Leaving Maine this Friday morning early, to catch the last three weeks of the archery elk season in Colorado--I'm not sure I can stand the wait!

I'll be hunting from a tent, somewhere up around 11,000 feet, by myself. Looking like I'll be in the Telluride area.

After a summer of testing my equipment and myself, I feel pretty ready. Since late May, I've put 2,000 miles on my bicycle (which I'll be taking with me). I've made about three dozen maps from Google Earth imagery, showing all the beaver ponds and wallows I can find in the place I'll be hunting.

These are the three bows I'll be taking--two nights ago, I shot an American Round of 529 with my go-to bow, the 1970 Ocala in the center; my highest score at that discipline ever. That one pulls 57#; the older Ocala pulls 54# and the Chek-Mate 51#...but they each have their own arrows, set up so that they all have very similar trajectories out to 40 yards.

I plan on using the bike to get me from the mountains to the pubs of Telluride two or three times a week. Ordinarily I wouldn't frequent any place serving strong spirits, of course; but just this once I'll make an exception-- as a service to Leatherwallers, who will no doubt be interested in reading updates and seeing the photos I'll be taking.

I've always wondered what an OTC, DIY-solo, high spike camp elk hunt would be like...and pretty soon, I'll find out.

Look forward to the pub...licity.

The power of Google Earth is pretty amazing; I've been studying photos all summer. Here, for instance, is something that I would call a promising potential wallow!

So ur going to ride your bike up those mountains? Wow

Gonna ride the bike DOWN, walk it back UP...after the pub he shouldn't be riding! Good luck with the hunt. made 3 trips to Colorado elk hunting, all were epic adventures!

I'll be chaining the bike to a tree at about 9,500 feet, at various points around the perimeter of the Lizard Head Wilderness. I think T-town is at about 7,500 feet...so it'll be a slow climb and a fast descent, but nothing too terrible. Of course I'll also have my pickup there...but I'd kinda like to just park it and leave it until it's time to come back to Maine. So much more fun to ride a bike when you have the choice, and you see the country so much better.

Crookedstix: I live about 40 miles from Telluride and it's beautiful country up there. But, they been pretty wet for the last couple of weeks with monsoonal rains. Even had a few snowflakes last week. Have fun and share the pictures ! And be safe.

Best to you, crookedstix. Be safe and let us know how it goes. Jawge

I did my best to lure various folks into joining me-- Frisky, Pdiddly, TrapperKayak, and CMF_3--but they all had conflicts...so it's looking like I'm the advance scout, and next year will be the group hunt.

I also just missed connecting with Grabwad (Gregg Gravois) from this forum; he's out there right now--probably getting poured on! My hope is that he will spot the big one and inform me as to its whereabouts, LOL.

Good luck on the hunt and stay safe.

-Bones

Best of luck, be safe and enjoy!!!

Here's a closer look at the bow I plan to use-- a 1970 Shakespeare Ocala, 60" long and 57# at my 29.5" draw. It's been worked over a bit with the rasp and the checkering tools to make it fit me just right, and now it's a real joy to shoot.

Good luck Kerry that's a sweetie of a bow tricked out.

Some snow down in that area.

Sounds like a great trip, wish you lots of success, be sure to update.

Sounds awesome! Be sure to keep aware of any altitude sickness symptoms. Especially since you will be by yourself! Last year I got pulmonary edema and think I got some cerebral edema as well. Took about 2 weeks to fully recover. Glad my stepson insisted we head down below 9K. A couple of weeks later my daughter in law told me about a man who died from altitude sickness, leaving behind his wife and two young kids :( . Enjoy, and be safe!

Looks like a good area good luck I am taking this year off but next year it will be on again. Widow

best of luck, look forward to your posts afterwards. I love a great adventure. consider camping below 11K feet. it is tough to recover physically when at that elevation overnight.

Cerebral edema is almost a certainty with Crookedstix, but he'll likely be killed and eaten by a grizzly before he dies of the edema.

Crookedstix, if you do manage to make it through the three weeks, I'll have venison tenderloin ready when and if you stop by on the way home. You most certainly won't be bringing along elk meat, and this might be the only venison you get this year! Anyway, good luck to you and keep us informed.

Joe

I won't be far from you - about 10 miles to the South.

Please do be careful. By yourself at 11K is sketchy man. I'm not camping any higher than 9K and I'll have a buddy with me at all times. He and I both need to come home to our families.

Look forward to the updates when I get home.

Joe-- Grizzlies...that explains what the warden was talking about! I couldn't understand why he kept telling me to be sure and bring 'hair spray,' LOL!

I've done a bit of high altitude stuff before, and I think the bike riding is a big help. When I visited my son in Idaho, I rented a bike and rode it up Teton Pass, spinning a pretty easy gear at about 75 rpm. When I got to the top of the pass, I jumped off the bike to check my pulse rate-- it was 60; much lower than I would have guessed it would be. I hiked around the top of the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff, and it didn't feel any different than hiking back East...so maybe my plumbing is suited to high places. That, or I'm too numb to notice the difference.

