Colorado elk here we come!!!
- Thread starter IdahoBugler
- Start date
Sometimes Reality calls and leaves you a nasty voicemail. It's an inherent danger of going to town and checking them.
The hunting has been slow so far. High temps have been around 65 at 12,000ft, and it's not even getting down to freezing at night.
The valley we hunted the second morning. We were sitting right at timberline, and were glassing 60-80 head of elk scattered in the valley above us. Stay tuned for awesome video of a nice 6x6 at 40 yards that IB let live another day, at this exact spot about 2 hours after the photo was taken:
Just another sunrise at 12k feet:
A spot we hunted a nice bull for a couple of days. Note the elk on the right side of the photo:
No elk, but who really cares?
We tried to call in a 6x7 in the trees above the near slope this morning. Got a cow and calf within 30 yards, but the bull was smarter.
In the last photo, there is a herd of elk bedded just to the left of the high point of the middle mountain. Here is a zoom, with arrow denoting the (crazy) elk. Saw five rams feeding on this same knob two days earlier:
While working the uncooperative 6x7 this morning, we got a real "growler" fired up in the trees on the other side of the canyon. IB was planning to head back into this jungle to find him this evening:
Nothing real easy about the country. Most is either straight up or straight down. Base camp is at 11K feet, and the hunting is higher:
It's beginning to look like fall in the high country:
I hope the rut picks up soon for IB. Wish I was there to help him pack out the bull I'm sure he's going to arrow. That guy is flat deadly with a stick and string.
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van franke
Active member
Sweet pics oak. That is some gorgeous country.
T Bone
Well-known member
Go gettum IDBugler! Thanks for sharing the nice high country pics.
Oak, if you get the dead elk call, and he needs help packing, ask him to give me a call, I may be able to jump out and provide cold water while he packs(I'm assuming he's within a few hours drive of me?)
Oak, if you get the dead elk call, and he needs help packing, ask him to give me a call, I may be able to jump out and provide cold water while he packs(I'm assuming he's within a few hours drive of me?)
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Moosie
Grand poopa
I've hunted with IDB and seen these elusive "Growlers"
Seriously dude, Thanks for the update and pictures !!! Awesome !!
Seriously dude, Thanks for the update and pictures !!! Awesome !!
Dinkshooter
Well-known member
Sweet pics and awesome country.
elk_hunter
Active member
Yeah, gorgeous country!
Ridge Runner
New member
Great update and pics Oak. how much longer does he have to hunt? Sure he will close the deal on a real smoker.
Moosie
Grand poopa
WE WANT PICTURES !!!!!
Any updates ?
Any updates ?
thecrittergitter
Well-known member
Just heading home from my week in CO and had the best and worst week of my hunting career..........blew the opportunity of a lifetime on a nearly 400" public land Wilderness CO bull
Hope you nail one bugler, good luck!
Hope you nail one bugler, good luck!
Moosie
Grand poopa
Only through today.
I think the season does close when the tag is punched................
Brandenbowhunter
Well-known member
Go get 'em! good luck...show is going to be great next year! You guys are slaying them!
Moosie
Grand poopa
Brandon, this one was not a TV series episode..... Unless Bugler upgraded his camera.
elk_hunter
Active member
Bugler is probably still packing out the monster he shot...guessing it's an 8x8 and a 400+ class bull? 
elk_hunter
Active member
IB, let's hear the details and see the pics of that CO monster!
chasendeer
Member
What is te ending to this story your killing us.
Jay
Jay
IdahoBugler
Well-known member
Sorry it has taken me so long to update on our trip. I've been a little busy lately. 
Anyway I'll make it easy and post mostly pics and write up something to fill in the blanks.
I wanted to stay a little closer to 10,000 ft to make sure I could get acclimated to the elevation. I even got some AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) medication called Diamox to make sure I didn't loose any time on the mountain due to the extreme elevation I would be hunting. Here is camp at 10,500':
Not a bad view from camp either.
We hunted just above camp the first day where we ended up at 12200. We saw a few elk with not much talking yet and nothing big enough to get us excited. The next morning we headed in the other direction and hunted the lower aspen country. We heard a few bugles here but only called in a couple of calf elk to less then 20 yards.
Some scenery shots of the higher country he visited that evening. The man himself, Oak.
Lucky hunter.
Here is a cute little fella we saw that evening.
That evening we found a new area that held a lot of animals. Both very nice muledeer and elk. The good news is I finally caught glimpse of a shooter bull that was in the middle of around 100 elk (5 or 6 other bulls in the group). It was to late that evening to work them so we made the decision to come back the next morning.
We started out early and were in position at first light. We could here the elk going crazy and as it got light enough to see we started glassing elk. This was the hill we were glassing.
This was not your typical elk hunt. We were hunting above treeline and it was amazing to see the elk up in the rocks like you would a bighorn sheep. Thats an elk coming through the rocks. It's crazy to see the elk running down the mountain heading into the trees at first light.
This was our view up the canyon where the bigger bull was tending his 40+ cows.
