October 18-26 2^nd Combined Rifle Season

North Central Mountains Colorado

The warm, dry Indian summer has been wonderful for camping. It’s like an extended summer for us.  With temperatures in the 80s around Denver it’s oddly warm this time of year.  Only the creek valleys seem to frost over.  Most plants are brown and dry but there is still plenty of green.  Elk have been up high during this warm period. 

 October 18^th/19^th

I’m camping in a wilderness area with my friend Jeff and Justin. We left the house at 3am and arrived at the trailhead around 6am.  We start the 4-mile walk in the dark. About halfway up the trail it’s light enough to turn off the headlamps.  The half moon has helped light our path too.  We saw geese, ducks and two beavers in the lake on the way up.  What a wonderful morning to be out.  I didn't take any photos this trip because all I would have posted were scenic photos.

We get to our camp, drop our packs and change into our blaze orange and daypacks.  Off we go to scope a nice open area first thing. Nothing.  Some recent sign along the trail of what appeared to be a single bull crossing the ridge just behind our camp.  We take the game trail to an open avalanche slide in the next valley over.  Fresh sign keeps us hopeful but the walk is very loud with dry pine needles and aspen leaves.  Not good stalking conditions.

Jeff heads up the steepest hill I’ve ever been on.  He goes up to take a look around and see if there are any elk bedded in the deep woods on some of the many shelves on the ridge.  During a break he hears a stick break. He waits several minutes before peaking over the small hill to see what it was.  He hears hooves running and sticks breaking. Most likely a bull looking to bed but spooked instead. 

I love this area. It’s remote, has great elevation and perfect habitat. The bad news is it’s the most difficult terrain I’ve ever tried to tackle.  The elk walk around with ease but every step I take seems to sap any energy remaining from the hike up.  We could really use horses or mules.  What keeps me coming back is the trophy bulls in the area. I have a cow tag and Justin has a bull tag.  The wilderness is a wonderful place. You either love it or hate it. I have mixed feelings about the area. I love it when I have energy and plenty of rest. I hate it when I have to leave and when I'm exhausted.   

Justin and I sit on the edge of the avalanche chute.  If any elk cross Justin will have a clear shot. I’m in the woods. If any elk fallow the many game trails above or below me I’ll have a shot through the trees.  Our other buddy Jeff harvested a nice 5x5 here last year.  The year before that a guide helped some Connecticut hunters harvest a huge 5x5.  You can see that photo in Big Bulls 4   (the bull laying in the snow).

The morning hunt produces no elk but it’s wonderful to be back in the great Colorado outdoors.  We go back to camp to set up the tents, rest a little and eat.   

The evening hunt takes us up the valley we are camped in. We sit on a nice ledge overlooking the valley. Nothing.  No elk and strangely enough no deer either. This place is also deer heaven.  We called in some other hunters near camp that evening.  Whoever was blowing that bugle had me hooked.  He was good. 

We awake the 19^th and hunt the opposite side of the trail and creek. We see some sign but the highlight is when Jeff spots 7 elk on top of the mountain grazing.  It’s a good 2 miles away and literally on the very top of that steep mountain.  We watch the bull and 6 cows graze up and over.  It would take a huge effort for us to harvest one up there.  One that would best be solved with many horses.   

October 24^th. I’m up for the day in a new area. This area only has two tall mountains. The rest of the area has rolling hills with wonderful open meadows and creek valleys all over. The place is perfect for rifle season. The hills aren’t so steep and they are lush, filled with aspen and pine.  One could really cover some land with a mule or horse.  It’s a huge area.  The elevation averages around 9000 feet.  This area is the exception to the rule that elk are all up high. If the elk were all up high in this area then they’d all be in one place and that’s unlikely. There are plenty of hunters in the area. I counted 18 trucks with horse trailers in the parking lot. I hear 4 shots that morning. One up North of me and 3 further west. Someone got something today. I hike many miles and see plenty of deer. This is deer heaven right now.  The mule deer will often take a few hops away, stop and look at you before leaving.  I cut some really fresh sign.  A single elk, probably a bull.  Fresh scat, pee and tracks in the dry dirt reveal that he may be with another bull or two. A small bachelor group.  The wind isn’t right and it’s obvious he’s left the nice aspen valley for a nice bed in the thick pines along one of the many ridges.

  Check out this nice scrape. It was from last year but it’s a good one for the area.  That’s my new gun. It’s a Remington Model 700 300 Win. Mag.  It’s sighted in for 100 yards but I bought it for reaching across valleys at 400 yards.  It has the length and power that I was looking for in a good elk rifle.  I found lots of scrapes in this area.  Some new and some from last year but plenty of proof that there are some bulls in the area.  The area also had game trails galore. 

  Along the ridges there are some openings where you can look across and get a better appreciation for the size of the area.  It’s huge.  I walked from 7am until 7pm and only covered an area the size of a dot on the map.  I saw plenty of hunters on horses. You can see that blaze orange for miles.  That’s the best way to hunt the area. A sign at the trailhead said “lost horses”, a paint (mare) and a brown (gelding) horse in the area. If you find them please bring them back to the nearby ranch.  I’m sure the horses were fine because they are made to survive in the wild and they probably loved the space to run and eat all day.  However, the owner was missing them bad I’m sure.  I kept an eye out for them but didn’t see them. 

Check out this dead doe. She was a large deer. I wondered how she died but the small hole in her rib cage told the story.  There are lots of deer in the area. In all I counted 13 deer by the end of the day.   

This area would have been jumping had we a few inches of snow on the ground and more on the way.  I think I’m going to hunt this area next year for the entire week. I’m going to rent horses and do it right.  I need to spend more time in an area because this weekend hunting is just too brief. 

  Check out this huge cow elk.  Not sure how she died but her hooves where huge.  She must have been a mature cow.  The entire area I covered showed great sign. Some fresh and some not so fresh. From what I discovered is the elk stay in this area almost year round.  They stay until the snow gets too deep then they head South and West for lower valleys.  Then return around April and May to nibble on the new grasses on the many Southern exposures.  

  Parting shot.  This is by far the most incredible hunting area I’ve found. I’m sure it’s elk heaven from all the sign I’ve seen this day.  After taking this photo I headed back to the truck.  I ran into three hunters on mules and they hadn’t seen elk all week. Sure enough as they headed into this meadow and I was walking up an aspen valley I heard 2 shots.  I bet they got something. If I had only stayed put in the meadow and glasses around.  It was about 5pm when I heard the shots.   

So I have two wonderful areas to hunt elk. One is truly a trophy area with more bulls than cows.  I’ve been in the wilderness during September and the bulls aren’t shy about bugling.  They really get going around the 20^th of September.  The new area I found is all National Forest but is restricted to hiking and horses only.  It’s perfect for rifle season. I have big plans for next year. I’m considering hunting 1^st Combined Rifle season in 2004.  The elk will still be bugling and the cows that didn’t come into estrus in September have another chance around mid October. I’ll be carrying a bull elk tag and a deer tag as well.  All I can do is pray for snow and some good horses.  If conditions are right it would be a very active area.  But I’ll take whatever I can get. Just being there is well worth the price of admission.   

Copyright © 2002-2004 ElkHeaven.com