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cohntr6
Guest
AS colorado's first rifle season opened yesterday I was wondering how it went, weather, success, failures..????!!
Post pictures if you want!!!
Jeff
Post pictures if you want!!!
Jeff
Coloradoboy
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Opening day was rainy and overcast from what I could tell, my next door neighbor is up hunting in the frying pan wilderness at the moment. Went to pick up my dad's elk taken in Unit 2 in Colorado at the meat plant and some guys had brought in I want to say 4 bulls taken yester day. Two small 4s and 5s one real funny looking 5x6 and one pretty decent 6x6. All taken in Unit 11 west of craig on private land I want to say cause I didn't talk to the guys, just the packing plant owner after they left.
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contender
Guest
I didn't see any elk but when I sat down to eat a sandwich four bears waltzed by all in a line. Got them on my cam corder.
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cohntr6
Guest
Coloradoboy,
What did your dad take in unit 2? Was it a monster bull?
Counting my days till I can get back to CO to hunt deer....29....
Thanks for the replies.
Jeff
What did your dad take in unit 2? Was it a monster bull?
Counting my days till I can get back to CO to hunt deer....29....
Thanks for the replies.
Jeff
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coheaincolo
Guest
Saw very little sign in unit 79 over the season. hunted very hard, found a couple tracks etc but no elk...not sure what the problem was.
got chased off of the mountain tuesday by the snow.
got chased off of the mountain tuesday by the snow.
Waygoner
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I hunted hard in GMU 55 for 5 days. Didn't see a single animal until day 5. Started in Taylor Park, but all signs pointed to the animals migrating out. Snowed hard on Saturday night and collapsed our gear tent. Hunted from home on Tuesday and Wednesday. Finally saw two bulls on Wednesday morning, but it was too foggy and dark to get a shot.
Coloradoboy
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He got real pretty 6x6 on the 7th day of the hunt. We guess him in the 330-340 range and has great width and mass. Saw tons of elk and passed up tons of bull in the 330 class. Just had to shoot this one because time was running out, but still is a hell of a bull. Chased a few 350+ bulls around. One on opening day that we got withing 600 yards of and had no cows and busted him that we guessed in the 360's 370's. And on the 4th and 5th my dad and a friend chased a nice 360+ bull around that he should of killed but left his gun in the truck in the truck will they got out to glass 100 yards or so away when my dad's friend cow called and the bull anwsered 200 yards below them and stepped out but my dad couldn't get to the truck fast enough to get a shot till he moved off. But overall it was and incredible time and we meet some great people and saw many things.
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Peashooter
Guest
LAST EDITED ON Oct-20-06 AT 12:01PM (MST)[p]Coloradoboy,
7th day of a 5 day season?
My guess is you are talking about Muz, just curious.
Pea
7th day of a 5 day season?
My guess is you are talking about Muz, just curious.
Pea
Coloradoboy
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No, No. Unit 2 has it's own special rifle season that takes place starting on Oct.1 and runs unit Oct.11
Coloradoboy
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Sorry meant until October 11th
Coloradoboy,
Did you and your Dad use an outfitter or did you do it yourself hunt? How many preference points did it take to draw the tag? I was wondering I have 15 points and have been thinking of hunting unit 2 any information you could give would be great.
Thanks
Rasstus
Did you and your Dad use an outfitter or did you do it yourself hunt? How many preference points did it take to draw the tag? I was wondering I have 15 points and have been thinking of hunting unit 2 any information you could give would be great.
Thanks
Rasstus
Coloradoboy
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We did not use an outfitter but we payed a trespass fee to a real nice lady by the name of Wanda Walker who lives right on Douglas moutain, which is where we killed my dad's bull and a couple other guys did. She's a great lady she only charges $200 and you can hunt her whole property. We also chased some elk around over on the Bear's Ears. It took my dad 15 going on 16 points to draw. So you should for sure draw. It's a great hunt and you'll see tons of elk it is where the govener's tag has been filled the last two years do to most peoples oppion holds the biggest elk in the state. Plus they are right in the middle of the rut when you hunt so that improves your chances. Even though for some reason the two big bulls we chased around had not one cow and would not come to any type of call where all the bulls in 320-330 class had cows and quite a few. Where do you live? I'm down in Glenwood Springs and you can get a hold of me on my e-mail which is [email protected].
