A day in the life at elk camp

[grahambiel]

Hey guys, my buddies and I are planning our first DIY backcountry elk trip for first rifle season in Colorado this year. The tentative plan is going to be pack in 3-6 miles and set up a spike camp and hunt from there but this depends on where we end up drawing and see when we scout. We all have some significant backpacking experience but this will be a first time doing a hunt like this

Given that, I’d love to hear what is the typical “day in the life” for folks on a rifle elk hunt. You seem to hear everything from guys who run an “only bars” diet with ultralight bivys to those who pack in bourbon and cigars to have around the wood stove at night. What do you do? How long before first light are you waking up? Are you making coffee/breakfast at camp or immediately hitting the trail and eating at your glassing spot? Are folks eating dinner out there or waiting to get back to camp? What time are you getting back?

I know a lot of this depends on a lot of factors but what would you consider a “typical” day from beginning to end?

 

[Back Country Hunter 2]

Colorado weather during 1st season from year to year is not very consistent. Last year I had temps in the negative teens range. I've also had years where it was 75 the entire season. I've never backpacked in during 1st season. Not saying you can't. There are guys that do it.

 

[rino]

First thing that comes to mind is the potential elevation change...be prepared to drink lots of water etc. Know that you will feel it when you gain elevation. Just be ready for it.

 

[ChrisAU]

Last year dinner is all we ate at camp, rest of meals/snacks were just pre-packaged bars and random stuff. We did sip a little bourbon at night, helped me sleep. We got back to camp 1-2 hours after dark. 15 mins of cooking, then a couple hours around the fire just enjoying being out there.

 

[grahambiel]

Thanks guys, the Colorado-specific info is certainly appreciated and we’re not married to any plans until we draw our unit but my question was intended to be more general...what would you consider your “typical” day in elk camp to be from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep, regardless of where you happen to hunt or whether you basecamp, spike or bivy. Just curious what different folks out there are doing

 

[Back Country Hunter 2]

Thanks guys, the Colorado-specific info is certainly appreciated and we’re not married to any plans until we draw our unit but my question was intended to be more general...what would you consider your “typical” day in elk camp to be from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep, regardless of where you happen to hunt or whether you basecamp, spike or bivy. Just curious what different folks out there are doing

I plan to be where I want to be in the morning at least a half hour before first light. If that is a glassing spot, start of the trail head, or a meadow two miles in. I want to be their a half hour before first light. How far away I'm camped from that location will determine what time I get up. Typically in between 4 - 5. I drink a coffee on the way to the trailhead or glassing location. I usually eat breakfast when the wind switches from downhill to uphill.

Depending on if I'm staying on the mountain all day or switching locations in the middle of the day will determine what I do for lunch. I always pack in lunch. If packed in, I eat in the middle of the day watching water. If not, then typically eat lunch in the truck on the way to the secondary location.

I'm usually glassing till dark or making a stalk on something. Once that is done, then I'll head back to camp. If an animal is not down, then I'm typically back to camp around 7:30 - 8:30. For dinner I typically do the Randy Newberg method of previously cooked frozen meals in ziplock bags. I have a big pot of boiling water that it goes in for like 10 - 15 minutes. Take out and eat while discussing the plan with buddies, if they are there. After eating I set my pack up for the next day so I don't have to do it in the morning, I'm typically in bed around 9 - 9:30.

Hope this gives you a decent idea. Good luck!

 

[huntercole]

We wake up in time to be where we want to be at first light. Pack breakfast and lunch the night before so we're ready to go and can eat while we're out. I bring plenty of snacks and water/filter with me. We don't head back to camp until dark/after dark, then make supper. Depending on how tired we are we may have a few beers around the fire (truck camping) or just go to bed. If its slow we'll come back after the morning hunt and do some fishing before heading back out in the afternoon since we usually camp next to a pretty good trout stream.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Wake up early enough to get where we need to get, for elk we often try to spike camp 20-30min hike from where we want to glass to save time and also not get sweated up to bad. Personally I have a hard time eating predawn so I make a loaded coffee with hot coco and often some fat power to put something in my stomach. My hunting partner likes the eat a bag of granola mix or such. IE its personal. From alarm going off to heading down the trail we give ourselves 40-60min, yes we can get moving faster but we've found that tends to fit the reality of waking up, making coffee, getting dressed, digging a cat hole, and repacking our packs as needed.

