4 season Colorado elk spike camp?

[Jesse Rose]

My brother, dad, and I are going on our first elk hunt. It is fourth season Colorado and our unit bottoms out around 7,000 ft of elevation where public is. I scouted the unit last March mostly to find access and see what the terrain looked like. We have a camper for the box of the truck with a wood stove that we will be base camping out of. I am considering buying a used tipi and stove mostly for the future, but considering getting it before this hunt. If temps are mild (for the season) and bulls are still a little higher, would this be an option to spike out at a lower elevation let’s say 3-4 miles from base camp, or are conditions most times to cold and variable to spike out? Our access is limited this time of year because of the national forrest roads moving to winter traffic only, so that’s why I am considering this option. Any help would be great, thanks!

 

[Werty]

If you can afford it, its always better you options. If your in good physical condition 5-6 miles round trip is very doable on foot daily.

I personally would hike to the best glassing and camp there.
Hope this helps!

 

[Foldem]

Where are you from? 4th season will most likely be very very cold at night, below zero for sure. Days may get warm, or may top out at 0*, never know that time of year.

 

[Jesse Rose]

Thanks for the advice!! We are from northern Wisconsin, so those temps we deal with a lot here. We don’t see a ton of wind though, which is a concern for me. What can I expect for potential wind sitting up on glassing knobs?

 

[SuspiciousFish]

Where are you from? 4th season will most likely be very very cold at night, below zero for sure. Days may get warm, or may top out at 0*, never know that time of year.

I agree. Colorado has such variable weather its impossible to tell. We had a really strange warm winter last year with hardly any snowfall until the early spring but it could be very different this year.

To the OP. You can manage it if you have the proper clothing but it could be rough. I would get a good -15 rated sleeping bag, have a pad that has at least a 5-6 R rating and get some down booties for walking around camp. Some down pants would be a good idea too as well as over mitts. Also make sure your water bottles are insulated or you have them in with you so they dont freeze. The hot water bottle in the sleeping bag trick works well for this too and you have nice warm water to drink in the morning. I have had mornings where I had to use a stick to break a layer of ice on a bottle and try to drink the freezing water on a cold morning and its hell.

 

[SuspiciousFish]

Thanks for the advice!! We are from northern Wisconsin, so those temps we deal with a lot here. We don’t see a ton of wind though, which is a concern for me. What can I expect for potential wind sitting up on glassing knobs?

Wind can be absolutely brutal if you are above the tree line. Nothing grows up there aside from grass so if the wind starts to rip over the top you are 100% exposed. If you are ever up there, always have a game plan to get back down into the timber quickly. There are some scrub brushes and dwarf trees that can provide limited shelter too so stick close to those.

I was up there for Archery elk 2 weeks ago and suddenly a cold smoke fog rolled in and hailed on us and we had to quickly pack up and scramble down a wet scree field to get into shelter. This is what it looked like 30 min before the weather rolled in:




Even little scrub trees/bushes like this can go a long way to protect from some of the wind:

 

[Jesse Rose]

I agree. Colorado has such variable weather its impossible to tell. We had a really strange warm winter last year with hardly any snowfall until the early spring but it could be very different this year.

To the OP. You can manage it if you have the proper clothing but it could be rough. I would get a good -15 rated sleeping bag, have a pad that has at least a 5-6 R rating and get some down booties for walking around camp. Some down pants would be a good idea too as well as over mitts. Also make sure your water bottles are insulated or you have them in with you so they dont freeze. The hot water bottle in the sleeping bag trick works well for this too and you have nice warm water to drink in the morning. I have had mornings where I had to use a stick to break a layer of ice on a bottle and try to drink the freezing water on a cold morning and its hell.

I didn’t think about insulated water bottle. Makes sense. I use them a lot whitetail hunting to just sip on warm water when it’s super cold. Definitely something I will be packing now. Thanks for all the info!

