coloradohunter
Member
- Messages
- 7
Instead of going for preference points, I put my 13 year old daughter in for a tag I figured she would not draw this year. (Why go for a point if you can have a chance at those longshot tags?) I imagined how cool it would be if she got it, but never believed it could happen. It was very surprising to see my CC get hit for 800 dollars this past week. The next day the email came, and she really did draw the early rifle Fishlake tag with only one point. Further research revealed the non-res tags the year prior went to a guy with 21 points, and two hunters with 19!! Wow! It was more difficult to draw than I realized. We are in shock but super excited. She is my hunter who really has the bug to hunt for her own elk one day. Looks like that desire of hers is within reach in 4 months from now. We are making plans to get time off work and school to make this happen for her. She will probably be 40 years old before she gets a shot at this again, maybe older with point creep. We are going "all in." We shall begin practicing at the range immediately.
I am vaguely familiar with the Fishlake Thousand lakes unit, but I have not set foot in it in over 20 years. I do remember the places I drove around being awesome elk country. Google earth is helping me remember the places I drove through, but I don't remember there being so many roads as Google earth shows. Did UDOT open a construction office on top of the mountain or something?
Referencing bull size, there seems to be a lot of nay-sayers on the quality of the unit in the few threads I have read. Perhaps the chance for 400's isn't there, but I am hopeful and confident we can find her a nice bull with an entire week to spend on the hunt. I am not concerned with the bulls score, only that she has a good time and makes quality memories. She tells me she wants a six point, so I am sure any fully developed six point will work, but I bet a nice big 5 would do the trick too! But hey what if a big one is still out there?, what if a 360 walks out into the open...Oh there I go, daydreaming about big bulls again... No,seriously, it's her hunt and I am excited to be there for her first elk whatever it turns out to be.
How is the unit in your experience? How far off the roads do we gotta get to find solid opportunities to get some shots at elk?
We will have a horse in camp to pack meat, therefore we can pack a bull out a few miles with no problem. She is a tough kid and has no problem walking many miles in a day, so she is up to the challenge. What areas would be considered the remote "horse hunting areas?"
Thanks in advance for any information you would like to share. May all of you and especially your children have unexpected success in the elk draw next year also!
I am vaguely familiar with the Fishlake Thousand lakes unit, but I have not set foot in it in over 20 years. I do remember the places I drove around being awesome elk country. Google earth is helping me remember the places I drove through, but I don't remember there being so many roads as Google earth shows. Did UDOT open a construction office on top of the mountain or something?
Referencing bull size, there seems to be a lot of nay-sayers on the quality of the unit in the few threads I have read. Perhaps the chance for 400's isn't there, but I am hopeful and confident we can find her a nice bull with an entire week to spend on the hunt. I am not concerned with the bulls score, only that she has a good time and makes quality memories. She tells me she wants a six point, so I am sure any fully developed six point will work, but I bet a nice big 5 would do the trick too! But hey what if a big one is still out there?, what if a 360 walks out into the open...Oh there I go, daydreaming about big bulls again... No,seriously, it's her hunt and I am excited to be there for her first elk whatever it turns out to be.
How is the unit in your experience? How far off the roads do we gotta get to find solid opportunities to get some shots at elk?
We will have a horse in camp to pack meat, therefore we can pack a bull out a few miles with no problem. She is a tough kid and has no problem walking many miles in a day, so she is up to the challenge. What areas would be considered the remote "horse hunting areas?"
Thanks in advance for any information you would like to share. May all of you and especially your children have unexpected success in the elk draw next year also!
