Operation Condor

[utah400elk]

Sorry for the delayed post.

Last night was hard. We hiked into a roadless area with a few great meadows that is above a little creek. It looked perfect. There was fresh sign but we didn’t hear or see anything. It was a bit of a let down and really hard for Christian. He is having second thoughts on passing that cow two days ago.



We could glass several openings/meadows from this spot they were 300-700 yards out.

Christian was very tired. He has done over 30 miles and countless vertical in the first four days. His Fitbit shows he has done over 110,000 steps.

This morning he was really dragging and cranky. He fell asleep eating last night. He asked if we could sleep in this morning. I told him we could so nothing to report for this morning.

This afternoon we did a shorter hike but it was brutal. We dropped down over 550 vertical feet in 1/3 mile. Then a short 1/2 mile to sit over a spring. It is very hot and dry so I thought the hidden spring might work. I also snuck a pack of skittles and root beer in my back pack.

When we finally got to the spring is was swirling winds. I didn’t hold out much hope but wanted him to have fun. We did smell elk and could hear elk moving across the slope but we never saw them. However, the skittles and root beer were a huge hit! All-in-all a great night in a very peaceful clearing with a few scattered squirrel fights to keep Christian laughing.

This is what the spring and adjacent wallow Looked like.



There are a few more people in the area than I expected and the elk are not making as much noise as we would like. However, we are having great father son talks and having a blast. I pointed out today that he has had three opportunities at elk. One in his scope and two groups we could have stalked into range (all cows).

More to come and hopefully more elk encounters.

 

[utah400elk]

First... sorry for all the typos. My aged eyes have a hard time when using my iPhone.

This morning we were soooooooo close. We parked at the same ridge as the other morning where we could hear the bugles and did a huge loop in the dark to get the wind right. As we were hiking to the snowball fight ridge we were walking up to a clearing. I told Christian to be very quiet because I was sure there would be elk in the meadow. I hadn’t planned on it but Murphy was with us this morning. No sooner had I said that the Christian tripped on a rock and made a bunch of noise. You can probably guess what happened. A 4x4 raghorn ran across the meadow 70 yards away. I cow called and he stopped. Christian was able to get him in the scope in the shooting sticks but could only see his butt. The elk circled around and winded us and ran off.

Undeterred, we continued into snowball fight ridge and immediately spotted a herd across the canyon. All cows again. I moved a little lower to glass a few other clearings while Christian enjoyed his morning pop tart. I tried a couple calls to see if I could get any responses. A few minutes later I heard a little noise from Christians spot. About 3 minutes later he came running down the hill with a huge smile. He said my cow calls were really good and he thought I was actually a herd. He said he reached to grab his last pop tart and over his right shoulder he saw movement. I had called a cow and calf right to him. He said they were only about 5 yards away and saw him grab his pop tart and that spooked them.

On the way back to the truck we spotted a couple grouse and a few deer.

Please no internet police on this one...in my best Allen Jackson imitation I found a flat road and let him take his first drive. There were no trees and nobody around but he thought he was cool!

we also saw a bull moose with a cow and calf.

More to come...

 

[Red Fox]

I thought that is what the back country roads were for, sounds like you are having fun

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

View attachment 154221

Love this pic!

 

[blueridge]

Loving following along! He's a lucky kid.

 

[utah400elk]

I am a very lucky dad. We had planned on heading to Colorado today to help my buddy and Q with their archery elk hunt. However, they have been there two days and have not seen an elk. We keep seeing elk so we are extending our hunt here. We are having a blast.

 

[utah400elk]

Tonight we tried to get to the far ridge where we keep seeing the herds. The blow down heading into those areas is crazy. We gave up after an hour of hiking through blow down. I guess that’s why the elk are always there. We cod not get to them from the West tonight but do few I we can pick out way through on old logging roads. However, not tonight.

On a positive note. We were able to glass the ridge we were on this morning and there was a good herd about 250 yards below where we were this morning. We watched them until dark. The plan is to head to the point in the morning. They shouldn’t move too far.

 

[BrentD]

I remember my first driving the truck (a suburban). Exactly the same situation and about the same age. A big part of my growing up.

 

[Jbotto]

Man, what a fun hunt to follow so far! You both are lucky to be having a great time! I’m pulling for Christian! Keep after it!

 

[NoWiser]

Best thread of 2020! I sure hope it ends with a grip and grin. Good luck!

 

[Gerald Martin]

Great thread. Good luck!

 

[Jordo5220]

I’m really liking following this thread, best of luck and hopeful for a hero shot at the end!

