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<blockquote data-quote="RockChucker30" data-source="post: 3780505" data-attributes="member: 11855"><p>Beautiful area. It's a dark timber ridge with a lot of blowdown that's started growing back. There is elk feed, bedding cover, everything they could want. But again, I'm only finding scattered sign of a few cows. My grand plan was to relocate the herd and camp on them. I'm not finding them.</p><p></p><p> <img src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014%20fixed/DSC002251024x683.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </p><p></p><p> But the views! Man elk hunting is good for the soul.</p><p></p><p> <img src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014%20fixed/DSC002261024x683.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </p><p></p><p> I waited till near dark glassing and listening. No bugles. No sightings. I bailed.</p><p></p><p>I descended 3200 feet over 3-4 miles back to the trailhead in 1:59 with full gear. My goal was under 2 hrs. Yes, I'm both anal enough and competitive enough to time it.</p><p></p><p>Day 6:</p><p></p><p>I spent the night on a futon, then strategy meeting the next morning. Midmorning I started hiking into an area I'd covered in 2012. It's lower and has a lot of aspens. </p><p></p><p>I hiked up 2.5-3 miles with 2000' of vert in just under 2 hours. I pitched the tent in what is affectionately known as "elk pee camp". </p><p></p><p> <img src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014/IMG_37431024x768.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </p><p></p><p> <img src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014%20fixed/DSC002271024x683.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </p><p></p><p> I made a wide loop up into the aspens, checked out a couple wallows, and went to lead pipe cinch pinch point that elk absolutely would HAVE to travel through if they were using the area. Nothing.</p><p></p><p>No elk sign fresher than a month (or longer).</p><p></p><p> <img src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014%20fixed/DSC002281024x683.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </p><p></p><p> Absolutely nothing! I couldn't believe it. I bailed. </p><p></p><p>2000+ foot descent in 51 minutes. I trail ran all but the cliffy technical parts with full gear and bow in hand. I was acclimated and feeling good by this point.</p><p></p><p> <img src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014%20fixed/DSC002301024x232.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </p><p></p><p> <img src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014%20fixed/DSC002321024x683.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </p><p></p><p> Day 7:</p><p></p><p>To bed at 10:300 or 11, up at 4 to drive to the next trailhead. Park and start the 2000' climb. Everything around there begins with a 2000' climb. </p><p></p><p>Miss a turn at the top, backtrack a half mile, find the ridge I need to be on, glass............ELK! A cow leading a medium size 5 point in a meadow across the drainage. Another bull! a smallish but legal 4 pt.</p><p></p><p>I bail off the ridge, crawl up the creekbank on the other side to get the wind in my favor, then duck walk, bend over, crawl, knee walk, and crawl some more up through the thick oak brush.</p><p></p><p>I've got to be within 150 yards of where I last saw the elk. It's now nearly 9 am and the winds are very swirly. The oak brush is frustratingly loud. Having made a mistake earlier in the week being too aggressive with elk, I now try the passive approach. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014%20fixed/DSC002331024x683.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>I bed down for the day in some mature oak brush. I nap, watch the sky, and wait for the temps to drop and the wind to stabilize.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014%20fixed/DSC002351024x683.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>That afternoon I staked out a wonderful funnel in the end of the meadow the elk had left earlier that morning. I had great cover, several trails entering the meadow within bow range, even bushes that were at convenient 5 yard intervals. A perfect ambush point.</p><p></p><p> <img src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014/IMG_37471024x768.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RockChucker30, post: 3780505, member: 11855"] Beautiful area. It's a dark timber ridge with a lot of blowdown that's started growing back. There is elk feed, bedding cover, everything they could want. But again, I'm only finding scattered sign of a few cows. My grand plan was to relocate the herd and camp on them. I'm not finding them. [img]http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014%20fixed/DSC002251024x683.jpg[/img] But the views! Man elk hunting is good for the soul. [img]http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014%20fixed/DSC002261024x683.jpg[/img] I waited till near dark glassing and listening. No bugles. No sightings. I bailed. I descended 3200 feet over 3-4 miles back to the trailhead in 1:59 with full gear. My goal was under 2 hrs. Yes, I'm both anal enough and competitive enough to time it. Day 6: I spent the night on a futon, then strategy meeting the next morning. Midmorning I started hiking into an area I'd covered in 2012. It's lower and has a lot of aspens. I hiked up 2.5-3 miles with 2000' of vert in just under 2 hours. I pitched the tent in what is affectionately known as "elk pee camp". [img]http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014/IMG_37431024x768.jpg[/img] [img]http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014%20fixed/DSC002271024x683.jpg[/img] I made a wide loop up into the aspens, checked out a couple wallows, and went to lead pipe cinch pinch point that elk absolutely would HAVE to travel through if they were using the area. Nothing. No elk sign fresher than a month (or longer). [img]http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014%20fixed/DSC002281024x683.jpg[/img] Absolutely nothing! I couldn't believe it. I bailed. 2000+ foot descent in 51 minutes. I trail ran all but the cliffy technical parts with full gear and bow in hand. I was acclimated and feeling good by this point. [img]http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014%20fixed/DSC002301024x232.jpg[/img] [img]http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014%20fixed/DSC002321024x683.jpg[/img] Day 7: To bed at 10:300 or 11, up at 4 to drive to the next trailhead. Park and start the 2000' climb. Everything around there begins with a 2000' climb. Miss a turn at the top, backtrack a half mile, find the ridge I need to be on, glass............ELK! A cow leading a medium size 5 point in a meadow across the drainage. Another bull! a smallish but legal 4 pt. I bail off the ridge, crawl up the creekbank on the other side to get the wind in my favor, then duck walk, bend over, crawl, knee walk, and crawl some more up through the thick oak brush. I've got to be within 150 yards of where I last saw the elk. It's now nearly 9 am and the winds are very swirly. The oak brush is frustratingly loud. Having made a mistake earlier in the week being too aggressive with elk, I now try the passive approach. [img]http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014%20fixed/DSC002331024x683.jpg[/img] I bed down for the day in some mature oak brush. I nap, watch the sky, and wait for the temps to drop and the wind to stabilize. [img]http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014%20fixed/DSC002351024x683.jpg[/img] That afternoon I staked out a wonderful funnel in the end of the meadow the elk had left earlier that morning. I had great cover, several trails entering the meadow within bow range, even bushes that were at convenient 5 yard intervals. A perfect ambush point. [img]http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc286/RockChucker30/Colorado%202014/IMG_37471024x768.jpg[/img] [/QUOTE]
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