Geo in Co
- Thread starter George
- Start date
George
Well-Known Member
Thanks guys. Friend Dan and the Mrs. have adopted Hank for the week. Hank and Dan just left awhile ago, I have to stick to the task at hand knowing Hank will have a great week and get to play whack-a-prairie dog. I redid the pack cutting 9 lbs of food, clothes, water, and fishing stuff, it's still heavy.
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Merle Hawggard
Well-Known Member
Good luck and enjoy!
Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk
George
Well-Known Member
Pine bark beetle kill dead fall makes for tough navigating, the last 1/2 mile off trail took 3 hours.
This was the meadow that I was interested in seeing
I crossed my water supply and set up camp over looking the meadow.
It rained most of the night and I found fresh sign, cow and calf tracks on the game trail 30 yards below camp the following morning.
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George
Well-Known Member
This boy came out on to the meadow the first evening. He went to the top to browse aspen, then later came back down.
I stood guard over the game trail in the morning then spent the day on the ridges above camp. No elk sign, no elk seen or heard. Back on guard for the evening.
Well I put myself into animals just not the ones that I was looking for.
She kept wanting to come up through camp. Every time that she came up, I believe she was winding my morning deuce further up hill and she would go back down. Eventually she came up and we met.
The meadow was actually a wet fen and the animals were not interested in the sedge grass. Elk eat grass and there just wasn't much grass in this canyon. I figured that I would continue up to find elk but the reality of this rough ground made going up unlikely. The next morning I needed an elk hunting reboot so I packed up and escaped out over the falls.
Right now elk are up about 11,000 feet so tomorrow I go up.
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George
Well-Known Member
Went above 10,000 last evening, was going to go higher but I decided to sit on a food plot, nada. I struck a bearing and put the red end of the needle in the house on the way up, I put the black end in the house on the way down, coming down off a mountain after dark is a bit trippy.
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Cedar Ridge
Active Member
This may be a crazy question but since I've never done any hunting of this type (it looks like an amazing experience), figured I would ask. What the heck do you do if you actually encounter and kill an elk? Only thing that keeps coming to mind for me is to have a helicopter come in and fly the meat out. Can't tell how far you are back in the mountains but seems like it would be quite a haul and require a LOT of trips to try and transport +500 lbs of meat back to your house.
Having said that, I wish you all the luck in the world. This is some adventure that you're on and I'm jealous.
Having said that, I wish you all the luck in the world. This is some adventure that you're on and I'm jealous.
George
Well-Known Member
Hey Cedar, In Alaska you better take every handful of meat, in Colorado you are required to take four legs and the backstraps. Generally cows are packing out around 190Lb bone in, bulls 250. I would be looking to take the other 50-60lb of rib and neck. The idea is to get the meat hanging in game bags in the cool breezy shade and get to hauling. People are talking 100lb a trip, I did 4 miles in and out last weekend with 72lbs going in, so ya my legs and lungs are constantly working the math (distance x elevation change x old age). Last night was less than a mile and 400ft elevation gain. Tomorrow I'm looking at my 4 mile up and downer upper from last year but I'm going to do an over nighter and hopefully have a pj party with some elk this time.
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Cedar Ridge
Active Member
Wow. I continue to be amazed by your energy and sense of adventure. Thanks for allowing the rest of us to tag along with you on your journey. I wish you nothing but the best and will be following along in spirit.
Elkaddict
Well-Known Member
George, in most parts of the Rockies there are guys who'll haul elk off the mountain with horses or mules for reasonable price. I've humped elk quarters out on my back and it can be treacherous in steep country and even the nasty downed timber. When you factor in the danger of turning an ankle or blowing out a knee, good judgement matters, particularly with weather coming in. Years ago in northern Idaho, I hunted with a former green beret. He turned an ankle, got cold and wet, and by the time I found him, was in full blown hypothermia. He was dragging himself into dangerously deep roadless country thinking he was heading to the truck. Between the turned ankle and hypothermia, he'd lost all rational thinking ability. Be careful my friend!
yellowdog00
New Member
G,
I really appreciate your sharing of your hunt.
I really appreciate your sharing of your hunt.
George
Well-Known Member
Thanks yellowdog.
Up and away Thursday on a familiar trail
through the squiggly tremuloides.
The trail was freshly cut much easier to follow and negotiate.
I set up camp up in a tight little canyon
just above my water source. That evening I still hunted the trail and took a stand above the trail. There were two cars at the trail head and I figured that they were day trippers. All was quite.
Friday morning I headed to the top of the ridge behind camp
to an enchanted forest up top where everything was edible because it was all browsed on.
I sat on top of a knoll at 11,000ft where all of the trees were either fresh or old rubs
and had conversation with an elk back down towards camp. Eventually I heard the push button cow call emanating from the same spot from where the bugles were coming and deduced that it was another hunter. Things went quite, I headed west then back east past my path back down. I started bugling as I moved east and again picked up the conversation with the elk/hunter below. When I got back down I couldn't find elk or hunter and I decided to leave camp where it was with thunder rolling in late in the afternoon.
Saturday morning I headed up the hill across from camp and quickly started conversation with an elk/hunter. This time we were both bugling on the move up to a meeting point. I came to a steep and went up and set up in the shade. We were now about 75 yards apart and I was still hopeful. Then the push button cow call and I deduced that I had the same people from yesterday and they most likely deduced that I was hunter also. An hour of silence followed then the chainsaw fired up. They were up there cutting out another little unmanaged trail and hunting. The elk were already moved out. I went down and packed it up and out, another reboot.
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Up and away Thursday on a familiar trail
through the squiggly tremuloides.
The trail was freshly cut much easier to follow and negotiate.
I set up camp up in a tight little canyon
just above my water source. That evening I still hunted the trail and took a stand above the trail. There were two cars at the trail head and I figured that they were day trippers. All was quite.
Friday morning I headed to the top of the ridge behind camp
to an enchanted forest up top where everything was edible because it was all browsed on.
I sat on top of a knoll at 11,000ft where all of the trees were either fresh or old rubs
and had conversation with an elk back down towards camp. Eventually I heard the push button cow call emanating from the same spot from where the bugles were coming and deduced that it was another hunter. Things went quite, I headed west then back east past my path back down. I started bugling as I moved east and again picked up the conversation with the elk/hunter below. When I got back down I couldn't find elk or hunter and I decided to leave camp where it was with thunder rolling in late in the afternoon.
Saturday morning I headed up the hill across from camp and quickly started conversation with an elk/hunter. This time we were both bugling on the move up to a meeting point. I came to a steep and went up and set up in the shade. We were now about 75 yards apart and I was still hopeful. Then the push button cow call and I deduced that I had the same people from yesterday and they most likely deduced that I was hunter also. An hour of silence followed then the chainsaw fired up. They were up there cutting out another little unmanaged trail and hunting. The elk were already moved out. I went down and packed it up and out, another reboot.
G
Sounds like public land turkey hunting...
