2013 Archery Colorado Elk

[dukhnt]

It was a long drive from MN but we finally made it to the trailhead the evening before opener. There wasn't a lot of daylight left so it was time to gear up and find a place to set up camp.

We only hiked a half mile in. Light was fading fast. We found a relatively flat spot to put our four tents up in the dark.

I unfortunately didn't have the most even spot for my tent. So it was a restless night of sleep.

We packed up the next morning before light and headed up the mountain. Once on top we found a great place to camp to do some exploring on opening day. We set camp not knowing that we would never end up moving camp the rest of the seven nights. Our camp was at 11,100 feet for elevation.

We paired up. My buddy was hunting with his dad and I hunted with his brother Nick. Nick and I headed down a trail and it wasn't long and we heard a bugle. As it turns out, this was the only bugle we heard the entire trip. Excepts for some other hunters trying to sound like a bull. We headed in the direction of the bugle and never did find the bull. We did however find a great network of meadows and a nice wallow in one of them. I marked it on my gps. I figured it may be worth a sit to see if something comes in. We walked a ton that day. It was around 3:30 and I looked down hill and saw a cow elk looking at us. I decided before the trip that I was going to take any elk that gave me an opportunity. I had Nick cow call to get her attention and I tried to slip in closer. I got to 50 yards and she was standing broadside. I just had to slip my arrow between two trees. Piece of cake, right? As soon as I hit the release I knew it wasn't good. I hit the right tree and the cow elk ran off. I was bummed but still couldn't believe I had an opportunity at an elk on opening day.

Here was some of the scenery where we were hunting.

It was getting later in the day and we weren't far from the big meadow with the wallow. It was decided that I was going to sit by the wallow and Nick would sit in a different part of the meadow to see if anything would come out in the evening.

Instead of walking across the meadow I decided to walk just inside the timber around the meadow. It had been raining for three hours now and the woods were extremely quiet as I walked. It had maybe been 10 minutes from when I seperated from Nick and I look up the mountain and see this huge yellow body bedded down. It wasn't far off. I range the elk at 64 yards but only see the body. I take a couple of steps forward and see his right antler. It has five points! Game on! There was too much brush in the way so I had a decision to make. Either wait him out and see what he does or try to get closer. I choose to try to get closer. I dropped to my hands and knees and inched my way up toward him. There were times I was in the open and could see his head and couldn't believe he didn't see me. I was shaking like a leaf as I was getting closer, thinking he could bolt at any minute. I still did not have a clear shot and I ranged him at 40 yards. I picked another tree up the mountain to crawl to, figuring if I got there his vitals would be in the open. I get past my tree and look off to the right of the bull. There lays a cow in the wide open. I see her plain as day and know she can see me as well. I back up to the tree I just left pondering what to do next. I figured I need to move right instead of up. However there is a fallen tree directly right of me. I know I can't go over it, but there is enough room under it if I take my day pack off. My raincoat is also over my pack. So I have to take my raincoat off and then my pack while I am within 40 yards of two elk. My first attempt to take my raincoat off fails. It gets hung up on my elbow. So I get it back on then pull the sleeve down my arm. Raincoat is off and the elk are still bedded. Pack comes off easier. I crawl underneath the log and see the bulls head. I can't believe my luck that he doesn't see me. I finally get to a spot where I do not see the cow or the bulls head. Just the big body of the bull. I range it at 37 yards. To make it easier for me I close the distance 2 more yards. I must have ranged him five times to make sure he was at 35 yards. When I did this I saw a little stick that might be a problem. So I inched a little left to get a wide open shot. I looked at my bow sight and told myself, just aim between the yellow and red pin. I drew my bow, got to my knees, settled the sight and hit the release.

I took this picture from where I shot. Nick was where the bull was.

This is where he was bedded.

[dukhnt]

The bull stood up on impact and to my surprise so did 3 other elk. The cows just stood there looking at bull. He started to walk away and I could see my arrow hanging out of his body on the side I shot him. Doubt started to creep in my mind. I thought I didn't hit him where I wanted to. As I watched the bull going away I could tell his right front leg wasn't working well. The cows took off running and to my surprise the bull laid back down. I could only see part of his back. I knocked another arrow. Looked back at the bull and saw him roll over on his back, kick his legs and the roll on his side. He was down and dead! He went 34 yards from where I shot him to where he died. Knowing Nick wasn't far off I hollared for him that I got one. He came up to me and snapped a photo of me doing my happy dance.

I was quite surprised when I saw his rack. He is unique I guess. But a trophy in my book. As you can see he died right on a trail.

After tagging the bull and taking lots of photos we hiked back to camp to enlist the others for help. It was time for supper because we knew it would be a late night.

By the time we got the meat in game bags and got back to camp it was 11:00pm. We packed the meat out the next day. At the trail head we had an enclosed trailer with a freezer and generator.

Not sure why some of the photos are tilted. The are the right way on photobucket then looked tilted here.

[totally_addicted]

Awesome! Congrats on the trophy! Elk Hunting must be easy....

[dukhnt]

A couple days later I hiked back to the truck to refill the generator. I just got to the trail and ran into this guy at 45 yards. We saw him quite a few times.

A little further down the trail I jumped a cow elk. She took off before I could get a picture.

Not far from there I had this spike bull feeding at 35 yards.

