smj
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Post by smj on Jul 9, 2007 16:23:47 GMT -5
I only have the delete option available for my postings... Not anyone else's that I see!
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Post by deadeye on Jul 9, 2007 19:05:26 GMT -5
Great looking country. I can't wait to get back out there in Sept. I have seen more than a few states are having problems with fires. Do you know of any in CO? We hunt between Carbondale and Montrose.
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Post by elk4me on Jul 10, 2007 0:00:01 GMT -5
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smj
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Post by smj on Jul 10, 2007 7:26:48 GMT -5
There are a few fires in the state, but nothing way out of control yet... Of course that could change today and the season is young. If a fire starts in one of the beetle-kill areas, I expect you might see it from Kansas! I will try to let you know if anything pops up down towards Carbondale and Montrose!
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smj
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Post by smj on Jul 10, 2007 7:27:20 GMT -5
Elk and Royden - you guys crack me up!
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smj
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Post by smj on Jul 10, 2007 7:30:40 GMT -5
By the second day of scouting, we defined our upcoming season a bit better. The idea of hunting for elk at by me this year is really going to be a warm up for my caribou trip to Canada. I don’t have additional time off to plan a big elk hunt, this leaves me a couple weekends only. Kevin has no time off other than weekends this year as well. So, the idea is find a place to go that is close enough that we can get to it after work on Friday, hunt all day both Saturday and Sunday, and be home Sunday night before midnight. We also drew tags to limited draw areas that looked great on the map, now we have to find a huntable location that will fit our requirements for this season. We don’t have a lot of time to hike back in anywhere or mess with setting up a big camp. The first place we went gets us in the woods, but we will have to see what develops as season approaches. The second place is one of Kevin’s old hunting grounds. He left it because ATV use got stupid high, and he got tired of having them go past while he was supposedly hunting. We went to take a look, the woods are hunter friendly and the access easy for mountains at 8 to 9k feet. This area used to hold good numbers of elk, deer, and bear. Upon arrival, most of the ATV signs were greatly reduced, there wasn’t even one in sight! We set up camp and hiked up to glass the mountain side at dusk. All the locations where elk and deer had been sighted in the past – were without animals. Also, on the short half mile hike to gain a good view point, we again noticed that there was no sign anywhere. It was also obvious that since the off-road folks had been reduced, the mosquitoes in the area were quite parched and happy to see us… Back to camp and a warm bed – with bug netting… The first order of business in the AM was to gain elevation on the mountain and glass for critters. Also to check for sign while doing so – here is a shot looking back down our morning route – So, we started from way down below – and saw not a track or any other sign of animals all the way up. Kevin said that as he remembers it, most of the animals were higher on the mountain. So up we went to an old trail that was heavily used in the past. We found the trail, but not much was going on. Weeds were, as you can see at the top of the pic, starting to grow it over. Only a few very indistinct tracks, none fresh – So we climbed a bit more, up to an area where Kevin remembers the elk scat being ankle deep in September… We walked all through it and if the scat is to be ankle deep, those elk are going to have to get busy! We found cobwebs, one pile of old moose scat, and mosquitoes. Of the elk and deer, we found no trace. To go much higher on the mountain, we were about ¾ of the way to the top, was not called for. There is a road that goes over the top and we drive up there. Here are a few more pics of the area – We saw one deer, clear back down the mountain on the flats where we camped, run from meadow to meadow. Found a few deer tracks down on the flats as well, maybe a half dozen or so deer had been walking around. Kevin was more than a bit put out with this one. We talked it over and came up with two thoughts on it : 1 – ATV use was way high for several years before being shut down in this area. To date, a lot of off road users ignore the signs saying the area is closed to them, or rip the signs out and toss them in the woods so they can play stupid if caught. 2 – While this is in fact a limited draw area, the numbers of tags offered is in the thousands. Hence, it is not really limited at all. The access is easy and with no real limits in place it is easy to imagine that the deer and elk have been hammered over the last couple years given the hunter numbers growth in the state. We suspect that what few animals appear to be around, they are probably to the east on private property. I don’t think that we will even consider going back to this spot. So, what to do…. 1 – Talk with three guys I know who have hunted locations close to both of the ones we’d just been to, rifle hunters so we should have no conflicts – and see if anything shakes out that we can get to in the areas we have tags for. 2 – I will contact the DOW and see what they might suggest within our units.
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Post by BT on Jul 10, 2007 11:09:22 GMT -5
That is some great scoping territory! ..... too bad you have too hike it ;D
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smj
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Post by smj on Jul 10, 2007 14:12:56 GMT -5
That is some great scoping territory! ..... too bad you have too hike it ;D Oh, come on! It's all part of the charm...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2007 20:06:17 GMT -5
smj , sorry to hear your're not finding much by way of elk, I've been having the same problem myself lately.It is early still, though you know those elk..one day nothing tomorrow ,everywhere .Keep after em and you'll find them. BTW deadeye, I live southwest of Montrose and so far we've only had a few smaller fires (the largest was a 'controlled' burn that got away...Some folks don't need matches) with one about two miles from my house right now Ster
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smj
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Post by smj on Jul 10, 2007 21:01:25 GMT -5
Good to have you on board wapitifever! This thread really started last season as an answer to the request of "What does an out of state hunter have to do/expect (and so on) to come out to Colorado to hunt elk." Or something to that effect. Actually I think it was "Elk hunting for the novice..." I tried to detail my hunting experiences of last season for all who might have an interest. I thought I would continue the intent of the thread this season as well. If you've observations to add, by all means please jump in! It is great to have another Colorado elk hunter here...
As to where the elk are... Yeah, those little buggers can cover vast amounts of country in a heart beat. Still, we have the opportunity to keep an eye on them - if we can find them - and I kind of like that. Keep us posted on how your season goes! Let me know if you are going to be at any shoots this summer...
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