GTHunter
Senior Member
Okay it is time to finally sit down and write this hunt story. It is long (over 6000 words), but I wrote this more for myself, than you guys. I want to remember all of the details when I come back and read this a decade from now. Hopefully you enjoy it as much as I did. Alright, lets go.
After years of listening to Steve Rinella and Randy Newberg for inspiration, I embarked on a solo, DIY elk hunt this year with the goal of returning home with some delicious elk meat and a great story to tell. This was to be a test of my hunting abilities and my fitness. I went on my first elk hunt two years ago and returned home empty handed, but I had a different approach this year and I felt a weird sense of confidence before leaving. I always feel confident before going on a hunting trip. If I didn’t I wouldn’t go. But this was a calm sense of confidence that I rarely experience.
I had done a year’s worth of cyber scouting the first time around so I already had this huge knowledge base of the unit I would be hunting. Add that to my on the ground experience from two years ago and I knew what the terrain looked like and what my capabilities and limitations were. I also made a bunch of phone calls to the local CPW offices to get their opinion on the best plan of action and what they had seen others do. This was something that I did for the first time last year in Georgia and it resulted in my first black bear. After that experience I swore to never go in blind on a hunt again without calling around for intel before. It is just too valuable of a resource to pass up.
First Rifle season is a five day hunt in Colorado in mid October, running Saturday to Wednesday. I started driving west three days before the hunt would begin and arrived at the place that I had rented Thursday evening. It was a very cool off-grid, solar-powered, well-fed house that was central to the area I would be hunting. The unit is defined by some very steep mountains that roll out into a wide, flat valley floor full of sand and sagebrush. Someone from Georgia might even call it a desert. Two years ago when I hunted First Rifle season in this unit and tried doing it backcountry style, going up into the mountains, but they were so steep that I was unable to get up to many of the places that I had scouted online. As usually happens, the mountains were much bigger in real life than from a computer thousands of miles away. Living in Georgia my whole life had not prepared me for that experience.
This season the plan would be very different. In the valley floor there is a large tract of public land and that is where I planned to hunt. No more mountains for this flat lander. Hunting on this specific piece of property is very tightly regulated with tons of rules, like no camping over night and no vehicle access anywhere on the property. A large part of it is designated wilderness so access is only by foot or horseback. To be successful requires walking or riding a horse over 15 miles a day, and it can get pretty crowded at times.
The property is basically divided into three areas: An area where hunting is prohibited, An archery only area, and a firearms area. To access the property you must park in one of the designated parking areas scattered around the boundary. I took both a rifle and a bow out there with the plan to hunt whichever area of the property gave me the best opportunity and it looked like archery was going to be up first. The archery area is close to a nearby town and this where I would get my first look at a few herds of elk on the evening before opening day. I could see a large herd of elk grazing about ¾ of a mile from a road and I sat and watched them from the archery parking spot until dark.
The next morning I was back at the parking lot watching roughly 100 elk feeding, bugling, and rutting around. With the elk bugling and coyotes howling, I was star struck and sat there for two hours before an officer stopped by and asked why I was not hunting yet. He checked my license and told me to get in there and get after them, so away I went. I made a big loop and got about a half mile south of them, but it was flat and there was no way I could approach without being seen. The tallest thing to hide behind was thigh high sagebrush. While I was out in the sagebrush contemplating how to make this work, 1/3 of the elk picked up and started moving south. I don’t know if they were spooked or just thought it was time to move, but they passed about 500 yards from me. It was exciting, but far from an opportunity.
I headed that direction just out of curiosity. I got to about where I thought the elk came by and a second group was headed my way. This was a group of about 8 small bulls and they took a similar path, passing within 135 yards of me. Close, and exciting, but still not archery range. Now I knew there was one stud bull in the group from watching them earlier, and he had not come by yet. I figured he would bring his herd along a similar path as the first two groups. I could clearly see the paths the elk had taken through the dry desert sand so I set up and waited.
