timekiller13
WKR
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2015
- Messages
- 910
I am back from Colorado after going on my first archery elk hunt and I had an absolute blast. I will give a quick account of what happened.
Day 1: Dad and I arrived in our hunting area around 1300 after 26 hours of driving. We set up camp, shot our bows and then decided to hit the woods despite being dead tired. We went to a major trailhead to access an area I had researched. We walked about 1 mile down main trail, then cut down through river bottom towards a marshy area and some timber. We immediately found elk sign, which fired us up. I guessed that the elk were moving into this lower elevation meadow at night from the canyon in front of us. We planned our route into the canyon, then headed back to camp to eat and rest.
Day 2. Up and at 'em at 4am. We hit the same area to access the canyon that I had pre-scouted on GE and hunting atlas. My goal was to work into the canyon about half a mile and then start up a drainage on a NW facing slope that hard some dark timber. The dead fall was horrendous. Dad was struggling with the elevation and the the dead fall badly. By 8am, we had made it to around 9200', but Dad was really having a hard time. I made the call the work our way back down and try to find an area that was a little lower elevation and maybe not as rugged. I had an idea of an area so we worked our way to back to trailhead and went that direction. Dad still had a difficult time with elevation and all the climbing and moving had thrown his blood sugar out of whack. He just wasn't able to climb the hills. He sat on creek bottom while I hunted my way up the mtn. I found tons of elk sign but nothing really fresh. Saw probably 15-20 mule deer though.
Day 3. Up at it again at 4 am. I had IDed an area on the map that I felt Dad would be able to hunt. Elevation only went to about 9300' and it wasn't as steep as other places. We started up mtn, but elevation and his blood sugar being all screwed up just wasn't allowing him to make the climb. He decided he was going to go sit on the river bottom and let me continue on. I hated leaving him behind but he insisted. I slowly worked my way through the area throughout the day. Found some fresh elk sign. Then, I ended up bumping a couple elk while working my way across a North facing slope. Dumb me, I was too busy looking down for sign than looking up for elk! Oh well, at least I saw a couple. Also saw 20+ mule deer and 2 cow moose! Dad a good day as well. He hunted the river bottom and saw 8 moose, including 3 bulls. He also saw 2 cow elk and a small bull. No chance for a shot. Both mine and Dad's elk sightings occurred below 9000' and less than 1 mile from major trailhead.
Day 4. Dad knew I was dying to get back in canyon so he told me to go hunt it. He was going to stick close to camp. I started up mtn a little before day light. Bumped a cow elk right at daylight. Saw a whopper muley buck and two smaller bucks a little later. Also bumped into 3 moose. I spent the morning and early afternoon working my way up to 10300'. I found little fresh elk sign. I heard one distant bugle around 11 am. I returned to camp around 1700, dejected. I looked at the hill just across from our camp site and told Dad that I was going to hit it up for last couple hours of light. I worked my way up to hill to small opening at top. I found some decent elk sign so I started slowly working my way across. As I hit edge of timber, I caught movement. I froze and started scanning. After a few minutes, I saw nothing so I crept forward and low and behold, a cow elk stood up at trotted off. I froze and started calf calling and immediately noticed 7 more cows stand up at about 40 yds! I raised my bow and saw I had a good shot at a cow standing broadside at 40-45 yds. As I was about to draw back, I heard a noise and looked to my left and there stood a 6x6 bull! Not a 300" whopper, but a 6x6 nonetheless. I couldn't move. I had 7 cows looking at me now and a 6x6 at 20 yds! I just needed to make one little move to have a shot at the bull but knew I couldn't budge because the cows were locked in. After what seemed like an eternity. The elk finally decided they didn't like the situation and bolted. I considered chasing but let them go. I was 0.43 miles from camp, according to Garmin and I was in area I felt like my dad could access easily, so I backed out.
Day 5. Dad decided to go hunt where I had seen the elk the day before close to camp. I went back to hunt the area from Day 2, but going a little deeper. Elk had bugled pretty good the night before, so we were pumped. I took off working my up a north facing slope. I was calling lightly all along. Around 845, I called in a spike bull. He came within 40 yds. That was very cool. By 1130, I had made it top of mtn to a large lake that sat at 9500'. I decided to sit here for a while and see if some elk would come to drink. Sat for 2 hours and nothing, but area was loaded with sign. At 1330, I decided to head down other side of mtn. I let out a crappy bugle and immediately got a response! Bull sounded like he was several hundred yards away so I went that direction. I cow called and bugled he would bugle back. I chased that dern elk all over that mtn for the next couple hours. I know I made tons of mistakes and probably should have just stayed put in an area and tried to lure him in, but I had a ball chasing him around. I gave up after a while and made my way back to camp. Got there around dark. Dad had hunted where I had the day before. He saw a couple elk but no shot opps. We also found out that evening that my mom had got hurt at work so we decided that the next day would be our last day so dad could get home to take care of her.
Day 6. Wake up dead tired because elk bugled ALL. NIGHT. LONG! Should have brought ear plugs. Dad and I hunted the same area from Day 5. We worked our way along, finding tons of fresh elk sign and running to mule deer left and right. Around 9am, I was doing some calling and had some elk work in on us, but wind was awful and swirling and they smelled us and bolted. We hunted into early afternoon, called it quits and went back to camp. Packed up and started the long drive back home.
All told we put our eyes on around 15 elk. Also saw 100+ mule deer, and about a dozen moose! We had a blast and we will go back next year! Thank you to all from rokslide who helped me out and thanks to the hunters I met out in Colorado who were gracious enough to offer advice.
