My buddy and I were able to find a couple of leftover 1st rifle bull tags. We had hunted this area in the past, so we know it pretty well and have found a couple of good spots after a few years of scouting/hunting.
We decided to backpack in and camp off of our backs. On the way in it had rained a day or so and the 4WD road was pretty muddy and slick. Around 10:30pm we were trudging through the muddy road and came upon an older Blazer in the middle of the road ? lights off but running. We figured the guy was stuck, so I started to put on my gaiters and my buddy went to check on the driver. Well, it took a while to wake up the guy and his teenage son. I think they may have started their way towards carbon monoxide poisoning. Turns out they were waiting for their buddy since 4:30pm to walk back to camp get his jeep and head back up to get them out. These guys were just going to drive around and scout, and didn?t have anything with them needed to spend the night in the woods, so they had the heater on, which is why the vehicle was running. I?m glad we found those two, as I?m not sure they would have made it through the night. After a pretty intense winching operation, we got their rig off the road and drove them back to their camp. Low and behold their buddy?s jeep was still in camp next to the tent. I told them I wouldn?t want to be their buddy when you get to the tent!
We chained up the rear tires as the road was getting really slick and sloppy. We ended up at our parking spot and hiked down to our camp a little after 1am.
The next day I hiked around and saw one cow and heard a few shots. The afternoon was most productive as there is some private land where a lot of the elk go in and out of and I set up in a meadow above the private land. As the sun was setting a group of elk came out and I could see a nice 5x6 about 400yds away. I set up to shoot him, but I was not positive that he was on public land so I let him walk. Minutes later shots rang out and some guys from Massachusetts took down a 5x5. My buddy was just above these guys chasing another bugling 6x6 bull and needed it to take a few more steps when the other guys shot and sent his bull and its cows off running.
Sunday it snowed most of the day. I got out in the morning, but didn?t see any elk and then it started to get almost like a blizzard around 9am, so I went back to my shelter. I had purchased a titanium stove from Titanium Goat, and it was well worth the cost to me at this time! The stove worked great and provided nice heat. Around 4pm we went out again as the snow was still coming down, but less and less. We hunted around our known areas and sat for a while until we got too cold and needed to move again. Only saw some deer and heard a few bugles. The stove helped dry out my buddies boots and some of our other wet gear.
Monday had a little snow in the morning and then it ended and we went on our way hunting. We set up in the afternoon below our camp watching a couple of meadows. I had a few cows and does go through, but no elk. Then we went back to the spot where I had the chance at the 5x6 on Saturday (oh by the way he was on public land after we checked out where he was and where the private fence ended!). We were watching this oak brush hillside and started hearing bugles again around 5pm. A gnarly bugle kept getting closer to us from above, so my buddy went up there to try and intercept it. I could tell it was getting closer and thought my buddy would have a good chance. I kept watching the oak brush and elk started materializing. Finally a small 5x5 came out about the same 400yds from where I was sitting. I could hear that big bull above us getting closer, so I thought I would hold off on the 5x5 in order to give my buddy a shot at the big boy. We had decided we would meet at dusk, and as I was approaching our meeting spot, that big bull kept ripping off bugles just ahead in some aspens at the edge of a meadow. My buddy had his gun on his tripod, but never could get a clean shot. There were too many aspens and around 40 cows that compromised and ethical shot. We crept out of there and made a big circle around the meadow so they wouldn?t see us in hopes that they would be back the next day. When we got to camp, I noticed that my sleeping pad was completely flat. Turns out my saw was sheathed but a couple of teeth were exposed and cut about a 1/4\" into the mat. Luckily I had some superglue and cut a peice of my ground sheet for a patch. I held it together for about 40 minutes and then put some luekotape over the top and I\'m damn glad it held!
Tuesday found us up late and the big guy and his ladies were gone. Since this was our last day of hunting, I decided I would hunt high, as that would be closer to the vehicle and less of a pack out in case I got one. I got a hold of my buddy as we both said we would hunt until 10am and see what we thought. Turns out my buddy downed a 4x4 just below camp with a 40 yd shot at 8:30am. I arrived at 11am and helped with the remaining boning out and taking the head down to the skull.
It was a tough pack out, as we got all the meat and our more expensive gear out, but we have to go back tomorrow to pack out our camp. We ended up back in Denver after hiking and driving through the night at 3:30am - just in time to get ready for work!
