Something I've been wanting to do since I was 15. I'm 60 and ain't getting any younger so my wife and I got in the truck and headed west. There was a lot of planning and research to make it happen. I've actually been planning for and trying to do this every fall for at least 5 years, but family obligations always took precedence.
I settled on the 3rd season and hunted in South Central Colorado on public land. Going in blind, with zero elk hunting experience I knew it was a long shot to kill anything. And I didn't, but just having a tag in my pocket and being in a position to have a chance was the highlight of my hunting career.
It took 2 1/2 days driving and we got into the hunting area on Thursday prior to the Saturday 11/03/18 opening. There was about a foot of snow above 10,000'. A few pics while scouting.
Saw a few deer, but no deer tag
While scouting I ran into a Forest Service Ranger who advised me the snow would cause the elk to move into the area we had picked within a few days. Expect them to move from west to the east he said. With that info I decided to hunt the western portion of the unit.
It was 11*-12* each morning with deep snow. My wife and I walked up an ATV trail about 1.5 miles uphill from the road for 3 days without seeing anything. No sign at all.
After the 3rd day I moved several miles to the east and tried a new place. I knew that with just my wife and I it would be near impossible to get an elk out uphill. I always parked and hiked uphill to hunt. At the 2nd location I started getting into fresh tracks and droppings within a mile of the road. LOTS of it. I was very encouraged hunting over this area.
Hunted here until late morning before continuing up the mountain. By lunch I was 3 1/2 miles from the road at 10,500' according to my GPS and near the top of the mountain. We stopped for lunch and to rest for a while. My wife was pretty well spent. I told her I wanted to go up a little higher and would be back in about 1/2 hour.
Found a lot of good sign and an impressive rub on a tree. From there I could see that I was very near the top and wanted to go on up, but knew it would be a lot longer than 1/2 hour before I could get back. I tried to text my wife and let her know I'd be longer than planned, but no service.
Instead we slowly worked our way down the mountain stopping at good looking spots along the way. This way I was within a mile of the road at sundown.
Driving back to pavement we ran into 2 hunters walking along the road and gave them a ride back to their truck. They had parked at a higher elevation and had spent the day walking the top of the ridge. They had seen me when I was near the top and told me there were about 200 elk bedded down just a few hundred yards above where I had turned around. They had been glassing the herd and saw no legal bulls, just cows and young bulls.
I settled on the 3rd season and hunted in South Central Colorado on public land. Going in blind, with zero elk hunting experience I knew it was a long shot to kill anything. And I didn't, but just having a tag in my pocket and being in a position to have a chance was the highlight of my hunting career.
It took 2 1/2 days driving and we got into the hunting area on Thursday prior to the Saturday 11/03/18 opening. There was about a foot of snow above 10,000'. A few pics while scouting.
Saw a few deer, but no deer tag
While scouting I ran into a Forest Service Ranger who advised me the snow would cause the elk to move into the area we had picked within a few days. Expect them to move from west to the east he said. With that info I decided to hunt the western portion of the unit.
It was 11*-12* each morning with deep snow. My wife and I walked up an ATV trail about 1.5 miles uphill from the road for 3 days without seeing anything. No sign at all.
After the 3rd day I moved several miles to the east and tried a new place. I knew that with just my wife and I it would be near impossible to get an elk out uphill. I always parked and hiked uphill to hunt. At the 2nd location I started getting into fresh tracks and droppings within a mile of the road. LOTS of it. I was very encouraged hunting over this area.
Hunted here until late morning before continuing up the mountain. By lunch I was 3 1/2 miles from the road at 10,500' according to my GPS and near the top of the mountain. We stopped for lunch and to rest for a while. My wife was pretty well spent. I told her I wanted to go up a little higher and would be back in about 1/2 hour.
Found a lot of good sign and an impressive rub on a tree. From there I could see that I was very near the top and wanted to go on up, but knew it would be a lot longer than 1/2 hour before I could get back. I tried to text my wife and let her know I'd be longer than planned, but no service.
Instead we slowly worked our way down the mountain stopping at good looking spots along the way. This way I was within a mile of the road at sundown.
Driving back to pavement we ran into 2 hunters walking along the road and gave them a ride back to their truck. They had parked at a higher elevation and had spent the day walking the top of the ridge. They had seen me when I was near the top and told me there were about 200 elk bedded down just a few hundred yards above where I had turned around. They had been glassing the herd and saw no legal bulls, just cows and young bulls.
