d3ntalbliss
Lil-Rokslider
Gear update at bottom.
Did my first backpack archery elk hunt in CO last week. Only was able to hunt for three days. Thurs-Sat night. Made a plan and we didn't get in the unit until about 11:30 PM last wednesday. We hiked in about a mile and set up camp. Woke up the next morning to a quick bite, and hit the hills. *Disclaimer: I'm not a good writer, so excuse my jumbled thoughts.
We walked about an 8 mile loop that morning, stopping at points to glass. We saw 3 bull moose, and a bunch of cattle, but no elk. After the 8 mile jaunt we circled back and were about 150 yards from our tent at the edge of a meadow we see a cow moose at the edge of the timber looking west back into the trees. We were north of her and suddenly 2 does pop out of the timber and run between us and the moose and they look to the west into the trees. By this point I'm thinking something is spooking from that way so we just sit down to see what happens.
Then as we are sitting there looking at the moose and the deer, a cow elk runs out of the trees right at us. She stops at about 50 yards quartering to us too hard for a shot. She then proceeds to take off and that was that. I just found it crazy that right there we had a moose, deer and cow elk all getting pushed out of that timber patch. We worked our way slowly through the timber trying to tail the cow elk but with no luck. During the whole hike we didn't see any elk sign old or fresh so we packed it up and drove to a different area to hunt thursday night and possibly the next two days.
This time we hiked about 1.5 miles from the car and did a loop and saw a number of deer but no elk. I'm starting to get discouraged because I am used to seeing a lot more elk. We set up camp that night in the dark in a spot just flat enough to house our shelter and wake up the next morning at 6:30. Supposed to be 5:30 but my BIL hit snooze. We pick up our tent and get a late start. As we are picking up the tent we see that we camped next to a kill site of a small bull elk from the opening weekend I assume. We start hiking through the thick timber working our way towards some water and not 50 yards from the first kill we come across another elk kill. At this point I'm optimistic thinking somebody found them here, so can we. Not 5 minutes later I look ahead in the thick timber and see an elk at about 50 yards. Perfect broadside opportunity but the only problem is I can't see the elk's head. Only front shoulder back. So we freeze there for a few minutes and when the elk moves I can see he is a legal 4 point, but by this time I no longer have a shot and the bull saunters away throught the thick timber. We try to shadow him and find him again to no avail.
We then sit a water hole that we thought looked promising and while I am relieving myself my BIL sees a really nice buck. At the time he didn't know if it was a deer or an elk. So I spend some time going over game ID . (My BIL is not a hunter and was along for the experience, I'm trying to get him into hunting with me so I have a CO archery buddy). We once again do a big loop in the evening and see a bunch more deer, after which my BIL now feels confident saying the big animal he saw at water today was a deer. Some of the deer we got as close as 30 yards, most we saw feeding in the open. We only blew out a few bedded deer while walking. We did bump a cow elk that evening as we were walking through the dry noisy timber. So I feel like we were being quiet enough to get close, but not quiet enough to catch them completely unaware.
Even though we hadn't seen much in regards to elk, elk sign, we decided the kill sites and the bull and cow would keep us there.
Hunted the next morning and saw a legal 4 point but couldn't get any closer than 80 yards. Cow calls did nothing to catch his interest as we just watched him feed out from the opening into the timber. we circled and made sure wind was in our advantage but couldn't turn him up again.
I'm a little disappointed in that we didn't see many elk (4 total for 3 days). But we had some near shot opportunities. On our hike out on saturday we hit a little more of a main trail and took a load off. While sitting there we talked to 5 other hunters, none of which had seen anything that morning.
My takeaways from the trip are: 1)Early season scouting could go a long way, but I just moved here and didn't have a chance. 2) Main trails were crawling with hunters. We got off the trail for the most part and once we got more than a quarter mile from the main trails we didn't see another hunter.
3) Bow hunting sucks because of near shot opportunities but I prefer it for the adrenaline rush of getting close.
All in all we had a good time but we were discouraged we didnt' see more elk.
I'll add some thoughts on gear later.
A few thoughts on some new to me gear.
1) Kifaru Sawtooth shelter was great. Can't believe how light that thing is.
2) Recently picked up some Cabelas Mendl Denali's for a smoking deal in the bargain cave. While I loved the boots and have zero complaints for comfort. Given the dry conditions and no moisture even in the morning. I would have preferred to have a light hiker. With those stiff soles, any sensation to sense twigs or sticks is gone. If I were to do it over again, for the terrain and type of hiking (sidehilling, some climbing and elevation drop, but not much) I would have preferred a light hiker. That being said I loved the boots and would highly recommend them.
3) Sawyer mini filter. Loved that thing. Had a gallon dirty bag, and my BIL and I just filtered into a nalgene each and he had a 2L bladder. In hindsight I wish I would have had another nalgene or a bladder just to decrease the frequency with which we had to filter and go for water.
4) Burt's Bees chapstick was a lifesaver. After day one my lips were super chapped. Luckily when we moved locations I had a stick in the car that barely lasted through the trip. Never forget chapstick was my lesson learned.
5) For our stove I had a little MSR pocket rocket. That thing is money. Only concern I have/would have would be wind shield if you are in the wide open.
6) Gore Socks. I wore one pair of gore socks the 3.5 days. My feet were dry, not sweaty the whole trip and they weren't super crusty after 3 days. Whereas others like lorpens I have tried I did not like as much.
7) My pack
I am just using a kelty backpack, don't even remember the model, but had we shot something I know I would have been hating life with no design to haul meat. I know of the main pack makers, but any personal testimonials for a hunting pack?