My breakfast/lunch/snacks is bars, fruit strips, trailmix mainly.

Unless there is a compelling reason to go back to camp the day is on the mountain glassing or hiking to the next glassing location. I'm usually hunting bigger country so I glass till I can't readily glass in the distance (10-15min after sunset) and unless there is something close I've spotted I get headed back to camp keeping my eyes open along the way. Dinner is back at camp in the dark.

In the back country its making dinner in the dark in the tent, maybe a sip or two of whiskey and go to bed, no fires or such, we're tired and got to repeat in the AM.

Trailhead camps might have a nicer meal (still focus'd on easy prep and low/no dishes to clean) and a beer or two while making/eating dinner. Nothing crazy as we're there to hunt not party. Once tags are punched then maybe some extra libations and sleep in some before getting back to the hauling.

 

[Young Blood]

We typically just run out of a base camp set up next to the road consisting of two wall tents butted up to one another. That being said, we have the luxury of using a generator along with a microwave. During rifle season we are usually up at 3:30 or 4 drinking coffee, eating breakfast (usually pre-make/freeze a bunch of breakfast burritos and pop them in microwave), and getting ready. We have about a 2 mile hike to get where we want to be so we are on the trail between 5 and 5:30. We hunt all day so we pack some sandwiches and candy bars for lunch. We don't head back until after dark so its usually 7 or so by the time we are back to camp. One makes dinner (we have a propane stove so usually cook up elk steaks, hamburger helper, or reheat some homemade soup we bring) while the other makes lunches for the next day. Usually in bed by 9:30 or 10.

 

[Luziana Feller]

following...i like reading everyone's routines. i can almost smell the coffee now

 

[jmez]

Similar to others. Up in time to be where I want to start hunting about half hour before first light. I eat breakfast at camp, oatmeal or cream of wheat and cup of coffee. Take 2 snacks for am. Lunch is always in the field and tunafish in a tortilla. Also have 2 snacks for the afternoon.

I stay out until it is too dark to glass then head back to camp. What time I get back depends on where I ended up at dark! If spike camp hunting I eat a Mountain House for supper. If we are truck camping we pre make all of our supper meals and then just re-heat them on a camp stove each night.

After supper get pack ready for next day and then straight to bed. I don't spend much time in camp other than sleeping.

 

[wseidel]

We do things a bit differently since we stay with good friends about 30 miles from where we hunt in NW Wyoming. We get up early, shower (I know, what a luxury), have a quick breakfast (cereal/smoothies), pack lunches and head out by 4:15. Our gear has been packed and staged in the vehicles the night before to save time in the morning. We're at our hike in point before first light and then get our gear on and wait until we can see - as we've been advised (and as my partners insist) - because we hunt where a lot of grizzlies hunt!

Note: We have had two encounters but that's for another thread....both ended well for us and the bears!

We ease in to a series of meadows and watch/occasionally cow call into mid-morning. We have done locator bugles as well. During archery, we'll do a number of set-ups and do some cow calling. Mid-day will find us watching wallows or hiking in to new country (via meadow edges) to check for fresh sign and enjoy the incredible mountain setting. Our goal is not to bust elk out of our area so we minimize dark timber forays - but also to minimize grizzly encounters. I used to love quietly sneaking through dark timber but the number of grizzly maulings in our general area each fall have encouraged us to err on the side of caution. We have been known to take a cat nap/have lunch/and fish for trout during the noon hour IF we're moving to a new location for the afternoon. We hunt until last light. Also, due to the high population of grizzlies, I've promised my wife that I will never hunt alone so we always hunt in pairs...or three of us together. We've been blessed to be fairly successful (7 of 12) with our hunting techniques and of the seven elk we've taken on four trips, four were taken during the last hour of light and the other three from dawn to 9:30 in the morning. We have seen elk mid-day come in to wallows but didn't have shot opportunities (archery).

