Well we got skunked again. But was much better than last yr.
Last yrs hunt recap:
We had a group of 5 this time. Hunting CO unit 81 near Chama, NM. We took 4 wheelers as well, last yr me and my buddy backpacked the whole time.
81 was a unit with far less steep terrain than 551 that we hunted last yr.
We got there friday (9/14) afternoon and loaded up the bikes to head in. Took about 2 hrs to get to the camping spot we decided on. Me and my buddy took off after setting up camp and started scouting high, while the other 3 went the other way and mostly scouted low.
Most of the other hunters we had talked to said they heard bugling a few days before, for about 3 days, and had been quiet since.
We climbed, and climbed and climbed for 3 days, scouting and didnt see much fresh sign at all. Most of what we saw was at least a few days old. Dry and crumbly. Tracks were hard to decipher as it was very dry and we had no rain until the day we left.
Found a few rub lines, but 2 of the 3 had flagging tape near them which made me think that bull had been harvested before we got there.
The first 3 days, someone in our group had seen elk everyday. Nothing crazy, we'd bump a small herd and never see them again while moving slowly. Only 2 legal bulls were sighted, and from a distance. We could never get on them.
Day 4 we decided to try still hunting various areas.
My buddy and I set up on a few wallows that were within a few hundred yards of each other. I never saw anything. My buddy walked up on a nice mule deer on the first day that we sat the wallows. But no one had a mule deer tag...
2 days before we planned on leaving, I was walking to my spot one morning, right at shooting light, and walked up on a group of 3. The only elk I could make out was a mature cow, with the other 2 in front of her behind some aspens. I had an arrow nocked, and ranged at 100 yds. Too far. I decided to try to stalk them as they hadnt seen me and I had good wind, but I was in a deadfall drainage and couldnt take a step without breaking branches so I decided to let them leave and still hunt that spot morning and evening.
I did this for 2 days and never saw anything. I did have a black bear mosey around within 20 yds of me in this spot for about 15 minutes, which was cool.
We ended up leaving thursday. We flat out burnt ourselves out covering as much ground as possible the first 4 days and I was no longer excited about the prospect of hauling meat out of those mountains, which im not proud to admit.
We never heard a single bugle. Never heard a bugle last yr either. Ive learned that you can set yourself up for disappointment watching the various internet hunting personalities. Every video they post they are in bugling elk giving the impression that this is what its like.
All in all, it was a blast, we base camped and slept and ate good. We worked hard. We had 4 wheelers allowing us to move areas with ease. We saw elk every day, very few bulls, but it was an improvement over last yr where we didnt see any.
One of our guys from work was in the same area, and his son got a good satellite bull with the help from a local they knew. and they said that bulls were bugling all night where they were, which was in the river valley, about 1200 ft lower than we were, and 4 miles away.
Ill be back next yr.
Last yrs hunt recap:
We had a group of 5 this time. Hunting CO unit 81 near Chama, NM. We took 4 wheelers as well, last yr me and my buddy backpacked the whole time.
81 was a unit with far less steep terrain than 551 that we hunted last yr.
We got there friday (9/14) afternoon and loaded up the bikes to head in. Took about 2 hrs to get to the camping spot we decided on. Me and my buddy took off after setting up camp and started scouting high, while the other 3 went the other way and mostly scouted low.
Most of the other hunters we had talked to said they heard bugling a few days before, for about 3 days, and had been quiet since.
We climbed, and climbed and climbed for 3 days, scouting and didnt see much fresh sign at all. Most of what we saw was at least a few days old. Dry and crumbly. Tracks were hard to decipher as it was very dry and we had no rain until the day we left.
Found a few rub lines, but 2 of the 3 had flagging tape near them which made me think that bull had been harvested before we got there.
The first 3 days, someone in our group had seen elk everyday. Nothing crazy, we'd bump a small herd and never see them again while moving slowly. Only 2 legal bulls were sighted, and from a distance. We could never get on them.
Day 4 we decided to try still hunting various areas.
My buddy and I set up on a few wallows that were within a few hundred yards of each other. I never saw anything. My buddy walked up on a nice mule deer on the first day that we sat the wallows. But no one had a mule deer tag...
2 days before we planned on leaving, I was walking to my spot one morning, right at shooting light, and walked up on a group of 3. The only elk I could make out was a mature cow, with the other 2 in front of her behind some aspens. I had an arrow nocked, and ranged at 100 yds. Too far. I decided to try to stalk them as they hadnt seen me and I had good wind, but I was in a deadfall drainage and couldnt take a step without breaking branches so I decided to let them leave and still hunt that spot morning and evening.
I did this for 2 days and never saw anything. I did have a black bear mosey around within 20 yds of me in this spot for about 15 minutes, which was cool.
We ended up leaving thursday. We flat out burnt ourselves out covering as much ground as possible the first 4 days and I was no longer excited about the prospect of hauling meat out of those mountains, which im not proud to admit.
We never heard a single bugle. Never heard a bugle last yr either. Ive learned that you can set yourself up for disappointment watching the various internet hunting personalities. Every video they post they are in bugling elk giving the impression that this is what its like.
All in all, it was a blast, we base camped and slept and ate good. We worked hard. We had 4 wheelers allowing us to move areas with ease. We saw elk every day, very few bulls, but it was an improvement over last yr where we didnt see any.
One of our guys from work was in the same area, and his son got a good satellite bull with the help from a local they knew. and they said that bulls were bugling all night where they were, which was in the river valley, about 1200 ft lower than we were, and 4 miles away.
Ill be back next yr.
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