First Elk Day - Saturday 10/20/12

Well we slept in this morning, which for us was 8 o'clock. We all took showers and then hit Denny's for breakfast.

We drove down to Safeway to get lunch items for our packs. We also got a 12 pack of Modello.

We then headed W to Loma and SR 139. Then we headed N. We stopped along Douglass Pass for a photo op.



That's where we just came from. Facing SE.

Our turn off to come back E to our GMU is marked by a large barn. Should be easy to find tomorrow morning. We only made one wrong turn getting to the high gate. Well done for noobs like us. We parked and hiked around with our packs. Had a shore lunch and then back to the truck for more scouting.




Noob elk hunters loaded for bear. Notice the awesome weather!

We drove as far E as we could and then headed back, checking all pull offs as we came W. At our second pull off, here comes the CO. We initiated contact by exiting the truck without weapons. We volunteered our licenses and he validated them. We chit-chatted for 30 minutes or so and said our goodbyes. He said he should check our weapons because it's illegal to have them loaded in the vehicle. Geordie's was empty, but low and behold, Re-Tard had one in the chamber. Now Dean, our new CO friend, said that this was an offense that he does write tickets for. However, since we were cops, he was letting Re-Phil off with a stiff warning. Lesson learned. Guns are now unloaded in the truck and fully cased at night. How did Dean think we were cops? Social engineering at its best folks!

We stopped along a bluff and sat the hillside until dark. Saw a few birds, some cattle, and one coyote.

There are only two camps up here, but we've seen about 7 vehicles and 10 or so other hunters.

The wind is blowing pretty steady and it's dropped from 60 degrees at 1 down to 52 at 6:30 pm. However, it's full sun and absolutely beautiful up here. Man is it steep! About 1200 feet STRAIGHT down. Sure is gonna stink dragging an elk back up them mountains. A price we are willing to pay though.



All told, we logged about 2 miles today with full kit. Taking it slow and letting our poor bodies acclimate a little bit. Have been drinking lots of water.

Returned to Safeway for lunch items during tomorrow's hunt.
Back to the hotel - 65 miles and it takes 90 minutes. Rough roads!
Walked across the street for Enzo's pizza and beer.
Back for showers and sleepy time.
Getting up at 5:30 on Sunday for the drive back up.
Looking forward to it.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:North of Loma, CO @ 8500 ft

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