Unit 43, near capital peak?

[Miller1]

I am going Colorado bowhunting with a buddy to unit 43, in the capital peak area, looks like some rough terrain, he has had some pretty good luck in there in the last 12 year's, he said we will hike in for about 8 hours before we setup spike camp. Anybody familiar with that area?, i know when i shoot my bull it will be a heck of a hike out with a 350 class bull, lol, actually i will not be picky at all.

[Pop-r]

I venture to say your buddy won't like you very much longer! No offense, just saying.

[brun]

You should have a good, but physically demanding hunt. It's a beautiful area, but steep and very high altitude. Capitol Peak is over 14,000 feet. Have fun.

[blackwolf]

Hunted that area 30 years ago for a couple trips. Phenomenal elk hunting in the back country back then. Steep is the name of the game. Called in a great 350 class bull one year to 7 yards but couldn't get shot.If my body could still do it I would be back there. Just darn gorgeous country. Downer is if you get early snow in the high country the elk move much lower ina hurry making location difficult. I was camped at 12,000 one year on Sep 8 and got hit with a foot of snow and 40 mph winds that kept me in my tent 24 hours and had to hike thru 3 foot drifts to get back over pass and back to my truck. Be prepared, with cool rainy weather you will see a ton of elk with lots of bugling if it still like it was 15 years ago. Early in season some good water hole action.

[Elkduds]

Snowmass/Maroon Bells wilderness is the soaring, shining heart of the Colorado Rockies. There is not a more beautiful, wild area in the state. In September the aspens will change, some snow will fall, and the bulls will roar and scream. Where would you rather be? You have an experienced and historically successful hunting partner. If you are willing to prepare for a physically demanding hunt, it should be epic, unforgettable. Take a tour via Google Earth and see for yourself.

Spike camp at the end of a 10 hour hike to 12K elevation is not a place to be sick or injured. Learn all you can about camping at altitude, be honest w yourself about you health and fitness, and get or stay in peak condition. We would love to see an illustrated story of your hunt, as many here will never get that close to elk heaven.

[Miller1]

I camped at 10500 a couple years ago after hiking in for 9 hours and felt fine so i hope I'm good to go, we are actually camping the 1st night at about 10500 and will hunt the next day to 11500and see where the elk are, if there not there we will pack up and move so we won't jump right to 12000 but i do want to go high just for the experience since i haven't been above 11500 before. I am thinking about using some altitude advantage from wilderness athlete, anybody used that?

[WV--Elk]

Miller1,

Me and a buddy of mine will be in that same general area this year. If you want to talk about that area, you could email me and we could bounce some ideas off each other. Not sure what dates you were planning on being out there, but we will be out there the first 10 days. If you are going later, I could get a hold you upon my return and let you know what I saw etc. we are also planning on going in a few miles and bivy hunting each night.

Keven
kallen90@satx.rr.com

[Miller1]

Wv--elk, i think we are going the 3rd week, not sure yet. I would love to talk to you about it, I'll email you when i get more info, my buddy has all the experience there so I'm letting him make all the decisions. Lol

[WV--Elk]

3rd week should be fantastic in that area. Due to work, etc, we chose the first 10 days. Plus, with bivy hunting, I figure the weather should be slightly better. Stay in touch: I should be able able to give you all a run down of what I saw, and hopefully killed!

Keven

[GOOSE]

Went on my first ever elk hunt in 43 last year with my brother and another buddy. Never killed but we did get on one herd way uphigh. Ran into a drop camp in one basin. Found two different arrows. Also found a dead four point bull. We were in probably 6 or seven miles as the crow flies from the truck. Saw one smoker muley. Probably 30 subarus and toyotas at the trail head when we got there. None when we left

[tdirks]

Hey Miller, I spoke with the game officer for unit 43 about the Capital Peak area a couple of years ago and one thing he mentioned was that there is an outfitter in the area that has a couple of drop camps during archery season.

[Miller1]

Ya i know they are there, my buddy says the drop camp guys get mad when they see them back there because they paid to hunt there. Lol