First Solo Trip - CO 1st Rifle 2018

[njdoxie]

...... Pray for snow, enough to track and make game more visible.....

Ha, I always pray for zero snow/rain, snow makes getting around in steep country more treacherous that it already is. And it's much easier to camp and stay dry when it's dry out. I'm always concerned about staying dry and not breaking an ankle, even at the expense of better elk hunting.

 

[5MilesBack]

Ya, I prefer it warm and dry too.....even for the hunting. But there's just something about mudding with all four chained up throwing mud 30 feet in the air climbing up a steep slope in October. One year it rained for two days straight before turning to snow the day before opening of 1st rifle. By the time I got up there there was 8+ inches of snow on top of MUD. It was a mess all week. Couldn't even see the truck at the end of the week, it looked like something the Swamp Thing would be driving.

 

[AdamW]

Ya, I prefer it warm and dry too.....even for the hunting. But there's just something about mudding with all four chained up throwing mud 30 feet in the air climbing up a steep slope in October. One year it rained for two days straight before turning to snow the day before opening of 1st rifle. By the time I got up there there was 8+ inches of snow on top of MUD. It was a mess all week. Couldn't even see the truck at the end of the week, it looked like something the Swamp Thing would be driving.

Are you guys trying to help? You're not helping! Hahahahaha.

 

[davsco]

Ya, I prefer it warm and dry too.....even for the hunting. But there's just something about mudding with all four chained up throwing mud 30 feet in the air climbing up a steep slope in October. One year it rained for two days straight before turning to snow the day before opening of 1st rifle. By the time I got up there there was 8+ inches of snow on top of MUD. It was a mess all week. Couldn't even see the truck at the end of the week, it looked like something the Swamp Thing would be driving.

yeah that slide i mentioned above put the fear of God in me, that was some scary stuff even with brand new tires. with all this rain if the road ain't dead level or heavily graveled, i ain't doing it in my truck. maybe next year i'll bring the atv...

 

[5MilesBack]

Are you guys trying to help? You're not helping! Hahahahaha.

Just bring chains and use your head, you'll be fine.

One year back in the 80's we were coming down the 4x4 trail in the Willy's with all four chained up. There was some moron that was trying to pull his silver bullet trailer up that trail. It was buried in a deep rut. The guy says "Man, are we glad to see you guys". So we hand him the end of a chain to hook to his truck and got turned around to try and pull them out. He starts to hook the chain to his bumper and we told him that wasn't a good idea, but he insisted and told us to pull. So we pulled his bumper off and then sat there watching when he refused anymore help. We eventually had to head back up and over and around the LONG way back to camp because he was going nowhere and was blocking the trail.

 

[Gunnersdad49]

He starts to hook the chain to his bumper and we told him that wasn't a good idea, but he insisted and told us to pull. So we pulled his bumper off

Growing up in Anchorage, we used to drive around and snatch people out of snow banks for fun. Saw this more times than I care to admit. The tow hooks are there for a reason!

Adam, you have a PM inbound.

 

[Jason H]

Following this post. My elk hunting experience runs fairly parallel to yours. Headed up to NW CO now for a 1st rifle solo hunt. Have a buddy joining me later, but on my own first few days. Got my butt kicked in the Sangre de Cristos last season, saw some nice Muley’s, but no elk on public land.

Based on the weather reports I’m gonna pick up a set of chains tomorrow in Denver (my Tundra only recommends running them on the rear). Any recommendations on where to get some, things to look for? Right now defaulting to Les Schwab.

Thanks all and good hunting to you Adam!

 

[Back Country Hunter 2]

Based on the weather reports I’m gonna pick up a set of chains tomorrow in Denver (my Tundra only recommends running them on the rear). Any recommendations on where to get some, things to look for? Right now defaulting to Les Schwab.

I picked mine up at a Peerless Tires in Northern Denver last year.

 

[Grant K]

Good Luck! for me solo is the way I go if I want to get an elk, each additional person reduces your chances in my opinion, having another human in close proximity blunts the senses just a bit, and sometimes that's enough to make a big difference.. it can be nice to camp with friends but when hunting I've found it just works better when you can operate entirely on your own senses, I've got quite a few elk by checking out a feeling I couldn't quite put into words, had I been with a partner I probably wouldn't have had the feeling in the first place, and I definitely wouldn't have been able to drag a partner along on my barely there feeling...

the suggestion to combat loneliness by listening to podcast is a good one, as is having plenty of reading material, if you are engaged in something you won't miss human contact nearly as much as if you are just sitting there thinking about it..

remember that slow and steady is the way to get an elk out of the woods by yourself, go at you own pace and enjoy the packing, there is a huge amount of satisfaction in putting the last load in the truck and knowing that it was 100% your efforts that made it happen.

 

[MtnOyster]

I been going solo the last 2 years from western KY, and yea my friends and family think I've completely lost my mind but as 5MB stated it's you vs the wilderness or what ever......and man I love it just be smart and hunt, I never think about being alone im always too busy because you are alone and your doing it all, the 2-3 hour hikes back to camp in total darkness...………...I love that crap!!!!!! its more fun with meat in your pack!!!

 

[AdamW]

Man, where to start. This trip ended in a way that not once in all of all my planning, prep, etc. did I think about it going like this. But, I felt this thread needed a follow up or conclusion.