Coloradoboy
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No sorry man
Here's a few photos.....The side shot with me with orange on is my 06' small 5x5 taken off my BLM spotin western CO. The 5x6 Bull by itself was my bull from the same canyon during last years 2nd rifle season and the 4x4 is of my 2 buddies during the 2nd season 2005 in the same area. I'm very fortunate to have found a very steep, rugged and dry BLM area that has very little public access and virtually no hunters! We have to pack everything up and out! There are no 4-wheelers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dream about this spot in the off-season and curse it every second I'm up on that mountain during the season.....but truthfully, I just take my time and stop and stare at this place every chance I get. This year was very odd.....for 3 consecutive years prior, it has been dry and warm.....this year was wet and cold and I'm glad we got off that mountain before monday evening!
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cohntr6
Guest
Glad to see all the success!!
Now lets see some pictures!!!
Coloadoboy, do you know how to check your 'inbox' for a pm?
Jeff
Now lets see some pictures!!!
Coloadoboy, do you know how to check your 'inbox' for a pm?
Jeff
Coloradoboy
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no tell me?
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cohntr6
Guest
on the main forum ("general hunting, mule deer, elk," etc... )page look at the row of options..
"logout, help, search, mark all, user, read new, INBOX, bookmarks, profiles"
you want to go to inbox and you should have a pm or private message.
Jeff
"logout, help, search, mark all, user, read new, INBOX, bookmarks, profiles"
you want to go to inbox and you should have a pm or private message.
Jeff
Well, I did not shoot or see an elk in Colorado GMU 75. I'm was a first time elk hunter, and I think my failure was probably due to my rookie mistakes, some I have identified and others yet unperceived by me.
My Plan A was to backpack into the Weminuche Wilderness area and hunt around treeline. 8" to 10" of snow was on the ground when I backpacked in, making the going difficult and discouraging me from going in as deeply as I planned. On opening morning snow started at 4 AM and continued all day, which led me to decide to pack out to avoid getting stuck until spring up there. So, my Plan A got flushed and I had no Plan B!!! A big mistake there.
I hunted the remaining 4 days of the Colorado first rifle elk season driving up the road, finding a "likely spot," parking the truck, climbing up the ridge, and looking for elk. I saw lots of sign -- fresh elk tracks (there was new snow almost every night), elk droppings, elk beds, a rub -- so I felt I was at the right elevation and generally around the elk, just didn't see the elk. I left early several evenings, before the end of legal shooting light and got out late several mornings. I think these were mistakes that reduced my chances of success, and I won't make this mistake next time.
I found some very fresh elk tracks one morning -- crossed fresh tracks about 30 minutes after a very heavy snowfall, had to be less than 30 minutes old. I followed these tracks up with energy and speed but wore out before I found the elk. I'm thinking maybe my method was wrong, that speed wasn't what was needed, that maybe the elk saw me and walked just fast enough to keep in front of me. Any recommendations about what I should have done when I came across these 30 minute old elk tracks, at about 10 AM??? Follow up slow, glassing ahead a lot? What does the experienced elk hunter do in this circumstance?
I spent a late afternoon and an early morning hidden on the edge of a small park that was surrounded by dark timber, hidden from the road, with a small stream on one edge. I was waiting in ambush for an elk to show up. Is this sometimes a productive strategy or is this a low probability action?
My Plan A was to backpack into the Weminuche Wilderness area and hunt around treeline. 8" to 10" of snow was on the ground when I backpacked in, making the going difficult and discouraging me from going in as deeply as I planned. On opening morning snow started at 4 AM and continued all day, which led me to decide to pack out to avoid getting stuck until spring up there. So, my Plan A got flushed and I had no Plan B!!! A big mistake there.
I hunted the remaining 4 days of the Colorado first rifle elk season driving up the road, finding a "likely spot," parking the truck, climbing up the ridge, and looking for elk. I saw lots of sign -- fresh elk tracks (there was new snow almost every night), elk droppings, elk beds, a rub -- so I felt I was at the right elevation and generally around the elk, just didn't see the elk. I left early several evenings, before the end of legal shooting light and got out late several mornings. I think these were mistakes that reduced my chances of success, and I won't make this mistake next time.
I found some very fresh elk tracks one morning -- crossed fresh tracks about 30 minutes after a very heavy snowfall, had to be less than 30 minutes old. I followed these tracks up with energy and speed but wore out before I found the elk. I'm thinking maybe my method was wrong, that speed wasn't what was needed, that maybe the elk saw me and walked just fast enough to keep in front of me. Any recommendations about what I should have done when I came across these 30 minute old elk tracks, at about 10 AM??? Follow up slow, glassing ahead a lot? What does the experienced elk hunter do in this circumstance?
