Notthing fancy just a good old fashioned elk hunt.

[H&Hhunter]

This was a third season Co hunt.


First day we hauled into camp about 15:45 and set up camp. That night we were in one of the most violent wind storms I've ever weathered in the mountains. You could hear the wind coming down the valley and then it would hit our tent and shake it untill you thought it was going to explode around you. About midnight trees started to blow down they sounded like a canon shot when they broke off and then came crashing to the ground.

We evacuated the tent and spent the rest of that sleepless night in the truck parked in the middle of a field where no trees could crush us. The picture below is of one of the trees that fell across the road (Taken several days later) but was stopped by a forked pine on the other side. These were big mature healthy pines not dead fall, just to give you an idea of the wind.

The Next morning the wind stopped and it was snowing very nicely. Just enough for tracking Elk....

 

[H&Hhunter]

And when the morning came we had not slept all night so we just grabed our gear and went hunting. What the heck?

I was accompanied by a freind of mine who is new to hunting. He hunted elk last year but didn't get one. So I really wanted him to shoot an elk. And that is just what he did at about 15:30 on the first day of the hunt.

Tim shot this beatifull bull, his first ever elk at 35 yards killing him with one shot through the shoulder while crusing the dark timber. A fine way to start off an elk hunting career......

Congartulations Tim.....


Edited to fix the time from !5:30 to 15:30.

 

[H&Hhunter]

As I was walking over to where I heard Tims shot I suddenly got a whiff of that unmistakable musky elk oder. I froze in my tracks and was able to hear the elk in the timber just ahead and up wind of me walking breaking sticks and making just a little "elk talk". I took about two more steps and busted this 5X5 looking back towards where his buddy had been.

I shot him once behind the shoulder at about 80 yards he ran over a small rise and heard him as he tried to run up a hill. He died about half way up and I was able to locate his position by the sounds of him rolling and crashing back down the hill. I found him about 200 yards from where I shot him.

Turns out he rolled to with in a hundred yards of where tim killed his elk. As you can see from the animated expression on my face the way this all happened was just fantastic. Tim gets his first elk,, solo I might add and flushes one to me. I love it when a plan works out....

As far as we were concerned we may have just as well both shot a pair 400 class bulls. What a day to remeber. and only 6 miles up hill to get them back to the nearest road. But that's another story about a 3 day pack out.

 

[H&Hhunter]

I think this picture of Tim with the two bulls says it all. Looks like that boy just won the elk hunting gold medal. He's still on cloud nine and calling me every day with plans for our next hunt.

Another helplessly addicted elkaholic/huntaholic.

 

[444]

I keep telling myself that jealousy will get me no where.

 

[sm]

Forget jealousy...I ain't proud.
I'm available for adoption, heck I'll even load pellets in daughter pellet gun in case critters invade garage again... pink bunny slippers need brushing...?

Sometimes you gotta break the rules...and beg!

H&H- Thanks for the pics and sharing!

 

[JohnDog]

Awesome!! (From another elkaholic!)

H&H,

WOW!- looks like Tim started great on the Elk Hunting path. Getting an elk at 5:30 during third season is some serious hunting. Means you were out and about way early, and elk country is pretty dark and cold then.

I got a nice cow this year in the first season, only a mile and half packout that took most of a day, and I wore shorts and a t-shirt for the last two loads to the truck. Good successful hunt. But I'm so much of an elkaholic that I bought a leftover license for the fourth season, and was out sneaking through the woods looking for another cow in the cold and the snow a week and a half ago. No luck though....

Already dreaming of next year's elk hunt.....

JohnDog

 

[H&Hhunter]

Getting an elk at 5:30 during third season is some serious hunting. Means you were out and about way early, and elk country is pretty dark and cold then.

John

I better get this cleared up right away before the fish and feathers boys come a knocking. Tim shot his elk at 15:30 on the first day (3:30 PM) I must have hit the wrong key when typing looks like I hit the ! key instead of the 1 key.

But yes it was a cold dark night walk out we didn't get back to trail head untill almost 20:00 that night and we crawled into camp at around 21:00.

 

[JohnDog]

H&H,

Well I knew cold and dark would be in there somewhere. My bad for not reading and comprehending. I saw that you rolled out in the am and figured you came up on the elk right away. My assumption didn't jive too well with how far from the trailhead you ended up! My only excuse is that it was stone cold dark at 5:30pm a week later where we were hunting (Unit 81 on the west side of the San Luis valley).

I was in a windstorm like the one you described once - while backpacking in RMNP. It was really scary when big live trees were just snapping off and falling to the ground. And we didn't have a meadow or a truck! We had to sleep under the edge of boulder - wet, cold and muddy - what a miserable night. Bad weather in the high country can mean things other that rain or snow.

JohnDog

PS - if you don't mind can you give a general hint on where you where hunting - ie Unit/County/etc?

 

[H&Hhunter]

John,

I hunt in one of three units 471, 43 or 47. They are over the counter bull units. I always hunt as high as I can get.

 

[Selfdfenz]

Another excellent H&H adventure.
Nice critters.
How much meat is there on a bull that size if you don't mind me asking?

S-

 

[H&Hhunter]

Selfdefenz,

Well that all depends. We were able to recover everything except some rib meat on mine and Tims had everything but a shoulder. After we got finsihed carrying it out of the darkest, deepest canyon in colorado. All on our backs mind you. I think it weighed about 400 metric tons.

All kidding aside I'm guessing you get about 300lbs of processed meat out of a bull elk.

 

[Selfdfenz]

"I think it weighed about 400 metric tons."
OMG that brought the tears.
Too funny>

S-

That is an excellent pile of fine food possibilities. I had elk one time and it was good enough to cause extinction if too many people catch on. Reminds me of a particular episode of the Simpsons.