We decided to backpack in and camp off of our backs. On the way in it had rained a day or so and the 4WD road was pretty muddy and slick. Around 10:30pm we were trudging through the muddy road and came upon an older Blazer in the middle of the road ? lights off but running. We figured the guy was stuck, so I started to put on my gaiters and my buddy went to check on the driver. Well, it took a while to wake up the guy and his teenage son. I think they may have started their way towards carbon monoxide poisoning. Turns out they were waiting for their buddy since 4:30pm to walk back to camp get his jeep and head back up to get them out. These guys were just going to drive around and scout, and didn?t have anything with them needed to spend the night in the woods, so they had the heater on, which is why the vehicle was running. I?m glad we found those two, as I?m not sure they would have made it through the night. After a pretty intense winching operation, we got their rig off the road and drove them back to their camp. Low and behold their buddy?s jeep was still in camp next to the tent. I told them I wouldn?t want to be their buddy when you get to the tent!
We chained up the rear tires as the road was getting really slick and sloppy. We ended up at our parking spot and hiked down to our camp a little after 1am.
The next day I hiked around and saw one cow and heard a few shots. The afternoon was most productive as there is some private land where a lot of the elk go in and out of and I set up in a meadow above the private land. As the sun was setting a group of elk came out and I could see a nice 5x6 about 400yds away. I set up to shoot him, but I was not positive that he was on public land so I let him walk. Minutes later shots rang out and some guys from Massachusetts took down a 5x5. My buddy was just above these guys chasing another bugling 6x6 bull and needed it to take a few more steps when the other guys shot and sent his bull and its cows off running.
Sunday it snowed most of the day. I got out in the morning, but didn?t see any elk and then it started to get almost like a blizzard around 9am, so I went back to my shelter. I had purchased a titanium stove from Titanium Goat, and it was well worth the cost to me at this time! The stove worked great and provided nice heat. Around 4pm we went out again as the snow was still coming down, but less and less. We hunted around our known areas and sat for a while until we got too cold and needed to move again. Only saw some deer and heard a few bugles. The stove helped dry out my buddies boots and some of our other wet gear.
Monday had a little snow in the morning and then it ended and we went on our way hunting. We set up in the afternoon below our camp watching a couple of meadows. I had a few cows and does go through, but no elk. Then we went back to the spot where I had the chance at the 5x6 on Saturday (oh by the way he was on public land after we checked out where he was and where the private fence ended!). We were watching this oak brush hillside and started hearing bugles again around 5pm. A gnarly bugle kept getting closer to us from above, so my buddy went up there to try and intercept it. I could tell it was getting closer and thought my buddy would have a good chance. I kept watching the oak brush and elk started materializing. Finally a small 5x5 came out about the same 400yds from where I was sitting. I could hear that big bull above us getting closer, so I thought I would hold off on the 5x5 in order to give my buddy a shot at the big boy. We had decided we would meet at dusk, and as I was approaching our meeting spot, that big bull kept ripping off bugles just ahead in some aspens at the edge of a meadow. My buddy had his gun on his tripod, but never could get a clean shot. There were too many aspens and around 40 cows that compromised and ethical shot. We crept out of there and made a big circle around the meadow so they wouldn?t see us in hopes that they would be back the next day. When we got to camp, I noticed that my sleeping pad was completely flat. Turns out my saw was sheathed but a couple of teeth were exposed and cut about a 1/4\" into the mat. Luckily I had some superglue and cut a peice of my ground sheet for a patch. I held it together for about 40 minutes and then put some luekotape over the top and I\'m damn glad it held!
Tuesday found us up late and the big guy and his ladies were gone. Since this was our last day of hunting, I decided I would hunt high, as that would be closer to the vehicle and less of a pack out in case I got one. I got a hold of my buddy as we both said we would hunt until 10am and see what we thought. Turns out my buddy downed a 4x4 just below camp with a 40 yd shot at 8:30am. I arrived at 11am and helped with the remaining boning out and taking the head down to the skull.
It was a tough pack out, as we got all the meat and our more expensive gear out, but we have to go back tomorrow to pack out our camp. We ended up back in Denver after hiking and driving through the night at 3:30am - just in time to get ready for work!
