We headed down the mountain today to go into my “old faithful” spot. We spread out across the top of the mountain and decided to sit for a few hours in hopes of seeing something.
About an hour into the sit, I heard a bull let out a weak bugle, then I heard sticks cracking. Knowing he was coming, I readied myself for a shot. Seconds later, the wind switched and away he went. I heard him crash timber and never saw him.
Around 2 p.m., we heard three different bulls bugle, and they were in all different directions. Brian let out a few calls, and a few minutes later, elk started filtering out of the timber below us. Before we could get a shot, they got past us. Jacob and Brian ran to cut them off, and I stayed back to call. As I was calling, I watched Jacob and Brian to see their reaction to base my calling on their actions.
Suddenly, all hell broke lose behind me when a small herd of elk took off. They were coming to the calls, and I never expected anything to come from that direction. Within seconds of the action starting, we sat there totally disheartened. We came so close but were so far away. Maybe tomorrow will be the day.
Today was a great, bad day. We decided to head back into the area where we had a few bulls going the other night. We gave it a rest for a day for the area to settle down.
On the way in, we saw fresh horse tracks all over the trail. Walking up the hill, I had a feeling we were going to see a camp in an area off the trail, and we did. There were four horses and a mule inside an electric fence. It appeared that the occupants of the tent were still sleeping, so I continued up the trail.
As we approached the area where we normally head onto the mountain, we spotted a guy walking down the hill to the brook. Looking harder, I spotted a tent. We never expected to see anyone in that location.
When the guy came back up the hill, we began talking with him. After a few minutes we learned that he and his brother were going to be in there hunting for a few days.
Sometimes you can recognize a person’s character instantly, and it was easy to do with these guys. They were great guys and loved life. We decided to give them a rundown of the area and some guidance for the next few days. We told them to explore a few areas that have produced great results for us in the past. These are the kind of guys you meet on public land, and you root for them to succeed. Those types of people are few and far between. It was blatantly obvious that their parents had done a phenomenal job raising them, and I applaud that in current times.
During the conversation, I learned that the older brother was also a Type 1 diabetic. In all my years of elk hunting, I’ve never met another Type 1 diabetic while in the woods. I know how my father worries about me when I’m hunting, so I’m sure his parents are beyond worried. They probably aren’t sleeping at night while he’s out here.
No matter what happens on this trip, I think meeting these two guys will be the highlight. It’s amazing how someone’s zest for life can inspire you. They were both University of Kansas graduates and are about to begin new careers in different places. They have a lot ahead of themselves, and I’m sure they will achieve great things. One will be starting a job in the gold mining industry in a few weeks when he heads to Alaska.
After leaving them, we did some exploring and found some new things. Within a few hours, we saw another guy walk past us. He was from Georgia and was hunting with nine other guys.
Although it was frustrating, we headed down the mountain and began making plans for the next day. As we walked by the outfitter tent that we passed in the morning, the people were outside, so we stopped and visited for an hour. We had a nice chat with them before heading back to camp.
Many people would consider it a wasted day, but we had a good time and made the most of it. Hopefully, we can stay in touch with our new friends from Kansas. I’ll be interested to see where their journeys take them.
Brian went into my favorite spot tonight to scout it out. He had a few bulls bugling but wasn’t able to catch up to them. We will try to get a look at them tomorrow. Here’s a picture of the brothers we met
The day didn’t start off too well. My blood sugar was really low, so it took a bit to get going. Then, when I was packed and ready to leave camp, I realized the battery for the bike light was completely dead. I changed my plans and went with Jacob to sit in a place where elk seem to travel regularly. We didn’t see much of any activity besides a spike mule deer. The deer definitely wasn’t too intelligent. We came out at noon to do some stuff around camp. Josh came out shortly after we got out, so we had a good afternoon of joking and laughing. Sometimes some of the best hunts are all about the memories made around camp.
People have started coming out now. Although the snow had kept everyone out of the woods the last two days, there are two side-by-sides and two wheelers up here today. The snow is just about gone, and people can more easily get around. I expect the pressure to increase daily from here on out. It’s going to be tough to get a look at one.