He took off with some other elk, I had a cow standing at 50 yards on the trail. I sure with I had one of the other guys with me. Then further down the trail I caught up with the spike again. He also was with a cow and calf. Would have been another easy 55 yards shot on the cow. It sure was an exciting walk to the truck.

Another day my buddy and I came across this cow and calf moose. I got 14 yards away from them.

My elk was the only elk harvested on the trip. It was just to warm and the bulls were not bugling at all. One morning my buddy and I spotted a bachelor group of bulls but never got close to them. After 8 days on the mountain it was time to head home.

We took the scenic route home through Rocky Mountain National Park where we spotted these guys.

[DonBo]

Great hunt! Nice photos. Thanks for letting us ride along.

[Scott K]

Great story, thanks for sharing

[Bear55]

Cool trip, congrats on the elk!

[Scoot]

Sweet- congrats! Thanks for taking the time to share your story and pics with us.

[1eyeReD]

What an awesome trip! And an awesome stalk you made. Boy, I sure do miss chasing bulls in CO.

[bmc]

Great job dukhnt! Must have been a double lung and/or heart shot?

Thanks for sharing your story and pics with the rest of us.

An archery elk hunt is in my near future hopefully.

If you don't mind, what was some of the gear you used (backpack, boots, tents)

Thanks!

Brian

[MUSKY18]

Thats awesome! Thanks for letting us tag along!

[paceman]

Simply outstanding! Congratulations!

[mrklean]

Great story congrats on the bull

[sticknstring]

Spot & stalk elk - that's awesome! Congrats! Chasing bugling bulls w/ stick & string is atop my bucket list.

[sportfish]

Nice bull And A Great story ! Thanks for telling it !!!!

[rkhinrichs]

great story!

[Andrew Erickson]

awesome, congrats!

[MN Mike]

Good stuff Dukhnt!!

CONGRATS!

Mike

[HooknHorns]

Great hunt and story! Thanks for sharing. It just primes my pump. I'm definitely going somewhere to do this next year. Might be picking your brain in the future.

[dukhnt]

If you don't mind, what was some of the gear you used (backpack, boots, tents)

Thanks!

Brian

My main pack is a cabelas brand one. Not sure on the model but I do like it. I have the mountain extreme boots by Kenetrek. I used them on my mule deer hunt last fall and this elk hunt. Both times now I have gotten blisters. Not sure if I got them a hair to big or what. My buddy has the same boots and he doesn't get blisters but is still not happy with them. We both feel they are a very uncomfortable boot. Not what you expect in a $400 boot. I have a Eureka Apex tent which has suited me well on my last 3 back country hunts.

[dukhnt]

Update - Turns out my buddy didn't want to eat tag soup so he and his brother made a quick trip back out for the last three days of the season. They only needed two of those days. My buddy shot a 6x6 on day one and his brother got the 7x7 the next day. Sounds like it was full of excitement and a ton of work. Both are headed to the taxidermist. We will be eating good for quite awhile.

[DonBo]

Wow, that's awesome. Couple days to remember right there.

[sticknstring]

A few days of excitement and work, no doubt! Congrats on a pair of nice bulls & freezers full of elk meat!

[mrklean]

awesome two sweet looking elk there

[Scoot]

I have the mountain extreme boots by Kenetrek. I used them on my mule deer hunt last fall and this elk hunt. Both times now I have gotten blisters. Not sure if I got them a hair to big or what. My buddy has the same boots and he doesn't get blisters but is still not happy with them. We both feel they are a very uncomfortable boot. Not what you expect in a $400 boot.

dukhunt, Kenetrek makes an excellent boot- quality and workmanship is very, very good. However, they don't fit me worth a dang! It sounds like they may not be a good match for your foot either. They are known as having a narrow forefoot and heel. For me, they were too narrow in the forefoot and they tore my heels to shreds in no time flat.

If they don't fit for you the problem is almost certainly one of three things: 1) they're the wrong size, 2) you don't have the right socks or sock combo for these boots, or 3) these boots are simply a poor match for your foot. For me, my problem was clearly #3.

I used to ask online what boots I should get and I'd consistently get an answer that went something like this: "It doesn't matter what boot I tell you to get, you need to get one that matches your foot." I'd always think "Why not give me a decent, usable answer instead of that worthless response?" As it turns out, that response is spot on. I've now tried on tons of boots and most of them don't fit worth a darn. Kenetrek, Lowas, Crispi, several different Meindls, Danner, LaCross and a host of others- I've got some problems with my feet, so it's really hard to find boots that fit me.

In the end, though, it's really important to find boots that fit you right and don't cause you problems. That is, if you want to hunt out West successfully. Boot/foot problems can be show stoppers, so it might sound like a small thing, but it's definitely not.

Related to this, It took me a long time to find the combo of a thin poly liner and a good merino wool sock for my feet. Again, socks might not sound like a big deal, but they really are a biggie if you want to keep your feet in good shape so you can put on the miles required for many Western hunts.

Kenetrek makes a great boot! So do Lowa, Crispi, Hanwag and a bunch of other companies. However, it's not for everyone. If you had a good sock combo on, then it sounds like they aren't for you. If you had cotton socks on, you can't know if the problem was with your boot or your socks.

...anyway, just a little info I thought I'd pass along that might save some of you a ton of time and effort (and money) that I had to learn the hard way.