 

[Hnthrdr]

I think one of the most challenging aspects of spiking late season is the weight/size of the gear really starts to pile up. Last year was mild into dang near January, this year we have seen a lot of moisture in the summer, kind of dry sept, but if if the moisture kicks off again we should be snowy come late Oct/Nov. this will most likely have the elk migrating to wintering grounds, but I think we generally need a solid 24” up high to get them moving. The bulls especially will stay as high as they can as long as they can usually in the nastiest drainages imaginable

 

[LongWayAround]

Last year was the year if a guy wanted to spike camp fourth season.

On wind potential: Expect to freeze your ass off. Puffy+Rain gear helps.

 

[Jesse Rose]

Wind can be absolutely brutal if you are above the tree line. Nothing grows up there aside from grass so if the wind starts to rip over the top you are 100% exposed. If you are ever up there, always have a game plan to get back down into the timber quickly. There are some scrub brushes and dwarf trees that can provide limited shelter too so stick close to those.

I was up there for Archery elk 2 weeks ago and suddenly a cold smoke fog rolled in and hailed on us and we had to quickly pack up and scramble down a wet scree field to get into shelter. This is what it looked like 30 min before the weather rolled in:


View attachment 457394

Even little scrub trees/bushes like this can go a long way to protect from some of the wind:

View attachment 457396

Dang! Makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the info!

 

[Jesse Rose]

If you can afford it, its always better you options. If your in good physical condition 5-6 miles round trip is very doable on foot daily.

I personally would hike to the best glassing and camp there.
Hope this helps!

It definitely does, thanks!

 

[cnelk]

Go get em.


Just be sure to check back in after season and let us know what you learned. Because you’re gonna be a whole lot smarter afterwards!

 

[SonnyDay]

My advice: you can skimp on sleeping bag loft, but don’t skimp on sleeping pad thickness. 2” minimum of its cold (0 or below). And don’t rely on inflatable pads alone… they pop.

Have fun!

 

[Jesse Rose]

I think one of the most challenging aspects of spiking late season is the weight/size of the gear really starts to pile up. Last year was mild into dang near January, this year we have seen a lot of moisture in the summer, kind of dry sept, but if if the moisture kicks off again we should be snowy come late Oct/Nov. this will most likely have the elk migrating to wintering grounds, but I think we generally need a solid 24” up high to get them moving. The bulls especially will stay as high as they can as long as they can usually in the nastiest drainages imaginable

I appreciate the feedback! Let’s hope for some snow to get them moving closer to the access then. Relooking at our gear and feedback from everyone, I think I am going to focus on day hunting and putting the miles on in and out if need be. Thanks again for the help!

 

[Jesse Rose]

Well, we learned a lot and had a great hunt. We ended up spotting a herd of cows a mile away on morning one and got my dad on those night one. He got his first ever elk after basically crawling up the mountain. Crazy how mental toughness overcomes lack of physical condition. It was a special moment for us. My brother and I ended up traveling in on four wheeler through blm to national forest each of the following days and hiking from there. If I were to do it again, I would have set up our tipi with a stove up there so we didn’t have to drive the fouwheeler 45 minutes and could have used that time to walk. Temps were mild enough this year. Lots of hunters driving quads on blm, but didn’t see many off the roads. Glassed two different groups of legal bulls two different mornings, but did not get on them before they got in the dark timber. One group we made a big loop to get cross canyon to try and glass them bedded because it was a smaller chunk of dark timber, but it was thick and could not turn them up. We sat all day and they did not come back out to the grass area they were feeding in the morning. We still hunted the bedding the following morning after sitting on the feeding area at first lite and found a lot of tracks and beds. Used a similar approach with the other group of bulls we saw with sitting on them in the evening hoping they would come back out. Learned a lot about thermals and was really happy with the elk we located, but wondering if we should have just pushed in right away and tried to stalk them in the timber? Thermals were not super stable at that point so I was hesitant to just get on their track and go. Any advice for next time? Thanks!

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Sounds like you did PDG for your first elk hunt! Congrats!

