First Rifle Season

Troublesome Basin Colorado

October 13-17, 2007

Saturday – Opening day

I decided to hunt high on opening day. Parked at the gate on forest road 730 at the base of Haystack Mountain not far from Troublesome Pass. Deep in the heart of the Troublesome Basin. I expected the small parking area to be full of trucks. Just two. Mine and another. This is the border between units 18 and 171. The other hunters could be hunting either side I suppose. Where was everyone?

I hiked up the road to the short cut through this perfect meadow. It had elk sign and a fresh scrape. About a week old. Part of the peak of the rut. A fine bull with his cows had been here. I stopped to do some paper work if you know what I mean. I can’t hunt here as I only have a tag for units 18 and 181.

Recent bear tracks caught my eye. There is always a lot of bear sign around Haystack Mountain. Saw my biggest set of moose tracks. He must have been a monster. Even saw some wild turkey tracks. This place has it all. The bear tracks were pretty big. I could imagine a chubby black bear waddling down the closed road. I think I could have taken him in a wrestling match. Probably not. I’ve seen a lot of bears in Colorado but nothing too big.

At the big left turn in the road I bailed off and onto what begins as a new trail around the east side of Haystack Mountain. I didn’t take it though. I was heading further east onto the upper alpine areas of Parkview Mountain. I walked down an old logging road.

Here is a photo of the saddle. East of here is unit 18 and the upper East Fork Troublesome Creek. Many alpine creeks feed into the EFTC that eventually dumps water into the Colorado River. The upper EFTC is heavily wooded and there are very small meadows you won’t find on most maps. The elk sign was old at best. I found a ton of deer sign too. The tracks in the area looked fresh but I found NO fresh scat. There must be a reason why the area has such little sign. It has water, some lush valleys but overall the area between creeks was very dry. I believe it only supports elk and deer during July and August. I had the entire place to myself and there just wasn’t enough fresh sign after hiking nine hours to convince me to stay up high. However, the sights and the terrain were incredibly beautiful. I would say this is the one exception to the rule in Colorado. Where there is high country you’ll find elk around timberline. They all seemed to be lower. I can’t say for sure but I was careful with the wind and made little sound walking around. I just didn’t see enough elk sign as I thought I would.

Here is the old logging road with Parkview Mountain in the distance. It was a perfect day to be out in elk country.

Views from up high. Look at that perfect saddle. I refuse to believe there were no elk up here. I just didn’t see any. The sign I saw were from big elk. It was just old sign.

Views looking east across the upper EFTC. I heard a shot down this way at 1025 opening day. It was the only shot I heard all day.

Looking west you can see all the way to the Gore Range. The snow slide in the middle of the photo is a large one that comes off the east face of Haystack Mountain. I would somehow find myself there later on this day as the snow moved in. Yes, I got turned around again. It happens to me all too often here. I need a GPS to find my GPS so I can start using it and stop getting lost. There was little elk sign in the snow slide area which are very good sources of food for elk. The sign was old. I’m still scratching my head as why all the sign was so old. This place is perfect.

Way too dry and not a lot to eat in this open area where the old logging road ends. I did find some elk scat and prints. Even the small damp area where water collected below smelled of elk but that smell will linger in damp areas. I was really hoping to catch some elk feeding up here.

A little bit of history for this area. I found this sign posted in this man made meadow.

Ah ha! Finally, I got the jump on this mountain grouse before it flew to a nearby tree. Almost always I nearly step on these fat mountain chickens. Their flutter is loud and sudden and usually scares the bejeezus out of me. Not this time! It was the only sign of life I found up here so it was a welcomed sight.

Views from the second creek valley reveal steep slopes and lots of ridges. The tundra up here is a perfect place for summer time elk. I hope to come back next summer when the road is open so I can park closer and hike around. Unlike most tundra areas that are very rocky and support little plant life this place was covered in tundra grasses. I had seen elk on other mountains hang up here well through October eating brown, dried up tundra grasses in order to avoid the hunters below. Not so here. I glassed this area through out most of the late morning and early afternoon but didn’t catch sign of any life.

Views looking west where I had come from. That’s Haystack Mountain. Great bear country all around that thing. The dark timber that surrounds it is VERY difficult hiking with all the fallen logs and steep slopes as I found out later this day.