Overconfidence is a killer at high altitude. I suggest you go find Limbwalker and stick with them to make it through. Otherwise, I'll be eating venison tenderloin by myself!

Joe

Now this has to be a good omen: look what I picked up on the side of the road tonight, when I was doing my training ride--a skinning knife! Nothing too fancy, but clearly the gods are telling me that I'll need this on my trip.

COPicasso--see what you can do about changing those aspens from green to gold, and those mountains to some other color than white!

Good luck, Kerry!

That looks like a Buck Paklite. A nice skinner!

Joe

I'm not a huge fan of recurved blades, but it will work fine. You can sharpen it, with ease, on a small steel.

Joe

Here's another fun Google Earth image of a spot I'll be hunting...taken late morning on October 12th of last year. Have to love any place where the elk are grazing at midday in rifle season; I'd guess it doesn't get much hunting pressure.

Where are you at now?

Joe

Go get 'em ,,,be safe jeffW

I was in and around Telluride last November visiting my daughter. Jaw dropping gorgeous-and I've been around some.

I was amazed at the elk sign, just cruising around. You WILL have a wonderful hunt, come what may.

Frisky, I'm just around the corner from your house...and as soon as you go out to feed the alley cats down the street, I'm running in to snag your Deathmaster to take with me.

Actually I'm still in Maine; gotta work until Thursday...then I'll do some serious driving and hopefully reach Colorado Sunday afternoon or evening.

When you get the BIG one and on your way home, say hey when you pass through Davenport Iowa,right on I80. Good luck,have fun and take lots of pictures. JF

Good luck and have fun. I've been to Telluride several times, mainly for MTB trips, beer and some back country skiing. The pubs are fun but elk hunting is more fun!

Thanks for going to the pubs for us thats very nice. ;-)

Kerry, are you planning on getting some good (Yummy) road kills? I hope that you have a nice hubcap to fry them in. Try sprinkling in a little dried onion soup mix. Frisky tells me that is the way he likes 'em there in Minnesota.

So, you'll get out there by the 4th of September. If you hunt until the 25th, that will give me time to get a deer here. We start on the 17th. You might not even have to eat last year's tenderloin! Anyway, count on venison here, as I have a feeling you'll need it, if a grizzly doesn't get you first. In that case, you'll be the tenderloin!

Joe

Hmmm...I note, with mild interest, that the 2016 Telluride Blues and Brews Festival will be held from September 16-18. By then, I should be hairy, dirty, and smelly enough to be irresistible to the fairer sex...perhaps I will descend from the hills and visit this festival.

Skookum- LOL! He's so depraved! If he dies, I'm gonna laugh about it on the Wall. No sense mourning stupidity! He was gonna bring me Atlantic clams, but I talked him out of it. It would be just my luck to have him dump a load of rotten clams in the driveway, lol! I got him to take a more direct route, far south of here. As far south as possible.

Joe

Looking forward to your adventure. Enjoyed your last one to the west coast. Keep us updated and post some "hero shots"! Good luck and be safe.

Blues and Brews is worth it. I've been several times and would go every year if I could.

The muzzle-loaders will be hunting from the 10th until the 18th, so the woods may be a bit crowded--a perfect excuse for me to visit the town and participate in the tastings on Saturday the 17th...looks like about 75 microbrews will be represented. I'd better leave a trail of breadcrumbs to follow back to my tent afterwards!

But again--I'm doing this for the benefit of others, back home at their computers. I assure you that by Sunday I will have found my way back to the woods, and be back on the trail of elk...although as Skookum points out, there's always the possibility of protein from the pavement as well. Ground squirrel, anyone?

I'd say you are ready. Have a great hunt. Be smart. You are out there by yourself.

I hate to be negative, but look at what you ate. I'd expect that behavior from a member of the dog family, but not from a properly functioning human being. Think of the fleas and lice on that thing, not to mention hantavirus!

Joe

That's is some incredible stuff you're about to start. I'd love to do something like that 1 time in my life but I don't know that my body could get me up the hills. I'd have to stay lower if I were going, prolly much lower!

Three weeks in the mountains chasing Elk. Can't wait to read the reports and see the pics. If you get one, are you gonna pack it out yourself or hire some pack mules to come get it?

Also, one more question. What are you gonna do if a BIGFOOT shows up at your camp one night looking for chow? Or what if it's a FEMALE Sasquatch looking for something entirely different?

Something to ponder.