After about 30 minutes, here they come. I was hunkered behind a small sage bush about 20 yards from the trail the previous elk had come down and the big bull’s herd was closing fast, but there was a problem. Well two problems. When elk travel, the herd bull is always at the back like a king, with all of his cows leading the way in front of him. So I had to somehow dodge the cows and wait on the bull. The other, and much bigger problem was that the wind was backwards. The elk got to about 200 yards and slammed on the breaks. They knew I was there. Over the next 30 minutes they shuffled to the side and eventually around me at a very safe distance. I blew it, but there was never really a good chance with the way the wind was blowing. I do not think it was a coincidence that the elk had bedded in that spot or that they chose to head into the wind when it was time to move. This was not going to be easy. It was super exciting for the first 4 hours of my hunt, but I knew now that trying to get one with a bow was not going to be the best way.
I went back to base and regrouped. I decided to drive around and glass that afternoon and try to find some elk where I could use my rifle. Getting to within bow range out on those desert flats would be nearly impossible. I found a great spot at the base of the mountains that gave me a few hundred yards of elevation and I could see 20 miles out across the valley. Using binos mounted on a tripod, I could pick up elk over 10 miles away on the valley floor. I quickly learned that the trick was to look for the dust clouds they kicked up when moving. Sitting up there and picking out elk from over 10 miles away was so fun, and by the time the sun went down I had a plan for the next morning.
The new plan was to hike into the firearms area and head to where I saw the dust clouds the night before. There is water source about 6.5 miles from the parking area that I planned to target. Upon arriving at that parking area just before we were allowed on the property, I noticed that there was a half dozen other trucks and some of the guys there had bicycles and horses. This was a very different experience than the day before when I had been the only one at the parking spot to the archery area and I was not equipped to compete with these guys. Long story short, I hiked in, and around for 16 miles and the only elk I saw were two that were killed by the guys on the bikes. They were able to ride in half way to where the designated wilderness area began and where bikes are not allowed, and that gave them about a half hour head start on me. A little demoralized, I headed home to make a new plan.
On the way out I met a man on horseback. He had been in that area the day before with a couple buddies who both got elk, but he had missed his and today he was having as much luck as I was. After a brief chat we parted ways for the day as I could not keep up with his horse. I did not know it yet, but this would not be the last time I met that man. I returned to my glassing spot that evening and repeated the process from the afternoon before. Just before dark, I noticed a herd of elk heading to a different area that was only a 3 mile hike in. I decided that would be where I would head Monday morning.
The next morning I was first at the parking area to access the new spot and made good time getting in. After about 2 miles I bumped a group of elk in the dark. All I could hear was hooves running away, but I could not see anything and only could guess at the direction they went. This encounter caused me to alter my original plan and head in a slightly different direction, where I thought the elk went. As the sun rose, I could see two hunters out ahead of me, set up along a creek bed. I soon realized that they were bugling to a herd of elk somewhere further along the creekbed, but off of the property. The guys were set up right on the boundary of where we could legally hunt hoping to call the elk across.
I came up with the brilliant plan to loop around and see if I could get on the other side of the elk. Worst case scenario I bump them right to those two guys and they get a shot. Best case scenario, I gently push them onto the property where I can get a shot. It was a stupid idea. I soon found the elk hunkered down in the trees along the creek bed, about ¾ of a mile off of the property. For some reason that I still do not understand, I called my dad to make a plan. I am standing in the open, talking on the phone, and my wind was blowing right to them. Unsurprisingly, they did not stick around long. Instead of running onto the huntable area like I had hoped, they pushed south, parallel to the boundary. I took off, hoping to keep them from leaving the area. Elk are much faster than I am and they eventually skirted around me to the safety of a neighboring property which we are not allowed to hunt. I am sure those two guys hated me and I felt like a huge idiot. I was not patient and I blew it for everyone.
After that, I went back to take a nap, and then returned to my glassing spot after lunch. I could see the herd I bumped, way out in the valley, and another herd a few miles away. Both groups were about 10 miles away from the property where I could hunt. I could see that the new group was heading in the general direction of the water source from the day before and I figured they would be in that area in the morning. But that area is 8 miles from the parking area and the same area that I watched the guys on bicycles kill the elk the day before. So I came up with a brilliant plan. I drove an hour to town and bought a cheap bike at Walmart. I was not going to lose the race this time.
While I had been up on the hill glassing, the man with the horse from the day before drove by with his two buddies who already had their elk on ice. We chatted for about 30 minutes on what each other’s game plan was for the next morning and a little about life. They were good dudes and seemed to take amusement at competing with the Software Consultant from Georgia who had driven out here all by himself.