When we return in the evening we have supper, share the day's adventures with our host, dry boots on the boot dryer (yes, another luxury of staying at someone's home), plan for the next day, and prepare our gear (based on the weather report and hunches). If we get an elk, we process in the field, bring it out via sleds (game bags) and transport it "home" to cool. We often head right back out and have been successful twice with getting another bull in the evening.

Hope this helps....

 

[Jpugs]

Archery only here but...First alarm- pull my clothes in my sleeping bag to warm up before I get dressed. Second alarm - get dressed, start the jetboil for a cup of coffee/oatmeal. (Depending on seaskn&prior scouting) Hike to a predetermined glassing location and wait for 30-40 minutes in dark until I can start glassing, glass for a hour or so then hike more till I find sign but hike cautiously to avoid blowing elk out if they’re nearby bedded in the timber.. Set up and do a little cold calling. Then hike bugle set, hike bugle set, etc waiting for a bull to fire back eventually making way to an active wallow which I’ll sit for the afternoon if there weren’t any morning bugles or if they went quiet. Then I’ll work my way at gaining some altitude to get somewhere I have decent glassing and visibility & just take in the beauty of the mountains, occasional snooze, eat some snacks and come up with a game plan for the evening hunt. Normally get back to camp 1-2.5 hours after dark. Eat a mountain house or sometimes I’m so exhausted I go straight for the sleeping bag.... repeat!

 

[sneaky]

Is this your first elk hunt? Or just first backcountry hunt? 6 miles is a lot to bite off on a first backcountry trip. Elk are where you find them, and sometimes that's a half mile from a comfy truck camp...

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[GPool1842]

Backpack hunting, I’ve only been solo. Typical day is wake up before sunrise, boil water for coffee and oatmeal, and eat. Get water and take off, probably around sunrise, light enough that I don’t need a flashlight. Hunt all day without returning to camp. Get back to camp a little after dark. Sit down, relax, boil water for dinner, chill for 30 mins or so, head to bed.

 

[sidog]

Love the thread guys. I plan to do early season backpack elk bow hunt this fall. Great information. Thanks

 

[grahambiel]

Is this your first elk hunt? Or just first backcountry hunt? 6 miles is a lot to bite off on a first backcountry trip. Elk are where you find them, and sometimes that's a half mile from a comfy truck camp...

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

First elk hunt but not first backcountry trip. We’re certainly not going to walk past elk to find elk but also going to do our best to get away from other folks. And if that means going a little deeper we’re prepared to do that

 

[Mosby]

Where we normally hunt in Colorado has no convenient water source. All water is in the valley on private land or in stock tanks. As such, we day hunt and normally hunt within a few miles of the truck. Make sure you know there is water where you are going, so you can plan accordingly. 6 miles in is a long way if there isn't water when you get there.

For other areas that have water, I always have breakfast of some type and get fluids in me. Lunch is not as important to me but I try to drink a lot of water during the day and then dinner. It depends on what I am seeing but I normally try to get back to camp right before dark, if I don't know the area well or hunting for the first time. I eat dinner, get a hot drink and some water in me and go to bed. We are normally up early and moving well before daylight. We don't hang around camp and bs much. We are eating, talking about what we saw, planning the next day and go to bed. No drinking, smoking or camp fires when we are elk hunting. Spring bear or whitetail hunting is a different deal and much more relaxed.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

I like to make coffee and breakfast in the tent about an hour before first light. I spike very close to where i want to hunt, closer than most so I don't usually have a big hike to get to my spots before first light. I usually try to stay out all day and glass, subsisting on jerky and granola bars. Dinner back at camp well after dark, read a few chapters of whatever book i brought and lights out. Sounds boring now that i typed it out.

 

[FlyGuy]

I’m almost never in camp during daylight. Alarm goes off and I light the stove, and get moving once the chill is gone. I’ve got prepacked ziplocks full of ~3000cal of food, so it’s grab and go. Gone before daylight. Ignite replaces coffee. Bars and snacks all day. Back to the tent well after dark, quick Mtn house gets heated off the jetboil and steeps while I repack gear and organize pack for the am. Baby wipe bath, eat dinner in the rack (when not in grizzly country), preload the cylinder stove for the AM and use all my wrappers for tinder. Repeat.


You can’t cheat the mountain