CO 2nd rifle winter storm

[MidGAHunter]

We stuck it out. Saw -5 and 8-10 inches of snow. We also had a lot of camps pack up and leave. Crunchy snow made the hunting harder for sure.

 

[Hooverfb]

I was last to leave in my area. My big concern where I was at, is I couldnt tell if I was stepping on a rock, flat ground, or a log. Rolled my ankle pretty good falling on a switchback packing out.

Can see the before and after with my tent lol. Was angry with myself the whole way out, but I feel like I made the right call when the forecast was more of the same.

 

[commandoNate]

You must not have been in the northern mountains for 2nd rifle season in 2019 then. That storm dumped snow for 4 straight days and piled up well over 2 feet where we were camped. This year's one day snow was nothing like last year. As usual the elk were there but like you eluded to in your post the snow got crunchy after a couple warm days and cold nights so I had to adapt my hunting style. I was not able to move through the timber as I typically do which was frustrating. The combination of snow covering the ground and the full moon made for extremely bright nights so we located where we felt the elk were most active at night and started setting up in these locations in the pre dawn hours and sitting until the last bit of shooting light in the evening. My hunting partner got his bull on Monday, the day after the storm but it took me until Saturday morning (8th day of the hunt) to fill my cow tag. Good to see the freezer filled up again, I was getting nervous as the days went by!!!

 

[street]

I love the snow. Its a nice casual/determined hunter filter.

 

[Jn78]

We backpacked in for 5 days. We slept above 8,000 feet and hunted around 9,000 feet. It was cold. We didn't take a stove because of the fire ban. Our coldest morning was -15. We had a foot of snow. The two cold days were quiet up high - everyone (us included) avoided the hellish windchill above treeline. It was also really tough to get out of the tent early. By the time the storm passed, we saw about half as many hunters. When we got back to the trailhead, it was a ghost town compared to normal. The weather didn't seem to impact elk much, but I saw fewer deer than I expected.

 

[Franger]

We whussed out and didn’t hit our unit until the Tuesday morning after the storm left. Being local, we have that luxury. Lots of the out-of-staters had toughed it out over the weekend and paid the price by midweek, i.e., they went into town. Everyone we talked to in that area hadn’t seen a thing and within ten minutes of walking in, here sits a herd of 35 on an east facing slope at 4pm, sign everywhere, smell of elk in the air. 10,600ft. Three fellas tagged out in a two hour time span that afternoon.

I guess I learned a lesson, the elk hole up during a blizzard too! Better to meet them when they come back out!

 

[Newtosavage]

This out-of-stater took a day off (to spend with my son in Denver) and went straight back into it Tuesday morning, for the rest of the week. It wasn't that bad for me personally. Single digit nights, slow trodding through the shin-deep snow, crunchy and loud and hard to sneak up on anything, but NO OTHER HUNTERS anywhere, and that was just fine with me.

 

[Franger]

This out-of-stater took a day off (to spend with my son in Denver) and went straight back into it Tuesday morning, for the rest of the week. It wasn't that bad for me personally. Single digit nights, slow trodding through the shin-deep snow, crunchy and loud and hard to sneak up on anything, but NO OTHER HUNTERS anywhere, and that was just fine with me.

I guess that was my biggest surprise, was just how tough lots of folks were through the storm itself, but how beat down they were after it. That high pressure lingered for days post-storm. Wind was almost non-existent. Even the thermals laid down for a day or two. Gunnison was slammed with guys in hotels too. Really weird week.

 

[Studd muffin]

We hunted all week. It was wicked cold. I'm from Louisiana, so much below freezing is defined as wicked. Had a tent collapse, but we stuck it out. Seen some cows and several deer, but no bulls. Maybe next year.

 

[Newtosavage]

I guess that was my biggest surprise, was just how tough lots of folks were through the storm itself, but how beat down they were after it. That high pressure lingered for days post-storm. Wind was almost non-existent. Even the thermals laid down for a day or two. Gunnison was slammed with guys in hotels too. Really weird week.

Honest to God, I can't believe how many large wall-tent camps packed up and left. They were bunkered in way better than my 10x10 Kodiak Canvas, and I really didn't think it was all that bad once the sun came out and as you said - there was no wind. That shocked me how many people left. So I figured they would be out for the 2nd weekend. NOPE! I even got my tag out and checked the date on the 2nd Saturday, because I was the only vehicle at the trailhead (that had 10+ camps the weekend before), and I saw no other vehicles for days. I had to make sure I wasn't hunting illegally! LOL

But my oh my what a nice feeling to have that much of the mountains to myself! I'm seriously looking at the later seasons now, for that very reason, and because I know my gear is up to the task.

 

[Steelruger22]

We stuck it out and camped all week. Mondays snow brought about 11" of snow and a high the next day of 6 where we were. Lows that night was -11 before the wind. Even with that said we had higher then average hunt pressure in my area. 3 out of the 4 other camps I talked to said that they were not regulars to that area and that they were there because of the fires up north. Opening day was a madhouse, by the next Friday we had the place more or less to ourselves. Out of 3 people in my camp (3 elk tags, 1 deer) we tagged one bull and one buck. Bull came mid-day on the opener and the buck came on Thursday. Overall was a great season.

 

[Franger]

Honest to God, I can't believe how many large wall-tent camps packed up and left. They were bunkered in way better than my 10x10 Kodiak Canvas, and I really didn't think it was all that bad once the sun came out and as you said - there was no wind. That shocked me how many people left. So I figured they would be out for the 2nd weekend. NOPE! I even got my tag out and checked the date on the 2nd Saturday, because I was the only vehicle at the trailhead (that had 10+ camps the weekend before), and I saw no other vehicles for days. I had to make sure I wasn't hunting illegally! LOL

But my oh my what a nice feeling to have that much of the mountains to myself! I'm seriously looking at the later seasons now, for that very reason, and because I know my gear is up to the task.

Same here. The guys that tagged out next to us pulled into the trailhead fifteen minutes before we did. That trailhead/campground is one of the busiest in Central CO and it was only my small group and theirs. There were horse hunters, but they were on established trails around the back of the mountain. We were in steep terrain on the front of the range (close to the truck too!) and there was NOBODY. Couldn’t believe our luck. Some of those high meadows looked like a football game had been played in them with all the sign. I had to give up my draw tag due to fire and was lamenting hunting in a known busy area. Never seen anything like it on an OTC unit.