Elk Day 3 - Success!
Meat in the freezer! Trent and I both downed cow elk this afternoon...
We got up to snow on the Pond House at 6:30. We loaded up and drove down to Grand Junction and bought Subway for lunch, then took Douglas Pass to the back side of the ranch. We arrived at the cabin about 11:30. There was over a foot of snow and it was 26 degrees with LOTS of fog. Thankfully, the oil company had plowed the roads. We didn't even need to put chains on the truck. We saw about 5 elk on the way up.
At the cabin, we built a fire and drained all the water pipes. We hung out for about 2 hours and ate our sub sandwiches. We took off South at about 1:30. Our tactic was to wait for an opening in the fog and then creep over the next ridge. About ridge 3, we saw some elk bedded at 400 yds. They spooked and went up over the ridge we just came from. No shots. We continued this pattern until we hit Mud Springs.
Our original thought was to walk it, but due to lack of daylight and fog, we drove into it. Trent spotted the elk on the far ridge by an old deer stand. Since we saw them before they saw us, we got out of the truck and stalked them. We walked about 250 yds and set up for our shots. The nice bit was that we were on shooting sticks and knew the yardages. My elk spooked and ran behind a tree before I could shoot. Trent shot at a group behind the herd at about 150 yds. He dropped his elk.
The guide was calling out distances to the closest cow, 400, 450, 485, Shoot! I shot mine in the backside as she was walking away. She laid down and expired. Guide went back for the truck and Dad, who was watching through binoculars. He drove as close as we could and then towed the elk out with ropes and a winch.
Best guess in the field is that mine weighed in at 470# field dressed and Trent's went 275#. Does not matter, the tribe will be fed with cow elk meat.
I took zero pictures today, so will have to post them later. They are spectacular. You have No Idea how BIG these animals are.
On the way out, I spotted a Mountain Lion, but we were only able to get pictures of the big cat's tracks. Way cool.
Late dinner and a phone call home to tell wives of our success.
Plan for tomorrow: sleep in, eat breakfast at main lodge, haul elk to processor, buy lunch, head up Douglas Pass, and Dad shoots an elk! Good plan.
Time for bed. Been one long day. Fun, exciting, and successful, but long.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
We got up to snow on the Pond House at 6:30. We loaded up and drove down to Grand Junction and bought Subway for lunch, then took Douglas Pass to the back side of the ranch. We arrived at the cabin about 11:30. There was over a foot of snow and it was 26 degrees with LOTS of fog. Thankfully, the oil company had plowed the roads. We didn't even need to put chains on the truck. We saw about 5 elk on the way up.
At the cabin, we built a fire and drained all the water pipes. We hung out for about 2 hours and ate our sub sandwiches. We took off South at about 1:30. Our tactic was to wait for an opening in the fog and then creep over the next ridge. About ridge 3, we saw some elk bedded at 400 yds. They spooked and went up over the ridge we just came from. No shots. We continued this pattern until we hit Mud Springs.
Our original thought was to walk it, but due to lack of daylight and fog, we drove into it. Trent spotted the elk on the far ridge by an old deer stand. Since we saw them before they saw us, we got out of the truck and stalked them. We walked about 250 yds and set up for our shots. The nice bit was that we were on shooting sticks and knew the yardages. My elk spooked and ran behind a tree before I could shoot. Trent shot at a group behind the herd at about 150 yds. He dropped his elk.
The guide was calling out distances to the closest cow, 400, 450, 485, Shoot! I shot mine in the backside as she was walking away. She laid down and expired. Guide went back for the truck and Dad, who was watching through binoculars. He drove as close as we could and then towed the elk out with ropes and a winch.
Best guess in the field is that mine weighed in at 470# field dressed and Trent's went 275#. Does not matter, the tribe will be fed with cow elk meat.
I took zero pictures today, so will have to post them later. They are spectacular. You have No Idea how BIG these animals are.
On the way out, I spotted a Mountain Lion, but we were only able to get pictures of the big cat's tracks. Way cool.
Late dinner and a phone call home to tell wives of our success.
Plan for tomorrow: sleep in, eat breakfast at main lodge, haul elk to processor, buy lunch, head up Douglas Pass, and Dad shoots an elk! Good plan.
Time for bed. Been one long day. Fun, exciting, and successful, but long.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:De Beque, Colorado, United States
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