 

[utah400elk]

This morning was a bit of a bust...We hiked to the snowball fight point where we had seen the elk the night before. We were there before shooting light and it was dead quiet. We hiked down to where the elk had been and found their tracks but no elk.

On the hike out we ran into a strong elk smell but were never able to find them.

One more try this afternoon and maybe tomorrow morning.

My buddy and Q had a small 5 point walk by at 10 yards in Colorado this morning so they are seeing signs of life.

The smoky sky makes for great pictures...

This morning’s sunrise looking East from Snowball fight point.

 

[utah400elk]

I forgot to mention...Operation condor will continue. I was able to draw a Colorado unit 40 3rd season deer tag. Christian is going on that hunt as well. This hunt is not over yet and he has passed at least 5 solid opportunities at elk so far. However, our hunting season is going on into November at the least and if I get my way (right house/property in VA after move) east coast deer hunting into early next year for both of us.

 

[utah400elk]

Also forgot to mention...this morning on the snowball fight point we found fresh mountain lion tracks and very fresh scat. Christian thought it was cool that the tracks were in our boot prints. We are not the only predators out there hunting this area.

 

[utah400elk]

Very late night and extremely tired...



More to come tomorrow but needless to say, we still have a fair bit of work ahead of us!

 

[bigharge]

Great write up, can’t wait to see the next pic!

 

[WNC2500]

I totally agree. I am rooting for you both, but especially cannot wait to see the smile on your sons face!! And, maybe a little blood as initiation for him.

 

[EastTNHunter]

On the edge of my seat.

 

[utah400elk]

Sorry for the delay.

Last night we picked our way through the old logging roads and were able to get directly west of the snowball fight point. It was a perfect rifle spot and instantly knew we had struck gold! The hill had several beautiful meadows that were lined with aspen and pine. They were all between 250-600 across the canton but we would be able to move to get them all within range of needed. There was a great little river in the bottom.



The plan was to wait until about 6:30 then start working our way up the canyon towards the north. The wind was perfect and Christian was amused by a bird that kept flying around as we sat watching the meadows. The bird actually landed on the rifle barrel as we sat still. Not sure what kind but very cool.



This is the view we had. You can see all the little openings and the grass covered bald spot on the right (partially covered by the top of the pine tree) of the now infamous snowball fight point.




At about 6:15 I walked over to glass a few other spots and saw a couple of cows running down the slope towards water. Christian also saw them and thought somebody had to have scared them. I explained they were just heading to water and they would feed back up a little later.

Christian was a ball of nerves and I was very grateful the stream was masking the million questions about how long the elk would drink and if they would really feed back up. It was about 20 min when Christian spotted them. They were about 300 yards away and according to Christian they “just appeared” in the opening.

I dialed in the CDS and tried to calm my flustered hunter. We went through the trigger pull and breathing. He kept saying he could not get steady. I helped him as much as I could and he adjusted his position to get a little more stable. He finally said he was ready. He slipped the gun off safety and immediately shot over the cows back. It was his first experience with “buck fever”.

Absolute pandemonium broke out. As practiced, Christian worked the bolt and got back on the scope very quickly. They had stated to run up hill and I quickly cow called. I could not see them but Christian said he could. He said they stopped and told me where they were. I adjusted the CDS and he was much more calm. He slowly got ready and made a perfect shot. He said he hit her and that she was down. I was not sure because I could not see her. A few seconds later she rolled down the hill a few yards from behind a pine.

It was perfect shot and she dropped. The second shot was 400 yards and all our range worked had paid off. I was unable to see any of it from where I was sitting a couple feet away.

We hiked over and I found her before Christian. I told him we needed to start a grid search and called him over to me. This was the moment he first saw his elk...



I am sorry the “trophy shot is not better but we had a lot of work ahead of us and daylight was quickly fading. It was a very steep hill.



I showed Christian how we did the gutless method and we hung three of the quarters h for the night in a nearby pine. I carried the backslaps, tenderloins and a hind quarter out last night. It was a tough hike in the dark but Christian could not stop talking. He must have tried calling my wife two dozen times, cell coverage be dammed.

We were exhausted when we got back to the truck. So we simply slept in the bed of the truck on sleeping pads and in our sleeping bags. Great star filled night to cap a awesome day.

This morning we got up and found an easier pack route for the rest of the elk. We got our pack frames and walked 1/2 mile to the elk. The hung quarters were in great shape!

I cut out the ivory’s for Christian and loaded the packs. He was going to have to carry a front quarter. He was all smiles and still on cloud 9.


Start of the pack out...

And getting back to the truck for a much deserved Gatorade!



Christian’s elk is now at the processor in Grand Junction and we are heading back out to help my buddy and Q with their archery elk hunt.

More to come...