2015 1st Rifle

[backcountry1pr]

Hey All!

So I have been lurking for a bit, and this seems like a pretty cool community. I figured a TR about my fall hunt would be a good way to introduce myself.

I started hunting last year. Growing up in Vermont, it just wasn't a part of my family dynamic, and so I didn't have any real exposure. East coast tree stand hunting also holds zero appeal to me. I did grow up spending a lot of time in the woods however, and worked for a number of years as backcountry rock/ice/kayak/ski guide. Suffice it to say the outdoors in pretty central to my identity.

I moved out to Colorado to attend college and met a number of friends who were elk hunters. I became intrigued a couple years ago, and started shadowing these friends trying to learn the craft. So many of my hobbies are high speed (mountain biking/dirt bikes/street bikes) and so slowing down and just enjoying being observant in the woods was something I hadn't realized I was missing so much.

Last year I got my first cow tag and had a successful hunt with the help of a good buddy. It was a great time, and I couldn't wait to do it again. I live in Gunnison, and so thankfully I have a bunch of very cool units surrounding me.

First elk (2014).


For my first solo hunt, I knew I wanted to get in a more sub-alpine environment than I had previously. The friend who I have gone out with the most really enjoys still hunting in dark timber, and I have found this style to be not quite my bag with a rifle. Glass and stalk is more my thing. I put in for an either sex tag, and spent the year reading anything I could get my hands on, as well as watching a ton of video to try and pick of tips and tricks. I have learned a ton, and look forward to learning more.

I spent a fair bit of time scouting my unit this summer, but between work and grad school, not as much time as I had hoped. However the time out there was awesome, and I even got to see an albino elk. Pretty cool! The type of terrain in the unit I was hunting was definitely just what I was looking for, and so I was really excited by what was to come. I found a number of different herds of elk, water, and had a good understanding of the terrain I would be hunting. I knew a longer shot was a possibility, and so I also spent quite a bit of time shooting as well.

The scouting partners.


Albino Elk


A heard


Can you spot the tent?



But I had also heard there could be quite a lot of people in the unit I had selected. In part I had chosen a unit with wilderness in it because I really wanted to try to get any from most people. Also, hunting 1st season helped with this. Finally, I was hunting 8-12 miles back, further helping to make sure I could be mostly alone.

I would be doing a 6x day solo backpacking hunt, and that was perfect for the type of experience I was hoping to get, elk or not. I knew that packing out an animal would be a ton of work should I put something on the ground back there, but I also like to suffer a bit. I wasn't worried about meat spoilage because of the altitude and wind, but the mileage was a bit daunting. I bought a bit of new gear to bring my overall pack weight down, and that turned out to be a good call. Below is what I brought out with me. With 4 liters of water I think it was pretty good as far as weight goes. Gear list at the bottom.

Photo of what I brought with me.


Pack weight with 4 liters of water.
Total 56.6
Pack 43.8
Gun 11.75

 

[backcountry1pr]

I had two goals for the season. With my either sex tag, I really wanted a chance to get a bull (especially given the work involved), and I also really wanted to get something on opening day. I was really jealous of the early shots I heard last year. I knew going in I had a good shot to do this. I knew where the animals were, and has a good game plan.

I went in the day before, and found the heard right where I had left them. They had been doing the same thing for about ~3x weeks, coming out of dark timber on a steep hillside just before sunset, and grazing through the night up into the high alpine basin and then heading back first thing in the AM. My plan was to post up between the elk and their bedding area on opening morning so as to intercept.

Glassing


Three big horns


The elk were there


Who I was going after. There were 3x this size


The bulls were ripping calls throughout the night, and when I got up around 4am to set off, I could still hear them above me in the basin where I was camped. I hiked down into the valley and up the other side to post up where I knew they would be coming back through. But once it became light, I couldn't believe my eyes. Instead of heading back, they had continued around the basin, and were just a couple hundred yards above my tent. I could have slept in and shot one out of the door of my tent! I went back up after them.

I headed to the top of the ridge in the basin downwind of the point where they had disappeared over, doing some pretty serious class 4 climbing in the process. I still don't know how they knew I was there, but I spooked them somehow once I was on the ridgeline. They never had me in sight, and the wind was good for me, but somehow they knew. I looked back into the basin as I was moving up the ridgeline to see the moving pretty quick back across it, and in the general direction of their bedding area. I was pretty disappointed, and stopped to rest at this point.

It was at then that I glassed 3x orange dots on a saddle/notch on the other side of the basin, above where the elk would travel under. Further disappointment hit me because I knew that now others were aware that there were elk in the basin. But then I couldn't believe it, they started raining lead. I don't know exactly how far from the animals they were, but between the distance, the elevation drop, and the number of shots they fired, they shouldn't have been shooting. ~15 shots and two elk down for them.