I spent a late afternoon and an early morning hidden on the edge of a small park that was surrounded by dark timber, hidden from the road, with a small stream on one edge. I was waiting in ambush for an elk to show up. Is this sometimes a productive strategy or is this a low probability action?
sjhgraysage
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well anything can happen on an elk hunt. But the first 30 minutes of daylight in the morning are always the best bet for the whole day IMO. That said I've jumped or walked up on elk in the middle of the day, always in timber, get the wind in your face and move through likey timber patches, sometimes you will smell elk before you see them.
An elk making tracks at 10:00 am is usually going someplace! not just meandering around feeding, so if you can figure out where that place might be and take a shortcut you might catch up. If your tracking that elk and are fairly sure its not spooked and headin for New Mexico! you might track it to its day bed if you can keep the wind right and see it before it sees you, stealth is sometimes more important than speed. If the tracks show an elk thats running and spooked I would probably look for a different set of tracks to follow, one or some that are moving towards the bedding area, then you need to decide if you want to track em down or figure out about where they/it is and wait for them to move in the evening hoping for an opportinity.
my .02
An elk making tracks at 10:00 am is usually going someplace! not just meandering around feeding, so if you can figure out where that place might be and take a shortcut you might catch up. If your tracking that elk and are fairly sure its not spooked and headin for New Mexico! you might track it to its day bed if you can keep the wind right and see it before it sees you, stealth is sometimes more important than speed. If the tracks show an elk thats running and spooked I would probably look for a different set of tracks to follow, one or some that are moving towards the bedding area, then you need to decide if you want to track em down or figure out about where they/it is and wait for them to move in the evening hoping for an opportinity.
my .02
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dutch
Guest
I've seen just as many elk at 2 in the afternoon as to 6 am
sjhgraysage: Thanks for the comments. The tracks appeared to be unhurried and leisurely paced, not that I'm expert in this judgement of course. Because snow had been going on all morning and then stopped suddenly, my guess was the elk had holed up during the storm (snow, periodic dense fog, and variable strong winds from about 5:30 AM to 9:30 AM, with strongest snow dropping between 9:20 AM to 9:30 AM -- very fine powder snow at my 10,500' altitutde) and were moving to their beds. Therefore, your advice would be to follow these tracks with stealth, emphasizing the importance of trying to see the elk before it saw me.
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Flatlandr
Guest
We went up 2 days before season to acclimate, weather was great for 3-1/2 days then went sour on us for 2-3 days, finally stabilized enough that the critters started moving again on the last day of the season. Our group of 4 collected 2 bulls, one 10 minutes into the opening day & one with 2 hours left on the last day. The other two could have taken Cows if they wanted to.
Either way it was a awesome trip...time to start planning for next year!
Mark
Either way it was a awesome trip...time to start planning for next year!
Mark
tracker12
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Well we hunted area 2 for cows trying to do some scouting for when we draw our bull tags for that area. Was surprized that we did not see more elk than we did. Actually saw bulls the first two days and no cows. Finally on Monday I tokk a nice fat cow off Douglas Mountain. That was the last we hunted as the snow came in Tuesday and we were happy to get off the Mountain with all our. Was suprized we did not see more elk considering the reports we have heard. I actuallu think we hunted to high.
Coloradoboy
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Tracker 12 I am your man to talk area 2 I am 14 and my dad has had me in the country since I can remember. Give me a PM and I'll tell you where to look when you draw cause I'll never live to draw the tag and my dad already drew and fill the tag this year.
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Flatlandr
Guest
congrats to you & especially your wife, very nice Co Bull.
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cohntr6
Guest
Sweet bull, gettinold, congrats to your wife and thanks for sharing the picture!!
BTW, welcome to MM!
Were the bulls talking much during your hunt?
Jeff
BTW, welcome to MM!
Were the bulls talking much during your hunt?
Jeff
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nbjbhunterman
Guest
nice bull
NBJB
NBJB
Sorry for the delayed response. Off chasing other critters.
Not much talking during my wife's hunt. Just a few bugles here and there. Quite snowy the first couple of days with not much movement. She took her bull the evening after the storms broke. Heard they were still talking in places during 3rd season though.
Not all who wander are lost!
Not much talking during my wife's hunt. Just a few bugles here and there. Quite snowy the first couple of days with not much movement. She took her bull the evening after the storms broke. Heard they were still talking in places during 3rd season though.
Not all who wander are lost!
