Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Colorado hunting weather update

SNOWING in the San Juan mountains to day.

Nice!

Excellent!

It's snowing in Telluride right now. On the tops not the town. Farmers Almanac says this will be a cold wet winter. 5:55 P.M. EDT

Where I hunt (on the north slope below the Flat Tops) it has snowed on the third day of the first rifle hunt each year for the last three years. The first hunt being a week later this year probably means that it will be pretty messy up on the mountain. Probably frozen going up in the mornings and muddy as hell coming down in the evenings. Oh well, it makes for a more interesting experience...

Woke up with frost on the ground while scouting the past two weekends in Big Blue Wilderness. Not even particularly high elevation either.
Seems like pretty early frosts for this being August.

I was up in the Flat Tops mid July and there was hard frost every morning

Heard it was snowing on Pikes Peak.

Looking at the Never Summers as I write this. I'm due south of em. They are bare. But looks like it could start snowing any minute !!!

The weather reports kept me from going sheep hunting today.

There's something about walking around at timberline, wearing an aluminum frame on my back and carrying a steel rifle, and the threat of lightning that kept me home, lol.

When I was up sheep hunting last week, a light rain/mist came through and left a light coating of snow above 13,000ft or so.

There's a dusting of snow on the La Platas. It will be gone by this PM.

You suck!!

For those who may not know this.

To see the weather where you hunt, go to www.weatherunderground.com, put in any city in Colorado, and then scroll down about half way on the middle of the page and you will see a box titled Snow Depth. At the bottom of that block you will see Snow Depth Reports. Click on that and it will take you to the Snotel Weather Stations all Across Colorado. To get historical information you will have to go to Snotel directly, but this is an easy way to find out what the weather is doing (has Done the night before) in the area you are interested in.

If you want to get very specific information about what is happening right where you are going to hunt, go to www.weather.gov. Type in the city closest to where you are hunting. (The city and state box is located on the top left of the map) When the weather information comes up for that city, scroll down just a little and you will get a detailed forecast on the left and a map of the area on the right. Locate the area you hunt on that map and click on the spot you are interested in. You will then get a three day forecast for that specific area.

I hope this helps.

I know! My aunt had an emergency up here at her ranch and I had to make a run up here last Monday night. All is taken care of so I've been doing a bit of scouting in prep for second rifle. Haven't seen any elk. Don't figger they are down this low quite yet. Seen several nice muley bucks and one old cow moose every afternoon with her offspring!

This morning there appeared to be a little dusting on Pyramid peak. But when the sun hit it, it went bye bye. They had some good storm action up there last evening and on into RMNP. Nice and clear this morning. About 40F.

Don't rub it in!

Pikes Peak had fresh snow this morning

Aww man you guys are killing me. I need to be in the Mountains.

Yeah, I'm headed back to the fever infested lowlands tomorrow!

There was snow on Pikes Peak when the clouds lifted off this morning. Probably more overnight. Snow down to about 12,500 or so...

Never Summers are covered pretty good this morning! Can't see into the park right now for the cloud cover.

Once one gets to about 7,500 ft in the west, it can do anything in any month. Neat country we have here.

I've seen snow on Trail Ridge road in the park in Mid August around the 12 thousand level- two years in a row.
Both times I was on a Motorcycle.
Fun times.
Once, on a work trip to Craig in mid June it snowed over Cameron Pass and Rabbit Ears pass. Going home I drove through Baggs Wyoming up to I-80 to get away from it.

We ran through a light snow flurry while going across Fremont Pass, between Leadville and Copper Mountain, a month ago. I told my Wife that it was likely to be an early winter in the Colorado high country.

Heard on the news yesterday morning they'd closed Mt Evans Rd from Summit lake up to the top due to the snow up there. This is sure setting up to be better than last years weather!

LOL! Yup been snowed on at the ranch on July 4th! Fun times!

Spanish Peaks still had a good dusting on them yesterday afternoon when I drove by em!

Another good source:

http://www.weather.gov/bou/

I can imagine the fun. Never did ride a cycle in the snow but did get rained on from western Wisconsin to Rhode Island back in '70 or '80. Miserable but at least had good traction.

