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Hunting - other than deer
My 1st Elk hunt...CO
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<blockquote data-quote="trap55555" data-source="post: 2619157" data-attributes="member: 2032"><p>The Hunt:</p><p>The forecast for the first days are not good, "warm"..might I add hot. Bwinters loves to hike and climb. So Friday (last minute scout day) the day before opening we wait until late morning/midday and take a scouting trip or maybe it was a test to see what kind of condition I was in.... I'm still not sure which. So after 6 miles yes 6, (on a goat trail i might add) were back at the truck. One thing I do know this country we live has some beautiful places to see and I get to hunt in some of this coming week.</p><p></p><p></p><p> <img src="http://www.tenntrap.com/otherpics/elkhunt11/pict0460.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </p><p> <img src="http://www.tenntrap.com/otherpics/elkhunt11/pict0466.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Day I, Saturday - up and out early, hike in take a spot. After about 30 minutes I see game it's a doe picking her way through, she hangs out 45 minutes browsing and she moves on, but it's the first mule deer I've ever seen in the field. After a while its time to move, then move again, finally get to a place to spend the last light of the day. I see more deer, then more deer. Then about sunset another racket has my attention up on the hill about 200 yds away. It's elk, there's elk here (Wee!), those things are big. There were two, one cow for sure didn't get a good look at the other. Total deer for the day either 15 or 16, with maybe 5 of those that are duplicates.</p><p></p><p>Day II Sunday - same as yesterday up early, out late.... I go back to where I seen elk the evening before and spent all day there. See plenty more deer all does (8) plus 1 yote dog, but no elk.</p><p>Day III Monday - let's try a new place, and it's higher... More climbing,a plus more people. But I see more elk, 5 today and 4 are bulls. Two spikes, one bigger spike that might have forks, but I didn't look at it long because the one following has some points for sure. But it is running I see three to a side for sure (need at least 4 on one side to be legal), looking, looking, I think I see four, not sure, yea maybe, yes I think so, and the elk turns it back to me slips off into the dark woods. More deer, totals for the day deer=8, elk=5. Plus a lot of hunters.</p><p>Here a photo is of the meadow I hunted and where I seen the elk.</p><p></p><p> <img src="http://www.tenntrap.com/otherpics/elkhunt11/pict0485.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </p><p>Day IV Tuesday - rest day, get a shower....... No hunting, well we do hunt but it was for a shower. With big weather changes coming. Snow starts falling in the evening. I needed the rest day, this is the hardest hunting that I have ever did, I have never walked so much, hunted so hard, carried so much while hunting, and climbed so much while hunting in my life. But I was happy to find that i had my muscles in fair condition because they were not sore, but I couldn't get enough air, as we live at about 1000 feet ASL. And I had to rest much more than bwinters as he has a motor when it comes to hunting and climbing.</p><p>Day V Wednesday - wake up to about 3 inches of snow at camp. Hike back to the place where I seen the 5 elk, get there and find about 6 inches of snow and it is beautiful, the morning was so quiet it was erie. Unfortunately this time no elk, and no others hunters in the area. Camp is thinning out some also, the weather forecast for our area was much worst than what came, plus some people not seeing more elk I think sent some people packing. The temps are dropping and it is suppose to get much colder.</p><p>Same place as Monday but with snow (notice tall tree in center of both photo's).</p><p> <img src="http://www.tenntrap.com/otherpics/elkhunt11/pict0487.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </p><p></p><p>Day VI Thursday - it's cold, nothing seems to work, the CO detector in the camper is chirping, it not working because the batteries are bad but because the batteries just barely work at these temps. My eye contact solution has ice in it. All on the water is now it the hard form. There is frost all over the inside of the camper. We have to thaw the water to get something to drink for breakfast, the eggs yokes have turned to a stiff gel. Start the generator and get some heat going.