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Well, we learned a lot and had a great hunt. We ended up spotting a herd of cows a mile away on morning one and got my dad on those night one. He got his first ever elk after basically crawling up the mountain. Crazy how mental toughness overcomes lack of physical condition. It was a special moment for us. My brother and I ended up traveling in on four wheeler through blm to national forest each of the following days and hiking from there. If I were to do it again, I would have set up our tipi with a stove up there so we didn’t have to drive the fouwheeler 45 minutes and could have used that time to walk. Temps were mild enough this year. Lots of hunters driving quads on blm, but didn’t see many off the roads. Glassed two different groups of legal bulls two different mornings, but did not get on them before they got in the dark timber. One group we made a big loop to get cross canyon to try and glass them bedded because it was a smaller chunk of dark timber, but it was thick and could not turn them up. We sat all day and they did not come back out to the grass area they were feeding in the morning. We still hunted the bedding the following morning after sitting on the feeding area at first lite and found a lot of tracks and beds. Used a similar approach with the other group of bulls we saw with sitting on them in the evening hoping they would come back out. Learned a lot about thermals and was really happy with the elk we located, but wondering if we should have just pushed in right away and tried to stalk them in the timber? Thermals were not super stable at that point so I was hesitant to just get on their track and go. Any advice for next time? Thanks!

Unless conditions were perfect, as in good consistent wind/thermal direction and new quiet snow to walk and track in, I think you did the right thing by not going after them in the dark timber. It can be done, but is extremely difficult and usually results in scaring them out of that area. If they were in the area and undisturbed by you or other hunters, waiting for them to turn up again was a good strategy despite your outcome, in my opinion. I've seen late season bulls make small loops where they are in spot one morning, a different spot the next morning, then back to the original spot the very next morning, having made a big loop between feed, bedding, and water.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Agree with nick… slipping into timber with great conditions and still hunting it right is extremely tough! If the hunt is coming to a close go ahead and throw the Hail Mary though and give it a shot, but it’s a great way to move elk out of your area of operation or even unit. Bulls are on high alert come late season after almost 3 months of non stop hunting pressure

 

[Jesse Rose]

Unless conditions were perfect, as in good consistent wind/thermal direction and new quiet snow to walk and track in, I think you did the right thing by not going after them in the dark timber. It can be done, but is extremely difficult and usually results in scaring them out of that area. If they were in the area and undisturbed by you or other hunters, waiting for them to turn up again was a good strategy despite your outcome, in my opinion. I've seen late season bulls make small loops where they are in spot one morning, a different spot the next morning, then back to the original spot the very next morning, having made a big loop between feed, bedding, and water.

Thanks for the info! I could definitely see this being the case in this situation. Do elk need to water from a creek, seep, or can they eat enough snow? All the water at 9,000 ft where we found them was froze (that we could see) so I am guessing they had to drop down to find some. The morning we saw them, they could have dropped down to a river at the bottom (1000 ft of elevation). Will they drop that far, or was there most likely water they had somewhere closer that we didn’t see?

 

[Jesse Rose]

Agree with nick… slipping into timber with great conditions and still hunting it right is extremely tough! If the hunt is coming to a close go ahead and throw the Hail Mary though and give it a shot, but it’s a great way to move elk out of your area of operation or even unit. Bulls are on high alert come late season after almost 3 months of non stop hunting pressure

We did end up “throwing the Hail Mary” on the last day up there after sitting that feed area. I walked right up on a nice bedded 3pt mule deer which was fun. Looking back on it, I think my brother and I should have split up and tried to cover that area more on our sits instead of staying together. There were two canyons on each side of the small finger ridge where we saw them feeding, and we should have tried to cover them both. These were three more mature bulls too, so I was very hesitant to get too aggressive. It sounds like we probably had a decent plan, but could have adjusted a few things to increase our odds. If you see three bulls in an area that you know they have not been pressured out of like that, will you put all your eggs in those animals and keep hunting them even if you can’t relocate them?