After years of listening to Steve Rinella and Randy Newberg for inspiration, I embarked on a solo, DIY elk hunt this year with the goal of returning home with some delicious elk meat and a great story to tell. This was to be a test of my hunting abilities and my fitness. I went on my first elk hunt two years ago and returned home empty handed, but I had a different approach this year and I felt a weird sense of confidence before leaving. I always feel confident before going on a hunting trip. If I didn’t I wouldn’t go. But this was a calm sense of confidence that I rarely experience.
I had done a year’s worth of cyber scouting the first time around so I already had this huge knowledge base of the unit I would be hunting. Add that to my on the ground experience from two years ago and I knew what the terrain looked like and what my capabilities and limitations were. I also made a bunch of phone calls to the local CPW offices to get their opinion on the best plan of action and what they had seen others do. This was something that I did for the first time last year in Georgia and it resulted in my first black bear. After that experience I swore to never go in blind on a hunt again without calling around for intel before. It is just too valuable of a resource to pass up.
First Rifle season is a five day hunt in Colorado in mid October, running Saturday to Wednesday. I started driving west three days before the hunt would begin and arrived at the place that I had rented Thursday evening. It was a very cool off-grid, solar-powered, well-fed house that was central to the area I would be hunting. The unit is defined by some very steep mountains that roll out into a wide, flat valley floor full of sand and sagebrush. Someone from Georgia might even call it a desert. Two years ago when I hunted First Rifle season in this unit and tried doing it backcountry style, going up into the mountains, but they were so steep that I was unable to get up to many of the places that I had scouted online. As usually happens, the mountains were much bigger in real life than from a computer thousands of miles away. Living in Georgia my whole life had not prepared me for that experience.
This season the plan would be very different. In the valley floor there is a large tract of public land and that is where I planned to hunt. No more mountains for this flat lander. Hunting on this specific piece of property is very tightly regulated with tons of rules, like no camping over night and no vehicle access anywhere on the property. A large part of it is designated wilderness so access is only by foot or horseback. To be successful requires walking or riding a horse over 15 miles a day, and it can get pretty crowded at times.
The property is basically divided into three areas: An area where hunting is prohibited, An archery only area, and a firearms area. To access the property you must park in one of the designated parking areas scattered around the boundary. I took both a rifle and a bow out there with the plan to hunt whichever area of the property gave me the best opportunity and it looked like archery was going to be up first. The archery area is close to a nearby town and this where I would get my first look at a few herds of elk on the evening before opening day. I could see a large herd of elk grazing about ¾ of a mile from a road and I sat and watched them from the archery parking spot until dark.
The next morning I was back at the parking lot watching roughly 100 elk feeding, bugling, and rutting around. With the elk bugling and coyotes howling, I was star struck and sat there for two hours before an officer stopped by and asked why I was not hunting yet. He checked my license and told me to get in there and get after them, so away I went. I made a big loop and got about a half mile south of them, but it was flat and there was no way I could approach without being seen. The tallest thing to hide behind was thigh high sagebrush. While I was out in the sagebrush contemplating how to make this work, 1/3 of the elk picked up and started moving south. I don’t know if they were spooked or just thought it was time to move, but they passed about 500 yards from me. It was exciting, but far from an opportunity.
I headed that direction just out of curiosity. I got to about where I thought the elk came by and a second group was headed my way. This was a group of about 8 small bulls and they took a similar path, passing within 135 yards of me. Close, and exciting, but still not archery range. Now I knew there was one stud bull in the group from watching them earlier, and he had not come by yet. I figured he would bring his herd along a similar path as the first two groups. I could clearly see the paths the elk had taken through the dry desert sand so I set up and waited.
After about 30 minutes, here they come. I was hunkered behind a small sage bush about 20 yards from the trail the previous elk had come down and the big bull’s herd was closing fast, but there was a problem. Well two problems. When elk travel, the herd bull is always at the back like a king, with all of his cows leading the way in front of him. So I had to somehow dodge the cows and wait on the bull. The other, and much bigger problem was that the wind was backwards. The elk got to about 200 yards and slammed on the breaks. They knew I was there. Over the next 30 minutes they shuffled to the side and eventually around me at a very safe distance. I blew it, but there was never really a good chance with the way the wind was blowing. I do not think it was a coincidence that the elk had bedded in that spot or that they chose to head into the wind when it was time to move. This was not going to be easy. It was super exciting for the first 4 hours of my hunt, but I knew now that trying to get one with a bow was not going to be the best way.
