Got to camp...now what?

[cohunter14]

Drive around and see where the other camps are.

Have a beer and a Scotch

Make a nice dinner and prep my pack for the morning.

Make a list of the stuff I already figured out that I forgot.

Send wife a SPOT message that life is good, with a map link to where I\'m camped.

Usually arrive the day before opener, or the day before I\'m going to spend a week or so.

Cut/Chop wood
Go for an ATV ride to check for tracks, or other camps
Drink beer
Get gear ready for next day
Shoot bow
Check broadheads
Prep supper
Start a fire
Relax

These two sound eerily similar to what we typically do. In a normal year, we arrive Thursday afternoon, get camp setup, and relax. Friday is spent finalizing camp organization, cutting fire wood, and relaxing. This year, I might try something new for Friday including going to check trail cameras that I am hoping to drop in July or August sometime. I am also thinking of heading down the road and trying to throw out some location bugles in a few different locations Friday evening before turning in.

See, you all have influenced me...although now I\'m wondering if I should stick to my ways since these two elk slayers do the same thing! :dk:

 

[iccyman001]

Derek,


Ask yourself this. Do you have the same grasp on your area that these two have on their areas?

Brad and Lou could probably be blind-folded and navigate through their spots and still shoot an elk.
I believe they spent a lot of time scouting.
This is not to say you don\'t have an understanding of your area.

If you are not in the same boat, then maybe a few extra days out there could benefit you.


Also look at it like this. Think of the iconic guy who hunts the same spot every year. Heck, you could be that guy.
Well go out early and make it a point to check a new spot. Who knows, maybe you\'ll find something better?!! :dk:

 

[atfrith]

Similar to most above. Shoot the bow a bit. Cut fire wood. Double check packs and fill water, etc.
We have grown to know our main area like the back of our hand so staying out of one specific area would be a must, but we may walk the main ridge aways while glassing, maybe the occasional location bugle to gauge activity.
A couple beers, maybe some whiskey around the campfire and then off to bed. Man I\'m excited for fall!

 

[cohunter14]

Derek,


Ask yourself this. Do you have the same grasp on your area that these two have on their areas?

Brad and Lou could probably be blind-folded and navigate through their spots and still shoot an elk.
I believe they spent a lot of time scouting.
This is not to say you don\'t have an understanding of your area.

If you are not in the same boat, then maybe a few extra days out there could benefit you.


Also look at it like this. Think of the iconic guy who hunts the same spot every year. Heck, you could be that guy.
Well go out early and make it a point to check a new spot. Who knows, maybe you\'ll find something better?!! :dk:

Good point Dan. Although I know Lou was in a new spot this year, I hear what you are saying. Our old area we knew like the back of our hand, so there was no need to do more exploring. Might have to deploy the new tactics for a few years :think:

 

[StartMyHunt]

Did I hear somebody say something about a map? I happen to make maps. Specifically elk hunting maps for CO.

When are you going to get off your bee-hind and make me some for Oregon? lol. I\'d buy them in a heart beat.

Luke, I appreciate the enthusiasm. Trouble is, it has taken me about four years to nail this down for CO. I will get there, as long as nobody beats me to the punchbowl. I now have a system down where I could do any state in about two weeks. It is just finding those two weeks that is difficult.

Mike

 

[StartMyHunt]

Dan,

Really good point. I will never claim to know as much about hunting as Lou or Brad, but I know my area very well. I know enough that if I see sign on a certain ridge, the elk are most likely on the next ridge and will come out at a specific location where I will at least see them trotting off to the next ridge. There is no magic bullet or arrow that will find elk. You need to learn the area, go in quietly, and breathe elk.

Mike

 

[Jaquomo]

Even though I hunted a new area last year, I scouted a ton in the summer. My camp the first five or so days is in a spot where I can hit a half dozen places where elk should be when the season opens. For that reason I lay low before the season starts, enjoy camp the day before, and don\'t plunge in before the bell rings. It is steep and timbered so glassing isn\'t an option like it was in my old area. But the glassing aspect was a negative, as other hunters could glass too, which changes made for foot races to the elk in the mornings.

I will keep hunting these spots until I either kill a bull I like, blow them all out, get wrecked somebody else, or the elk move on their own.

After that I\'ll start bouncing to other spots I\'ll have scouted this coming summer, along with the three primary spots I learned last season that held elk and were overlooked by other hunters. One is a camp I\'ll haul in with a game cart. The other is an hour long ATV ride to spike camp. Both ultra low impact camps tucked into the trees. By the end of this season I should be dialed-in and have this new area figured out like Brad has with his.

 

[Zpd307]

i always get to the mtn well into the season. so its make camp, shoot bow, and change into hunting clothes and get the pack ready. then up the mtn.
my 2nd year in colorado we had muzzle tags. we arrived 2 days early. we scouted those 2 days before the season started. and not unlike some others beer and vodka were drank. not as much beer as vodka...

 

[bowhunter]

If I arrive mid day I will set up camp and prepare for an evening hunt. If I arrive at night I am up and hunting before first light. I will come back at mid day to set up camp and then back out in the evening.

 

[elky McElkerson]

shooting my bow.

laying out my gear, and packing my pack..everything except the sandwich. i double check everything.

once i am done, if i have an entire afternoon..i am going hiking. suss out the area, maybe just maybe i put a target animal to bed. hope and pray i relocate him the next morning.

 

[AndyJ]

I\'m actually still driving FS roads but have a few spots picked out. I will be cruising the roads to see who shows up and the right before dark I pick the least crowded spot and head in. I rarely get to camp before dark. I hate just sitting around waiting.