</p><p></p><p>The thermometer in the truck indicated 5 degrees F. We hang around camp and get stuff functional, lose the morning hunt and have thoughts of pulling out early, bwinters has only seen 2 elk. And the sign that we would have hoped to see it the snow on Day 5 wasn't there.</p><p></p><p>Bill tells me that if I want to go we can go, if I want to stay we'll stay. The original plan was to stay until Saturday. But its Thursday and the elk have appeared to moved out.</p><p>There was one place that we wanted to look at earlier but we didn't because there was a group camping at the trail that told us that they were staying all week and were hunting deep back. But we had noticed they had pulled out early along with others. So I suggested that we go there this afternoon and check it out, with the snow from Tuesday night and Wed. morning we should see if there are elk in the area fairly quickly. If nothing was there we could pull out in the morning (Fri). So that was the plan.</p><p></p><p>We hit the trail late morn or so, about 1.5 miles later, we get to the area where the hunting starts. Bill goes one direction and I go another, we have radios for comm. and gps's after 2 or 3 hours we talk and both of us have tracks in the snow. Bill is going to sit over a meadow, I'm going into some dark timber and see if I can pick up some tracks.</p><p>Time passes and I'm not seeing much more, I haven't heard from bill. Also I have remember that I have left my petzl headlamp in camp (Grrrrr). So I don't want to be in the timber without a backup light so I start ezzzing my way ever slowly down off the mtn, at least out of the dark timber. I break out of the DT and get to an opening and stop and start hunting the Aspen.</p><p></p><p>I notice what looks like part of an animal off to my right about 200yds. Pull up the Minox (thank you Doug for the deal) and see that it is a beautiful 4x4 buck moving ever so quietly & slowly. I continue to watch him and the woods below for other movement. He moves on and I start moving on down again too.</p><p></p><p>Along about 5:45- 5:50 +/- I here a shot a good distance away, then another shot. Then my radio breaks it's silence an I hear Bill's voice, "I've shot a bull but I can't find it", "do you want me to come and help?", "no not yet, let me see if I can find it", delay, delay and I continue to go a little lower on the mtn. Radio again, "hey I found it, and I'm going to need your help", "ok, where are you? How big is it?", "it's a 6x6", "cool, give me GPS coords". "ok hang on". I've now started in the general direction that I believe him to be in. We try to relay the gps coords but the distance between us keeps the signal form being clear but I know the general direction and I am making my way. Time to rest so I stop for some air, try the gps coords again but no luck but something doesn't sound right, but I keeping moving.</p><p></p><p>I stop again to take a short break. As I'm standing there I hear something coming through the woods, and it sounds heavy. I look up and see elk coming across above me at about 100yds and running first I noticed a cow... nope, not the target next, then another, then a spike, nope,nope,nope, then they slow down and seem a little hesitant, the first group moves on then a second group right behinf them moves in. Hey there one that might be a shooter, put the 3.5x10 lupy up and start counting points from the top 1,2,3,4... that's as far as I got then moved the X the target area, squeezed and "nothing",.... Take the safety off dummy, second try is successful bullet is away. Felt good about the shot, the bull ran a short distance (7-10 yds) up a little hill and I have a new 165 gr Acubond in the tube and ready. But now I don't have a shot for the trees. Then I noticed another bull maybe better than the one I shot at, about that time, he crumples back down the hill and has expired.</p><p> <img src="http://www.tenntrap.com/otherpics/elkhunt11/pict0514.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </p><p> <img src="http://www.tenntrap.com/otherpics/elkhunt11/pict0515.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </p><p></p><p></p><p>Bill on radio, "hey I've got this down and I'm going need your help to get him out", "hey I've got one down too", "was that you that shot?, what is it", "yea, I don't know but it is legal", "go find out and tell me what it is", "Bill, it's a 5x5", "great, well tag it and come up here and help me then we'll go quarter yours, it going to be long night", "ok, give me those coords again"..... we had our GPSs setup to display the coords differently, got that straight and seen that he was 0.81 miles away. And of course it was up hill for me.