Live Hunts - Colorado Archery Elk Hunt - September 8

Live Hunts - Colorado Archery Elk Hunt - September 8 - Day 2

Friday - September 8 - Day 2
Colorado Archery Elk Hunt

A.M. Hunt
I started off this morning going into an area I have hunted each of the last 2 years and have seen good sign and elk each time. I saw very little fresh elk sign, not enough to get me excited about concentrating any efforts there. I was especially surprised at the lack of sign because they have already removed all the cattle from the area. The last 2 years there were lots of cattle, and still elk. With no cattle, I figured there would be more elk in there, but apparently they are somewhere else.

One bright side to the morning was that I spotted some elk with my binoculars on a mountain probably 3 miles away. It was exciting seeing some elk, but I am not especially optimistic about what kind of access I might be able to get to hunt in that area. They were very high up, above timberline, and there is quite a bit of rock on that mountain. I'm going to drive around over there about lunch time today and see how close any roads might come.

I spotted 15 elk in the bunch, but they were too far away for me to determine what sex they were. They apparently haven't been bothered by hunters yet, or they wouldn't have been feeding so relaxedly in the open for almost 2 hours this morning.

Even though some of the areas I traditionally see elk and elk sign in appear to be dry this year, I've still got a few more areas I'm going to check out before I start getting worried.

Although you can't see them in the picture because of the long distance, this photo shows the alpine area where I spotted the group of 15 elk this morning. The photo at the top of this page is of the same mountain, but from a different view.
P.M. Hunt
About 2 this afternoon I went on a very long drive to see where I might get access to the mountain I saw the group of 15 elk this morning. The closest road I found would have given me about a 3 mile walk each way to get to the area. Without horses I don't feel like that is real practical, especially if the time came to pack an elk out. So, those elk are safe from me.

At about 4:45 I headed to the area where I saw the 2 cows and a calf last evening. As I was driving up to the parking area, it started to rain pretty good. I sat in the car while it was raining, and it finally let up about 6 p.m. About 15 minutes after that the sun and blue sky came peeking through, so I went ahead and headed out to the area. I found a perfect ambush spot overlooking the draw from which they had emerged yesterday evening. The wind was perfect, the cover was perfect, and it would have been a 20 yard shot. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell the elk they were supposed to come by this evening. No elk seen this evening. The storm that came through brought cooler air and lots of wind - I got pretty chilly while sitting and waiting. I was glad when it got dark.

I'm not sure what I'll do tomorrow morning, but I've got a few hours yet to decide. Check back tomorrow night!

Here's a view as I headed to my spot, shortly after the rain. There was lots of fog drifting up out of the valley after the storm let up.

Go to Day 3

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