The heard split in a number of different directions at this point, and I was just watching through my binoculars just gutted. I was feeling like my whole game plan was blown, and all my scouting was irrelevant. But the silver lining was that one of the groups was headed back across the basin in my direction. I had a pretty good feeling they would return to the place they had come from, seeking safety and so I set up above them for a shot. The big bulls I had been watching weren't part of the group, but there were two legal bulls, and so I took one with a 310yd shot from above on a cliff. One shot and I had a bull down!

I went from super low, to elated in a matter of mere minutes. Everything turned around so quickly it was hard to process. The biggest lesson I took away from this hunt on reflection later was that I needed to be more patient and allow things to unfold before reacting. I had my bull, and I had it on opening morning. It was also a longer shot, which I had been hoping for, and a neat one at that (from on top of a cliff). I couldn't be more pleased.

I shot from the edge of the cliff in the top of this photo


Elk! It was a 4x5, with the 5x being pretty standard, and the 4x having a weird/cool twist


I sent a spot message to my wife letting her know that I had an elk down, and she started heading my direction. She was going to help me with a trip packing out to cut down on the number of laps I would need to take. I spent the next couple hours getting down to my elk, taking a few photos, quartering and bagging it, eating lunch, and packing up camp. By the time she arrived I was ready to begin.

The wife with a rear quarter


Don't fall! Had to cross this each time


We hiked back to the truck with one load that evening and I said goodbye as she headed home. I wanted to get a good night's rest for the next day, which I knew would be brutal. My wife had helped carry out one of the rear quarters, and I had brought out my full pack, as well as the loins, backstraps, neck meat, etc. The following day I started just after first light, and would be hiking till around 12am. I did three laps, and just under 60 miles. One lap with a rear quarter, one lap with the two front quarters, and one lap with the head. By the time it was all out, I was cooked! The audio books I put on my phone were an awesome idea, and helped to keep my mind entertained as I was walking. I was pretty much running on cliff shots by the time I was done, and could feel my body shutting down if it was more than 30 minutes between them.

I spent the next day resting and cutting up a ton of meat! This was also my first time processing an elk solo, and that was more nerve racking than anything. It all went well, and after many beers, western movies, and knife sharpening in the garage, I had my freezer full!

In reflection, there isn't too much I would do differently. I knew before hand that I wanted a lighter rifle, and this hunt reinforced that. I loved my Remington Long Range, but it's just heavy to use as a backcountry rifle. I bought it last year not really understanding how my hunting would evolve, but it was clear it wasn't the right tool. I have since bought a Tikka T3 Lite Stainless and dropped a bunch of weight there. The rest of my gear was pretty spot on. I could get away with less water, and I plan to try mountain house instead of backcountry pantry next year. If I was to do the same hunt again, I would also try to line up more help for the pack out so that I wouldn't need to do so many laps, but that was also just a function of this year. All but one of my hunting friends were out in 1st season, and so there really just weren't many people around. In the future this probably won't be such an issue.

I'm already looking forward to next year. I will probably be exploring a new unit to keep things fresh., I want to try to continue to narrow down and target a specific animal more purposely to continue to ramp up the challenge and difficulty, and would love to have another chance at a big bull like the ones I was seeing but never got a shot on. I think I will also try to be more patient so as to extend my hunt a couple days, as afterward I was sad that it was all over so soon.

Thanks for reading.

 

[backcountry1pr]

Gear list-

Clothing-
Orange vest
Orange beanie- Cabelas
Orange trucker hat
Orange balaclava- Buff
Camo full balaclava- Sitka
Softshell gloves- OR Stormtracker
Softshell jacket- Sitka 90%
Puffy Jacket- Arcteryx Atom LT
Vest- Arcteryx Atom LT
Tshirt- Ibex
Layer- Ibex Shak
Pants- Arcteryx Gamma AR
Long underwear- EMS
Boxers- Ibex Woolies 2
Socks- Darn Tough mid weight x2
Boots- Salomon X Alp Mtn GTX
Camp Shoes- LLBean slippers
Watch- Suunto Core
Sunglasses- Smith Backdrop Evolve

