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Colorado Redwoods / Red Pines & Elk
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
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