bloodcrick

OK here is the deal, i was at a ball game last night, ran into two of my ole high school buddies both bow hunters, one is my country square neighbor and is on my lease. one brought up he was going out west with four co workers that go for an annual DIY Elk hunt (bow ) Here is the skinny, He ask me and my neighbor if we would like to join them, well right now its just a pipe dream for me but if there is any way i can put this together i will, my neighbor says he is going but its not carved in stone yet. I have tons of questions and feel as i need to do some homework before making that kind of decision. I feel its now or never, im 42, have three kids 8,14,16 and a wife, a new house and one job, so financing is the big issue. When college comes you can throw this dream out the door []

So if it does happen and they said September, what are the bulls doing that time of year, (rutting?) are tags bought over the counter or is it a draw, what is the weather temps like in Sept in Colarado? what kind of foilage would i be dealing with? lace up boots or rubber, or both? Best way to deal with the meat, cape after a kill if that happens? What calls are needed?? I have most of the equipment needed, but not all. I have a grasp on the fitness thing so thats not an issue. I know Greg/Mo just did this a while back, Rob/Bower/PA,dubbya,Shed, has all done it, any input guys is appreciated. any one that has not done it your input is invited as well, I will consider all input. Help me make a dream a possable reality

jackflap

This is a long post, but hopefully I can give you some feedback to some of your questions. I am close enough proximity to the mountains, that I am able to elk hunt every year and it is the highlight of my hunting activity each year.

Usually, the middle to latter portion of September has more rutting activity than the early part of the season, but nothing is an absolute. This past year, I saw a herd bull with over 10 cows, and a satellite bull following and challenging on opening weekend which was the last weekend in August.

Both. The better areas are draw areas and require points in order to sucessfully draw, esp for a NR.
You receive a point when you apply for a tag and you didn't receive your 1st choice. Some areas can be drawn with just a few points and some areas may require more than 10.

There are plenty of opportunities however, to kill an elk with OTC tag. The fact that you are going with a group that has already been doing this is a plus in that they should have some known areas that typically hold elk already in their data bank.

Don't hold me to this as my memory is not that reliable, but the tag for a NR was either around $400 or $500 last year, I just don't remember which.

Depending on what altitude you are hunting, it can get very cold at night even when the weather is nice. I have camped at 11,500ft the last several years and it will get down into the twenties at night while it may warm to 60's during the day. Two years ago, we had a pretty good snow storm that lasted a day and a half at that altitude while hunting in late August.

I will leave the foilage to someone else, as I am not particular about camo and think all of it is highly overrated, but that is another topic.

If you are serious about killing an elk, you will put many HARD miles in everyday. You will need a lightweight yet supportive lace up boot that is well broken in and comfortable before you get there, IMO.

It is arguable that a hunting party of over 4 people can be too big, but not if someone gets an elk down without the use of horses. Because it can get warm during the day in September, you need to get the hide off the animal ASAP, quarter and hang in tree and then backpack out, which can be a long ways to a vehicle. It is best then to debone the meat as you carry it out. It would take one person 3-5 trips depending on size of elk and condition of th hunter to do it alone. If you get an elk down, recruit all the help you can get.

I prefer cow calls and bugle very seldom anymore. Make sure you have a good quality backpack capable of carrying out 80-90# of meat at a time as well as being comfortable enough to hunt in daily with 15-20# . Make sure you have basic survival gear and IMO, a GPS is essential as well as a compass, map and making sure you know how to use them in case the GPS malfunctions.

One last thing. Not trying to sound like a wise guy, but however good a shape you think you are in, you will wish you were even more when you get up there,especially at the higher elevations. (Note to self - Lose weight, build muscle and lots of aerobic exercisestarting now.)

Simp

This advice is absolutely priceless.

Bob H in NH

I've been on a few elk hunts and everything above seems right on track. Elk are BIG critters and when you get one on the ground is the wrong time to think "wonder what happens now"? Well "now" the work starts!! Several strong backs is priceless

For calls, there are several VERY easy to use cow calls, ELK makes a rectangular "bite" type of call that takes about 45 seconds to get decent with it. Hoochie Mama is also pretty easy to use, but not very flexible for making different cow sounds. Cow call more than bugle, but I do like to bugle, its just the thrill of hearing one answer and come in that makes it fun. PowerBugle is easy to use. If you area turkey hunter who can handle a turkey diaphram, you are 3/4 the way there with an elk call. I learned to both cow call and bugle with my diaphrams. Bugling was actually easier for me to pick up and "chuckles" are very much likea loud yelp

Get good broken in boots, if you are't heading up hill, then you're probably going down hill when in elk country (at least in northern ID where I've hunted).

get in shape, seems they forgot to put oxygen in the air out in the rockies!

Elk hunting is addictive!!

MNpurple

Yes, you need to do this. For us not from the mountains and not paying for an outiftters, the key is to know someone who has been out there and knows of an area where there ARE elk! You have that now, so you gotta do this!

This was my second year in a row out there and doing what you did, going with people who have been and know the area. The first year I learned alot , specifically, you need to move. Execept for a wallow, dont plan on sitting and waiting for elk, they are too big and cover to much ground for that to be effective. The second year I went out with quite a bit of knowledge under my belt and hada cow on the ground opening day.

Last year you could get OTC Elk tags in CO for about $500 for either sex and $250 for acow only.

Boots, boots, boots. I dont think there is a more important piece of equipment for the comfort of your hunt. This was a 5 mile backpack in hunt.Find what fits and feels good for you.

Gear wise depends on how you hunt, from a camp or do you backpack in? Backpacking requires a significant initiall investmentif you have not done it before. And dont worry,you'll use the gear again, I promise.

So many things that could be talked about, keep asking

jackflap

One other piece of equipment this is essential that you may or may not already have and that is good quality raingear.

You can count on it raining for at least 10-30 minutes almost every afternoon and it will usually cool down at the same time, making it pretty darn chilly at times, and even life threatening if you aren't prepared.

Keep in mind you are most likleygoing back to a "camping" environment at the end of the day, not some cozy and warm lodge,and it isn't always easy to get everything dried out if it continues to rain during the night, hence stay as dry as you can to begin with.

Rob/PA Bowyer

I hunted the first week of Sept and we had lots of rutting activity. The bulls were bugling and herded up but like he said, no absolutes, it could go either way, hit or miss.

I agree, weather can change quickly depending what altitude you'll be hunting. I shot my bull just over 10,000' and although it was near 90 down on the flat lands, it was onl in the 60's at that altitude, the early morns and evenings itw as less and can fall drastically. It's best to be prepared with good rain gear and warm cloths in a quality pack. Remember, cotton kills. Don't forget a change of socks and extra boots.

The bold is were I disagree because you can and may be eye to eye with them. If they are talking, they are coming to look for you and your on the ground, sometimes caught in open or semi open terrain. Even if it's only in your head, you need to trust your camo whichever that may be.


I totally agree with this statement. In fact, take two so you have a change and plenty of quality socks as well. You'll likely to be putting alot of miles under your feet and blisters can shut you down in a hurry. Make sure you boots are waterproof and broken in. Even though you may not be in water, dewy grass will soak your feet in a hurry in bad boots. I wouldn't recommend rubber boots unless you can walk forever in them.

Agreed again. I killed my bull at 9:00 opening morning. We didn't finishing packing him out til shortly after dark that evening. Miles on foot, and miles on atv. (3 guys hunting but 5 guys packing meat out) Invest in very inexpensive insect/bug meat bags. They may save your meat when it's real warm. We caped and and quartered my bull and put them in these bags. The flies will lay the eggs on the outside of the bag and the meat will remain untouched. We also layed the meat in a small stream trickling down from the snow covered tops to help cool it. The bags were priceless.

Excellent advice. I carried a heavy dute exterior frame pack to from base camp to spike camp and then a smaller field pack for the actual hunt with the survival gear and extra cloths etc....

More fantastic advice. I thought I was in superior shape prior to my hunt. Here in PA I could hike mountains carrying extra weight and although I never actually got winded on the mountains there my muscles did fatigue from the lack of oxygen. Just think that you cannot be in good enough shape. Sure you can rest alot but the better shape your in, the better you'll be. You never know when it might be time to get in front of a herd.

Most important, have a great time, take lots of photos.

Rory/MO

man i would go in a new york minute!!!
good luck if you go
post pics

bloodcrick

Man you guys are priceless that is some good info right there I will heed all of this advice and then some. Jack flap & Rob,im sure the high altitude lack of oxygen can get to an ole hoosier like me Fitness will be a great factor here. As of Jan of 07 i started hitting the weights, eating, drinking better and managed to lose 40 lbs I occasionally run 3 miles, but now im doing high impact interval training for cardio and,to keep the weight off, Im going to start (again) climbing 10 flights of stairs and walking some inclines at work especially if this is gonna happen. Thanks again for all the advice its appreciated.

Rob/PA Bowyer

Oh, and forget everything you know about whitetail hunting, your not hunting whitetails, go into turkey hunting mode and watch the wind!