Hummer
Well-known member
My 24th elk in 27 years of hunting the White River National Forest
I hunted public land in the White River National Forest during Colorado's 2nd season. The area is just outside the Flat Tops Wilderness and ranges from 8700' to 10,200' elevation. The habitat is mostly dense spruce-fir forest interspersed with aspen groves and smaller grassy meadows and parks. With bull, cow, buck and bear tags, I was ready to rock and roll….and looking to fill the freezer.
My first day was spent covering ground along familiar routes where I’ve hunted every year since 1985. Here, it seems, there are local elk, many of which get taken in the 1st and early 2nd seasons, and there are migrants from more remote, high elevation areas. The really good elk hunting usually starts when snow accumulates enough in the high country to spur migration. With the warm, dry weather, it started out as a tough hunt not only because of the crackly dry ground conditions, but because the elk were largely absent. I found very little fresh elk sign, and as it turned out, very few hunters in the area reported seeing elk in the first six days of season.
On the second day I climbed over the mountain about 5 miles from camp and hunted up through some thick timber where I’ve found elk before. While I picked my way over and through the downed logs, a shot boomed not far ahead and across a gulch, maybe 300 yards away. Pretty soon, elk came crashing toward me, one cow after another, eight animals I think. They were only 50 yards from me but as thick as the forest was, I couldn't get a clear, sure shot at the runners. Had they been standing, it would have been easy. In retrospect, and had I known how many there were, I should have run toward them to get a shot.
The next few days were less eventful. One evening, I spotted three bulls on a distant hill in the oaks, but at 1.3 miles, I couldn't have gotten there and made a stalk before dark. Finally, on the 5th day, we had four inches of snow. This quieted things down, but it took a couple more days before I saw significant animal movement. It continued to snow Thursday and Friday.
On the 8th day of season, I was pretty beat up physically and feeling a little discouraged. There had been little fresh sign of animals anywhere in the area and most hunters headed home empty. Also, the outfitter I use to pack out my elk had, themselves, packed up and shipped out. None of their 2nd season drop camp hunters were successful.
I climbed the mountain again. With another 6 inches of snow at 10,000 ft., migrating elk were beginning to move through. Deer were pouring off the mountain in big numbers but they seemed to be moving at night. I came upon many elk tracks and followed some good prospects. I figured they would move into some dense firs below me to bed down, so I slowly moved up and across the mountain hoping to head them off and get a view down into more open forest as they emerged later in the day.
By 2:30, I stopped to change the toe warmers in my boots and have a bite of lunch. I saw movement on the bench below me about 70 yards--two coyotes hunting together, then a third. They were big and healthy, a beautiful reddish color like red fox.
A little while later I walked slowly across the edge of a bench when I spotted a big bull walking right below me. There was a spike behind him, and closer, about 30 yards. I had a brief, three second opportunity before the big bull would move out of my view, which would have required my moving and alerting the spike. Wearing heavy winter gauntlet gloves with Hot Hands packs in the palms, I struggled to get my finger on the trigger.
At the last moment, I made the shot at 59 yards. The bull disappeared but I quickly racked a second round. I tried to make the spike out to be a cow elk, but nope. The spike looked at me, then toward the escaping bull. When he ran off in another direction, I knew I'd hit the big one. I emerged from the trees and followed tracks carefully. There was not a single spot of blood in the snow even though the bullet went through both lungs, broke the off side shoulder and cleanly exited. The shot was textbook perfect. At 125 yards, I found the bull posing against a small fir. At last, hard work, perseverance and dumb luck paid off.
The elk is a beauty of a 6x6, about 6 or 7 years old, and my biggest bull yet! I was elated to finally take a trophy bull.
This was my 24th elk in 27 years of solo hunting the area.
He's was a very big bodied bull and it was all I could do to get him field dressed before dark. Though it was only a mile uphill from camp, I knew it would take me two days to cut up and backpack out. Also, given the prevalence of bears it's not a good idea to leave game on the mountain long. I drove to town to call my outfitter friends who came up with mules the following day. They said it was the biggest bull they had ever packed out of the area. This one will hang over the moss rock fireplace at the cabin.
Even though I didn't see a deer all season so didn't fill my buck tag, and I never ran into another cow elk, I'm happy with this year's hunt. I tracked a bear and saw lots of wildlife including coyotes, pine martins, weasels, lots of Dusky Grouse, a Golden Eagle cruising for carrion, a Northern Pygmy-Owl, migrating Sandhill Cranes calling overhead, and even flushed a Wilson's Snipe in a marsh at 9600 ft. I can hardly wait until elk season 2013.
Good Hunting,
Hummer
I hunted public land in the White River National Forest during Colorado's 2nd season. The area is just outside the Flat Tops Wilderness and ranges from 8700' to 10,200' elevation. The habitat is mostly dense spruce-fir forest interspersed with aspen groves and smaller grassy meadows and parks. With bull, cow, buck and bear tags, I was ready to rock and roll….and looking to fill the freezer.
My first day was spent covering ground along familiar routes where I’ve hunted every year since 1985. Here, it seems, there are local elk, many of which get taken in the 1st and early 2nd seasons, and there are migrants from more remote, high elevation areas. The really good elk hunting usually starts when snow accumulates enough in the high country to spur migration. With the warm, dry weather, it started out as a tough hunt not only because of the crackly dry ground conditions, but because the elk were largely absent. I found very little fresh elk sign, and as it turned out, very few hunters in the area reported seeing elk in the first six days of season.
On the second day I climbed over the mountain about 5 miles from camp and hunted up through some thick timber where I’ve found elk before. While I picked my way over and through the downed logs, a shot boomed not far ahead and across a gulch, maybe 300 yards away. Pretty soon, elk came crashing toward me, one cow after another, eight animals I think. They were only 50 yards from me but as thick as the forest was, I couldn't get a clear, sure shot at the runners. Had they been standing, it would have been easy. In retrospect, and had I known how many there were, I should have run toward them to get a shot.
The next few days were less eventful. One evening, I spotted three bulls on a distant hill in the oaks, but at 1.3 miles, I couldn't have gotten there and made a stalk before dark. Finally, on the 5th day, we had four inches of snow. This quieted things down, but it took a couple more days before I saw significant animal movement. It continued to snow Thursday and Friday.
On the 8th day of season, I was pretty beat up physically and feeling a little discouraged. There had been little fresh sign of animals anywhere in the area and most hunters headed home empty. Also, the outfitter I use to pack out my elk had, themselves, packed up and shipped out. None of their 2nd season drop camp hunters were successful.
I climbed the mountain again. With another 6 inches of snow at 10,000 ft., migrating elk were beginning to move through. Deer were pouring off the mountain in big numbers but they seemed to be moving at night. I came upon many elk tracks and followed some good prospects. I figured they would move into some dense firs below me to bed down, so I slowly moved up and across the mountain hoping to head them off and get a view down into more open forest as they emerged later in the day.
By 2:30, I stopped to change the toe warmers in my boots and have a bite of lunch. I saw movement on the bench below me about 70 yards--two coyotes hunting together, then a third. They were big and healthy, a beautiful reddish color like red fox.
A little while later I walked slowly across the edge of a bench when I spotted a big bull walking right below me. There was a spike behind him, and closer, about 30 yards. I had a brief, three second opportunity before the big bull would move out of my view, which would have required my moving and alerting the spike. Wearing heavy winter gauntlet gloves with Hot Hands packs in the palms, I struggled to get my finger on the trigger.
At the last moment, I made the shot at 59 yards. The bull disappeared but I quickly racked a second round. I tried to make the spike out to be a cow elk, but nope. The spike looked at me, then toward the escaping bull. When he ran off in another direction, I knew I'd hit the big one. I emerged from the trees and followed tracks carefully. There was not a single spot of blood in the snow even though the bullet went through both lungs, broke the off side shoulder and cleanly exited. The shot was textbook perfect. At 125 yards, I found the bull posing against a small fir. At last, hard work, perseverance and dumb luck paid off.
The elk is a beauty of a 6x6, about 6 or 7 years old, and my biggest bull yet! I was elated to finally take a trophy bull.
This was my 24th elk in 27 years of solo hunting the area.
He's was a very big bodied bull and it was all I could do to get him field dressed before dark. Though it was only a mile uphill from camp, I knew it would take me two days to cut up and backpack out. Also, given the prevalence of bears it's not a good idea to leave game on the mountain long. I drove to town to call my outfitter friends who came up with mules the following day. They said it was the biggest bull they had ever packed out of the area. This one will hang over the moss rock fireplace at the cabin.
Even though I didn't see a deer all season so didn't fill my buck tag, and I never ran into another cow elk, I'm happy with this year's hunt. I tracked a bear and saw lots of wildlife including coyotes, pine martins, weasels, lots of Dusky Grouse, a Golden Eagle cruising for carrion, a Northern Pygmy-Owl, migrating Sandhill Cranes calling overhead, and even flushed a Wilson's Snipe in a marsh at 9600 ft. I can hardly wait until elk season 2013.
Good Hunting,
Hummer
