The Season of Stupid (& elk)
- Thread starter MtnElk
- Start date
jeremy.b
Well-known member
Man, I'm glad y'all crank up the meme machine in these guy's threads and let some of us keep our threads on topic 
Khunter
Well-known member
I have almost never hiked as many miles in a day as you have @MtnElk doing and that he seems to do himself and have not really had a terrible time getting into and killing elk with some regularity. Enjoy putting in monster miles just for kicks? Great, but hardly required to kill an elk on average and pretty sure I am below average.
Y’all may be doing it and teaching it wrong
. Tough sons a guys y’all certainly are but…Work smarter not harder.Work smarter not harder
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I live for this shit man! Hunting season is a break for my body compared to my job. Maybe I do it the hard way to limit company and weed out the ruff raff. If I could shoot one uphill from the truck and no drag I would be ecstatic. Haven’t figured that one out yet though.I have almost never hiked as many miles in a day as you have @MtnElk doing and that he seems to do himself and have not really had a terrible time getting into and killing elk with some regularity. Like putting in monster miles just for kicks? Great, but hardly required to kill an elk on average and pretty sure I am below average.
Y’all may be doing it and teaching it wrong
Work smarter not harder
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perma
Well-known member
Wyhunter
Well-known member
Eagle eye. Looks like a bloody game bag too
D snow is known for throwing in the towel when it gets tough.
I’m just yanking chains. I’m privy to the conclusion already.
Art Vandeley
Well-known member
holy crap that’s a lot of stuff
D
Deleted member 28227
Guest
BackofBeyond
Well-known member
Stop liking comments and get to writing!
It’s gonna be a lot of writing and not many pictures. Spent lots of time tearing apart some big country with glass and by foot. I just need to go through my photos and see which I can post.
But it started with a 10pm Sunday night, 3 hour drive in a white out with slick roads.
Ok, I don’t think I’ll be able to finish this tonight. Got a call earlier today that a friend needs help taking down a camp due to an injury. I only have a few hours tomorrow so will be a little pre dawn departure and I need some sleep.
I got to camp at about 1am and by the time I was all unloaded, bed set up, and caught up with CheesePizza it was about 2am.
Luckily @MtnElk is the man and had set up the wall tent ahead of time even though he wasn’t going to be there the first half of the season.
We woke up at about five and loaded up packs for the day to do some back country scouting.
At first light we found a herd of cows, calves, and spikes.
The snow rolled in pretty quickly and the visibility went to zero. My plan was to go double check the rifle as well as the zero on two others after my deer season debacle mid day but the weather moved up the schedule a bit. Cheese and I ran into town and grabbed breakfast before he had to go to work.
Middle, bottom right, then bottom left.
Rifle was a hair off zero but nothing that would effect shots at the range I was hunting at during deer. I slowed down, focused on my trigger pull, and focusing on the cross hairs and it all came back. Put some rounds down range out to 500 to check drop chart and make sure I still had it. I also double checked zero on the manbun just in case.
Then it was time for the final sight in of my Marlin 336 that @p_ham worked on this summer. Didn’t take long and that was dialed as well.
The weather was calling for snow Friday and Saturday and the plan was to take this into dark timber and do some bash and crash.
The range got insane and I decided it was time to go back and scout for elk. I glassed from camp from about 1-dark. The elk started piling out around 2pm.
I got to camp at about 1am and by the time I was all unloaded, bed set up, and caught up with CheesePizza it was about 2am.
Luckily @MtnElk is the man and had set up the wall tent ahead of time even though he wasn’t going to be there the first half of the season.
We woke up at about five and loaded up packs for the day to do some back country scouting.
At first light we found a herd of cows, calves, and spikes.
The snow rolled in pretty quickly and the visibility went to zero. My plan was to go double check the rifle as well as the zero on two others after my deer season debacle mid day but the weather moved up the schedule a bit. Cheese and I ran into town and grabbed breakfast before he had to go to work.
Middle, bottom right, then bottom left.
Rifle was a hair off zero but nothing that would effect shots at the range I was hunting at during deer. I slowed down, focused on my trigger pull, and focusing on the cross hairs and it all came back. Put some rounds down range out to 500 to check drop chart and make sure I still had it. I also double checked zero on the manbun just in case.
Then it was time for the final sight in of my Marlin 336 that @p_ham worked on this summer. Didn’t take long and that was dialed as well.
The weather was calling for snow Friday and Saturday and the plan was to take this into dark timber and do some bash and crash.
The range got insane and I decided it was time to go back and scout for elk. I glassed from camp from about 1-dark. The elk started piling out around 2pm.
Over those three hours I watched over a hundred elk pour down the hills to the flats just like I saw them do nightly last year during third season. There was a bachelor herd of 6 or so bulls, 3 very nice. And a real nice bull with one of the bigger groups.
I say all this because I made a commitment to many people but mainly CheesePizza and MtnElk that I wouldn’t shoot a cow until Friday when MtnElk got there.
CheesePizza had to go back to work mid day Friday as well and he was going to fill the e/s tag with the first legal elk he could. I was going against all of my internal wiring and self talk and Holding out for a bull till Friday.
