Now or never...sort'of

[RM Montgomery]

I'm getting old.  That's the bad news.  The GOOD news is:  as of late summer 2014 both my girls will be out of college/grad school, married off and on their own. l now have no excuses keeping me from heading to Colorado in Sept.  The idea of a solo bivy hunt has been a long-undone dream of mine (otherwise known as the Jeremiah Johnson syndrome)  I THINK I know what I'm getting into but...just for sake of discussion...

I found a honey hole a few years back that I've always wanted to get back to.    Five miles in, two miles deep and the ground is so steep a billy goat drags his sack on the way down.  There's a HUGE, north-facing bench full of water, elk poo, rubs and trails about 700' up from a creek bottom.  I THINK I know how to go about hunting this spot but.. what would YOU do ?  If this spot is a total bust, how do you go about hunting such steep terrain?  How much time to you commit to an area before moving on? 

Merry Christmas everybody.  God bless.

 

[Jeremiah Johnson]

The one thing I would recommend, is to have a few backup areas if the main option does not pan out...for me I am about run and gun bugling action, so I like to move on if there is no action in the area and find an area where rutting activity is happening.

 

[Montana_BackCountry]

I'm with JJ that you should scope additional nearby area on Google earth. 


Also if you're in the big mountains in CO and you're traveling 5 miles back I'm betting that you're traveling by some areas on the way in that may hold elk as well.  Don't underestimate the immediate surrounding area of your honey hole for plans B and C.  In the area I hunt if my tried and true does not produce, elk can be found on the next saddle or in a huge bottom land drainage below. 


If the land is steep as you say I would also recommend spending a day on a tall vantage and glassing for movement before leaving as well.  If the area is as good as it sounds and hasn't changed too much since you've been gone, your odds of spotting something moving around sound good. 


Good luck!

 

[turbo1967]

I give my honey holes one pass through , and I know if that is the spot to stay, or [font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]i [/font]move on, now that does not mean that wont be the spot to be one week latter, I usually cover my spots several times each year ,allot depends on the weather , the spot you describe sounds great when the weather is hot, but after a snow and some cold the elk may pull out for more open area. Other variables are the time of rut and the lead  cow at the end of the winter makes a big difference . If the lead cow is still in charge they usually bring the herd back to the same area, but if some one shots the lead cow the previous season than the new lead cow my take the herd miles away.   

 

[RM Montgomery]

Thanks for all the responses guys.  Hope ya all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year.  2014 will be a year of major transition for our family and I'm anxious and excited about FINALLY being able to chase elk every year from now on, Lord willing.  Hunting elk every three or five years just wasn't cuttin' it.


My thing here in Virginia is Spring Gobbler season and I'm amazed just how much this resembles elk hunting in September.  I'm glad turkeys can't smell and that elk can't see as well as the birds do !!


I've taken notes on your advice ... and I appreciate it.  All the best !!

 

[coloelko]

From what I've gathered over the years, I've found that elk like to bed on north facing slopes. And if you jump a herd out of they're bedding area they might move into the next county. So I would suggest being very careful.  Sounds like a great spot though.  I agree with the other guys too, make sure you have several other hot spots to fall back on.
Best of luck to ya-

 

[cowboystl1]

I think chasing gobblers is great practice for elk hunting a lot of the same principals are involved to me an elk is a 900 pound tom turkey. set ups are similar calling you are facing eyes vs nose but both can be compensated for. i love it. AS far as your elk hunt find where you want to base camp and then spider web out from there