Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting 2011 elk hunt w/pics

A friend and I went to the Grand Mesa NF of CO for the last week of archery season.
We packed in a couple of miles in two trips, about two hours in and 1000' vertical gain.
The first day and a half, we went our separate ways. On the second evening, my partner Randy had three bulls bugling around him just before dark. We went into the same area the next morning. I set up 50 yds in front and he cow called. He was using a combo of a Primos diaphragm and a Carlton bite-n-blow. Within minutes, a spike came 15 yds in front of him. He eventually winded us and took off. We tried a couple more setups and had some elk talking but no more sightings.
That evening, we set up in the same area and Randy called again. Again an elk came in, but downwind. It boogied before we got a good look.
The next morning, we went to an adjacent draw. I called for Randy with no success. We moved a few hundred yds and he called for me. I was set up on the edge of a clearing in thick aspens. In 15 or 20 minutes an elk materialized 90 degrees across the clearing, maybe 30 yards away. He took a step or two and showed his (my story) 300" antlers. He was on a beeline for Randy and skirted the clearing without offering me a shot. His body disappeared into the brush but I could still see his horns above, raking saplings while moving toward Randy. He stopped for a few seconds, then all hell broke loose.
Randy was at full draw, but the bull apparently saw something he didn't like and exited with the grace of a freight train, leaving us both with rubbery knees.
The rest of the week was enjoyable, but anti-climatic.

Observations:
We didn't see a cow. Apparently, the bulls were still solo. They weren't muddy and the wallows we knew of were not active.
They were, for the most part, not vocal. One evening and night was the only concentration of bugling or elk talk that we witnessed.
Our packs were too heavy. We made two trips up but only one down. My pack down with no food or water weighed 61 lbs.
I may be too old for this chit!

My pack to go in the second time.



View from my teepee.



Where we were hunting.



Camp.





Food cache.



A bear track in our three-hour-old boot track.

[img]http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa396/dashrawder/Colorado11041.jpg[/img]

The Grand Mesa in the background.

[img]http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa396/dashrawder/Colorado11044.jpg[/img]

The way down.

[img]http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa396/dashrawder/Colorado11052.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa396/dashrawder/Colorado11056.jpg[/img]

Back at the truck.

[img]http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa396/dashrawder/Colorado11063.jpg[/img]

Looks like a great hunt!

Very nice! Though I'm fat and by most standards out of shape, I love backpacking in for elk. Even without killing something, it's a great time to be out in great country. I leave on 10/12 for ID to give it another try.

Good luck Pointer. I had heard at one time that Idahoans thought of Montanans as "flatlanders"!!

looks like a good time some times the best hunts are one where you almost got one. Thanks Greg

Jester:

Sounds like you had a good time. Thanks for sharing.

You gotta work on reducing the weight of your pack.

KC

KC, that's been "weighing" (sorry) on my mind ever since I got home. I weighed everything individually today and it's obvious where I can cut some pounds, but I need to lighten up a lot more. Maybe I'll bunch items into categories, with weights, and start another thread.
I hope your hunt goes well. How many are going with you now?

Start with the big three, and go from there. You can shave a lot of pounds there.

Great pics! Sometimes the elk win, sometimes they don't.

That's a lot of weight to be packing for sure. Go a few more times and you'll realize just what you can live with and live without. 60lbs is my bench mark for 10 days, 15-18lbs of that will be food depending on time of year.

I had a friend come up for a backpack moose hunt recently, he had everything he 'needed' for a 12 day trip, and it was over 90lbs of crap not including a rifle! By the time I was done he was down to about 50 plus a rifle.

Going with a partner there is a lot of weight to be saved by both of you. Split your camp, and don't bring redundant items.

I've only been backpack hunting for about 15 years now, and still find areas that I can trim weight now and then. The only area I have left to trim any substantial weight is my MR pack, but I have a hard time doing that when it packs more than I can...

Jester:

There will be one other hunter who will be coming with me. Sounds like he really knows what he's doing and he's hunted in the same area before. There was another guy that said he wanted to come for sure. But then he got laid off. Too bad because he seemed like a real strong hunter and a good guy. I think he still wants to come but just can't swing it until he gets another job.

One more guy will probably join us but he may come in late.

I'll be hunting during the 3rd season and there's always the possibility of heavy snow in November and I have to be prepared for cold and winter camping. That makes things a little more complicated.

This year I'm setting a camp and stocking it before the season. That's an advantage of living close enough that I can drive there in a few hours and it's a way to reduce the weight of my pack. We will probably hunt some out of that camp and then do some overnight hunts using that camp as a base.

KC

KC

I've followed your posts about this year's camp. I'm envious of your proximity to elk country. It looks like a great camp! I wondered if the fellow who said "Take me KC!" was going with you. We hunted with an outfitter south of Gunnison last year, but I believe you're north of town. Toward Crested Butte maybe? Anyways, I wish you all the luck and I'm looking forward to your post-hunt reports. I did order an OR jacket as recommended by "Brad". 10 oz. as opposed to 32.

Dale

That guy is the one who said he was coming but got laid off right after that. I talked to him on the phone and we corresponded some. He seemed like a real strong guy and I think it would be great to hunt with him. Maybe next year.

I've hunted north of Gunnison for 17 out of the last 20 years and I will be hunting there again this year.

Someone else suggested to concentrate on the big three; that's pack, sleeping bag, and tent. You can make a big impact on weight by switching those three items to ultralight. Then you eliminate anything that's not absolutely essential. IOW eliminate all the "nice to have" and luxury items. Anything that's left make as lighweight as you can.

I'll be leaving in a few hours for another trip into my camp to stock it with food and fuel.

KC

My pack is the heaviest. A Kifaru ZXR with Grab-it and top pack at 8 lbs 7 oz. I used the Grab-it to carry my bow but I could probably do without it, saving maybe 7 oz.
A Golite SL 5 at 2 lbs (native stakes) or 6oz more for MSR Groundhogs, but bugs were bad so I would want to add a nest. I have an SL 5 nest but I've read of going smaller with the same teepee.
My bag is a Golite 0 down at 3-3.
So pack, shelter and bag is 13 lbs 3 oz with NO nest or stakes.