I was on cloud nine watching all the elk. The worst part about the whole glassing sit was my hand freezing. I quickly realized I was going to need thicker gloves than I normally wear. My smashed fingers from June are almost back to normal but smashed a finger nail so bad last week that it is loose. Thinking I might have broke the mail bed. Besides being extremely cold compared to my other fingers. Every glove on and off or bump get like my nail was being ripped off.
In between glassing sessions I got the tent all organized and ready for CheesePizza’s dad and dads best friend to join us Tuesday night.
The sun went down, fire started roaring, and we started game planning which elk we were going to focus on. CheesePizza would be there all day Tuesday to scout and plan for opening day on Wednesday.
We were out of bed the next morning before our alarms and eager to check out everything.
Camp chores, coffee, and good glass. Got some kindling prepped for the wood stove and tore apart the area we saw all the elk the night before.
They were gone. Not a single elk for the first two hours of daylight minus a quick spot of a dozen or so working into the trees 5+ miles off in the distance. What a roller coaster of emotions.
I decided that the holes I was burning in the timber and hillsides needed a break and cooped up some bagel sandwiches.
Tall, lanky, skinny kids need our big meals!
Right about 9am we watched a group of elk 9 or so work into some timber on private pretty close to the boundary. A little reprieve from the stressful morning.
We didn’t see a thing in the evening sit but those same 9 elk work into a bowl at the top of the mountain on public. The plan was set by necessity. CheesePizza and the other two were going to make a play on the elk up high and I was going to do a big loop around the other side of the mountain and meet them somewhere near the top.
This was not working out to be the opening day that Monday made me think it would be. Didn’t take many photos because I didn’t take my eyes off of my binos much at all that day. I was sure I was going to turn something up in the aspens or something.
I went to bed Tuesday night with a calm feeling and Not like I needed to rush it or make something happen on opening day.
Ps glassing from camp does have its advantages..
Cheesepizza
I tried to take advice from @Khunter and work smarter, not harder.
Camp chores, coffee, and good glass. Got some kindling prepped for the wood stove and tore apart the area we saw all the elk the night before.
They were gone. Not a single elk for the first two hours of daylight minus a quick spot of a dozen or so working into the trees 5+ miles off in the distance. What a roller coaster of emotions.
I decided that the holes I was burning in the timber and hillsides needed a break and cooped up some bagel sandwiches.
Tall, lanky, skinny kids need our big meals!
Right about 9am we watched a group of elk 9 or so work into some timber on private pretty close to the boundary. A little reprieve from the stressful morning.
We didn’t see a thing in the evening sit but those same 9 elk work into a bowl at the top of the mountain on public. The plan was set by necessity. CheesePizza and the other two were going to make a play on the elk up high and I was going to do a big loop around the other side of the mountain and meet them somewhere near the top.
This was not working out to be the opening day that Monday made me think it would be. Didn’t take many photos because I didn’t take my eyes off of my binos much at all that day. I was sure I was going to turn something up in the aspens or something.
I went to bed Tuesday night with a calm feeling and Not like I needed to rush it or make something happen on opening day.
Ps glassing from camp does have its advantages..
Cheesepizza
I tried to take advice from @Khunter and work smarter, not harder.
That advice from khunter would have been great but the plan didn’t come together easy. I was taking a leak before we headed out in the morning and looked back to see an awesome sight of the starts and wall tent.
The only thing I can’t think of, why the elk changed their pattern so drastically would be the lit up wall tent but at two miles from the closest elk not positive. Maybe just not meant to be.
The guys took off on their route and I started the steep climb of mine. We were turning up deer left and right, all week long.
The doe numbers were high but the buck numbers seem to be dropping every year in a pretty drastic form since Colorado shifted the hunting dates. The number of mature bucks I saw in a week were less than I saw in a weekend a few years ago. Lots of young bucks but the mid to older bucks were few and far between.
I got a sweet pic of the sunrise through the trees and then dove into some dark timber in order to get to the top of the mountain.
I was sneaking through the dark timber when I saw movement to my right side.
Antler tips.
Huge ones!
20 feet at most behind a huge pile of branches and logs.
I got my rifle ready and loaded one into the chamber and aimed for the only hole I could see and waited for the head or something to become visible.
As I loaded a the round another bull took off from behind me that I never saw. I could tell by the antler movement this bull was getting uncomfortable. He picked his head up and that’s when I realized the mass. At the top fork he was thicker than my wrist.
The antlers started to rise and I got ready. Then in the blink of an eye he was up and directly away from me in the one spot I could not see anything. I made a couple cow calls and heard him slow the initial exit. A third bull left with him.
I came around essentially the living wall and found two beds and an aspen meadow I could not see from 20 feet away. They’re weee tracks everywhere. I followed the deep fast tracks heading straight away from me for a little while until the tracks turned into an elk dance floor. These three bulls had been living here for a few days at the very least. Without him running anymore I could not distinguish the trail. My only plan was to b-line for the ridge behind this area and see if they blew out to get somewhere else.
