More Respect For Randy (didn't think it was possible)!

[PaJay 1962]

A friend and I drew muzzleloader elk tags for an area in Colorado we hadn't hunted before. We were excited as the elk should be rutting strong by mid-September. A friend that lives in CO (but doesn't hunt much), got us some general information and we had a starting point. I then contacted the CO DOW, gathered information from forums, OnxMaps, aerial shots of the area etc. and arrived 2 days before the season pretty confident on filling my tag as I had 7 days to hunt. Heck, I've been hunting for 40+ years and have done well in past hunts, so I figured that I could certainly find an elk in 7 days if Randy could do it in 3! Boy was I wrong!! The elk were not talking, the weather started off hot and dry the first 3 days, with the last 4 days being rainy, windy and temps in the high 50's. There were guys driving 4 wheelers in areas I didn't know were even accessible by 4 wheelers, so after 7 days of hunting sun-up to sun-down, and only had one small bull in range I came home with tag soup. The elk were there, somewhere, as the daily tracks didn't lie. I'd walk through an area before sun-up, and come through after sun-down and see new sets of tracks. I tried sitting at sunup/sundown, still hunting, calling, covering lots of territory in areas void of sign, and I just couldn't put it together.

I'm an easterner, and have hunted elk a couple times, but spend most of my time hunting whitetails. I've watched so many shows, watched Fresh Tracks diligently, read everything possible, but still couldn't make it happen. I have to admit, I'm definitely a more humble person now and have A LOT of respect for Randy pulling it off so frequently! I guess I need to watch what you're doing more closely now!

Joe

 

[HighDesertSage]

If you go to the hunt atlas I showed you, you can turn on the MVUM which shows what roads can be driven on. The smaller black dashed line means it is open to quads. I know it dones't help you now, but it will next year.

I just got back this evening and you are correct. I was very hot this year. The bulls were talking about the first hour or two of light, then silence. I heard this week is supposed to be even hotter. Oh well, that's elk hunting.

 

[Ben Long]

"That's elk hunting" is right! I don't know how Randy does it.

 

[TimeOnTarget]

A friend and I drew muzzleloader elk tags for an area in Colorado we hadn't hunted before. We were excited as the elk should be rutting strong by mid-September. A friend that lives in CO (but doesn't hunt much), got us some general information and we had a starting point. I then contacted the CO DOW, gathered information from forums, OnxMaps, aerial shots of the area etc. and arrived 2 days before the season pretty confident on filling my tag as I had 7 days to hunt. Heck, I've been hunting for 40+ years and have done well in past hunts, so I figured that I could certainly find an elk in 7 days if Randy could do it in 3! Boy was I wrong!! The elk were not talking, the weather started off hot and dry the first 3 days, with the last 4 days being rainy, windy and temps in the high 50's. There were guys driving 4 wheelers in areas I didn't know were even accessible by 4 wheelers, so after 7 days of hunting sun-up to sun-down, and only had one small bull in range I came home with tag soup. The elk were there, somewhere, as the daily tracks didn't lie. I'd walk through an area before sun-up, and come through after sun-down and see new sets of tracks. I tried sitting at sunup/sundown, still hunting, calling, covering lots of territory in areas void of sign, and I just couldn't put it together.

I'm an easterner, and have hunted elk a couple times, but spend most of my time hunting whitetails. I've watched so many shows, watched Fresh Tracks diligently, read everything possible, but still couldn't make it happen. I have to admit, I'm definitely a more humble person now and have A LOT of respect for Randy pulling it off so frequently! I guess I need to watch what you're doing more closely now!

Joe

Sounds about like my trip to ID.

 

[PaJay 1962]

One thing I forgot to add was my friend was hunting the same mountain in the same areas as I was hunting. In 2 separate instances he sat at a spot 24 hours after I had sat there without seeing anything and both times he had bulls come in! As he alsways says "I'll take luck over skill any day"! It floors me how an animal can be so big and yet hard to find!

 

[Diaz]

That is elk hunting indeed! I live and hunt in Utah on general tags. We start out the season in June setting cameras in many walk-in areas. We move the cameras around until we find the cows...find the cows and the bulls find them...bingo, right? NOPE....these critters are way smart. They move around a ton. The can be in a bottom today and 2 miles away tomorrow. Cougars, bears, and people will bump them out. As big bodied as they are I find it amazing how they can just disappear in the timber right in front of your eyes. A ton of them can bed in small patches that you'd say "no way an elk would be there"...only to have them explode from that cover..All I can say is you got to keep trying. The "hunt" is the important thing although an elk burger is away better tasting than a tag sandwich.