Baggs is where we stay when we hunt Colorado Unit 4 (Happy Camper RV camp, daughters are +++ on the hot shower and flush toilet), which used to be every year but now is every other year. Even though it adds an hour to the Colorado route through Denver we go to Cheyenne and across, then south to Baggs. Beats the heck out of Colorado's mountain passes.

Pikes Peak was covered this AM.

Anybody have a flat tops update? Weather? Bulls vocal yet? 2 more weeks for me before I get to hunt..

Not much bugling. Some short ones. Suppose to clear up this coming week ,bu don't ever trust weather forecasters about Colorado.
Check it out here.

http://www.wapititalk.com/Hunting/v...amp;sid=d63ac60f5b0779bcc68bbbeb16af8f69

Thanks saddlesore. Were going a little later this year. Hopefully the rut is rolling in 2 weeks.

After weekend bump. What is the weather and rut status in nw Colorado? 1 more week for me. I will be totally unproductive this week.

Saw some pictures yesterday from the annual Meeker Sheepdog Trials. Looked like typical fall weather, folks mostly in shirt sleeves or light jackets and no sign of snow...

Was on the south end of 61 Saturday warm windy bulls did not start singing till right at dark they did put on a good show after dark thirty. Oaks, aspens starting to change.

Went camping at 11 mile and seeing trees starting to turn up there

Camped the weekend up at ~11,000' in James Peak Wilderness (GMU 38). Heard an elk whistle and a few cow calls in the middle of the night Friday/ early Saturday AM, but no bugling. And nothing the following night. Was cool, and windy.....

Chris

We didn't hear any bugles where we were, but then again we only hunted one day. For the first time ever (for me) during muzzleloader season, we had mosquitoes up at 10,500 feet. And the blowflies were atrocious, must not have had enough cold weather yet to put the damper on them.

I camped up in the Raywah's this weekend. Was at 11,500' and there were elk above me, mostly at the edge of snow melt. No bugling, whistling nothing except the occasional mew. Big herds of mostly cows, calf's and spikes. Saw some small groups of pretty good bulls and they were not paying attention to the large herds.
Another week or two and things will change drastically.

Lefty C

Is the bugling getting a late start this year?

I'm okay with that as I want them to still be making some noise come 1st rifle. They usually are, but with it being a week later this year I have my doubts.

Calling for snow down to 9000 ft in San Juans for Thursday and Friday with high winds. rain in the valley now.

That's encouraging! Talked with the ranch owner where I hunt east of Meeker this morning. He said not only have they not had snow on the Flat Tops, but the fire up on top had come back to life and was filling the valley with smoke. Hope they get some significant moisture up there!

I'll be up in unit 61 Friday-Sunday, forecast in Montrose is for clear skies after Friday morning, highs in the mid 60s and lows in the 30's so it'll be cooler up on top, should be a great weekend.

Good luck, they ought be fattened up nicely by now.

It was really cold up high this past weekend. 11,500+...

Lake edges frozen. Lows were around 20. No snow though...

Good luck smokepole. we might pass you some where. have a good time.

It has started.

http://www.9news.com/weather/colorado-gets-snow-on-first-full-day-of-fall/324911187

Thanks. No bear for me this year. But I did put a hellacious stalk on a black angus calf that was clanking rocks down in a creek bottom. Sounded like he was turning them over, I was sure it was a bear.

I did have fun watching and listening to all the bulls up there though, quite the show they were putting on. A little snow, and 37 degrees at noon yesterday.

We just got back from hunting in unit 711. It was warm down low and the animals just weren't there. We then headed up to around 11k feet and found some bear sign where they had been eating choke cherries. Found plenty of elk sign but didn't hear any bugling. I think it was in the mid to high 40's while we stayed up high.

Came home and now its back to 90+ degrees and high humidity. I'm ready to become a resident in Colorado.

It sounds like you got some stalking practice in but if you had a good time that is what matters, at least for me it is. I did not even make it out of the valley had to take care of water problems. Next weekend i hope to go see colors and look for elk.