Colorado Elk

[Marc]

I got back from my Colorado elk hunting trip yesterday. I had a cow tag and my HB(hunting buddy) had a bull tag. I should have bought the bull tag! This is the country we hunted. There were no elk on those nice level meadows on top of the mountain.


We got there a few days early to scout and spotted a legal bull. On opening day we went after that bull, but we were overrun by the local elk assault team. This was a large group that had from two to six hunters on each of four ridges. They basically drove our bull off the end of the ridge and killed him. So we went elsewhere. That evening we spotted two herds of cows and a small bull in another canyon. We returned in the morning and I immediately spotted a bull across the canyon near the bottom. I didn't have a bull tag so I hot footed it over and got my HB who was several hundred yards away. We got back in time to see the bull bolt for the timber. We later learned another group did a drive through the canyon and spooked him. We stuck around and miracles do happen! My HB spotted the bull in the timber. That afternoon we went down a ridge opposite him and found him again and my HB dropped him on the spot with a single shot.


We got back to the truck about 1:30 A.M. and spent the next two days resting and packing out elk meat. It took a while but we think we did all right for a couple middle aged guys. This is a view to the north from the elk. We spotted him from the top on the right and came off the ridge on the left to get the shot.


This is a view up the hillside we climbed to get out. The picture does not do it justice. It is a steep tangled mess of down timber. A real obstacle course!


This is what we left for the bears and such. We got 200 lbs. of boneless meat plus the heart and liver. It was cool and it ought to be good eating.


We had one day left to get a cow. We spotted a couple in the morning but they were to far away. We went around them and approached from the other side on a closer ridge. We got into range and while I was on my way to a downed tree to rest the rifle on they bolted. We later learned there was another hunter above the cows that was scouting for next weeks deer season. Arrgh! That was it as we didn't spot any more cows that day. That was really the only thing that went totally wrong in an otherwise successful hunt.

[Jarhead]

Great job! Mighty fine...man, I can hear those "Back Straps" cooking already. Nothing better than Elk on a fella's plate.
Congrats...

[El Chivo]

Great going, sounds like quite an adventure. I guess your freezer is really full now.

[TedH]

Congratulations! Sounds like a fantastic hunt. That is some beautiful country too.

[Sixgun]

I know from experience that you had quite a job hauling that elk outta there!. Its not a job for middle aged dudes (especially EASTERN middle aged dudes) to be doing. You done well and I can see you are experienced for boning out the meat and leaving the bones and scraps for the 'yotes

I usually get out there but I decided not to hunt this year. I felt like playing in the Rockies instead. My son, John (Sixgun Jr.) is currently hunting elk somewheres near Durango.----Nice pics and congrats on the bull------------Sixgun

[Marc]

Thanks! We had more fun than its legal to have. We did push it over the limit. I'm 58 and my partner is 54. I don't know how many more of these I will be able to do. The classic quote was from another hunter we met. He and his partner both killed bulls down in the canyon on opening day. He saw us drive by his camp at 1:40 AM and said, "Those guys killed one down in some sh*thole too!"

This was my first successful elk hunt. I went last year with a cow tag. I found some cows but my partners wouldn't go down in the canyon to get on them and I was leary of trying it by myself so I didn't get anything. I have never hunted with this HB before but we have been trying to get together for years and finally made it happen. He is my kind of hunter. He will go after them.

[BigSky56]

Marc, That will be a good eating bull, its hunts like this that make memories that will always make you smile. danny

[marlinman93]

Congratulations Marc! Some of those memories will hopefully fade, or you wont want to do that again! Shooting the elk in a deep draw is the beginning of the real work, and if you remember that too well next year, you may hesitate before pulling the trigger!

[Griff]

Congrats to you and your huntin' buddy. All of it becomes legend in the re-telling... good and bad. Hunting public lands means having to put up with some disappointments... but it makes the successes all that much sweeter.