When Brian returned to the tent tonight, we found out he had a good day. He saw three cows and two spikes over off what we call the third knob. They were bedded in a small group of animals. He also listened to one bugle while in its bed. It bugled throughout the afternoon hours. On his way out, he saw a big 6×6 right after it bugled on top of a ridge. Unfortunately, it spooked and crashed timber.
While I feel like we are getting close to finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, I also have my doubts. In the first three days of hunting, I’ve experienced things I’ve never seen in the past. There isn’t any bugling in the morning hours, and the bulls are hammering while bedded in the afternoon. When they get up for the evening feeding, they seem to let one rip here and there. Hopefully, the light switch turns and they start coming alive.
Brian, Jacob and I headed to the area where the bull was bugling yesterday. Around 8 a.m., we heard a bull sound off in a place where we had been standing 20 minutes earlier. We headed up the mountain to get above him.
As we were sneaking through the timber, Brian spotted a nice 4×4 at 50 yards but couldn’t get a shot. After it wandered out of sight, a spike bull went past us. The bull never bugled again.
We did some walking and tried locating some animals to hunt in the evening. While walking, we heard a few bulls bugling in a canyon. The bulls were obviously lying in their beds, so we decided to sit on them and chase them later in the day.
After sitting all day and listening to them, we began moving in on them. Although we never got close enough to spook them, they shut up. Being so far from camp, we decided to get an early start to get out of the woods.
That’s when the woods lit up. In a matter of minutes, we had four bulls bugling. The excitement lasted until a half hour before dark. We never got a look at them because of barriers that prevented them from coming in. It was definitely exciting. We are going to give the area a day’s rest and head back in there on Wednesday.
Josh had a good day today. He wandered around a bit and heard his first wild bull bugle. He said it bugled a few times and did some chuckles at the end. He also saw a couple of dandy mule deer bucks.
We will see what happens tomorrow. We are going to take it slow.
We didn’t get a very early start, but we were still headed up the mountain in the darkness. We didn’t see an abundance of tracks. When we got to our destination, there weren’t any tracks at all and the snow was much deeper than I had anticipated it being. We jumped one elk, but Brian couldn’t identify it.
As we meandered around the area, we stopped for lunch and took in the scenery. While eating lunch, a few bulls began bugling in the timber below us. They were bugling in their beds, so we decided to wait them out and go after them later in the day.
Around 4:00, we headed in the direction of the bugles. Upon getting closer, the bugling stopped, so we began still-hunting toward camp. As darkness was gaining ground on us, Brian realized that his sight had fallen off his bow. We backtracked for a while but never found the sight. Between Brian and Dad, there is a lot of archery hardware on the side of that mountain. Josh wandered around in a few different places today. He didn’t see much and seems discouraged. He said it’s like hunting in the Adirondacks with a bow, which it is.
The ride out to Colorado seemed to pass quickly this year. It was definitely different without my father along for the ride. He couldn’t make it this year due to the number of health conditions he’s been battling since becoming severely ill in Florida in March. It has been a tough go, but he is the toughest guy I’ve ever seen. He has battled his way out of the depths of hell and seems to be recovering. Hopefully, the upward trend continues.
After arriving, we set the tent up and headed into the woods for a quick scouting mission. The 16 inches of snow that fell earlier in the week put a damper on many hunters’ plans. Although there are a lot of camps around, not many people are hunting. The snow seems to have shut things down for the time being.
Jacob and Josh made the trip this year. They are both first timers. I’m hoping they get to see some elk throughout the week. Jacob and I headed to a spot my dad usually hunts to see what we could find. We got drenched from the snow, but we did see a few tracks here and there. I spotted a calf as it bolted away from us at the base of the mountain. I’m sure there were others with it, but I only saw the calf.
Brian covered a lot of ground today in our normal stomping grounds. It was a bear for him to get there, but he got in there and found some elk. He said there were a lot of tracks, but he also saw some people tracks, too.
Josh went out behind camp and saw a lot of tracks. He set up a camera to see if anything is wandering around in the area.
We will get at it bright and early tomorrow to see what we can find. It’s going go be tough with all of the snow that is still on the ground, but I don’t think it will last too long.
Here’s a photo I took before we headed out of town toward the mountains.
