Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Just got invited on an elk hunting trip (short notice) . . . advice?

OK, a couple of friends are going elk hunting in SW Colorado (near Montrose) for the first(?) season mid-October. One has a nephew there who is putting us up, and has a place for us to hunt. I was told I would need a 4 wheeler (which I have). That is all of the detail I know at this point. Not sure I can go yet - working on that part.

I have most of the gear I would need, depending on weather. I've checked, and avg temps for mid-October show to be low 30's-low 60's. No problems there.

Other than knowing more details about the land we're gonna be hunting, any other thoughts, etc.? I know this seems very short of details, but it's all I know at the moment. These guys are relying on the nephew to know stuff, but I can't operate that way!

Thanks!!!

Average temps are never real. Bring layers to suit you from 15 degrees pre-dawn, to 85 degrees on a sunny afternoon. Good boots. Wear them to get your feet toughened up before you leave.

Go to the range and practice shooting from field positions a couple of times. Practice shooting winded.

First aid kit, backpack, stuff to haul your critter back in. HTH, Dutch.

Drink plenty of water because the high altitude and dry air will dehydrate you quickly.

Packable raingear.

A small knife sharpener. Quartering an elk can dull a knife very quickly. It is nice to be able to keep a good edge.

Good boots and plenty of socks.

Get a compass, topo maps and a GPS. Know how to use them. Sometimes the quickest route to a spot is not a straight line since there can be a lot of vertical ground to cover.

You'll need a gunboot for your rifle. In CO, all firearms and bows must be cased when riding on an ATV.

6-10ft of Parachute chord. It is nice to hang the quarters or tie off a leg to keep it out of the way while you're working.

Last bit of advice is to play nice with your ATV - don't become one "those" guys.

RH

depending on the elevation, the weather is a total crap-shoot. it could be anywhere from 10* to 90*. maybe both in the same week. bring layers.

maybe bring more than one pair of boots too. I like to hunt in sneakers or cross-trainers when it's warm, switch to boots if(when) it snows.

sounds like you'll be able to ride your stuff in so space shouldn't be too much of a premium.

make sure you have the gear to dismantle and haul out your animal.

bring a camera.

I agree with what the others have said above. I would also bring a good pair of light weight gloves. They can be a life saver when pulling out an elk.

I know you are on short notice, but I would do some squats or find some stairs as you will be doing some up hill climbing at some point.

Tags, rifle, ammo, and knife. Everything else is gravey.

Layers, layers, layers. And I'll second what others have said: Don't abuse your ATV, or tolerate those who do.

I'll third what they say. CO is a land of extremes during many hunting seasons. I have set up camp on a Fri. evening before season in a T-shirt and woke up the next morning with temps below zero. Layers are the key. Like others have mentioned, don't abuse the ATV. I see at least a couple people if not more do that every season and it really is disappointing. Plus, elk don't like them too much so you can use that to your advantage. Good luck and enjoy the time out there in the woods!

Where I hunt, a good deal farther north BTW, our temps seem to run a bit cooler on average, but I've seen it push -30 with three ft of snow the day after a nice warm opener. Be prepared for the worst.

-Excercise - covered, I hit the gym 3-4 times per week, including doing hill climbing the treadmill twice per week, and "legs" workout once a week
-Temp's - got it covered with layers, may need a jacket
-Boots - covered, maybe a air of lightweight hikers for milder temp's
-Rainwear, packable - got it covered
-Shooting - I do alot of shooting already, but will focus on field pos'n shooting the next couple of weekends at the range
-Compass, topo maps, gps - got'em (have a topo map program for my gps too)
-Packing gear - hmmmm, I have a "medium" (~2500in3), lightweight frame pack . . . too small???
-Cord/flagging - check
-atv etiquette - check
-gunboot - check
-sharp knives/sharpener - check

if you're just using it as a daypack it'll be fine.

if you'll have to haul quarters back to the ATV, be sure the frame itself is sturdy enough to handle it ( I use paracord to lash quarters to a BullPac external frame).

"may need a jacket"

You'se a funny Texan..... Dutch.

Do you have a tag? First season is draw. Second season is the "first" OTC season. I'm guessing your hunting second season, in an OTC unit. Cow tags probably long gone if any were left over in the first place. All that's worth confirming.
Good luck!

My feet tend to sweat, so I always take two pairs of boots that way I can rotate them each day to dry properly. Big help when it's cold out.

I will ditto the two pairs of boots. I have made over 10 trips to Colorado and my boots would not dry overnight.

I have only used insulated clothes one evening in all those trips. I wore jeans with synthetic long underwear. One season we hunted in knee deep snow and I wore a pair of medium weight wool pants.

You will need gloves! Do not lose them. I wear layers including a wool vest. I take a down vest when it really gets cold. My coat has always been a hooded Carhart style hooded jacket.

Enjoy the preparation and the journey! Take Pictures!

Check to see if you satisfy hunter safety class requirements.

Sorry, really just meant I have layers, but might need a different outter jacket . . .

-Hunter Education - check
-2 pair of boots - check
-plenty of socks - check
-tag - it is second season, OTC and still have tags
-gloves - check (light, heavy and work)

If you have the money, a muffler silencer for the ATV is a great thing, but you loose power, and at higher elevations for carburated atvs you need to open up the air so the atv can breathe.

You don't need to be running full throttle. The clanking noises of metal parts hitting each other, noisy drivetrain, or worn out breaks are more annoying than the engine noise.

Bring some saline nasal spray.

You're going to want some real boots for hiking, not upland bird hunting. I prefer 4-800 grams of insulation, much more than that becomes too heavy of a boot for me. Also, as for those temps, that's probably at the Montrose Airport, expect to take at least 10 degrees of that at altitude (3 degrees per 1000 feet), and those are averages. A cold front could come in and really put you in a bind, but you still need to layer, you can't go walking around looking like the Michelin Man