I got out of the trees and there were no tracks or elk. A bull that big in a low point unit knows how to survive. they Malian have doubled back and stayed in the dark timber silent. With my wind now horrible to where I thought they went I figured I would just come back and hammer the area with my lever gun when the snow came in Friday or Saturday.
I continued to cover my hike around the top of the ridge. I was mainly looking for signs that the 100+ elk were still around but only found a couple singles and one small groups of cow/calf tracks.
I peaked out, glassed for a while and picked apart a lot more country. It was getting later in the morning and it seemed like the elk were only moving for about an hour in the morning if we were lucky.
I was hiking down to meet the guys when I found a fresh single track hugging the tree line. I ducked into the timber, following the track, and then I get the wind shift and hit me in the back of the neck. And then an explosion about 20 yards in front of me. Again, antlers crashing but no clean shot.
Should have brought the lever gun.
I made it almost to the guys and ended up finding a bull that appears to have been shot high, just below the spine and back from the lungs. either this bull walked a ways and died with no blood trail or it died where it got shot and someone was afraid that the broken points meant it was only a 3x3 and maybe thought it wasn’t legal. It appears to have been shot during the end of the 3rd season but I’m no expert. No clue what went down.
Sent the game warden a text and then headed over to see the guys.
The only thing I can’t think of, why the elk changed their pattern so drastically would be the lit up wall tent but at two miles from the closest elk not positive. Maybe just not meant to be.
The guys took off on their route and I started the steep climb of mine. We were turning up deer left and right, all week long.
The doe numbers were high but the buck numbers seem to be dropping every year in a pretty drastic form since Colorado shifted the hunting dates. The number of mature bucks I saw in a week were less than I saw in a weekend a few years ago. Lots of young bucks but the mid to older bucks were few and far between.
I got a sweet pic of the sunrise through the trees and then dove into some dark timber in order to get to the top of the mountain.
I was sneaking through the dark timber when I saw movement to my right side.
Antler tips.
Huge ones!
20 feet at most behind a huge pile of branches and logs.
I got my rifle ready and loaded one into the chamber and aimed for the only hole I could see and waited for the head or something to become visible.
As I loaded a the round another bull took off from behind me that I never saw. I could tell by the antler movement this bull was getting uncomfortable. He picked his head up and that’s when I realized the mass. At the top fork he was thicker than my wrist.
The antlers started to rise and I got ready. Then in the blink of an eye he was up and directly away from me in the one spot I could not see anything. I made a couple cow calls and heard him slow the initial exit. A third bull left with him.
I came around essentially the living wall and found two beds and an aspen meadow I could not see from 20 feet away. They’re weee tracks everywhere. I followed the deep fast tracks heading straight away from me for a little while until the tracks turned into an elk dance floor. These three bulls had been living here for a few days at the very least. Without him running anymore I could not distinguish the trail. My only plan was to b-line for the ridge behind this area and see if they blew out to get somewhere else.
I got out of the trees and there were no tracks or elk. A bull that big in a low point unit knows how to survive. they Malian have doubled back and stayed in the dark timber silent. With my wind now horrible to where I thought they went I figured I would just come back and hammer the area with my lever gun when the snow came in Friday or Saturday.
I continued to cover my hike around the top of the ridge. I was mainly looking for signs that the 100+ elk were still around but only found a couple singles and one small groups of cow/calf tracks.
I peaked out, glassed for a while and picked apart a lot more country. It was getting later in the morning and it seemed like the elk were only moving for about an hour in the morning if we were lucky.
I was hiking down to meet the guys when I found a fresh single track hugging the tree line. I ducked into the timber, following the track, and then I get the wind shift and hit me in the back of the neck. And then an explosion about 20 yards in front of me. Again, antlers crashing but no clean shot.
Should have brought the lever gun.
I made it almost to the guys and ended up finding a bull that appears to have been shot high, just below the spine and back from the lungs. either this bull walked a ways and died with no blood trail or it died where it got shot and someone was afraid that the broken points meant it was only a 3x3 and maybe thought it wasn’t legal. It appears to have been shot during the end of the 3rd season but I’m no expert. No clue what went down.
Sent the game warden a text and then headed over to see the guys.
I finally met up with the guys and they said the morning was a wash and they didn’t see the elk.
CheesePizza and I went and tried to follow some fresh tracks in the dark timber mid day but didn’t turn anything up. CheesePizza ended up working through some aspen glades near last light hoping to bump something out to us waiting or get something himself. He said he found more beds than he could count from where the elk had bedded on Monday. This was my go to plan for those elk because they regularly bed there but he didn’t find anything but deer.
We slowly made our way back to the truck and then headed for camp to try and make a game plan for Thursday after not seeing anything but the timber elk on Wednesday.
CheesePizza and I went and tried to follow some fresh tracks in the dark timber mid day but didn’t turn anything up. CheesePizza ended up working through some aspen glades near last light hoping to bump something out to us waiting or get something himself. He said he found more beds than he could count from where the elk had bedded on Monday. This was my go to plan for those elk because they regularly bed there but he didn’t find anything but deer.
We slowly made our way back to the truck and then headed for camp to try and make a game plan for Thursday after not seeing anything but the timber elk on Wednesday.
