First DIY Western Elk Hunt... Tell Me Your Story

[Sapper]

Great Stories! My first trip out was a huge eye opener. I've read up a lot, scouted online, made a few phone calls and got in shape. And none of it was enough! The land was so much bigger than what I pictured from google earth but unfortunately that's all I had at the time. No way to get boots on the ground first. But, it was exactly what I wanted out of the trip (with the exception of coming home empty handed - or even seeing an elk that trip). First of all, I made it happen. A dream I always had but seemed like a far reach. And second, I learned a lot....about what not to do! And a lot about myself. And even though it was pretty much a bust, I was so hooked on it.

 

[plumber1969]

Very similar to what others have said here. It was a goal of mine to do this before I turned 50. Myself and the wife exercised for almost a year leading up to this hunt. I was dead set on a bow hunt, not because I won't use a gun but I don't want to deal with three feet of snow. We read every article and reached out to several members on here that were of great help on what and where to go and even more so where not to go. We hunted Central Colorado the last week and a half of archery and got in to the elk 3 of those days. Called a bull moose in to 9 yards, apparently he doesn't understand that I was calling elk and not him. Realized how big those things are and how wet and marshy some of the areas of Colorado could be. We saw enough mule deer on our hunt to fill a semi trailer and we were told there were no mullies in that area. Saw huge flocks of turkeys that are not near as spooky as our Eastern and Osceola's back here in Florida. Didn't know we could have killed those, need to actually read the regulations this year. We hunted hard and only saw a couple of other hunters afield. We parked at closed gates and started walking. I know what an elk sounds like when they bark at you. We never really had legs issues because we had to stop every hundred yards to catch our breath.
Looking forward we are already starting our workouts for this year. We are going to try for the same unit again but this time throw in a mule deer tag as well if drawn. I'm going to up my cardio this year but I hate cardio. I went in to that hunt last year with the thoughts that it would be a success that we made the 30 hour drive (each way) without killing each other. We didn't kill each other on the side of a mountain either. Waking up in the mountains is pretty cool and having an elk bugle at your call is even cooler. Having another elk softly call to you but sounds like a baby will make you laugh. I don't really care if I ever kill an elk and the chase is the fun part for me. Sort of like solving a problem. I love to wonder the woods. I found an old cabin in the woods last year, 5 miles from where we parked our truck at the closed road. Probably a story about that place that I would have loved to know. I am doing this entire thing with my wife and that may be something that slows me down but I wouldn't want another partner. Over twenty years together and we have raised our kids in the outdoors and I know she will not let me down. Someone on here may be able to tell me about the 8 foot tall tricycle we saw a guy driving down the highway in Salida.