COhunter14's 1st Rifle Recap

[cohunter14]

Well, I'm back and finally getting settled after a week in the high country of Colorado. Had a fun filled week with a good group of guys. And like any elk hunt, it was met with frustrations as well.


After packing up the trucks and trailer Wednesday evening, we hit the road Thursday morning and got to our camp spot early that afternoon. The area had gotten a little bit of snow on Monday and the roads were still greasy in spots with some snow still remaining. A new camp spot was chosen for this year for multiple reasons, and I was excited as it was only a couple hundred yards from one of our great glassing spots.


After camp was all set, the evening was completed by glassing the area as the sun set. Nothing seen yet, but then again, who wants to spot elk 36+ hours before you can hunt them  :-D

 

[cohunter14]

Here is a view of camp:

Two 14x16 Davis wall tents would be home for the week. The first tent has double doors on it, so we tie the doors together with the back tent to make one big 14x32 tent. Front tent is the kitchen area and the back area slept six of us comfortably.

 

[cohunter14]

Friday was spent getting organized, gathering firewood for the week, and putting together a plan for the opener. We also glassed both AM and PM with nothing seen.


As with any opening day, Saturday morning found everyone up early with excitement and anticipation. We would have seven guys hunting Saturday as well as Sunday morning, so we knew we would be able to cover some ground and hopefully have someone find some luck. I took a buddy of mine along with me who had a bull tag (I had a cow tag) and we made a big four mile loop that included pushing a couple of black fingers of timber towards a few of our other hunters and glassing for a bit from another hilltop. There was definitely some sporadic sign in the area, but nothing more than a lone bull or cow here and there, which was weird. It was nice having some snow still on the ground in places to really see what had been in there over the last few days, but we were coming across as many bear and cat tracks as we were elk.


Back at camp for lunch, we were met with similar stories from everyone else. Very little sign and every time it was a single elk or, at most, two elk. My dad did hear a bugle, which is very strange for this area during rifle season, but of course it came from the nearby private land. Armed with that knowledge, I spent my evening hunt heading to the fence line near where my dad anticipated the bugle came from. I settled in place and threw out some cow calls off and on for the next half hour with no response. As the sun set on day one, no tags were punched but the morale was still high. Tough to get too down when this is your surroundings...

 

[cohunter14]

 

[cohunter14]

Sunday morning I decided to cover some additional ground that no one had been in yet. Historically this lower area has held herds of cows, so I figured what better place than there to try? A three mile loop through multiple small meadows that are mixed in with dark timber and aspen is what culminated. The area was exactly what I picture in my head when I think of the perfect spot for elk. I was able to walk extremely quiet the whole way, but I was met with little to no sign the majority of the way. I stumbled on one lone bull track early on and two cow tracks right at the end of my loop as I was coming out to the road. During the hike I did hear my first shots of the hunt...coming from the private land right near where the bugles were the day before. Bugling during rifle season can be dangerous for elk!


After lunch back at camp, the first of our seven guys headed home. A short hunt for him, but he had to get back home to work as he recently started his own business.


We continued to stare at maps during lunch to come up with a game plan for the evening. With that many of us, we had already combed a bunch of the area we typically hunt. I decided to head to a game trail that I was familiar with that provided a great travel route for the elk to head from private to public land. The afternoon was provided very crunchy conditions with all of the aspen leaves off of the trees, so sitting was the best game plan in my eyes. Deep down, I was also hoping that what little sign we had seen meant that the elk were on the neighboring private land and would eventually make their move over to public. No luck on this occasion and I headed back to camp. The remaining six of us discussed game plans for Monday morning, somewhat surprised by the lack of sign, gun shots, and punched tags. Hopefully Monday would serve us up something different!

 

[cohunter14]

Monday morning I decided to take my turn to do some glassing. I'm not good at sitting still for very long, but glassing is what has lead to all of our success in this area over the past few years, so I figured what the heck. Plus at this point, I was running out of places to go that our group hadn't covered yet. The same stories continued to roll in after every hunt, little to no sign and what sign was found was always one or two elk at most. Oh, but I did forget to mention that there were mule deer everywhere! I think you could have just walked up and tackled one if you wanted to...they had zero care about humans. It at least made for an increased heart rate when you would catch one moving in the trees!


Glassing provided nothing in the way of finding elk and back to camp I went for lunch and a nap. Three other hunters would take off today, including my father who had to get back to town for another back surgery on Tuesday. For those that remember my story from last year, my father had to miss the entire hunt due to a back surgery. It was bittersweet watching them head out and knowing my dad would be under the knife again tomorrow while I was up at camp.


The three of us put game plans together for the evening hunt and I decided to head out to the only real area we hadn't covered yet. A four mile loop was the game plan, down across a creek and back up the other side of the mountain to an aspen covered bench with a few patches of dark timber mixed in. Maybe, just maybe, I could find one of those solo or small groups of cows that had been scooting around the area.