Day 1: Dad and I arrived in our hunting area around 1300 after 26 hours of driving. We set up camp, shot our bows and then decided to hit the woods despite being dead tired. We went to a major trailhead to access an area I had researched. We walked about 1 mile down main trail, then cut down through river bottom towards a marshy area and some timber. We immediately found elk sign, which fired us up. I guessed that the elk were moving into this lower elevation meadow at night from the canyon in front of us. We planned our route into the canyon, then headed back to camp to eat and rest.
Day 2. Up and at 'em at 4am. We hit the same area to access the canyon that I had pre-scouted on GE and hunting atlas. My goal was to work into the canyon about half a mile and then start up a drainage on a NW facing slope that hard some dark timber. The dead fall was horrendous. Dad was struggling with the elevation and the the dead fall badly. By 8am, we had made it to around 9200', but Dad was really having a hard time. I made the call the work our way back down and try to find an area that was a little lower elevation and maybe not as rugged. I had an idea of an area so we worked our way to back to trailhead and went that direction. Dad still had a difficult time with elevation and all the climbing and moving had thrown his blood sugar out of whack. He just wasn't able to climb the hills. He sat on creek bottom while I hunted my way up the mtn. I found tons of elk sign but nothing really fresh. Saw probably 15-20 mule deer though.
Day 3. Up at it again at 4 am. I had IDed an area on the map that I felt Dad would be able to hunt. Elevation only went to about 9300' and it wasn't as steep as other places. We started up mtn, but elevation and his blood sugar being all screwed up just wasn't allowing him to make the climb. He decided he was going to go sit on the river bottom and let me continue on. I hated leaving him behind but he insisted. I slowly worked my way through the area throughout the day. Found some fresh elk sign. Then, I ended up bumping a couple elk while working my way across a North facing slope. Dumb me, I was too busy looking down for sign than looking up for elk! Oh well, at least I saw a couple. Also saw 20+ mule deer and 2 cow moose! Dad a good day as well. He hunted the river bottom and saw 8 moose, including 3 bulls. He also saw 2 cow elk and a small bull. No chance for a shot. Both mine and Dad's elk sightings occurred below 9000' and less than 1 mile from major trailhead.
Day 4. Dad knew I was dying to get back in canyon so he told me to go hunt it. He was going to stick close to camp. I started up mtn a little before day light. Bumped a cow elk right at daylight. Saw a whopper muley buck and two smaller bucks a little later. Also bumped into 3 moose. I spent the morning and early afternoon working my way up to 10300'. I found little fresh elk sign. I heard one distant bugle around 11 am. I returned to camp around 1700, dejected. I looked at the hill just across from our camp site and told Dad that I was going to hit it up for last couple hours of light. I worked my way up to hill to small opening at top. I found some decent elk sign so I started slowly working my way across. As I hit edge of timber, I caught movement. I froze and started scanning. After a few minutes, I saw nothing so I crept forward and low and behold, a cow elk stood up at trotted off. I froze and started calf calling and immediately noticed 7 more cows stand up at about 40 yds! I raised my bow and saw I had a good shot at a cow standing broadside at 40-45 yds. As I was about to draw back, I heard a noise and looked to my left and there stood a 6x6 bull! Not a 300" whopper, but a 6x6 nonetheless. I couldn't move. I had 7 cows looking at me now and a 6x6 at 20 yds! I just needed to make one little move to have a shot at the bull but knew I couldn't budge because the cows were locked in. After what seemed like an eternity. The elk finally decided they didn't like the situation and bolted. I considered chasing but let them go. I was 0.43 miles from camp, according to Garmin and I was in area I felt like my dad could access easily, so I backed out.
Day 5. Dad decided to go hunt where I had seen the elk the day before close to camp. I went back to hunt the area from Day 2, but going a little deeper. Elk had bugled pretty good the night before, so we were pumped. I took off working my up a north facing slope. I was calling lightly all along. Around 845, I called in a spike bull. He came within 40 yds. That was very cool. By 1130, I had made it top of mtn to a large lake that sat at 9500'. I decided to sit here for a while and see if some elk would come to drink. Sat for 2 hours and nothing, but area was loaded with sign. At 1330, I decided to head down other side of mtn. I let out a crappy bugle and immediately got a response! Bull sounded like he was several hundred yards away so I went that direction. I cow called and bugled he would bugle back. I chased that dern elk all over that mtn for the next couple hours. I know I made tons of mistakes and probably should have just stayed put in an area and tried to lure him in, but I had a ball chasing him around. I gave up after a while and made my way back to camp. Got there around dark. Dad had hunted where I had the day before. He saw a couple elk but no shot opps. We also found out that evening that my mom had got hurt at work so we decided that the next day would be our last day so dad could get home to take care of her.
Day 6. Wake up dead tired because elk bugled ALL. NIGHT. LONG! Should have brought ear plugs. Dad and I hunted the same area from Day 5. We worked our way along, finding tons of fresh elk sign and running to mule deer left and right. Around 9am, I was doing some calling and had some elk work in on us, but wind was awful and swirling and they smelled us and bolted. We hunted into early afternoon, called it quits and went back to camp. Packed up and started the long drive back home.
All told we put our eyes on around 15 elk. Also saw 100+ mule deer, and about a dozen moose! We had a blast and we will go back next year! Thank you to all from rokslide who helped me out and thanks to the hunters I met out in Colorado who were gracious enough to offer advice.