 

[RobG]

"That's elk hunting" is right! I don't know how Randy does it.

And with cameramen in tow.

 

[ida homer]

Don't get discouraged. I live here, scout 3-4x each summer, know which draws are holding elk the week before my trip, have trail cam pictures and hunt each weekend, and I've still only killed 1 bull with an OTC tag. Not until your asking yourself if these damn elk even exist or if they are just ghosts, will your opportunity come.

That's just how it is in September. It's still hot and they aren't out much, you just gotta hope you stumble into a draw with a hot cow and some fired up bulls. Late season draw hunts are a different deal, they are more active and you get more visuals when they are herded up and recouping calories.

 

[LopeHunter]

I was in CO on deer hunt a full two weeks prior to when we saw bucks in the same drainage up above treeline last year while mountain goat hunting. This year, same drainage and yet did not spot one buck. Oh, the bucks were still there, somewhere. Maybe in the pines where hard to spot but that would mean no velvet. Perhaps the bucks dropped velvet sooner this year or later last year. In any event, tag soup.

 

[PaJay 1962]

Definitely not discouraged in the least bit. My friend and I kept commenting how fortunate we were to be in that type of area as a lot of people just cannot afford the time or $$ to get out and do something like that. Not the first time I ate a tag, and not the last! Love those mountains!

 

[elkantlers]

"That's elk hunting" is right! I don't know how Randy does it.

I bet it's all computer generated.

 

[sbhooper]

I don't rarely get skunked hunting cow elk, but it has happened in amongst hundreds that I knew were in the area. When I lived in NM, I hunted a tough area for five years before I finally killed a bull with a mz loader. Elk hunting can keep anybody humbled, but it keeps drawing a person back for more!

 

[MN Public Hunter]

A friend and I drew muzzleloader elk tags for an area in Colorado we hadn't hunted before. We were excited as the elk should be rutting strong by mid-September. A friend that lives in CO (but doesn't hunt much), got us some general information and we had a starting point. I then contacted the CO DOW, gathered information from forums, OnxMaps, aerial shots of the area etc. and arrived 2 days before the season pretty confident on filling my tag as I had 7 days to hunt. Heck, I've been hunting for 40+ years and have done well in past hunts, so I figured that I could certainly find an elk in 7 days if Randy could do it in 3! Boy was I wrong!! The elk were not talking, the weather started off hot and dry the first 3 days, with the last 4 days being rainy, windy and temps in the high 50's. There were guys driving 4 wheelers in areas I didn't know were even accessible by 4 wheelers, so after 7 days of hunting sun-up to sun-down, and only had one small bull in range I came home with tag soup. The elk were there, somewhere, as the daily tracks didn't lie. I'd walk through an area before sun-up, and come through after sun-down and see new sets of tracks. I tried sitting at sunup/sundown, still hunting, calling, covering lots of territory in areas void of sign, and I just couldn't put it together.

I'm an easterner, and have hunted elk a couple times, but spend most of my time hunting whitetails. I've watched so many shows, watched Fresh Tracks diligently, read everything possible, but still couldn't make it happen. I have to admit, I'm definitely a more humble person now and have A LOT of respect for Randy pulling it off so frequently! I guess I need to watch what you're doing more closely now!

Joe

Just stick with it as others have said, If you believe Randy is just driving up to a spot, hunting 3 days and shooting animals without ANY help or TONS of prep work from friends and such I believe you are giving him more credit than is needed. He does this for a living, he has many contacts and data to help pull off a 3 day hunt "in a place he has never been". That's not to say it's not cool to see, but it's not like me giving him 10 spots in my state that are public and saying, OK, now you have 3 days to shoot a nice critter, it's just not that easy so please don't think it is. We all need help at one time of another and Randy is no different than you and I.

 

[PaJay 1962]

I agree - and know he gets some help and does get skunked every now and then. Definitely not giving up, that's for sure. Another friend just returned from CO 1st rifle hunt - his 2 buddies shot bulls, he saw nothing. I think my handshake resulted in my bad luck rubbing off on him!