I headed out at dark thirty Wednesday morning and drove straight through to my general hunting area. It was an oddly easy drive since I was only stopping when I needed to, mainly for fuel. On the drive out I felt a little "off"; chilled but my face hot, like when you get wind burnt maybe. One flag was I couldn't drink coffee, just didn't sound or taste good. I loooove coffee. I camped next to the truck Wednesday night on a lower elevation piece of BLM. Just in case luck was out there, I glassed some of the lower timber and hillsides before dark. Got some OK sleep and was up before the sun on Thursday to get some scouting done.

Thursday morning I felt kind of flu-like, and I didn't think much of it. I always have that first day of altitude/cooler weather transition when I'm out west but that's always been the end of it and never anything severe. I had 3 primary spots I was interested in looking at/hunting and from 1 to 3 they started deeper in the unit and worked their way out. Potential heavy snowfall and pretty high winds were expected for the deeper areas so I decided to scout them in reverse order, working my way in deeper instead of burning time in deeper and potentially getting snowed out (or in) before opening morning. I started feeling worse as the day went. Being alone, I was keeping an eye on potential altitude issues, but again, it just didn't feel like altitude. I pretty much forced myself to drink water and eat and not go too hard in case it was indeed altitude, though I've been much higher many times.

I went up to my first glassing spot, a moderate hike. The wind was ripping, but it wasn't super cold. The glassing spot wasn't what I expected so I moved on to the next, if even to check it out for evening glassing and come back to it. It wasn't that cold out but I was feeling that frozen to the core feeling you get when you're sick; you know the feeling I'm talking about. I got a hot drink in me and tried to eat a bit more. I checked out glassing spot #2 and it looked better and I decided to stick with it for the evening.

Friday morning I woke up feeling worse, again. I went ahead with my plans, slugging along and finally in the late afternoon I had the conversation with myself that I had been putting off in hopes that it would turn a corner for the better. Was I just plain sick? It felt like it. Was altitude potentially making it worse? Maybe, probably. Best case scenario, going at the rate I was going could I get a bull out if I killed one Saturday morning? Not optimistic. Did I honestly feel I'd be better or worse after another night out, even with my heated shelter? Better felt unlikely, I was just weak. I felt like the pretty easy hike to the glassing spot was going to be a push. Biggest question: after all of this planning and expense and time and effort and travel, do you 100% feel like the best thing to do is pack up? And can you get back home and be 100% sure that you felt you made the right call? I sat there for about an hour out of the wind and accepted what I didn't want to: I was leaving before the season even started.

I said many choice words, felt furious, defeated, even ashamed of myself in a way. Never in my mind did I picture this. I headed out of Colorado and at every opportunity re-asked myself most of the above questions. The answers were the same.

My hunch was right, I was/am flat out sick. I've been out of bed a handful of times over the weekend, finally eating somewhat normally again and long enough to make this post, which I'd like to not be making. I'm not sick very often, but when it happens, I go for broke. If there's any positive out of this it might be that I was indeed solo and wasn't drastically affecting someone else's hunt.

I can't thank everyone that offered a kind word, PMs phone calls, etc. enough. I can't convey my disappointment. Rokslide is an awesome community. I hope you guys are all out notching tags. I'm going back to bed.

-Adam

 

[FlyGuy]

Damn. That just flat out sucks. That is the nightmare scenario for me. About 10 days before any of my trips I start getting hyper germ phobic. Constant hand washing and keeping a distance from anyone that even sniffles. I also get a flu shot in August.

I hate to hear that. I hope you can try again when you are back on your feet.

Sent from my SM-G610F using Tapatalk

 

[elkduds]

Man, that sucks. I was rooting for you, as you know. When solo, its just you taking care of you. So you make decisions in a narrower safety zone, @ least I do. I don't want my illness or injury to complicate things for other hunters or my family.

 

[ElkNut1]

Adam, sorry to hear about your health! Man that sucks but it is what it is, get better & things will start looking up, you made the right choice!

ElkNut/Paul

 

[deerhunter628]

You cant risk it when you are out there by yourself.

 

[njdoxie]

That sucks, gonna be a long offseason once you get well, I always worry about the same thing happening to me, 2 years ago I was in the same boat, then unexpectedly I got better the night prior to the opening, and felt fine the rest of the way, that was a close one

 

[topher89]

Too bad. I was sick as a dog during Antelope season last week but I was with other people and never more than 15 minutes from a truck and if need be, they could have driven through the field to me.

 

[AdamW]

Thanks guys, means a lot. I won't call myself a germiphobe, but I'll kindly tell a coworker to get out of my office if they're in there hacking and sniffling. Several years ago I had something similar happen right before spoonbill snagging season. A coworker got sick in October and for 5 months everyone rotated getting sick, all still insisting on coming to work. I caught it in MARCH. There was a coworker from another office in last week, I'm texting someone at work to ask him if he is/was sick. If he is, I'm planting stolen company property on him.

Doxie, that was one of my other fears. If I got home and instantly felt better...that would have been a real mixed bag. I can't say that I've ever been happy to still not feel great, but in this circumstance I'll take it. This will likely forever be in the back of my mind.

 

[sneaky]

Just got back from my second solo trip to Montana this year. Solo hunting helps get your mind right if you've got things you need to sort out. Watching nature at work is an amazing thing sometimes, even when you get skunked.

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[Wapiti1]

Really sorry to hear. Been there myself and it is a nasty bitter pill to swallow. But there isn't really another choice.

Get feeling better and salvage your season. You can't be done yet.

Jeremy