Live from CO DIY elk hunt

Checking in. Surprised to have a cell signal in this wilderness area somewhere in the San Juans.

Got camp set up today. Elevation has worn down my partner. We plan to hit the dark timber in the morning. Can't wait. Hope to check in sometime later this week.

We have a cow and bull tag. Lots of hunters in the area, but there's also thousands of acres and plenty of room to roam. We saw a party loading up a buck and Doe mule deer this morning on the ride in.

Gotta manage my cell phone battery carefully!

Looks awesome. Hunt safely and best of luck!

Looks like beautiful country You're in. I hope you get to dull your knives on a big 7X7. Oh, and a cow too.

You don't have a charger in the pickup?

those San Juans are mighty tough mountains, hunted there twice. Good luck.

Wow, looks beautiful! Good luck and keep us posted. I would love to do this trip one day.

You lucky dog, kill a bigun or two.

It's a Toyota I'm sure he doesn't have a spare set of AAA batteries to run the thing

Good luck

Looks like fun

Cool!

Sounds like a good time. Good luck!

Good luck. I hope it's not as hot in Southern CO as it was in Denver yesterday. Maybe y'all will get some snow.

Good luck! Enjoy it!

Good luck. Beautiful place.

Highs in the low 70s. Not particularly ideal elk hunting weather according to conventional wisdom.

We eased into the hunt today and covered some ground. We saw a mule deer. Ran into a 74yo man who's hunted the area for 24 years. Salt of the earth guy. He bumped a 6x6 out of its bed 2 hours before we came through that trail.

In terms of strategy, I'm struggling. Yeah, you can bump into a bedded bull, but I'm guessing it's like trying to shoot a white tail buck out of its bed. Hard as hell!

So that means we gotta catch them coming and going to feed. I think they are feeding in some isoldated meadows and probably in dense forest. We'll work it out.

I do like the community atmosphere up here. Most folks we've bumped into are real nice and helpful.

Yes, the truck has a phone charger, but we dang sure aren't going to burn all our gas trying to keep the phone going.

Love that part of the state. Haven't taken the time to hunt elk there yet but it's definitely on my list. There are places in the San Juans that you can go and not see another human for a week. It's one of the last spots you can find true unmolested wilderness in colorado. Good luck and be careful!

This is something we have noticed as well, everyone seems to be very helpful, the biologist that we have talked to are awesome. Two years ago when in Colorado we stopped in one of the office and talked to a young guy that was working for the national park service he offered if we would buy a map to mark it up with some good spots as he was already tagged out during bow season and we were hunting second rifle.

His advice and spots were solid we saw a total of 11 bulls on the spots he marked one of which was a monster 6x7 but it was the day before season while we were scouting. Another group killed that bull and he was unbelievable for public land.

My elk trip didn't make this year, so we are headed to Nebraska to bow hunt end of next week, but next year I will be back in Colorado.

Hunt safe, drink plenty of water and good luck!

From today:

Glassing a huge meadow.


Elk or mule deer rub.


One of the last spots we hunted today. Meadow beside creek and dark timber.


Heard some bugles mid morning. 4 shots were heard in that area shortly afterward. We plan to stalk the top half of dark timber for the remainder of trip.

After my student loans are paid off, I plan on doing a DIY bow hunt in Colorado. Always wanted to go there.

I'd put my money on that being a muley rub

Thanks! Thought the tree was sort of small for an elk.

I just wanted to say thanks for keeping the thread updated. This is awesome. My bucket list hunt right here.

My dream is an Alaska hunt. This would be a very close 2nd. Like what others have said. Thank You for sharing.

Same here.

Today was a recovery day. Rain turned to a light snow dusting overnight. Woke up feeling like I had a hard night out drinking. We decided to sleep in. Ran to town for supplies.

Went back to a hot ridge this evening. Heard 2 bugles at dusk and heard a couple cow calls in that area on the walk out.

Watched over this meadow while my better shooting partner watch one behind me. We were really scouting for an early morning hunt tomorrow.



All the other hunting parties are working on sealing the deal. They are seeing and missing shots at elk. Haven't laid my hands on any antlers yet.

Today we had a breakthrough with the wood stove. We were burning some crappy fur wood earlier from a nearby deadfall, but we bought some spruce pine wood in town. Made a huge difference tonight! Feels great in here and it's 32° outside.

Cool!!!

Next time you hear a bugle close but can't sneak in on him grab a tree branch and "scrape" a tree with it and wait for a few minutes. I normally archery hunt during the rut but it's amazing how that can draw them in when they aren't responding to calls.

Good luck buddy

It turns out, day 5 of hunting is my changeover from hope to despair. LOL! How can I despair in this beautiful land? With the end in sight, the brain starts working against you. The good news is camp life ain't bad. Sure would be better with some elk steaks.

Probably changing over to half day hunts for the remainder of trip. Friday? Saturday? Not sure yet.

Here is a pic of some timber I walked all morning.

Wicked cool

Oh yeah, we did see 2 real nice mule deer this morning! Should have put in for one of those tags too. They were in a deep bottom. Would have taken a ton of energy to get out.

In these mountains, you really can only go uphill for about 25 yds to stop and catch your breath. Been here 5-6 days and no improvement. I'm in decent shape.

This is awesome thread, beautiful pics. I hope to do this one day

what part CO you hunting? Me and a friend are headed up to Craig in 15 day's and counting

Somewhere in the San Juans...

Good luck to you on your trip!

From limited elk hunting experience (but I have seen and called them in), based on the pictures, especially the one Titled Glassing a large meadow. Pick two of the peaks to your right and sit about two thirds of the way up and in between a saddle between two peaks. That is how they travel up into the thick timber. Or, if you see an obvious bench on one of the sides of a peak that is in thick timber, be there in the morning waiting for them. That will be a preferred bedding area. Good Luck and keep the pictures coming. One other thing, if you come across a cattle trail up there, hunt it. It isn't cattle making those trails, but it is a large creature with some called bulls and some cows.

Do you have either sex tag or bull only?

The altitude is tough to adjust to. I did best when I would take a few steps and just pause for an extra breath or two.

It is easy to hunt too hard at first, because you are so pumped up and have been waiting and planning for such a long time, and wear yourself out.

My only advice is start scouting again. Try to find where the people aren't. In my experience, elk adjust quickly to people and will clear out of an area. Elk leave a ton of fresh sign so start looking for a lot of fresh sign, then slow down and hunt. Usually extremely fresh droppings are what I would look for and also muddy wallows. Finding sign that is a few days old is not what you are wanting.

Good luck and enjoy every second. That is an amazing place. I was always amazed at how many stars were in the night skies.

Thanks jawbone!

When you get done with your hunt I'd like to talk to you about your trip. Me and a couple friends are looking at going next year during archery and looking to do a similar trip to yours. Looking for any advice I can gather. Looks like your having a blast. Have enjoyed following this trip.

Me too. Maybe you should sell tickets

Jawbone and mman's advice turned out to be dead on for my hunting partner. Today we went our separate ways and he found some super fresh sign in dark timber. He stalked in a bit too close and spooked a cow and very nice bull. A small hunting party of Apache Indians hunting the ridge across ended up with a 4x4. All in all a good day.

Unfortunately, this marks the end of the journey. No meat to bring home, but plenty of knowledge gained and plenty to look forward to next year if we make it back out. I have a new appreciation for the woodsmanship it takes to bag a bull.

We are taking note of our lessons learned. My big takeaway for next year is to be ready to hunt the minute the season begins. Just like gun season in Bama, it doesn't take long for the elk to go into hiding and survival mode.

Plenty more to improve on, but we set reasonable goals for this trip. We both feel the trip was fulfilling.

BTW, just saw 2 stinkin elk in NM on our LONG drive back.

Here's a few pics to leave you with:

Daytime pic of camp. I really love my frame tent. It is nice to have some enclosed living space once the sun goes down. It gets cold quick even with the mild weather we had.



Fun idea we picked up somewhere for the outhouse. $20 on Craigslist. Priceless view.



Heading home

Thanks for the play by play. Better luck next time! I'll put you on a lowndes hog if that'll make you feel better . Talk soon buddy

BamaWes14, I'd be glad to help. Pm sent.

Turkey_Killer, send me a PM if you'd like some info.

Slugger, I really enjoyed the stories and pics. Thanks for sharing with us!

Man sure wish the trailer had a bunch of horns making the ride back. Glad yall had a great time.

Sounds like your trip was like both of mine. No elk for me, but the scenery, challenge and adventure were worth every minute of it.

Have fun and good luck

Wish one of y'all had connected, but each trip is a learning experience. The hunting and adventure is worth the price of admission, and killing one is just icing on the cake.

I've been fortunate enough to kill 2 bulls (5x5, 6x5) and a cow with my bow in Colorado on DIY hunts on public land with over the counter licenses. My biggest advice to anyone is try to put yourself where no one else is hunting, which is easier said then done sometimes. For me, that was walking into an area where ATVs were not allowed. I love still hunting on the north slopes in dark timber.

Thank you N_AL_Sluggar for sharing your adventure. It bought back a lot of fond memories for me.

Hate you didnt score. Congrats on a great experience though. Like you mentioned its a mental battle about how you look at it. It was a great time with friends in a unfamiliar area that im sure you all enjoyed.