Back from my elk hunt in CO

[NirvanaFan]

Well, I didn't end up shooting an elk, but @Cleck and I had an awesome time in Colorado. I saw a bunch of elk on private and public land, tons of mule deer (including one absolute bruiser), a bear, a few moose (including a nice bull), a jackrabbit, and bunches of other wildlife. I learned a ton about elk hunting that experienced people shared. Too bad it came towards the end of the trip and I wasn't able to connect. However, the weather was great and the scenery was spectacular. I'll post more about the adventure soon, but, for now, here's some of the pictures....

Awesome gas station/convenience store somewhere in the Midwest. Nebraska?


I see mountains!
Elk on private land on the drive in to the national forest


My glassing spot for the morning before the season opened was up here.
View of the mountains from my glassing spot


Apparently, this panorama is too big for the site, so here is a link....
http://www.outdoorjoe.com/joe/co_trip/20161014_080516.jpg

Forgive the crappy picture, but there are 7 elk in this one.


Poor spruce... Never stood a chance against this elk


More mountains


Looks like there is an eye in this mountain.


@Cleck scanning a meadow for elk


Bear print in some cow poop. I ended up seeing a bear in this area the next day, but I didn't have a bear tag.


I hate blow down, and this wasn't the worst of it...


Too bad this picture was taken looking south into the sun.


Large meadow on top of a mesa


Semi-recent forest fire came through


Our camp was right next to a little stream. It supplied us with water and helped drown out Cleck's snoring

 

[Cleck]

Definitely had a good time. The drive sucked, but it could have been worse. Came out relatively unscathed, aside from being too hot and sweaty sometimes, lol. Weather was great - 70s during the day, mid to high 20s overnight. Not bad. If we do it again, we'll take a few more things to make it easier, but it wasn't bad overall. I'll start throwing up some pics as well.

 

[NirvanaFan]

@Cleck will have to put up the pictures of the moose and bruiser of a mule deer.

 

[GOYABEAN]

Thanks for posting @NirvanaFan Amazing Country

 

[NirvanaFan]

Thanks for posting @NirvanaFan Amazing Country

It is amazing for sure. I took along my DSLR and never used it once. Quite unfortunate. Ohh well.... It just means I have to go back I may do a drop camp next time, or I may just go again like we did. I'm thinking about going again in 3-5 years. Now that I have everything I need, it will only cost about $1500.

 

[GOYABEAN]

It is amazing for sure. I took along my DSLR and never used it once. Quite unfortunate. Ohh well.... It just means I have to go back I may do a drop camp next time, or I may just go again like we did. I'm thinking about going again in 3-5 years. Now that I have everything I need, it will only cost about $1500.

From the looks of it worth every penny

 

[NirvanaFan]

From the looks of it worth every penny

For sure. $630 for the tag/license, $500 in gas, and $370 in miscellaneous stuff. I can't wait to go again. If I can find 3 other people, I'd be interested in a drop camp. 4 of the 6 hunters in our area were successful. The 5th should have had been too, but apparently, he screwed it up. It cost them something like an additional $1800 or $2400.

 

[Criticalt]

Ive never hunted in Colorado but ive spent time camping there. It is a beautiful state.

 

[ArmedCorgi]

This is so awesome! I've always wanted to do a trip like that. I wouldn't mind living in Colorado either. Thank you for sharing.

 

[NirvanaFan]

CO was beautiful and the people I interacted with were all very friendly. It's hard giving other hunters tips because it can reduce your chances, but I did get some help from them. I'm pretty confident that I'll notch my tag next time. Just need to hike in a little further and get a little higher in elevation. I know backcountry camping isn't a lot of people's thing, especially when it can get cold, but I'll be doing it again in 3-5 years. I'm more than willing to share some specific info with the people here about the unit I hunted in.

 

[Cleck]

You can see the rest in full size here. Beware, lots of beard and selfies in the wild. You've been warned.

 

[Cleck]

Such an amazing trip, I'd go again in a minute. I only wish it was a little earlier in the year, like September, but it is what it is. We lucked out with great weather. I'll definitely remember this trip for a long time. We've been getting ready for it for a long time, glad I went

 

[Robin]

Thats really cool, thanks for sharing!!!!!!
Robin

 

[Bananabandit]

Awesome. Id love to go there to enjoy nature for a few days.

You didnt see any families there with 6 fingers did you?

 

[NirvanaFan]

@Cleck do you have any pictures of that bull moose we saw?

 

[Greywolf224]

Beautiful scenery. I would walk for miles if I was there just so I could say I did.
Once my child support is up, a hunting trip out west will be a present to myself.
I envy you!

 

[Airborneguy]

Beautiful! Where were you? I lived in Colorado for four years, and although I never hunted there, we fished and camped A LOT. My last trip back was in '13, but I used to go regularly before the kids came.