Someone built a weather station or something on top of Parkview Mountain. How’d you like to care take that place through winter? However, I bet it’s the best view around in the summer. Who gets those sweet jobs like that? Hunting is good all around Parkview on any side. The East Branch Creek on the north slope of Parkview runs for miles and is very lush. If you are hunting that unit you will find elk there. And moose, and deer, etc.

The air is getting hazy as the clouds roll in. In a short while it will begin to snow. Those aspens around the base of Paradise and Ethel Creeks are also a very good place to hunt. Like I said, pick a creek valley that others haven’t been in and you’ll have a very good chance finding elk there. There are a lot of little creek valleys and each one seems to hold a small herd of elk. Overall the basin holds over 3,000 elk. They are just very spread out. Are there elk in this photo? Oh yes there is. Somewhere.

After several hours or bushwacking my way through the steeps and across creeks I found the trail on Haystack Mountain in a snow storm. Yes, there were elk tracks on the trail too. Remember that saddle? Here it is as the snow fell heavy and wet. I was heading back to the truck, very tired and disappointed having found NO elk and no fresh sign after walking all that time. The snow would be very good for a lot of hunters on Sunday. It would reveal if there were any elk in the area. All you have to do is follow their tracks to find them. This is two years in a row that first rifle season hunters were so lucky to have fresh snow for tracking. Old snow is more difficult to track elk because you never really know what is fresh and what is old. You need fresh snow to find fresh tracks.

I four wheeled it up to the Troublesome Pass not far away. The fog on my camera lense makes this a better Christmas card than a photo. You can literally drive right up to the pass with any 4WD. No other trucks parked here today. Where was everyone. Am I the only one with this idea of driving around to gain access into the heart of the Troublesome this way? Maybe I should have parked here and hiked the heck out of Haystack Creek. It’s always had a good elk population and the outfitters would be camped many miles from this point. I could have had the entire upper Haystack Creek to myself too.

A view down into the abyss beyond the trail marker shows you how hard the snow was coming down. This is a great place for a quick weekend camping trip if you ever get the chance. A good trail, lush meadows, many creeks and stands of dark timber and aspens cover the slopes in this valley. Watch out for the bear though. I’ve seen a lot of sign and most of it very fresh to make me look over my shoulder every once in a while. This is black bear country. Come here in May or early June and I can promise you elk are everywhere. I just which I knew where they were in OCTOBER!

Sunday, October 14, 2007

I awoke Sunday to a wet snow but not as persistent as yesterday’s at higher elevation. I opted to join the masses and take my chances at lower elevations. I would pick a creek valley and hike it until I found some tracks in the fresh snow. I knew the elk in this area inevitably travel south and west as the weather changes and that even includes periods of heavy rain. In fact my view from up on high Saturday revealed to me that the entire flow of the Troublesome points west towards the sage brush slopes surrounding Kremmling, Colorado. That’s where the majority of elk go during winter. Not all of them make it that far. It depends on the winter snows. I would pick a valley where other hunters weren’t. That would be easy. Where there was a truck or SUV parked along any road there were hunters in the area. This time of year you can bet on it. I picked an old favorite place of mine. Buffalo Creek access. The big old sign over the heavy bridge crossing willow creek off of Hwy 125 that read “King Mountain Ranch” is gone. I wondered what happened to it. It has a long and interesting history. The road is still the same, slippery as ice when wet. It was a slip and slide to our little pull out just barely off the road. I agreed to take my step-son along if he could walk a long distance and be quiet.  Looking at the map the night before it was a guess as to where to go. Any creek valley could have elk in it at any time. Elk are so random and unpredictable that I thought I would just check out a few valleys, not far from the road but far enough in to give it an honest effort. With human pressure coming from deep within the Troublesome and from almost every access point and pull out along Hwy 125 the elk had to be on the move. If elk follow any pattern at all it is this; chaos. Chaos theory suggest that there are patterns even in complete chaos. Elk fit well into that theory. For every book that is written about elk they are outdated faster than the PC hardware and software I used to write this page. Elk books are difficult to write with any longevity. They say a lot of good and reasonable things but are quickly obsolete when practiced in the field. What holds more predictability is human behavior. Where there are humans, especially those with high powered rifles with scopes, there are few if any elk. So I would search the in between places. I would do something I know is not practical. I would hunt close to the dirt road. From what I had been through on Saturday it would be an easy day, an easy hike.