I went back to base and regrouped. I decided to drive around and glass that afternoon and try to find some elk where I could use my rifle. Getting to within bow range out on those desert flats would be nearly impossible. I found a great spot at the base of the mountains that gave me a few hundred yards of elevation and I could see 20 miles out across the valley. Using binos mounted on a tripod, I could pick up elk over 10 miles away on the valley floor. I quickly learned that the trick was to look for the dust clouds they kicked up when moving. Sitting up there and picking out elk from over 10 miles away was so fun, and by the time the sun went down I had a plan for the next morning.
The new plan was to hike into the firearms area and head to where I saw the dust clouds the night before. There is water source about 6.5 miles from the parking area that I planned to target. Upon arriving at that parking area just before we were allowed on the property, I noticed that there was a half dozen other trucks and some of the guys there had bicycles and horses. This was a very different experience than the day before when I had been the only one at the parking spot to the archery area and I was not equipped to compete with these guys. Long story short, I hiked in, and around for 16 miles and the only elk I saw were two that were killed by the guys on the bikes. They were able to ride in half way to where the designated wilderness area began and where bikes are not allowed, and that gave them about a half hour head start on me. A little demoralized, I headed home to make a new plan.
On the way out I met a man on horseback. He had been in that area the day before with a couple buddies who both got elk, but he had missed his and today he was having as much luck as I was. After a brief chat we parted ways for the day as I could not keep up with his horse. I did not know it yet, but this would not be the last time I met that man. I returned to my glassing spot that evening and repeated the process from the afternoon before. Just before dark, I noticed a herd of elk heading to a different area that was only a 3 mile hike in. I decided that would be where I would head Monday morning.
The next morning I was first at the parking area to access the new spot and made good time getting in. After about 2 miles I bumped a group of elk in the dark. All I could hear was hooves running away, but I could not see anything and only could guess at the direction they went. This encounter caused me to alter my original plan and head in a slightly different direction, where I thought the elk went. As the sun rose, I could see two hunters out ahead of me, set up along a creek bed. I soon realized that they were bugling to a herd of elk somewhere further along the creekbed, but off of the property. The guys were set up right on the boundary of where we could legally hunt hoping to call the elk across.
I came up with the brilliant plan to loop around and see if I could get on the other side of the elk. Worst case scenario I bump them right to those two guys and they get a shot. Best case scenario, I gently push them onto the property where I can get a shot. It was a stupid idea. I soon found the elk hunkered down in the trees along the creek bed, about ¾ of a mile off of the property. For some reason that I still do not understand, I called my dad to make a plan. I am standing in the open, talking on the phone, and my wind was blowing right to them. Unsurprisingly, they did not stick around long. Instead of running onto the huntable area like I had hoped, they pushed south, parallel to the boundary. I took off, hoping to keep them from leaving the area. Elk are much faster than I am and they eventually skirted around me to the safety of a neighboring property which we are not allowed to hunt. I am sure those two guys hated me and I felt like a huge idiot. I was not patient and I blew it for everyone.
After that, I went back to take a nap, and then returned to my glassing spot after lunch. I could see the herd I bumped, way out in the valley, and another herd a few miles away. Both groups were about 10 miles away from the property where I could hunt. I could see that the new group was heading in the general direction of the water source from the day before and I figured they would be in that area in the morning. But that area is 8 miles from the parking area and the same area that I watched the guys on bicycles kill the elk the day before. So I came up with a brilliant plan. I drove an hour to town and bought a cheap bike at Walmart. I was not going to lose the race this time.
While I had been up on the hill glassing, the man with the horse from the day before drove by with his two buddies who already had their elk on ice. We chatted for about 30 minutes on what each other’s game plan was for the next morning and a little about life. They were good dudes and seemed to take amusement at competing with the Software Consultant from Georgia who had driven out here all by himself.