Been a whitetail hunter many years now, last year decided to start applying for some Elk/MD draw hunts. Luck would have it I drew first year for CO Elk and that's when all the work started! Hours and hours of E-scouting, learning about elk and how to hunt them, and getting my butt in shape! I wanted my Dad(69yrs old) to be able to experience the hunt as well so I decided to find a drop camp so we could get deep in the woods and not worry about having to pack many, many miles. The area I was looking at was super steep terrain with a nearly 4k elevation change from trail head to camp. I was a little concerned with me hunting at 11.5-12k since I've never been at that elevation and also making sure Dad would be okay.
After we were dropped off at camp I decided to take it easy Day 1 to acclimate to the 12k elevation. I had 9 days to try and locate Elk and put 1 down. First 7 days I covered 5-6miles per day in some crazy terrain searching for Elk with not much heard or seen. I also ran into 9-10 other hunters who weren't having much luck locating them either.
Day 8 came around and I had located some vocal Bulls on a Mountain side about 2 miles from camp but they were deep in some canyons. As I made my way towards them and talking back and forth to them, I had a 6x6 come in at 30 yards and offer me a broadside shot! It happened so quick I couldn't believe what had just happened! I made a perfect shot and he hit the dirt not 10 yards from where I shot him!
The packout was brutal as I had to get him closer to camp and out of all the deadfall to allow the horses to get to him. I will remember that 1.5 days of packout for rest of my life. Terrain was too rough for Dad to help out, but I'm so glad he was able to be on the hunt with me. Hunt of a Lifetime for me, and I'm still in shock I was able to make it happen on my first Public Land Archery Elk hunt! Incredible experience!
After we were dropped off at camp I decided to take it easy Day 1 to acclimate to the 12k elevation. I had 9 days to try and locate Elk and put 1 down. First 7 days I covered 5-6miles per day in some crazy terrain searching for Elk with not much heard or seen. I also ran into 9-10 other hunters who weren't having much luck locating them either.
Day 8 came around and I had located some vocal Bulls on a Mountain side about 2 miles from camp but they were deep in some canyons. As I made my way towards them and talking back and forth to them, I had a 6x6 come in at 30 yards and offer me a broadside shot! It happened so quick I couldn't believe what had just happened! I made a perfect shot and he hit the dirt not 10 yards from where I shot him!
The packout was brutal as I had to get him closer to camp and out of all the deadfall to allow the horses to get to him. I will remember that 1.5 days of packout for rest of my life. Terrain was too rough for Dad to help out, but I'm so glad he was able to be on the hunt with me. Hunt of a Lifetime for me, and I'm still in shock I was able to make it happen on my first Public Land Archery Elk hunt! Incredible experience!
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