As it got lighter the elk would start heading towards the patch of trees we were in. We scouted this area out because we had seen all the elk come from this little patch of trees the evening before. We figured it was a natural path they would take back into there bedding areas. We guessed right and 30 minutes after light our first customers came through at 40 yards. 8 cows and calves with no bull.
Anyway I'll make it easy and post mostly pics and write up something to fill in the blanks. I wanted to stay a little closer to 10,000 ft to make sure I could get acclimated to the elevation. I even got some AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) medication called Diamox to make sure I didn't loose any time on the mountain due to the extreme elevation I would be hunting. Here is camp at 10,500':
Not a bad view from camp either.
We hunted just above camp the first day where we ended up at 12200. We saw a few elk with not much talking yet and nothing big enough to get us excited. The next morning we headed in the other direction and hunted the lower aspen country. We heard a few bugles here but only called in a couple of calf elk to less then 20 yards.
Some scenery shots of the higher country he visited that evening. The man himself, Oak.
Lucky hunter.
Here is a cute little fella we saw that evening.
That evening we found a new area that held a lot of animals. Both very nice muledeer and elk. The good news is I finally caught glimpse of a shooter bull that was in the middle of around 100 elk (5 or 6 other bulls in the group). It was to late that evening to work them so we made the decision to come back the next morning.
We started out early and were in position at first light. We could here the elk going crazy and as it got light enough to see we started glassing elk. This was the hill we were glassing.
This was not your typical elk hunt. We were hunting above treeline and it was amazing to see the elk up in the rocks like you would a bighorn sheep. Thats an elk coming through the rocks. It's crazy to see the elk running down the mountain heading into the trees at first light.
This was our view up the canyon where the bigger bull was tending his 40+ cows.
As it got lighter the elk would start heading towards the patch of trees we were in. We scouted this area out because we had seen all the elk come from this little patch of trees the evening before. We figured it was a natural path they would take back into there bedding areas. We guessed right and 30 minutes after light our first customers came through at 40 yards. 8 cows and calves with no bull.
IdahoBugler
Well-known member
Our only issue now was the wind. It was blowing our scent just enough to make the elk nervous as they were coming through the opening. (I still think it was the cologne that Oak was wearing but he told be me didn't put any on that morning).
30 minutes later we glassed a loud and obnoxious bull coming through the rocks from where the cows came from. The bull gave us quite a show down in the valley tearing up the brush and rolling around in the mud.
He was taking his sweet old time so we threw a couple of cow calls his way to persuade him up the hill. 20 minutes later we had a slobbering bull standing broadside at 40 yards begging to be shot. But it was much to early in the hunt to grant him his wish (plus we had a larger bull just up the valley). Oak took some great video footage of this bull and when I get some time I'll post it up.
Here is the big herd heading our way.
We decided to head up the valley about 100 yards and watch the heard come in from a little cut in the valley. We figured we could get the wind in our favor from this location. In the mean while these little fellas kept us company in the rocks. "Pika"
Just up the valley where we were looking at the big bull we caught a glimpse of a very nice ram. (Heavy and broomed). Sorry for the crappy pics but hopefully you can see something out of this mess. I had my new Minox DCM but when the battery runs out in your remote you are sh_t out of luck.
While waiting for the big bull to come to us we had a bunch of other herds of elk walk by.
After the majority walked by I headed up to see if there was a possible ambush location. It was very apparent this was the place they liked to go. It was a major trail and one that would certainly guarantee you an elk if the wind held and you could make a 20 yard shot.
We ended up staying there until 12:00 waiting for the big heard to walk by. Unfortunately others thought this valley looked as nice as we did and we had two hikers walk up and push the elk up and over a nasty rock slide. Oh well such is hunting and we would later cross paths again.
30 minutes later we glassed a loud and obnoxious bull coming through the rocks from where the cows came from. The bull gave us quite a show down in the valley tearing up the brush and rolling around in the mud.
He was taking his sweet old time so we threw a couple of cow calls his way to persuade him up the hill. 20 minutes later we had a slobbering bull standing broadside at 40 yards begging to be shot. But it was much to early in the hunt to grant him his wish (plus we had a larger bull just up the valley). Oak took some great video footage of this bull and when I get some time I'll post it up.
Here is the big herd heading our way.
We decided to head up the valley about 100 yards and watch the heard come in from a little cut in the valley. We figured we could get the wind in our favor from this location. In the mean while these little fellas kept us company in the rocks. "Pika"
Just up the valley where we were looking at the big bull we caught a glimpse of a very nice ram. (Heavy and broomed). Sorry for the crappy pics but hopefully you can see something out of this mess. I had my new Minox DCM but when the battery runs out in your remote you are sh_t out of luck.
While waiting for the big bull to come to us we had a bunch of other herds of elk walk by.
After the majority walked by I headed up to see if there was a possible ambush location. It was very apparent this was the place they liked to go. It was a major trail and one that would certainly guarantee you an elk if the wind held and you could make a 20 yard shot.
We ended up staying there until 12:00 waiting for the big heard to walk by. Unfortunately others thought this valley looked as nice as we did and we had two hikers walk up and push the elk up and over a nasty rock slide. Oh well such is hunting and we would later cross paths again.
