I've hunted unit 54 twenty-five times since 1978 and saddlesore is right. The elk have changed their patterns. I suppose that the drought is as good a reason as any other to explain why they have changed.
Last year and the year before, we packed in and setup a remote base camp seven miles from the trailhead, then did overnight spike camps from there. Both years we eventually decided that we were too far in. You might understand that we did not come to that decision easily since we had invested considerable time and effort to get gear and supplies that far from the road.
Both years we moved our remote base camp back closer to the road and that's where we got intio the elk. In 2011 my buddy got a cow. Last year three of us got three cows and one guy missed a shot at a bull. This year we will go in only about 3 1/2 miles.
I don't know anything about West Elk Outfitters.
Tenderfoot's camp is about six miles from the trailhead and they normally hunt North Castle Creek. I think that's too far and too high unless we have a wet summer. I suppose that Fred Stinson might seem like a nice guy if you are a high dollar customer. But if you are a DIY hunter in his neighborhood, he's not too friendly.
I'll go on my annual scouting expedition in late summer and take a look at the high basins at the base of the Baldys and through North Castle Creek. I'll see what the grasing looks like. If grasing is good the elk will stay up high. If it's not, they will move down to the hay fields. The location of the elk next fall will depend a lot on how much rain we get throughout the summer.
KC