</p><p></p><p>Both elk quartered, back strap out, all hung in the trees. On a clear moonless night you could see every star in the sky like i had never seen them before. We get back to the truck @ 11:30 and the thermometer reads 9F. It sure didn't seem that cold.</p><p> <img src="http://www.tenntrap.com/otherpics/elkhunt11/pa300010.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="trap55555, post: 2619157, member: 2032"] The Hunt: The forecast for the first days are not good, "warm"..might I add hot. Bwinters loves to hike and climb. So Friday (last minute scout day) the day before opening we wait until late morning/midday and take a scouting trip or maybe it was a test to see what kind of condition I was in.... I'm still not sure which. So after 6 miles yes 6, (on a goat trail i might add) were back at the truck. One thing I do know this country we live has some beautiful places to see and I get to hunt in some of this coming week. [img]http://www.tenntrap.com/otherpics/elkhunt11/pict0460.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.tenntrap.com/otherpics/elkhunt11/pict0466.jpg[/img] Day I, Saturday - up and out early, hike in take a spot. After about 30 minutes I see game it's a doe picking her way through, she hangs out 45 minutes browsing and she moves on, but it's the first mule deer I've ever seen in the field. After a while its time to move, then move again, finally get to a place to spend the last light of the day. I see more deer, then more deer. Then about sunset another racket has my attention up on the hill about 200 yds away. It's elk, there's elk here (Wee!), those things are big. There were two, one cow for sure didn't get a good look at the other. Total deer for the day either 15 or 16, with maybe 5 of those that are duplicates. Day II Sunday - same as yesterday up early, out late.... I go back to where I seen elk the evening before and spent all day there. See plenty more deer all does (8) plus 1 yote dog, but no elk. Day III Monday - let's try a new place, and it's higher... More climbing,a plus more people. But I see more elk, 5 today and 4 are bulls. Two spikes, one bigger spike that might have forks, but I didn't look at it long because the one following has some points for sure. But it is running I see three to a side for sure (need at least 4 on one side to be legal), looking, looking, I think I see four, not sure, yea maybe, yes I think so, and the elk turns it back to me slips off into the dark woods. More deer, totals for the day deer=8, elk=5. Plus a lot of hunters. Here a photo is of the meadow I hunted and where I seen the elk. [img]http://www.tenntrap.com/otherpics/elkhunt11/pict0485.jpg[/img] Day IV Tuesday - rest day, get a shower....... No hunting, well we do hunt but it was for a shower. With big weather changes coming. Snow starts falling in the evening. I needed the rest day, this is the hardest hunting that I have ever did, I have never walked so much, hunted so hard, carried so much while hunting, and climbed so much while hunting in my life. But I was happy to find that i had my muscles in fair condition because they were not sore, but I couldn't get enough air, as we live at about 1000 feet ASL. And I had to rest much more than bwinters as he has a motor when it comes to hunting and climbing. Day V Wednesday - wake up to about 3 inches of snow at camp. Hike back to the place where I seen the 5 elk, get there and find about 6 inches of snow and it is beautiful, the morning was so quiet it was erie. Unfortunately this time no elk, and no others hunters in the area. Camp is thinning out some also, the weather forecast for our area was much worst than what came, plus some people not seeing more elk I think sent some people packing. The temps are dropping and it is suppose to get much colder. Same place as Monday but with snow (notice tall tree in center of both photo's). [img]http://www.tenntrap.com/otherpics/elkhunt11/pict0487.jpg[/img] Day VI Thursday - it's cold, nothing seems to work, the CO detector in the camper is chirping, it not working because the batteries are bad but because the batteries just barely work at these temps. My eye contact solution has ice in it. All on the water is now it the hard form. There is frost all over the inside of the camper. We have to thaw the water to get something to drink for breakfast, the eggs yokes have turned to a stiff gel. Start the generator and get some heat going. The thermometer in the truck indicated 5 degrees F. We hang around camp and get stuff functional, lose the morning hunt and have thoughts of pulling out early, bwinters has only seen 2 elk. And the sign that we would have hoped to see it the snow