MtnMutt\'s 2015 Field Journal

M

mtnmutt

New member
Mar 2, 2014
682
2015 Colorado Archery
3 tags: Elk Either-sex, elk antlerless, deer either sex, small game tag

First season hunting deer in same unit as elk.

2014/2015 Winter
Above avg snows
Late snows - cows and calves stayed longer near calving area than normal.
Very wet Spring & Summer
Spring & Summer flooding on Front Range and SE plains - East of Continental Divide watersheds.
West of Continental Divide high runoff.
Mid-Aug: Seasonal Creeks still flowing well. No sign of drying up.

Scouting & Trail Cams
Set cameras in mid-June at 2 locations: lower gulch and below camp, 10,400 to 10,900
Mostly same deer over and over again on cameras
one 4x4 bull mid-Aug at 5 pm 0.25 mile below camp heading up
Moose encounters on last 2 scouting trips: mid-July & mid-Aug
mid-June & mid-July no other campers or much recreational users. Bugs horrible.
Mid-July grading started on forest service road. Dumping the dirt.
mid-Aug campers, 4x4 drive and ATV traffic. Bugs way down.
Vegetation lush and green throughout summer

Aug 25th
G reported no elk in lower gulch when glassing in evening.
11K camera only deer. No elk. Cows are still high.
No high frost yet.

Bow
Mathews Jewel @ 51#

Arrows
.400 25\" Easton Axis Black
4\" wrap
34gr grain trimmer line
125gr 4 blade Buzzcut
438 gr total 12.75% FOC

Will add to Journal as time and cell signal permits.
 
Labor Day...Back from my opening week...12 days camping and 9.5 days of hunting.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. Unfortunately, I came up way short of my own expectations. After dismal results from 9.5 hunting days, I am beginning to think I am a lousy hunter. 2 years ago with less hunting hours, I saw more elk and deer.

My body held up well despite catching a cold. Sneezing and coughing while hunting doesn\'t call in elk. I went out hunting anyway and tried to remember to take a cough drop.

My Field Journal fizzled out, especially after I caught a cold. I will see if anything is worth transcribing.

I spent more hours hunting than ever before and had no better luck than last year when I only hunted 60% of the hours I hunted this year.

Ambush, cold calling, walking the forest resulted in nothing but seeing a buck at 15 yards while I was looking the wrong way. I also had a snowshoe hare at 10 yards, however, it is one month too early for hunting them.

Last evening\'s hunt (Sunday, Sept 6th), got me into more promising sign (12 hr poop) for the first time. Unfortunately, I had to come back this morning.

Last night, I took a spill last night and banged up my right side...mostly my right elbow. Massive Motrin helped. It was a stupid fall while trying to sit down on a rock. I wasn\'t eating and drinking enough once I caught a cold. Last night, I skimped on food before my hunt and it caught up with me while hunting. The right elbow injury made it more difficult to stay at full draw as a LH shooter. Fortunately, it happened on the least evening of my hunt. In a couple more days, it will be all better.

I was always 1-3 days late to the party for every place I went looking for elk. I would go back to a place I already hit once and find they were just through there or they came through right after the first time I went there.

Rarely was anyone else getting into elk and deer were scarce too. In my previous deer unit, deer were much easier with open terrain for spot and stalk. Deer proved to be more difficult than I expected in the denser forest, I also found it difficult to hunt both at the same time. It was easier to concentrate on one or the other.

Surprisingly, most elk sightings by other hunters were within 1/2 mile of my camp. Including, a 4x4 25 yards behind my tent at 9:06 am one morning when I was elsewhere. Despite being bored with hunting close to camp, I gave it more effort for the 2nd half of my week. Never had any fresh sign near camp. They are just traveling through to reach different drainages and go from food to bedding.

Rain and high humidity were the norm. Temps finally started to fall before I left. The wind was funky almost every morning and evening because of the cloud cover. I don\'t recall such funky wind. There were a couple days with wind gusts.

While driving to meet up with someone for a morning hunt, a massive bull crossed the highway in front of me. It was too foggy to see his rack. He was just slightly in the limited license unit. I saw more deer while driving than while hunting with some in the wrong unit. To get to other places in my unit, I have to drive through a limited license unit.

Many hunters pulled up stakes early to go home or go to a different unit.

Met some great new people. A couple different hunters offered me their cell numbers to assist with packout or tracking.

Now, I don\'t think much of opening week. I used to see elk and deer opening week. The 2nd week is more likely a better week since they start to bugle more and it is more likely to be cooler. I don\'t want to blame it on a full moon. The warm weather is more likely the cause of little activity. Consistent wind/thermals would also help.

Depending on work, I will be back closing week. I am camped out. I have never camped over 10 days before. I also got tried of the food I had which accounts for not eating enough. The daily rain drained me a bit. For closing week, I may splurge for a hotel with an option to do a spike camp if I find elk.

For the first time in 3 years, I am resting for ML opening weekend.
 
Patricia, try to keep your head up. From the sounds of it, you are putting in the effort and that is half the battle! It\'s a lot easier to do what others have done and pack up and go home.

