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Elk plans for 2020

Wish me luck! I'm headed out in the morning to pickup a rental truck, some 4 wheelers and my brother and then we'll be on our way to CO for our elk hunt. We'll probably acclimate at the truck on Friday and then head up the mountain Saturday.
 
Wish me luck! I'm headed out in the morning to pickup a rental truck, some 4 wheelers and my brother and then we'll be on our way to CO for our elk hunt. We'll probably acclimate at the truck on Friday and then head up the mountain Saturday.

Hey man how’d it go/going??
 
Wish me luck! I'm headed out in the morning to pickup a rental truck, some 4 wheelers and my brother and then we'll be on our way to CO for our elk hunt. We'll probably acclimate at the truck on Friday and then head up the mountain Saturday.

Hey man how’d it go/going??

Phone goofed ignore duplicate.
 
Hey man how’d it go/going??

Phone goofed ignore duplicate.
I had an absolute blast! We spent the first half of the trip trying to get into our unit by base camping on the neighboring unit and 4 wheeling up to the mountain range that leads into our unit. If it wasn't for the snow that hit Colorado a week earlier it probably would have worked! We got snowed out above 10,600 elevation and crossed the saddle into our unit at 10,800 elevation. We were planning on heading south but that pass was snowed out pretty bad (topped out at 11,100 elevation) so we turned around and headed north to follow a different ridgeline into the burn but got cliffed out. I had to belly crawl up a mountain with my pack on and my bow balancing on my shoulders to get out of there.

We packed up about mid week and relocated to the eastern half of the unit (where the majority of the pressure was). After about a day and a half we managed to get on the elk. I could hear this bull screaming his head off the night before (his bugle sounded like a freight train) in this deep draw below us. The next morning we dropped 700 feet elevation into this pit to chase him. I managed to call him in but he never fully committed. He screamed in our faces (felt like the t-rex from jurassic park) and I cut him off. Next thing you know he turns around and pushes his cows off to somewhere we couldn't follow (man those things can MOVE). I know he didn't wind us because the morning thermals were still in our favor. We spent the rest of the morning tromping around their bedding area getting satellite bulls to fire off but none would come in (I think we even called in a couple of hunters as well).

We should have had two more good days of hunting left but after crawling out of that hole my hunting partner informed me that he "may have miscalculated" how much food he had left. He's family so I couldn't kill him but the silver lining is I get to hold it over his head for the rest of his life. I did manage to shoot a grouse though, those things are tasty!

All in all I'm failry certain I'm hooked. I definitely have some more training to do but overall I'm happy with my first attempt.
 
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I had an absolute blast! We spent the first half of the trip trying to get into our unit by base camping on the neighboring unit and 4 wheeling up to the mountain range that leads into our unit. If it wasn't for the snow that hit Colorado a week earlier it probably would have worked! We got snowed out above 10,600 elevation and crossed the saddle into our unit at 10,800 elevation. We were planning on heading south but that pass was snowed out pretty bad (topped out at 11,100 elevation) so we turned around and headed north to follow a different ridgeline into the burn but got cliffed out. I had to belly crawl up a mountain with my pack on and my bow balancing on my shoulders to get out of there.

We packed up about mid week and relocated to the eastern half of the unit (where the majority of the pressure was). After about a day and a half we managed to get on the elk. I could hear this bull screaming his head off the night before (his bugle sounded like a freight train) in this deep draw below us. The next morning we dropped 700 feet elevation into this pit to chase him. I managed to call him in but he never fully committed. He screamed in our faces (felt like the t-rex from jurassic park) and I cut him off. Next thing you know he turns around and pushes his cows off to somewhere we couldn't follow (man those things can MOVE). I know he didn't wind us because the morning thermals were still in our favor. We spent the rest of the morning tromping around their bedding area getting satellite bulls to fire off but none would come in (I think we even called in a couple of hunters as well).

We should have had two more good days of hunting left but after crawling out of that hole my hunting partner informed me that he "may have miscalculated" how much food he had left. He's family so I couldn't kill him but the silver lining is I get to hold it over his head for the rest of his life. I did manage to shoot a grouse though, those things are tasty!

All in all I'm failry certain I'm hooked. I definitely have some more training to do but overall I'm happy with my first attempt.

Sounds like a miserable but awesome trip! Lol
Someday I might get out there and hunt one!
 
I live in western Montana and hunt out my back door. I'm definitely no elk expert but this year has seemed real slow locally. Not seeing much in the way of elk sign nor am I seeing the usual amount of antlers in the back of trucks.

The neighbor gave me a hot tip the other day I might follow up on once I set up my game plan. I prefer evening hunts but they are hard since coaching football always interferes. On the plus side the hot tip involved morning movements so I might just have to change my habits. Thank god for coffee and nic-pouches.

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Sounds like people are experiencing the best kind of misery. I'll be headed out to CO to rifle hunt units 21,22,30,31,&32 for elk and possibly bear. If any of you fine folks were in that neighborhood and have hot tips or fresh info you want to share I'd appreciate it. Can't wait to get back in the mountains again, been 9 years since the last time I went..

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Very slow year. But this would've been alot nicer in a saddle! Last day miracle bull.
67b4801d0b025f0346ab9d3784229fa5.jpg


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That's a nice looking bull. Congrats

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