Scouting for elk

[MtnMike2]

My hunting buddy and I are taking next Fri off and driving up to NW CO for elk scouting and a campout. We're going to look around at areas near by that we don't usually hunt and try to come with alternatives. Also hope to see how much elk activity there is in our usual area, etc.

Mike

[Dan Morris]

Wish you luck......watch the red pines......if ya got time, you mite look south.
Dan

[MtnMike2]

Oh man, it's bad. Haven't been into the mountains since last winter (and it was getting bad then). Many more dead trees, mostly lodgepole pines. As soon as you get out of the Eisenhower tunnel going west you can really see the devastation. Up near Steamboat there are some more really bad patches - large areas with all dead trees. It's a shame that they haven't come up with something to stop or kill the pine bark beatle.

The elk scouting trip was a huge success though. I haven't seen so many elk in any other area other than Estes Park / RMNP. We bumped into 'em all over the mountain we hunt. They were bugling from the time we got there. First group we saw was a bachelor group. We sighted a healthy 5 pt browsing. While we were watching him, 2 monster mature (6 pt) bulls walked by. Sweet! Next bumped into a herd with cows/calves/bulls near the same area (a northerly facing slope). Later on the other side of the mountain, we ran into another herd with all the above. Walking back to camp in the late afternoon talking, jumped a big 5 or 6 pt bull bedded in a field in the shade of aspens. We got within 60 yds before he jumped up and trotted away. He got far enough away for comfort then kind of walked along checking us out.

I hope they're still there in 2 months when muzzle loader opens. But they sure act different once the guns start going off....

Mike

[Dan Morris]

Good luck on em being there....brouse n water are going to be the factor!
Kid whut works with me was up on the Gore over the weekend.....doing a night time walk down one of the trails....came face to face with a black......scared the *************** out of him. Tony yelled and threw a rock...black ambled off...guess it had read the book...LOL Next trip, he's gonna borrow a 357 n war belt!
Sad, that area usta be very green n beautiful!It won't be back n my lifetime.
Dan
:cool: