2014 pics

[Schleppy]

Here are a few Pics of my Colorado archery elk hunt last year.

 

[Schleppy]

a few more

The mud sucked.

 

[Schleppy]

Last ones

It was a zero elk year for us but we learned a lot.

 

[under h2o hunter]

Really pretty pictures. Sorry you didn't tag an elk but it looks like you had some fun all the same. What unit did you hunt?

 

[bbrown]

Nice pics but you can't have a picture titled "asshole cow" without telling the story...

 

[bz_711]

Nice pics but you can't have a picture titled "asshole cow" without telling the story...

That...and need more story in general...please

Did you see any elk at all? Bugles?

 

[Schleppy]

Yeah, sorry about that. I just wanted to see if I could get the photos to post. This was my first hunt in Colorado and my first backpacking trip of my life. I finally found a buddy crazy enough to do the backpacking thing with me and we went last year it was his first backpacking trip also. We went out for the last week of the season. We actually got into Co on the last Sat of Muzzleloader season. I wanted to hunt the peak of the rut because I had never heard an elk bugle in my life, I also wanted to see the aspen trees turning colors. I got both.
We spike camped with the Kifaru 6 man about 3 1/2 miles from the trailhead. We had driven through the night and when we got to the trailhead we were pretty tired but we were eager to get going. We packed in during the hottest part of the day and I dont know if it was the lack of acclimatizing or just a bad breakfast but I ended up with the runs. It was pretty miserable trying to get everything set up and running constantly into the bush. We got the tipi up just as a pretty ugly storm was brewing and we got into the tipi just as the rain started. It downpoured through the night and the next morning the creek we were on had risen and all the trails were ankle deep mud. We went to the stream to get water and I had no idea my Katadyn pro hiker filter couldnt handle the silted water. I pumped a half a liter of water and the pump slowed to a crawl and finally quit working. My buddy had a Sawyer squeeze filter and it ran slower with the silt but it kept the two of us in water for the next 5 days. I had a small bottle of tablets as a spare, but we never had to use them.

After gathering water we cut some firewood and stocked the tipi so that we could build a fire and dry things out. During the night we had condensation build up on the inside of the tipi and everytime a raindrop would hit the outside a corresponding microdrop would come down inside. We werent soaked but it was very annoying and we wanted to get things dry. After getting the camp chores done we finally headed up into the woods after the elk. We found a bunch of sign and scouted out the first area we had picked out. The second night was more comfortable in the tipi with the stove going, we still had condensation that we could never get rid of on th bottom 3 feet or so of the tipi. You can see it in the pics. I had a good pitch with 3-4 inches of open space at the bottom for ventilation and I also tried to pitch it tight to the ground. It didnt matter, I need a liner or a year with less rain.

The next morning we headed out for a distant basin that we had gotten a tip about from some departing muzzleloader guys. We were planning on spending the night and my buddy had a tarp that we tied to a tree and slept under. Its the green thing wrapped around a tree in the pic. It rained off and on all day and we were chasing a herd with at least three bulls bugling. It was awesome. We got within 100 yds or so of the elk, but didnt get a chance to shoot. We played it pretty slow since it was about a 4 mile hike into the basin in that deep sticky mud, and we didnt want to bump this herd and have to start over. So, we ended up bedding down among the elk and they were bugling all around us all night. I have never experienced anything like it. It was a mix of emotions because It was the third night in my life in the mountains and here I was about 7 1/2 miles from the trailhead in crappy weather sleeping under a tarp. We had two sheets of tyvek, my Kifaru woobie, an emergency space blanket, and some ferns to lay down for bedding. It was miserable due to being wet from the rain all day and not being able to sleep. The elk bugling all around was the only thing that made it bearable. We ended up spooning under the woobie with the space blanket over the top of the woobie. Like I said, it was our first trip and we did some stupid things, we had to swallow our pride and snuggle a bit but we made it through and in the morning the elk were bedded down 150yds away.
The bulls were still bugling from their beds and we started making a stalk on them. I hung back and called and my buddy snuck up the hill after the closest bull. During the stalk it started to rain again and the bulls were bugling less and less. It sounded like a loud exhale more that a bugle. My buddy got to within 50 yds of a 5x5 bull that was bedded, but at some point the rest of the herd started to move up the mountain and that bull followed them. My buddy had a cow at 30 yds but passed up the shot because of the spot she was in.

So after hunting that basin the rest of the morning we started making our way back to our spike camp. We certainly didnt want to spend another night under that tarp. On the way out the trails were even worse than on the way in and we were slipping and sliding all over the place. At one point a range cow took an interest in us and kept following us and acting very aggressive. We had seen tons of cows and they usually didnt pay any attention to us but this one was not happy with us.
We got back into camp and stoked up the stove and finally dried out. That night we could hear bulls bugling right from the tipi so we tried another spot in the morning. We were in the elk every day, but never took a shot. We met some great people that helped us out with finding elk and pointed us to spots. It was pretty amazing how helpful strangers were to us while out there. We were camped out in a popular spot and people would come up and chat and check in on us to make sure we were ok.

It was a great trip and we will be there again this year. We learned a ton about backpacking and how to find elk. This year we are thinking of using bivys and doing away with the spike camp. We spent too much time in camp and walking back and forth. It was also much easier to lean over and light the stove in the morning and sleep rather than get out and hunt in that rain.

 

[bz_711]

Nice work Schleppy!

Sounds like you guys were on them...and are now hooked for life.

Good luck this season!

 

[les welch]

Congrats Ty, didn't know you made a trip. Sounds like you had fun and learned a lot! Good deal.

 

[yardwork]

Great write up. The rain hit us in CO for a few days in early September as well. Our issue was we needed to cross a river to and from base camp for every hunt and that river got to high to cross costing us a day and a half. We too wasted a lot of hunting time each day going back and forth to base camp but my partner and I were rookies as well.

Question for you and the group. What rain gear can protect you from getting soaked by the underbrush as well as hold up to underbrush that seems to want to drag it off of you? That is where my next investment needs to be. Thx

 

[Schleppy]

My buddy and I both had First Lite gear including the rain coat. I didnt wear any rain pants though, just the coat. My buddy and I both slept in those rain coats the one night we stayed out in that tarp. I didnt go into the oak brush at all though so I cant comment on that. The first lite merino pants are verrrrry comfortable and seemed to dry out pretty quickly so I think that rain pants would actually cause you to stay wet due to sweating in them. Unless youre slogging around in a constant downpour then maybe they would be nice.