I would encourage you to try to take notes on everything you did...where you went and when you were there. How old was the sign in each location, etc. Try to take advantage of the hard work you have put in. I would also encourage you to get back out there next weekend if you are up to it! I know camping that long can wear you out, but if you are up to it, go for it. Just remember, it\'s all about having fun! And a lot of the time, you have to try to have fun while not filling a tag :upthumb:

Stay positive...it is all a learning lesson and most of us who have hunted for a number of years have been exactly where you are at. It\'s easy to feel like a lousy hunter, but with the time and effort you are putting in, you will be successful. It takes a long time to learn an area and even the best hunters out there strike out.
 
Patricia

Thats some tough going for sure!

I will give you my .02 cents and blame the full moon and hot weather on poor opening week hunting conditions.

I LOVE hunting the 2nd week. Its my \'go to time\'.

With my upcoming Wyoming hunt, I expedited my hunting time a bit earlier and fortunately got lucky.

The rut hasnt started yet, and pre-rut in Colorado will be this upcoming 10 days

GOOD LUCK!!!!
 
Because Derek and my acupuncturist told me to go hunting this weekend (opening weekend for ML/3rd weekend of archery), I actually loaded my car yesterday after work with the idea to wake up at 2 am and drive 3 hrs to my hunting spot to do a day hunt. I woke up at 2 am...laying there saying I really want to go hunting, but is this really the smart thing to do. What stopped me...driving in the dark during Fall. I have had far too many near hits with wildlife in the Fall. Fall is the only time I don\'t like driving at dark in the mountains. During opening week, one morning with dense fog, I had 3 close encounters at 5 am with elk & deer. So, here I am, at home, sorta resting up for my next adventure.

This morning, I unloaded my car that I loaded last night, shot my bow, did errands, chores and cleaned up camping gear. My elbow still has a bad bruise, however, it did just fine during my morning shooting.

Spending this weekend getting stuff together for the final adventure. Next Saturday, back in the woods for the final week.

BTW: My acupuncture was telling me to go hunting this weekend while she was sticking needles in my right elbow that I damaged last Sunday evening while hunting. She either wants to make more money from my future hunting injuries or she thinks she is getting an elk liver from me.

Derek, You made a good point of noting where I found fresh sign and when. Sunday night, I stepped in 12 hr old stuff that took me 1 hr to clean off my shoes. I won\'t be forgetting that one since it happened after I took my spill.

My elk and deer season does not end until September 27th @ 7:25 pm MT!
 
\"mtnmutt\" said:
Because Derek and my acupuncturist told me to go hunting this weekend (opening weekend for ML/3rd weekend of archery), I actually loaded my car yesterday after work with the idea to wake up at 2 am and drive 3 hrs to my hunting spot to do a day hunt. I woke up at 2 am...laying there saying I really want to go hunting, but is this really the smart thing to do. What stopped me...driving in the dark during Fall. I have had far too many near hits with wildlife in the Fall. Fall is the only time I don\'t like driving at dark in the mountains. During opening week, one morning with dense fog, I had 3 close encounters at 5 am with elk & deer. So, here I am, at home, sorta resting up for my next adventure.

This morning, I unloaded my car that I loaded last night, shot my bow, did errands, chores and cleaned up camping gear. My elbow still has a bad bruise, however, it did just fine during my morning shooting.

Spending this weekend getting stuff together for the final adventure. Next Saturday, back in the woods for the final week.

BTW: My acupuncture was telling me to go hunting this weekend while she was sticking needles in my right elbow that I damaged last Sunday evening while hunting. She either wants to make more money from my future hunting injuries or she thinks she is getting an elk liver from me.

Derek, You made a good point of noting where I found fresh sign and when. Sunday night, I stepped in 12 hr old stuff that took me 1 hr to clean off my shoes. I won\'t be forgetting that one since it happened after I took my spill.

My elk and deer season does not end until September 27th @ 7:25 pm MT!
Click to expand...

I have no doubt in my mind about you scoring both this year.
Ask people who know me, the best thing to possibly have when it comes to having a good year is optimism and positivity (sp?)
I am always happy happy happy about things and then they all come together. :dance2:
 
Sorry to hear you weren\'t able to make it out this weekend, but that will just keep you fresh for next weekend! Looking forward to hearing about your trip!
 
Cliff notes: I did not fill any elk or deer tag.

Never saw an elk (ghosts of the forest) while hunting. Never heard a bugle. Never heard a bark..yeah, cows barking at me before shooting hours is something I am familiar with. ;)

I was always 1-3 days too late to a spot that had elk go through. I only saw one elk and that was on the road at 5:20 am in a limited area during opening week on a foggy morning. Not seeing an elk while hunting has never happened before, however, I did spend a number of those days mule deer hunting in areas that were only good for deer hunting. I hunted much more than past seasons.

Of the 30 hunters I spoke with in my area, only 5 out of 30 saw an elk while hunting and most of these hunters hunt hard. Those 5 hunters only saw 1-3 elk at most for all the days they hunted. Only 2 hunters reported hearing a bugle. I have never experienced this ever for this area. It is mostly medium to dense timber, therefore, bugles do not carry well and glassing is mostly useless.