Not a half mile from the truck but well hidden from plain view of the road in the middle of the creek valley with no name in between the highway and the popular Bill Miller Trailhead we hiked. Up the lush, small creek valley. Only impressions left from a squirrel crossed our path in the trees earlier. But now like finding a gold nugget there were elk tracks in the fresh snow. They came off the ridge to our right, through the meadow, across the creek, we had to follow them. You don’t pass up a free gift like this. We had no other choice but to follow them. I counted their prints. Maybe six elk. Cows and calf tracks mostly. Some following inside the steps of others. Then there were another set of prints. Larger, deeper than the others. A bull I thought to myself. Of course it had to be. The peak of the rut was over a week before. The biggest bulls would have disappeared into solitude. Into their hiding places only they know and the lucky discover. This bull with these cows was a replacement. A respectable bull I’m sure but he was most active before the peak and most active after the peak. He still had a chance of breeding if a cow comes into estrus again in October or early November. It was still possible and the sole reason he was with these cows. In my mind he was a classic Troublesome bull. Wary of everything and sprouting heavy, dark antlers. We heard shots deep in the Troublesome around 8:25am. More around 9:45am in the valley east of us it seemed. I wondered what it must have been like in that valley or on that ridge where the shots came from. Was someone celebrating or cursing a missed shot?

We followed those tracks up the opposite ridge. What I learned as we walked in their steps was how they followed the chaos theory so well. I was certain the tracks would lead up and over this other ridge into another creek valley. But they didn’t. Those tracks went straight up that ridge then they turned south. Zigzagging left and right. What were once tracks in single file were now random and spread out. They were heading somewhere but where? Evidence showed they didn’t stop. Scat spread out along their path as they walked up this steep slope like it was a well groomed trail had us panting and sweating. Between trees, over hundreds of logs, through clumps of scrub pine, you know the kind of bush that grows close to the forest floor. Why would they take the route they did? As their tracks took us miles from the truck along this long ridge they slowed their pace and spread out. In certain spots the tracks would close rank and filter through a section of trees. As their pace slowed ours quickened. Like coyotes we held a steady pace toward them. Then we found it – bones.

A long section of lower vertebrae lay on the ground before us. The woods, entirely quiet. Too quiet. For us city dwellers it is an odd sound. Unlike we are use to in our society but what elk understand the most. Complete silence. Some people think silience has a sound of its own. I think it’s beautiful, perfect, awkward and erie. I took a photo of the elk bones in the snow. One long leg attached to narrow hip bones. I thought it was a cow. But then I remembered the shape of a bull can be very narrow in the tail. Bulls are front heavy. I looked around the area. For the skull and antlers sticking out of the snow in the stillness. I saw a rib cage. I walked over to the other part the coyotes cleaned. The front part. A skull was attached to the upper vertebrae and ribs. I walked around the skeleton. It was a bull but it didn’t die of natural causes. It was shot. The clean lines of a saw removed the antlers that were once attached. The hunters removed the meat, the antlers and the ivories. The tracks we followed took us right to the bull. It seems the scenario was repeating. Tracks in the snow a year or two previous led others to follow and in this open area a shot was made and an elk fell. On a long ridge not far from the road. I wouldn’t say it was an easy pack out for them. We go in light and come out heavy if we are lucky or good.

We continued to follow the tracks. Along the ridge we followed like predators. At times the smell of elk lingered in the still air. Snow flakes slowed their pace as did the elk. At times the tracks seemed to wander. The tracks never stopped being random. At times we were so close to the top of the ridge that I swore we would cross over. They never did. Elk droppings in piles now. Even fresh pee in the snow. You know when you can smell elk and the scat is still green that you are close. We traveled as quiet as possible but the wet snow crunched beneath our feet. I swore the sound could be heard for miles. It would surely give us away.

Like all ridges, they have to end at some point. As the slope gave way to a small valley below us the tracks became very fresh. This was my first clue. THAT I SHOULD HAVE SLOWED DOWN AND GLASSED THE wooded section ahead. Where the elk had slipped in the soil beneath the snow you could smell the dirt. Where the bittersweet stench of elk was thick in the air. We never had to worry about the wind for the elk were always sure it was in their favor. Since we followed it was in our favor too. Though the flakes fell straight there were times when the wind blew lightly. Always in our favor. I worried that our steps would give us away first.