on Day 5 wasn't there. Bill tells me that if I want to go we can go, if I want to stay we'll stay. The original plan was to stay until Saturday. But its Thursday and the elk have appeared to moved out. There was one place that we wanted to look at earlier but we didn't because there was a group camping at the trail that told us that they were staying all week and were hunting deep back. But we had noticed they had pulled out early along with others. So I suggested that we go there this afternoon and check it out, with the snow from Tuesday night and Wed. morning we should see if there are elk in the area fairly quickly. If nothing was there we could pull out in the morning (Fri). So that was the plan. We hit the trail late morn or so, about 1.5 miles later, we get to the area where the hunting starts. Bill goes one direction and I go another, we have radios for comm. and gps's after 2 or 3 hours we talk and both of us have tracks in the snow. Bill is going to sit over a meadow, I'm going into some dark timber and see if I can pick up some tracks. Time passes and I'm not seeing much more, I haven't heard from bill. Also I have remember that I have left my petzl headlamp in camp (Grrrrr). So I don't want to be in the timber without a backup light so I start ezzzing my way ever slowly down off the mtn, at least out of the dark timber. I break out of the DT and get to an opening and stop and start hunting the Aspen. I notice what looks like part of an animal off to my right about 200yds. Pull up the Minox (thank you Doug for the deal) and see that it is a beautiful 4x4 buck moving ever so quietly & slowly. I continue to watch him and the woods below for other movement. He moves on and I start moving on down again too. Along about 5:45- 5:50 +/- I here a shot a good distance away, then another shot. Then my radio breaks it's silence an I hear Bill's voice, "I've shot a bull but I can't find it", "do you want me to come and help?", "no not yet, let me see if I can find it", delay, delay and I continue to go a little lower on the mtn. Radio again, "hey I found it, and I'm going to need your help", "ok, where are you? How big is it?", "it's a 6x6", "cool, give me GPS coords". "ok hang on". I've now started in the general direction that I believe him to be in. We try to relay the gps coords but the distance between us keeps the signal form being clear but I know the general direction and I am making my way. Time to rest so I stop for some air, try the gps coords again but no luck but something doesn't sound right, but I keeping moving. I stop again to take a short break. As I'm standing there I hear something coming through the woods, and it sounds heavy. I look up and see elk coming across above me at about 100yds and running first I noticed a cow... nope, not the target next, then another, then a spike, nope,nope,nope, then they slow down and seem a little hesitant, the first group moves on then a second group right behinf them moves in. Hey there one that might be a shooter, put the 3.5x10 lupy up and start counting points from the top 1,2,3,4... that's as far as I got then moved the X the target area, squeezed and "nothing",.... Take the safety off dummy, second try is successful bullet is away. Felt good about the shot, the bull ran a short distance (7-10 yds) up a little hill and I have a new 165 gr Acubond in the tube and ready. But now I don't have a shot for the trees. Then I noticed another bull maybe better than the one I shot at, about that time, he crumples back down the hill and has expired. [img]http://www.tenntrap.com/otherpics/elkhunt11/pict0514.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.tenntrap.com/otherpics/elkhunt11/pict0515.jpg[/img] Bill on radio, "hey I've got this down and I'm going need your help to get him out", "hey I've got one down too", "was that you that shot?, what is it", "yea, I don't know but it is legal", "go find out and tell me what it is", "Bill, it's a 5x5", "great, well tag it and come up here and help me then we'll go quarter yours, it going to be long night", "ok, give me those coords again"..... we had our GPSs setup to display the coords differently, got that straight and seen that he was 0.81 miles away. And of course it was up hill for me. Both elk quartered, back strap out, all hung in the trees. On a clear moonless night you could see every star in the sky like i had never seen them before. We get back to the truck @ 11:30 and the thermometer reads 9F. It sure didn't seem that cold. [img]http://www.tenntrap.com/otherpics/elkhunt11/pa300010.jpg[/img] [/QUOTE]
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