Only during opening week did I get into fresh elk sign. Except for encountering one big fresh elk scrape early in closing week, closing week was devoid of fresh sign.

I don\'t think hunting pressure was any higher than other years.

One person who has hunted there for 30+ years, believes the elk population is way down from 10 years ago when hunters saw 5-10 elk/day. I have no idea if this is true since the elk don\'t line up to be counted each year and no one has faith in CPW\'s method of counting elk.

For closing week, I got into mule deer because of a tip from another hunter to hunt a clear cut area. I saw mule deer daily when I hunted there. Unfortunately, I never had an ethical shot. This deer area did not have elk, therefore, elk hunting was on hold when I hunted deer. I am very disappointed in not filling the deer tag since mule deer stop and look at you before running away. Can\'t wish for an ethical shot to happen. Maybe mule deer enjoy toying with me.

It was the warmest and driest closing week that I have ever experienced. Overnight temps rarely went below 30. There were 3 days where the overnight temp dipped into the 20s, but it quickly warmed up to 60s. In midday sun, my inside tent\'s temp was in the 90s. Front Range broke high temp records. Had a couple of gusty windy days throwing dirt around. There were some mornings with a hard frost. No rain. No snow. If I was an elk, I would bed early before sunrise and stay in my cool bed until after sunset. Perhaps, this accounts for the low elk sightings.

For closing week, the super moon (30% brighter) was like having headlights in my tent each night.

In the first 4 days of closing week, I hunted steep stuff and ruined my knees. I kept the pain down by stretching my quads 2-4 times/day, however, the sharp pain would return. At the end of October, I will see the doctor. After ruining my knees, I mostly hunted deer in the clear cut area.

It was my year to encounter snowshoe hares. Unfortunately, the season did not start until October 1st, so no hares shot. For September, it was interesting to watch them start to change from summer coat into part of their white winter coat.

For closing week, I camped in a spot with other hunters. Some hunters I knew from previous seasons. It was nice to share some campfire stories and good laughs. Got to wonder why all these guys kept offering me beer. :think: I do not drink alcohol above 9,000 feet, therefore, I declined. Dang...it was so dry, I could not keep myself hydrated.

Once at home, I promptly made a VERY stiff Margarita on the rocks with the good Don Julio Reposado tequila...hey, I went without alcohol for 12 days opening week and 9 days for closing week, so I deserved the best. I graved real food...steak, burger pizza...pizza is real food, right?

I lost 7 lbs during September. No serious injuries. Had bad sunburn one day because I was too lazy for just ONE day to wear a sunhat in midday sun. It was just ONE day, yeah, I know...stupid.

The aspens turned a beautiful golden yellow and the leaf watchers outnumbered the hunters on weekends. Dodging leaf watchers who could never move their pristine cars & SUVs over to pass each other on Forest Service roads got old fast. Ah, snow during closing week would make the aspens more beautiful and...I wonder were the leaf watchers would be? :think: Ok, I admit it....I am mean. But, elk tracks in snow or wet ground would help with hunting. Aspen leaves are very crunchy when dry.

Despite the super moon, the stars were absolutely amazing.

In general, a rainy opening week had better conditions for hunting than the warm dry closing week. More elk were sighted during opening week than closing week.

Another September in CO mountains is far better than sitting at work.

I am done with Big Game hunting for 2015. 2016 season is 10.75 months away. Ticktock...
 
Good report Patricia.
Yes, the Colorado elk herd was at its highest about 10 years ago. And now many areas have come back to herd objectives.

As you found out, clearcuts and mule deer are like PB&J - thats the place to go hunt them.

I sure can relate what \'real food\' cravings is like. I lost 10lbs in 9 days in Wyoming.
Cheeseburger and a beer was a slice of heaven!!!
 
\"mtnmutt\" said:
I am done with Big Game hunting for 2015. 2016 season is 10.75 months away. Ticktock...
Click to expand...


I love how positive you are. It must be deep in your core because I have never seen a negative post from you in any way shape or form.
I am sorry to hear the elk didn\'t want to cooperate and the mule deer toyed with you.

I\'ve only hunted them once and I passed on a few small ones, but I am hoping that the deer decide to stop and look at me on my rifle hunt this year :D :mg:


Get that knee sorted out and healed up!
We have plenty of knew elk talk to keep you busy while you\'re recovering!
 
Good to hear from you again Patricia. I was starting to wounder if you made it back.

Sorry to hear the elk did not cooperate this year. At least you got to play with the mule deer some.
 
Patricia, sorry to hear you weren\'t able to punch your tags this year. Stick with it though! Your positive attitude and determination will eventually get you to the point where you are filling tags on an annual basis! :upthumb:
 
\"mtnmutt\" said:
Cliff notes: I did not fill any elk or deer tag.

I am done with Big Game hunting for 2015. 2016 season is 10.75 months away. Ticktock...
Click to expand...

Ticktock, ticktock, ticktock... :D :D I\'m sure you will be ready for next year... :upthumb: :upthumb:

Our deer seasons are just now starting... Good Lord willing maybe I\'ll punch at least 1 or my 6 deer tags...
 
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