, last day of the hunt): After glassing some bucks the previous evening, we had a plan for the morning hunt. After hunting this area for a few days, we learned how potentially those bucks were going to move in the morning. It looked like this time those bucks had read their scripts because everything went according to the plan. Therefore, my hunting buddy was able to provide some .308 AccuBond 180 Grain Medicine to this little buck.
Still after 3 years, we have not had any luck with Elk but we are ready for next year. We are extremely lucky for getting 2 bucks despite all the ups and downs we had during our 5 days. Emotional roller coaster for sure but memories that will last a life time. Thank you again to everyone in this forum that were so kind to share some inside into this GMU. We are going back next year for sure. – ColoradoHunter719
After an unsuccessful 3rd year of hunting Elk in GMU 54, Colorado it was time for our Mule Deer tags. Unfortunately, due to life and work, we were not able to make it to GMU 181, Colorado before opening day; in fact, we arrived on WED afternoon, 4 days after opening day for 3rd Rifle season. Like Randy Newberg likes to say: We only had “5 days to Figure Out, Sort it out and Pack it out”.
Day 1 (WED Afternoon): We were able to drive around our unit and learn the land better. We were able to confirm some spots for the morning hunt and saved some points via our OnXMaps. We only saw a few Does here and there but no bucks at all.
Day 2 (Thursday): We took the wrong dirt road into an area with some deep snow and we ended up getting stuck for a few hours. We were trying to get unstuck for most of the morning, until another hunter came around and was able to pull us out from a nasty hole. By that time, our morning hunt was gone. Evening hunt was also a little uneventful. We only had a few encounter with some Does and we were only hoping to see a buck or two; however, those bucks never received the script.
Day 3 (Friday): We received some more snow during the night and we were able to drive into an area which we marked during our e-scouting. We had no problem driving into the area at Zero Dark Thirty because the roads were frozen (different story after the sun came up). During this morning hunt we finally saw some bucks but not near our area; more like two or three miles away. (Look at center of the pic)
At around 10:00 hrs we decided to hike back to the truck and drive around to the other area in order to be closer for the evening hunt. At this time of day, the roads were super muddy and slippery and just our luck, we broke a Front Axle CV Joint. Keep in mind that we were about 8 miles from a main road, on a Friday before Veterans Day, outside Kremmling, CO a little town with only one towing truck service company willing to drive to our location. Well, yes, this unplanned incident killed our day 3 hunt. Lucky for us, the guys from Fettig Auto Repair Shop were able to recover our truck, gave us a ride back to a hotel in town, ordered the part and agreed to work on the truck Saturday morning during Veterans Day just because we are Veterans and wanted us to be successful with our hunt. If you ever hunt around Kremmling, CO, make sure you have Fettig’s number because these guys are the best in customer support, price, and quality of work. Listen to this. After arriving to their shop, they introduced me to one of their clients, another hunter who was picking up his truck from the shop. The hunter offered to drop me and my hunting buddy at our hunting spot the following day and the mechanics from Fettig’s agreed to drive to our hunting spot upon fixing our truck. Best Veteran Day support ever!!!
Day 4 (Saturday): a fellow hunter who already had his tag punched, stopped by the hotel at 04:30 hrs, took us to a Kum & Go to get some joe and snacks then drove us to a spot we wanted to hunt that morning. We offered some gas money again and he declined it. He stated “Glad to help other hunters and Veterans.” Luckily for us, this morning I was able to take this buck, which for me was big enough and my first buck ever. We took care of the buck, and waited for the mechanics to bring our truck back. Truck was fixed and delivered to us that afternoon. We placed the first buck in the coolers and glassed some bucks for Sunday Morning hunt.
Day 5 (Sunday, last day of the hunt): After glassing some bucks the previous evening, we had a plan for the morning hunt. After hunting this area for a few days, we learned how potentially those bucks were going to move in the morning. It looked like this time those bucks had read their scripts because everything went according to the plan. Therefore, my hunting buddy was able to provide some .308 AccuBond 180 Grain Medicine to this little buck.
Still after 3 years, we have not had any luck with Elk but we are ready for next year. We are extremely lucky for getting 2 bucks despite all the ups and downs we had during our 5 days. Emotional roller coaster for sure but memories that will last a life time. Thank you again to everyone in this forum that were so kind to share some inside into this GMU. We are going back next year for sure. – ColoradoHunter719