At first glance at the small waterless, valley floor below it was easy to see this is where one ridge joined another in maze of endless ridges. But this small valley in between creek valleys below was where we caught up to the elk. Not because we out walked them but because they stopped to bed. In my haste to hurry and catch up I forgot to slow down. I kept my 3x9 Redfield scope covers on to keep them from fogging up or getting wet. It worked but now I had to remove them quickly. What caught my eye was a tan body lying at the base of trees. It was him. The bull that made those tracks miles away in the meadow down by the creek. He had me. The next few seconds I tried to redeem my mistakes. Here lie a classic, heavy 5x5 bull in the Troublesome Basin not a hundred yards in front of me through the trees. Time slowed down as my hands were busy. My thumb on the safety of my Remington model 700 .300 Winchester Magnum pushed upward into firing position. My trigger finger lightly cradling the trigger. I knew better than this. I should have had a call in my mouth. To stop the elk if needed. If I had stopped a foot earlier the tree the bull was lying near would have blocked his view of me. Instead almost as soon our eyes met and before I could focus my eye through the scope to a spot on the bull he was on full alert. He lay in his bed at an angle where his vitals were away from me. Here’s where he beat me. He was watching his back trail. He was bedded away from his cows at a safe distance. It’s easier to see many elk before seeing one off to the side. His position only revealed his head, his thick, neck, dark antlers, his large belly and hind quarters. I had no shot and he knew it. However, I was willing to try to find a small spot that would give me a lethal kill with one shot. That’s when he stood in one fluid motion his hind legs pushed against the oval spot where his body melted the snow. His front legs sprang from underneath him as he turned to trot off. All the while I was still trying to find his dark body in my scope. I had no shot. Not an ethical one. The forest erupted with elk. Cows, calves, and him. A classic Troublesome bull led the way out of there. One by one and quickly elk appeared from behind every tree it seemed. There may have been six or seven of them in all. But their stampeded across the small, dry ravine led them across, and up the steep slope of the other ridge. Would they go up and over? Or would they turn to get a reassuring look at me and my intentions once safely out of range. I reached for my open reed call as my partner watched the elk depart. I let out some lost calf sounds. I wanted them to think they left one behind in their escape. But these elk weren’t buying it. They new everyone in their group was with them. Still I had hopes the calf sounds I made would slow them down. No such luck. I wondered if the sound pushed them further away instead.

The entire encounter may have lasted thirty seconds. Just like that it was over. The woods were silent again. If the elk were spooked or in a rush when they first crossed the creek miles behind us, they were more determined now to head across another creek valley and up another, bigger ridge many more miles away from here. I knew better. I had to let them go. Tracking spooked elk is a hike to futility and beyond. Sure, I could track them but I was not prepared to camp out here tonight. This bull won. I’ll know better next time.

The snow was a gift. I learned more from a few miles of tracking than in the previous day aimlessly hiking. Today I was taken to school. I took good notes. I’d rather be lucky than good. Mother nature provided the snow and I was lucky enough to pick the right creek valley to hike up. Every day is a new day, a new start. The elk can be anywhere and they usually are. There are likely places and now I know. You only get one opening day to surprise them. Then every day after that is a chase. A look at the map with a warm drink in hand trying to guess where they might be. Find those places in between the trail heads and the pullouts. Find those no-named creeks on your maps and hike them. If you’re lucky you’ll cross fresh tracks or scat. And they will lead you to the elk nearby. Elk hunting is a journey not a destination. The more I learn about elk only reveals what I really don’t know about elk. Every encounter is a new adventure. New territory. That’s what keeps me coming back to this place.

Somewhere back in there beyond the many folds of this ridge and others further behind it is a nice bull with some cows.

Monday, October 15^th, 2007

LOTS of uneventful hiking random creek valleys under clearing skies. More shots heard from other creek valleys. I guess I picked the wrong one today. Doesn’t matter because this place is heaven. Stopped for lunch on the way home. Saw a pickup with 4x4 antlers sticking out among tarps and camping gear. Soon after saw another with a large set of 6x6 antlers in the backup of a diesel pickup. I also saw four large canvas sacks stained red with fresh quarters hanging from a meat pole in the over crowded pullout at the Trail Creek Trailhead. First season is generally the most successful.

The last two days of the season I had family commitments so I had to cut this short. One day when the kids get old enough to keep up with me or I get old enough to slow down we’ll all hunt a full season.

Thanks for reading.