 

[cohunter14]

As I crunched through the aspen leaves, I did my best to stay as quiet as possible. I would also throw out cow calls every now and again, hoping that if something heard me it would at least give me a few extra seconds to get a potential shot off before they took off. Once again, the same sort of sign was seen: two different solo elk tracks, one a bull and one a cow. I returned to camp a little dejected and was left to scratching my head wondering where the heck the elk were. It seemed like the entire eight square mile area we were hunting held maybe 3-5 elk in it and that was it!


Back at camp, we continued to pour over our maps and compare notes. Our topo apps, which showed our tracks, left no real areas untouched at this point. We were now down to three hunters and one decided if nothing gave him hope the next morning, he was going to head home.


A range of emotions went through me that night...disappointment that we hadn't seen anything that would give us hope, anger that two of us were going to be left by ourselves to pack up all of camp by ourselves, guilt that I was not going to be there for my dad's surgery...it was one of the more difficult days I've experienced as an elk hunter. This was my 23rd year of elk hunting and I have gone through a number of learning lessons during that time, the biggest being don't ever quit on a hunt. You have to stay positive because your luck can change at any time, just like mine did last year when I was able to shoot a bull on the last morning of the hunt. I knew better than to give up.

 

[cohunter14]

Although I knew better than to give up, reality hit me pretty hard that night. With only two of us in camp, it would take a long time to pack up camp together. If we were fortunate enough to shoot an elk Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, it would probably mean we weren't going to be able to get home until Thursday, which wasn't really feasible for our schedules. And I truly wanted to be there for my dad's surgery Tuesday evening if I could. So it was decided: against everything I normally stand for, we were going to spend Tuesday morning glassing and if we weren't able to turn anything up, we would break camp with our third camp member and head home. I was shockingly surprised by the comfort I took in making that decision, but deep down I really wanted to have a reason to make me stay. We had one more morning to make it happen.

 

[cohunter14]

Tuesday morning found two of us glassing at the first sign of light. I frantically scanned the hillsides and open parks, doing everything I could to try to turn up something. Over the past few years, we had seen elk from this spot more than 50% of the times we glassed. This year we hadn't seen anything and I was hopeful that our luck would finally turn.


All of a sudden, sunlight hits an animal in the exact same opening I took my bull last year. The heart rate immediately jumps as I try to figure out what I'm looking at.


Hmmm...maybe this is a good time for a break?  :lol:

 

[cohunter14]

Alright, I won't drag this on like I did last year  :-D


I continue staring at the animal in my binocs as it feeds away from me up a hill when it finally turns and my heart drops...another deer. There was no getting around the grayish tint of the hide no matter how hard I tried. It turned out to be a doe and a really good looking buck.

I continued to scan the area and two more times came on animals, only to find the same results each time...more deer. I watched as the minutes ticked away. Desperation time came and then went. With a final sigh, we both looked at each other, grabbed our gear, and headed back to camp.


Seven unpunched tags and zero meat in camp leaves a nasty feeling in my stomach. It wasn't for lack of effort, although this year was different with many of the guys having to leave early.


The locals in our area have talked for quite a few years about the elk moving to the private lowlands earlier and earlier every year, with some elk even living there year round now. I have fought that notion for quite some time, hoping that our portion of the area was different. We have had some success here over the years, but my fear is that we are starting to see the same results now. There were zero elk seen by our group and of all the hunters in the area, I only heard of one person who saw two cow elk. There wasn't one elk shot on the public land in our area the entire time we were there. As bad as the tag soup tastes, the thought of this potentially becoming a reality is a tough pill to swallow. The continued conversation with myself is do I potentially waste another year of hunting going back to the same place, hoping this was just an off year? Or do I take everything that I have given to learning another area and throw it out the window again, bite the bullet, and move on? Only time will tell, but after playing this game before and having to deal with elk and private land, if I do move on I can tell you that my next spot will not be within any realistic distance of private land. There are enough variables to an elk hunt already and having to deal with something that is out of your control like that makes it difficult.


Oh well, just another one of the difficulties elk hunters face. This game sure is hard and mentally taxing, and yet I wouldn't trade it for anything! On the bright side, at least I have something to occupy some of my time for the next 10 months :-D

 

[cnelk]

Thats a tough hunt Derek.


Its a fine line to know when to learn/hunt a new area or stick with an area you know and have killed elk.


I know what I would do if I were you ....

 

[DTP]

Thanks for the write up, Derek!
I'm sorry to hear that the elk didn't want to cooperate! It sounds like you and me need to go out there next year and take some of that frustration out on some of those mule deer  :haha:


Will you head back out later this year with your bow?

 

[cohunter14]

I'll be back out this season, but with a rifle and another antelope tag in hand. Elk is done for me this year unfortunately.

 

[DTP]

I'll be back out this season, but with a rifle and another antelope tag in hand. Elk is done for me this year unfortunately.

Another doe tag, Derek?

 

[cohunter14]

Yeah, late season doe tag  :upthumb:

 

[Bowhunter1]

Sounds like a tough hunt. I think you know what you need to do Derek. :wink: The good note is you have a whole year to study and scout. I hope next years report is positive. Thanks for sharing.

 

[cohunter14]

Yeah, back to the drawing board fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it  :crazy:


On the bright side, if anyone needs a good spot to go for a hike or take the family camping I definitely have one for you!  :tease: