Elk Day 7 - Friday 10/26 - Last Hunt Day
That damn alarm went off again at 4:45. But we laid around and did not get out until about 6:30. We drove out to the Lower Roan Creek area via DeBeque.
There were many more hunters today. Maybe the cold snap brought out the elk!
Sure enough, as we rounded a bend, there were 3 large bulls about 50 yards off the road. They bolted south and stopped by the creek at 120 yards. An easy shot for Super Hunters like us. Two problems though: 1) we do not have bull tags and 2) they were on private land. We took lots of pictures though. Shot them with a camera instead of a gun.
We drove up the road a bit and stopped to get our gear ready (guns out and orange on). We were standing at the tailgate and a truck pulled up. Fella was Rod Graham and runs his own guide business. He said, "I hope you boys don't plan on hunting here." No, we assured him, we were just getting ready. We showed him our GPS and how we could tell what was public versus private land. We also told him that we were only taking pictures of the bulls. He was very pleasant and professional.
We talked size of the bulls with Rod. He guessed the big one would score about 280. The others, obviously, less. Rod told us about his operation and he suggested we get on up the road if we were going to catch the cows heading back up the mountains.
We parked near Lamicq's gate and walked back East. Wow, if we had thought it was cold earlier in the week, then today was REALLY cold. It was 12 degrees F ( -11 C). The sun was out but there was a slight breeze. Clearly we did not have enough clothes on.
We glassed until 11:30 and then drove back to DeBeque for lunch at the town's only restaurant, Subway. We checked the map and then drove every road until we hit gates, marking private land. Along the way we glassed for elk. We did end up passing by the High Lonesome Ranch, where brother Trent works part time.
We came upon a spot where the local hunters have been gutting and butchering their kills for at least 2 years. There were bones, hides, skulls, and gut piles from mulies and elk. Geordie found a fully intact coyote skeleton. He cut off the skull and put it in a garbage bag. He hopes to get it back to Indiana via his checked bags. Boy, won't his wife be happy???
No elk were seen the rest of the day, but we got pictures of turkey, mule deer, and pheasants. And, we saw numerous bunnies along the road sides. We parked and glassed until sunset. As we drove back to Grand Junction, we summed our week up like this...
We've seen 1 fox, 3 coyotes, 6 cock pheasants, 7 grouse, 33 elk, 250 turkeys, and about a billion mule deer. We've had temps ranging from 70 down to 12. We've seen sun, clouds, rain, sleet, and snow. There were clam days and days when the wind advisory should have been a gale advisory. No shots were taken, but a good time was had by all.
So was this trip successful? If you measure it by meat in the freezer, then the answer is no, the tribe will go hungry. But if you measure it by enjoyment, full digital cameras, and time spent among the Rockies with good friends, then the answer becomes a resounding and emphatic Yes!
This week has gone by quickly, but we're ready to pack and fly home to our families.
Even though our licenses do not expire until 30 minutes after sunset on Sunday, we are wisely using Saturday as a travel day and Sunday as a recovery day.
Back to the Real World on Monday. At least the alarm won't be going off until well past 4:45 come next week!
It took until 9:00 tonight before Papaw Phil started snoring. I think we might have tuckered the poor wittle fella out.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
There were many more hunters today. Maybe the cold snap brought out the elk!
Sure enough, as we rounded a bend, there were 3 large bulls about 50 yards off the road. They bolted south and stopped by the creek at 120 yards. An easy shot for Super Hunters like us. Two problems though: 1) we do not have bull tags and 2) they were on private land. We took lots of pictures though. Shot them with a camera instead of a gun.
We drove up the road a bit and stopped to get our gear ready (guns out and orange on). We were standing at the tailgate and a truck pulled up. Fella was Rod Graham and runs his own guide business. He said, "I hope you boys don't plan on hunting here." No, we assured him, we were just getting ready. We showed him our GPS and how we could tell what was public versus private land. We also told him that we were only taking pictures of the bulls. He was very pleasant and professional.
We talked size of the bulls with Rod. He guessed the big one would score about 280. The others, obviously, less. Rod told us about his operation and he suggested we get on up the road if we were going to catch the cows heading back up the mountains.
We parked near Lamicq's gate and walked back East. Wow, if we had thought it was cold earlier in the week, then today was REALLY cold. It was 12 degrees F ( -11 C). The sun was out but there was a slight breeze. Clearly we did not have enough clothes on.
We glassed until 11:30 and then drove back to DeBeque for lunch at the town's only restaurant, Subway. We checked the map and then drove every road until we hit gates, marking private land. Along the way we glassed for elk. We did end up passing by the High Lonesome Ranch, where brother Trent works part time.
We came upon a spot where the local hunters have been gutting and butchering their kills for at least 2 years. There were bones, hides, skulls, and gut piles from mulies and elk. Geordie found a fully intact coyote skeleton. He cut off the skull and put it in a garbage bag. He hopes to get it back to Indiana via his checked bags. Boy, won't his wife be happy???
No elk were seen the rest of the day, but we got pictures of turkey, mule deer, and pheasants. And, we saw numerous bunnies along the road sides. We parked and glassed until sunset. As we drove back to Grand Junction, we summed our week up like this...
We've seen 1 fox, 3 coyotes, 6 cock pheasants, 7 grouse, 33 elk, 250 turkeys, and about a billion mule deer. We've had temps ranging from 70 down to 12. We've seen sun, clouds, rain, sleet, and snow. There were clam days and days when the wind advisory should have been a gale advisory. No shots were taken, but a good time was had by all.
So was this trip successful? If you measure it by meat in the freezer, then the answer is no, the tribe will go hungry. But if you measure it by enjoyment, full digital cameras, and time spent among the Rockies with good friends, then the answer becomes a resounding and emphatic Yes!
This week has gone by quickly, but we're ready to pack and fly home to our families.
Even though our licenses do not expire until 30 minutes after sunset on Sunday, we are wisely using Saturday as a travel day and Sunday as a recovery day.
Back to the Real World on Monday. At least the alarm won't be going off until well past 4:45 come next week!
It took until 9:00 tonight before Papaw Phil started snoring. I think we might have tuckered the poor wittle fella out.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Welcome home boys! Sounds like a wonderful time was had by all. Many thanks for keeping us updated via the Blog postings.
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