Did my first backpack archery elk hunt in CO last week. Only was able to hunt for three days. Thurs-Sat night. Made a plan and we didn't get in the unit until about 11:30 PM last wednesday. We hiked in about a mile and set up camp. Woke up the next morning to a quick bite, and hit the hills. *Disclaimer: I'm not a good writer, so excuse my jumbled thoughts.
We walked about an 8 mile loop that morning, stopping at points to glass. We saw 3 bull moose, and a bunch of cattle, but no elk. After the 8 mile jaunt we circled back and were about 150 yards from our tent at the edge of a meadow we see a cow moose at the edge of the timber looking west back into the trees. We were north of her and suddenly 2 does pop out of the timber and run between us and the moose and they look to the west into the trees. By this point I'm thinking something is spooking from that way so we just sit down to see what happens.
Then as we are sitting there looking at the moose and the deer, a cow elk runs out of the trees right at us. She stops at about 50 yards quartering to us too hard for a shot. She then proceeds to take off and that was that. I just found it crazy that right there we had a moose, deer and cow elk all getting pushed out of that timber patch. We worked our way slowly through the timber trying to tail the cow elk but with no luck. During the whole hike we didn't see any elk sign old or fresh so we packed it up and drove to a different area to hunt thursday night and possibly the next two days.
This time we hiked about 1.5 miles from the car and did a loop and saw a number of deer but no elk. I'm starting to get discouraged because I am used to seeing a lot more elk. We set up camp that night in the dark in a spot just flat enough to house our shelter and wake up the next morning at 6:30. Supposed to be 5:30 but my BIL hit snooze. We pick up our tent and get a late start. As we are picking up the tent we see that we camped next to a kill site of a small bull elk from the opening weekend I assume. We start hiking through the thick timber working our way towards some water and not 50 yards from the first kill we come across another elk kill. At this point I'm optimistic thinking somebody found them here, so can we. Not 5 minutes later I look ahead in the thick timber and see an elk at about 50 yards. Perfect broadside opportunity but the only problem is I can't see the elk's head. Only front shoulder back. So we freeze there for a few minutes and when the elk moves I can see he is a legal 4 point, but by this time I no longer have a shot and the bull saunters away throught the thick timber. We try to shadow him and find him again to no avail.
We then sit a water hole that we thought looked promising and while I am relieving myself my BIL sees a really nice buck. At the time he didn't know if it was a deer or an elk. So I spend some time going over game ID . (My BIL is not a hunter and was along for the experience, I'm trying to get him into hunting with me so I have a CO archery buddy). We once again do a big loop in the evening and see a bunch more deer, after which my BIL now feels confident saying the big animal he saw at water today was a deer. Some of the deer we got as close as 30 yards, most we saw feeding in the open. We only blew out a few bedded deer while walking. We did bump a cow elk that evening as we were walking through the dry noisy timber. So I feel like we were being quiet enough to get close, but not quiet enough to catch them completely unaware.
Even though we hadn't seen much in regards to elk, elk sign, we decided the kill sites and the bull and cow would keep us there.
Hunted the next morning and saw a legal 4 point but couldn't get any closer than 80 yards. Cow calls did nothing to catch his interest as we just watched him feed out from the opening into the timber. we circled and made sure wind was in our advantage but couldn't turn him up again.
I'm a little disappointed in that we didn't see many elk (4 total for 3 days). But we had some near shot opportunities. On our hike out on saturday we hit a little more of a main trail and took a load off. While sitting there we talked to 5 other hunters, none of which had seen anything that morning.
My takeaways from the trip are: 1)Early season scouting could go a long way, but I just moved here and didn't have a chance. 2) Main trails were crawling with hunters. We got off the trail for the most part and once we got more than a quarter mile from the main trails we didn't see another hunter.
3) Bow hunting sucks because of near shot opportunities but I prefer it for the adrenaline rush of getting close.
All in all we had a good time but we were discouraged we didnt' see more elk.
I'll add some thoughts on gear later.
A few thoughts on some new to me gear.
1) Kifaru Sawtooth shelter was great. Can't believe how light that thing is.
2) Recently picked up some Cabelas Mendl Denali's for a smoking deal in the bargain cave. While I loved the boots and have zero complaints for comfort. Given the dry conditions and no moisture even in the morning. I would have preferred to have a light hiker. With those stiff soles, any sensation to sense twigs or sticks is gone. If I were to do it over again, for the terrain and type of hiking (sidehilling, some climbing and elevation drop, but not much) I would have preferred a light hiker. That being said I loved the boots and would highly recommend them.
3) Sawyer mini filter. Loved that thing. Had a gallon dirty bag, and my BIL and I just filtered into a nalgene each and he had a 2L bladder. In hindsight I wish I would have had another nalgene or a bladder just to decrease the frequency with which we had to filter and go for water.
4) Burt's Bees chapstick was a lifesaver. After day one my lips were super chapped. Luckily when we moved locations I had a stick in the car that barely lasted through the trip. Never forget chapstick was my lesson learned.
5) For our stove I had a little MSR pocket rocket. That thing is money. Only concern I have/would have would be wind shield if you are in the wide open.
6) Gore Socks. I wore one pair of gore socks the 3.5 days. My feet were dry, not sweaty the whole trip and they weren't super crusty after 3 days. Whereas others like lorpens I have tried I did not like as much.
7) My pack
I am just using a kelty backpack, don't even remember the model, but had we shot something I know I would have been hating life with no design to haul meat. I know of the main pack makers, but any personal testimonials for a hunting pack?
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