I spent most of my time around Woodland Park and points a little west, or down south near Telluride. I am almost definitely doing something similar to what you did in Idaho next year.

 

[togmaster]

Sounds like a trip of a lifetime. Did you have a guide?

 

[Saltwater60]

Next time bring me Ali g and I will catch you lunch and dinner. Fresh trout from that beautiful stream.

Hey it was worth a shot huh??

 

[NirvanaFan]

Beautiful! Where were you? I lived in Colorado for four years, and although I never hunted there, we fished and camped A LOT. My last trip back was in '13, but I used to go regularly before the kids came.

I spent most of my time around Woodland Park and points a little west, or down south near Telluride. I am almost definitely doing something similar to what you did in Idaho next year.

We were about 45 minutes or an hour southeast of Montrose in the Uncompahgre National Forest. Just a little northeast of Ouray. Have fun in Idaho. Make sure to bring bear protection if you're in grizzly country. I've heard that they hear gunshots and go towards them for an easy meal.

I don't have much experience, but I know more now than what I did before. Are you going with a guide, or DIY?

 

[NirvanaFan]

Next time bring me Ali g and I will catch you lunch and dinner. Fresh trout from that beautiful stream.

Hey it was worth a shot huh??

They had a few stocked ponds around the area as well. My hunting license came with a fishing license, but I never got a chance to use it.

 

[NirvanaFan]

Sounds like a trip of a lifetime. Did you have a guide?

No guide. I did tons of research though. The Colorado parks and wildlife website provides a ton of information about draw statistics, success rate, etc. I looked for an easy to draw tag in a unit with decent success rate. I think everyone that applied for the elk tag drew it this year. I downloaded topo maps from Google Earth and paired them with the satellite images (especially historical ones) to scout out a few places since I couldn't scout on foot.

 

[NirvanaFan]

Beautiful scenery. I would walk for miles if I was there just so I could say I did.
Once my child support is up, a hunting trip out west will be a present to myself.
I envy you!

You'll get there.
This trip was pretty reasonably priced. I think all-in I was about $2k. Gas, food, supplies, camping gear, tag, and other odds and ends. I'm looking to spend $1500 next time, and that should be easily doable. I'll bet if you could find 4 people to go, you could get the cost to about $1000 each.

 

[Airborneguy]

Are you going with a guide, or DIY?

A "friend" from another forum invited me to come to his little ranch outside of Arco, ID. He's strictly a meat hunter, but said there's plenty of "trophies" where he plans to take us on federal land behind his.

My cousin and I are going to buy over-the-counter cow elk tags and he will have mulie and bull tags. Hunting with a resident really helps.

My friend in Colorado who hunts (I have others), is a Boulder FF'er. We've been trying to plan something also, hopefully in 2-3 years I can get that one going too. I probably wouldn't drive to CO though (again lol). Since we are good friends, I'll just send him my gear before hand UPS then save 4 days by taking a quick flight to Denver. I have another close buddy in the Springs who would probably join us too. For Idaho, the plan is to drive straight through switching off and only stopping to eat and get gas.

 

[NirvanaFan]

Yeah... It's a long drive for sure Cleck and I drove 32 hours straight, each way.

What is the difference in price between a cow and bull tag in ID? In CO it is only like $200 difference between a cow tag and an either sex tag.

 

[Frankly]

Looks like Little Valley or Springville to me. And I heard that Sheetz is rebranding itself as Kum.

 

[Cleck]

Yeah, I have it but you can't really tell anything since it's in the brush when I took the picture. Just a dark mass in some light stuff.

The trip should be easier next time, at least from a gear perspective. I don't need to update my bag (well, probably not. Might not hurt to have another) but most of the big stuff is bought. We can upgrade a bit here and there, and we didn't use some of the stuff we brought (like our hiking poles, but I didn't spend a lot on mine anyway), or we can just spend a little wiser. Those chairs we wanted I would definitely get, I'd get a bivvy or whatever for my bag if it's gonna be colder (or just a new bag), a bigger mattress, some better gear for sitting in the field in that crazy wind...

This trip has made me want to go hunting w/ you more now. If I can figure out how/when to get my hunter safety course

 

[Airborneguy]

Yeah... It's a long drive for sure Cleck and I drove 32 hours straight, each way.

What is the difference in price between a cow and bull tag in ID? In CO it is only like $200 difference between a cow tag and an either sex tag.

Honestly I don't know. He told me not to bother because as long as we all have some sort of tag, we're good to go and no one would ever bother us. So basically the bull/bucks are fair game for me and my cousin as he couldn't care less as long as he gets meat. We plan on giving most to him. We both do well with deer every season (I got one two weeks ago), so we won't need it anyway.

 

[Cleck]

He went hunting the day after we got back and got a doe. Couldn't say I'd want a white tail so soon after returning from an elk trip, but I understand the need to get something.

 

[nortatoga]

Great Pic's Thanks for sharing!!