My first elk hunt

[Jahnke76]

Well now that I have been home for a week and have most things put away it time to tell the Tale. We spent 2 weeks in Colorado chasing elk. The second day I had a very nervous moment with a bull Moose that we later named Harry. During the two weeks We seen Harry and his brother larry as well as there older and much larger cousins Jerry and gary. They had some sisters and girlfriends we seen as well. The first time I seen him he came running at me up to 5 yards away. Let me tell you I swear he weighed at least 25 tons at that moment. Really he’s about 900 lbs. We also seen many mulies and could have filled a tag every day we were there. I even had a big 5x5 at 25 yards broadside that would make any bowhunter mad. It took us until the second week before we really found any elk. We met a good friend from florida that kinda told us some secrets of where they were and we went and managed to see a couple. About day 7 of our trip I was stopped on a trail eating some lunch when I seen a nice cow Sneaking within range. I quickly grabbed my bow and got behind some cover. She was in the process of stepping out from behind a spruce when I hear an older ladies voice say “Oh look at the elk”. Well there went my only opportunity of the trip. My good Friend Tom was able to connect on a nice cow a couple of days before we went and it was an easy pack out. We ran into some vehicle trouble but nothing major until coming down the mountain on this nasty 4x4 trail and our trailer hitch snapped in half on a steep downhill. Luckily for us the trailer hitch stuck in the ground and the trailer didn’t smash the back of the truck. We managed to to chock the wheels and get the trailer on a smaller ball and get down the mountain and into town to get a new receiver. Overall it was a trip of a lifetime and I wish every hunter I ever encountered were like the guys I met there. I definitely will be back and be more prepared next time. Hopefully I wont have search and rescue all over the mountain searching for lost goat hunters that were never lost. Pics to come later when I have time to resize them.

[gagodfrey]

Tell me a little bit more about your methods if you don't mind. What elevation were you hunting? Did you sit on wallows at all? How many miles did you cover?
Thanks. I'm planning my hunt for next year and any info helps!

[ElkNut1]

All in all you hung in there! Half the trip sounds like you were in survival mode! (grin) I'm sure you learned a lot & that will be part of your learning curve you can take with you next year! Thanks!

ElkNut1

[Magic]

Sounded like a fun filled trip for sure.

[Vanish]

Sounds a lot like our trip with the moose and mulies! Which region of colorado were you hunting?

[Swede]

Congrats on the cow. It sounds like a great hunt to me. You guys did very well going one for two, plus you experienced and learned a lot. If bow hunting elk was easy, then the archery dealers would be selling a lot more equipment.

[pointysticks]

great story telling.

in about 2 more weeks, you will think that trip was 100% fun..maybe even laugh about it. maybe not the trailer part..trailers scare me.

[Jahnke76]

Other than the trailer hitch breaking it was nothing but fun. We were hunting in co unit 371 between silverthorne and green mountain resevoir. We were anywhere from 9000' to 10500'.