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  1. #1
    Member clutch146's Avatar
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    Colorado Elk Hunt

    I recently got back from a muzzleloader elk hunt in Colorado - unit 68. My hunting partner (my dad - turned 56 on the trip and still whooping me up the the mountains) and I decided to do spike camping this year, and I went with my woot hammock and DIY gear to supplement (see my projects thread). The weather was incredible - around 60-65 during the day, 30 at night, and never rained once; we saw loads of elk, and I was blessed to bring one home for the freezer, as was one other guy in our group of 5.

    Day 1: Arrived at and set up our base camp (~10,500 ft). My dad and I hiked out from there about 2.5 miles and camped along the river. Glassed til dark and hung it up at about 8pm. Woken up at 8:40 by an elk bugle no more than 50 yards away. Water in the hydration bladder was frozen in the morning, but I slept nice and warm (minus my feet - forgot to grab my sit pad before bed and I was too comfy to get up).
    base_camp.jpg spike_supper.jpg

    Day 2: Opening day. Camp broken before first light and headed up the closest draw. Watched a few mule deer grazing and then chased some bugles the rest of the morning/early afternoon. Set up camp at 11,800 ft, overlooking a valley floor, and hunted that floor in the evening which is wear I harvested my cow. While hauling the meat back to base camp, we ran into a herd of about 40 elk. My dad took a shot, but his gun hang fired, and he missed. Amazing day. Spent the night in a cot back at base camp (really missed the hammock), left our spike camp set up above that valley floor.
    partial_herd.jpg

    Day 3: Slept in, processed some meat, and left at noon back for our spike camp. Didn't see or hear much (turned out that herd went over the pass into the next draw - the rest of our group played them all afternoon before harvesting a small 5x5 bull). We had a great little campfire and turned in early while listening to bugles in the distance. Slept great that night, I didn't wake up until my alarm went off.
    fire.jpg

    Day 4: Camp broken early again, and we put a stalk on a mature bull for the next 3 hours before he gave us the slip. We headed up and over a pass into the next draw over and headed for a 2 night spike spot we had in mind. After some rugged hiking and about 6 miles on the day, we got to the spot we had chosen by mid afternoon, but someone was already there (pretty crazy considering how big the place was, but hey, that's public land hunting). A little dejected, we hiked back to base camp (about 2 more miles) to come up with another plan. Cot again.
    sky_fire.jpg timer_shot.jpg

    Day 5: Left base camp at 4:45, climbed a steep face chasing bugles early. He made it to cover before we could get high enough, so we set up our spike camp there (11,600 ft). Piddled around most of the day and hunted that same area that night. He never came out, but we watched a few spikes and cows mill around. Warm night (maybe upper 30s?), had to vent the top quilt that night, but I was happy to be hanging.
    midday_lounging.jpg

    Day 6: Left camp set up and had a plan that ended up being foiled after I called in two different sets of bow hunters (word had gotten out at this point that the elk were here). So we went back and broke camp, and headed for the very back of the area to get away from the pressure. Hung that night at 11,950 ft. Watched some cows, but couldn't bring in the bulls. Slept warm again that night, but there was frost when we woke up.
    spike4.jpg

    Day 7: Broke camp and stalked another mature bull for 3 hours again. Finally tried to drive him to my dad, but he slipped out the other direction (should have just done a frontal assault, because I could have had a bow-range shot on him). Hunted our way the rest of the day back to base camp and made plans for our final day. Another cot night.
    beetle_kill.jpg (crazy beetle bore patterns)

    Day 8: Last day. Boots to dirt by 4am, and we had a blitz pace to get to the back of the place again - out 4.25 miles and up ~1500 feet - by 6:30. Saw a small satellite bull at about 600 yards, called him clear in to 150, dad took the shot, but he somehow missed (he's still trying to figure that one out ). Hunted our way back to base camp for lunch, so we had almost 10 miles of hiking, up and down 1500 feet of elevation before noon. Broke base camp and drove back home.
    beaver_ponds.jpg

    I had an incredible time, especially for this really being my first time hammock backpacking besides a weekend jaunt on the SHT. The aspen colors were firing while we were there, so we had constant gorgeous views. No rain, plenty of sunshine, hanging in the quiet mountains - couldn't get much better. The only thing that was a little suspect was where we had to set up our spike camps. The beetle kill on the pines was terrible over the last 2-3 years, so it made hanging a little unnerving among those standing and the deadfall - camps were chosen quite carefully! Hammock hunting was definitely a success! I'll follow up with pictures/videos as soon as I can (edit: added!).
    Last edited by clutch146; 09-27-2014 at 12:18. Reason: Added pictures

  2. #2
    Senior Member
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    Great write up on what looks like a fantastic trip. Thanks for sharing it with us!

  3. #3
    Slowanderer's Avatar
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    Nice trip report and great hunt.
    BUT, as I have heard around here before, "pics or it didn't happen."
    Just sayin.
    Very nice pics. Thanks
    Last edited by Slowanderer; 09-29-2014 at 06:36. Reason: added

  4. #4
    Senior Member Adahy's Avatar
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    An elk hunt like that is on my bucket list! Sounds like you had a blast!
    Adahy

  5. #5
    Senior Member Chug's Avatar
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    Nice Hunting events. Elk are fun to chase.. As with they taste really good. Well worth the chase.

    Good job.. post photos soon..
    " Taking the gun off safety increases the velocity by 100% "

  6. #6
    Senior Member KSC's Avatar
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    This was a great trip report. Hope you enjoy all the good elk meat.

  7. #7
    Member clutch146's Avatar
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    Added pictures to the original post. I have lots of good video too, so hopefully I'll be able pull that together soon

  8. #8
    Member clutch146's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adahy View Post
    An elk hunt like that is on my bucket list! Sounds like you had a blast!
    Do it! It was an amazing experience, especially in a hammock. The action and weather we had was just icing.

    Quote Originally Posted by KSC View Post
    This was a great trip report. Hope you enjoy all the good elk meat.
    Already started in on that part - grilled bacon wrapped tenders, elk fajitas, and elk cheeseburgers already this week!

  9. #9
    Member clutch146's Avatar
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    Oh, and if anyone cares to see the dirty work (not going to post it on the forum), go here. Just a small calf

  10. #10
    Senior Member Ospreydog's Avatar
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    Man that was a nice trip.

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