Backpacking-
Backpack- Kuiu Ultra 6000
Shelter- Mountainsmith mountain shelter LT
Trekking Poles- Black Diamond Razor Carbon
Ground cloth- 3x8 Tyvek
Sleeping bag- Marmot Pulse 40 deg
Sleeping pad- Thermarest ProLite Regular
Pot- Optimus Crux HE
Stove- Optimus Crux
Fuel- Isopro 230g
Utensil- Soto folding spork
Hydration- Hydrapak 3L bladder
Hydration- Nalgene 1L
Water purification- Auqamira drops
Battery- Poweradd Li-ion 7200 solar panel
Emergency- Spot Gen 3 locator beacon
Communication- Android Droid
Navigation- Backcountry Navigator Pro
Navigation- topo maps + Silvia basic baseplate compas
Camera- Canon S100
Headlamp- Petzl ZipTikka
Survival Kit- Heavily augmented Adventure Medical Kit Hybrid 3
Entertainment- Skull Candy earbuds + audio books
Orginization- Osprey Ultralight Roll Organizer
Sanitation- scent Killer field wipes
Sanitation- hand sanitizer
Sanitation- 4x 1L ziplock bags
Skin care- Neutraogena sport face sunscreen
Skin care- Dermatone skin protector
Hygiene- shorty toothbrush/toothpaste
Breakfast- Backcountry Pantry penutbutter rasin oatmeal
Lunch/Snack- Raw Bar, Starkist Tuna Pack, Justins penutbutter pack, HoneyStinger Gel
Dinner- various Backcountry Pantry
Candy- Shot Block energy chews
Other- 1x Five hour energy, multivitamins

Hunting-
Rifle- Remmington 700 7MM RM Long Range
Scope- Bushnell Elite 4500 4x16
Sling- Quake Claw
Stock Bag- Eagle Shooters
Ammo- Remmington Scirocco 150gr 8x rounds
Range Finder- Bushnell Scout DX 1000 ARC
Binoculars- Steiner Predator 10x42
Harness- Sitka Bino Bivy
Tripod- Polaroid Pro Series 55" carbon fiber travel tripod
Knife- Havalon Piranta
Multi tool- SOG PowerDuo
Game Bags- Caribou Gear The Wapiti
Call- Primos cow call
Wind Checker- Ambush Low Light
Bone Saw- Outdoor Edge Griz Saw
Rope- ~25ft 5mil Pcord
Z Drag- Black Diamond Neutrino carabineers x2
Protection- 1x pair nitride gloves
Protection- earplugs
Cleaning- Remoil wipes x3
Cleaning- Bore Snake
Cleaning- Lens cloth

 

[AKHUNTER]

Nice story and congratulations on your hunt!

 

[Elkfitness]

Great job! Excellent write up! I hunt solo too, and that's how it's done!!

 

[shedcrazy]

Good read! Congrats my friend

 

[Gar]

Nice hunting story, nice animal. Awesome that your wife goes with you!

Gar

 

[Ruskin]

That's a cool story. Congrats and thanks for sharing.

 

[airlocksniffer]

Great read. Elk hunting is funny in that it can go from one end of the spectrum (you seeing the other pumpkins) to the other (brown down) very quickly. Congrats and enjoy the full freezer.

 

[dirtytough]

Nice job on your first solo elk hunt

 

[HOT ROD]

Congrats on a good bull. My very first elk hunt was in Gunnison Co. Beautiful country...

 

[Jarrod Renaud]

really awesome story! and super bummer about that last minute change in pattern the first morning. Looks like there were a couple tanks in that group.

 

[realunlucky]

Congratulations. It takes plenty of determination for solo elk. Good for you to get your wife involved. Plan to be in 66 for archery next year. Love Gunnison just to damn cold

 

[Htachie Dawg]

Man, what a great job!
Congrats on doing it right.
HD

 

[Felix40]

Nice story. That makes me jealous. We drive through Gunnison every year. Always look forward to the BBQ on the way home.

 

[Dougfir]

Congrats! I was hunting not terribly far from you during the first season. I was not as far back in as you were and while the first day had some excitement, the hunting was pretty much dead for the next 4 days. I was lucky enough to take a cow on the first evening, as she came in to a water hole.
Given the level of acclimatization I was able to achieve in my time there, I can't even imagine packing one out from where you were. I would not have survived. Enjoy the meat. I'm certainly enjoying mine!

 

[BroodBuster]

Excellent report!

Well done and congrats.

 

[elkyinzer]

Congratulations on the bull and great story. I love to see hunters come from the outdoor hiker-adventuresport REI kind of ranks, some of the best diplomats of the lifestyle we can have in my opinion. Looks like you've picked up solid woodsmanship skills just fine.

 

[Longstride12]

Awesome write up and experience. You are one tough dude to do all you did that second day. I also think it's cool your wife was involved, maybe next year she'll shoot one too. Keep up the good work, can't wait to see what next year brings.

 

[pyroducksx3]

Congratulations on your elk. To cut down on those trips debone that thing, you might have only made one trip after your wife took back a deboned rear quarter and some scrap meat. You probably could have brought out Backstrap and a debone front on your first trip. Leaving the rest for your return.