First Season Backcountry Elk - 10/20/14
Owen (my 14 yr old Elk Slayer son) and I went out for the 5 days of Colorado first season. We packed into a spot for the dreaded dry camp I always try to avoid, but it was where we had been seeing elk. We had very unusual weather and a stunning sunset our first night before the season opened. These are the type of views, that you can only get in a back country camp. Here are a few photos.
Sunset
![[Linked Image]](http://seekoutside.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/sunset.jpg)
Camp at sunset, with Seek Outside Redwood brown 4 person tipi
![[Linked Image]](http://seekoutside.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/4preallyawesome.jpg)
Paradox Pack in Coyote
![[Linked Image]](http://seekoutside.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/packfull.jpg)
The first day, we followed our plan A , but quickly found out it was not feasible. The meadow we planned to work had plenty of elk sign, but was a good 45 degree and steeper, with about 400 vertical feet of blow down at the top. A pack out up, was not really going to work, and our location and lack of water meant a pack out down would require moving camp and would need more water etc. The first day, plan "A" was a lost day.
The second day a weather system came in. It was windy, cold, snowing, hail , all day long. It was a good day to move camp and go on to plan B.
Here is camp from plan B. The 4 man was setup for a bit better snow handling, using the side guy outs to get a steeper wall and allow a place for snow to accumulate.
![[Linked Image]](http://seekoutside.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/snow4man.jpg)
The next morning after the weather cleared, Owen connected on a 5x4 bull.
![[Linked Image]](http://seekoutside.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/bull.jpg)
We packed the bull out and went home and he returned to school.
I reorganized my gear, and packed back in with about 30 hrs left to fill my tag. I packed in as light as I could, using a BT-2 and nothing that required cooking.
I went up a nasty drainage, and finally found a nice place to set up camp that had good glassing opportunities.
![[Linked Image]](http://seekoutside.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/bt2.jpg)
The evening, I almost connected on a cow. I had a small group in trees at about 120, downhill from me, and as I was getting ready to shoot they spooked like I rarely see elk spook. The following morning I came within seconds of connecting again as a small group, disappeared over a little knob. That day I needed to go get more water (now kicking myself for not sucking it up and carrying more in), so I hunted up another drainage, where I was busted by a bull near the top. Needless to say, I was getting frustrated. I glassed a couple cows later in the afternoon but had no way to close within 550 or so without loosing 1000 feet of elevation and going up another ridge. Finally that evening, I watched a small group from about 140 yards and could never close the deal. I watched a bull with his rear facing me in some scattered trees, and a cow that the vitals were covered by a tree for some 20 minutes before the wind kicked up and they moved back in the timber. Feeling snake bitten , I headed back to camp with about 30 minutes of shooting light left, when I spotted a small herd moving across some gulleys below me not far from camp. I sat down, and picked out a nice cow who then proceeded to tumble a long ways down the gulley before coming to rest in a depression underneath a fallen aspen (about the only trees in the gulley). Since she was difficult to move up from the depression, and the tree blocked moving her down hill, I called in a couple friends who found me and helped out and I returned to the TH at 2 am with a nice cow in our packs.
Overall, a very good 5 day season.
Sunset
Camp at sunset, with Seek Outside Redwood brown 4 person tipi
Paradox Pack in Coyote
The first day, we followed our plan A , but quickly found out it was not feasible. The meadow we planned to work had plenty of elk sign, but was a good 45 degree and steeper, with about 400 vertical feet of blow down at the top. A pack out up, was not really going to work, and our location and lack of water meant a pack out down would require moving camp and would need more water etc. The first day, plan "A" was a lost day.
The second day a weather system came in. It was windy, cold, snowing, hail , all day long. It was a good day to move camp and go on to plan B.
Here is camp from plan B. The 4 man was setup for a bit better snow handling, using the side guy outs to get a steeper wall and allow a place for snow to accumulate.
The next morning after the weather cleared, Owen connected on a 5x4 bull.
We packed the bull out and went home and he returned to school.
I reorganized my gear, and packed back in with about 30 hrs left to fill my tag. I packed in as light as I could, using a BT-2 and nothing that required cooking.
I went up a nasty drainage, and finally found a nice place to set up camp that had good glassing opportunities.
The evening, I almost connected on a cow. I had a small group in trees at about 120, downhill from me, and as I was getting ready to shoot they spooked like I rarely see elk spook. The following morning I came within seconds of connecting again as a small group, disappeared over a little knob. That day I needed to go get more water (now kicking myself for not sucking it up and carrying more in), so I hunted up another drainage, where I was busted by a bull near the top. Needless to say, I was getting frustrated. I glassed a couple cows later in the afternoon but had no way to close within 550 or so without loosing 1000 feet of elevation and going up another ridge. Finally that evening, I watched a small group from about 140 yards and could never close the deal. I watched a bull with his rear facing me in some scattered trees, and a cow that the vitals were covered by a tree for some 20 minutes before the wind kicked up and they moved back in the timber. Feeling snake bitten , I headed back to camp with about 30 minutes of shooting light left, when I spotted a small herd moving across some gulleys below me not far from camp. I sat down, and picked out a nice cow who then proceeded to tumble a long ways down the gulley before coming to rest in a depression underneath a fallen aspen (about the only trees in the gulley). Since she was difficult to move up from the depression, and the tree blocked moving her down hill, I called in a couple friends who found me and helped out and I returned to the TH at 2 am with a nice cow in our packs.
Overall, a very good 5 day season.