Kerry, You're in for a real adventure. That pic with the snow in the mountains makes me think the air is ringing with bugles already. You'll be in them the whole time you're out there. I will be in CO when you are but I won't be hunting. Leaving on the 14 to fly to Bozeman and then driving down thru YS and GT, staying at Jackson, then driving down to Estes Park. At least I'll get to see a lot of rutting elk but not hunt them this time. It will get me pumped for next year. Then we're heading down to Crested Butte for a couple days, and then back to Denver to fly home on the 28th. So I'll send you good vibes over the mountain when I'm in Crested... that's as close as I'll be to Telluride. Hope you're checking a bag. Or they will take that skinner you found. BTW, there aren't any Grizz in CO, Pilgrim! Unless they've wandered down there from Teton country now. My wife is in Washington state and saw a herd of elk by the road yesterday - several bulls, with a couple 6 pters. I just need to get the heck out of here - NY has no elk! Have a great time, get a bull, and be safe! I'm envious. That's nice equipment you have there so I hope you get to notch one of them with #1 Bull!

Naslajr, If I get one I'll pack it out myself; I've done it before and it went pretty smoothly.

As for the amorous female Bigfoot, I resent your insinuation. Rest assured that anything that happens between us will not just be based on looks; she'll need to have a nice personality as well. That said, her chances are probably a lot better AFTER I've been to the microbrew tasting.

Sounds like you are all set. Great choice in bows.

60bpm after topping Teton Pass! What is your resting rate - 20? :)

Have a great trip.

I'm just green with envy. Looking forward to photos and stories. Travel safe and good luck!!

Phil, that year was a 10,000-mile total on the bike for me, and my resting rate was down around 33-34 as I recall. That same week I did a 170-mile one-day ride from the North Entrance of Yellowstone back down to Jackson Hole, and other than being hungry I felt fine.

Trap, the game warden actually did say that they've had some grizzly and wolf sightings in the Lizard Head this year, up around Navajo Lake. I'll be just as happy if I don't see either.

Wow, never knew grizz were down there. Figured wolves were. I'm thinking we'll be seeing them in NY before too long. Hope you avoid them. Keep an eye over your shoulder when you're gutting that bull. 170...sheesh, man, I thought I did a relatively long one yesterday at 40...I need to get out there more.

Good luck to you sir.

BTW, I'm envious too.

I hope you have a couple good compasses.

Joe

Good Luck to ya! Make some meat!!!

Wow!! that sounds like an awesome trip. Best wishes, hope you get a big one and be safe!! Post plenty of pictures.

Good luck Kerry. Next year I'll be joining you!

It will take you 3 days to get used to the altitude. 11000 feet is a long way up in the thin air. I killed my first elk at 11000 feet in Colorado. Outside of Durango. Anyway, Good Luck with the hunt and enjoy every minute of it!!!!!!!

Yeah, pace yourself those first few days. I hunted Wyoming from 1975 to 1999, but the highest was about 9000 feet. Colorado has some serious elevation.

I always needed one day to acclimatize...8600 in the Bighorns, and 9000 in the Bridger Tetons. I've never hunted above that, but bopped around Beartooth Pass at a little over 10,000...amazing what another thousand will do :^)

Be safe...have a great trip.

Here's another gem from Google Earth...taken last October 12th; this wallow certainly was getting some traffic!

Just a heads up crookedstix,ranchers are allowed to graze cattle on public land and no matter where you go,there will probably be some. Those might not be wallows but watering holes for cattle.

I can't wait for your updates. Very cool! Thanks for taking us along.

That would make sense...although something about the phrase "Federal Wilderness" seems incongruous with grazing cattle. I knew that they grazed the National Forests hard, but I guess they're in here too, eh? Oh well...gotta have those almighty cheeseburgers I guess.

What a great adventure, Kerry! Enjoy, take lots of pics, make notes on the local public houses so you don't forget and may a hoary old bull wander your way.

I admit to a sneaky suspicion that you really aren't going elk hunting...how is that possible with nary a word about single or double bevel broadheads, 200 v 250 grains, scent blocker camo or diaphragm calling????

Right, plus you've also got to drag one of those photo cow decoys around with you, and have the caller who sits 75 yards behind you, and the camera guy filming it all for YouTube, and the backpack with a hundred pounds of gear in it. I'm well behind the times.

LOL. At least 100 lbs. of gear, and the pack needs to cost upwards of $400 to be legit. ;)

Kerry, that pack better damn well be a Gregory, or it don't count and you better get right down off that mountain! Oh, those CO cows don't read well up above 9K feet so you may see some of them wandering through National Forest land and onto your designated Lizard Head Wilderness. Don't shoot no slow elk, ya'hear?

Awesome!!!

I'd love to do something like this for a week or so. I don't want to do it alone though. I've never been out west and would be lost. Wouldn't know what to do. I'd need to go with others that wouldn't mind teaching me. It would be like having a youngster along, that's how much I know about elk hunting and the west.

If a group puts together a hunt next year and wouldn't mind me joining, I'd go. I'd love to do it and just SEE and elk in the wild. Getting a shot at one would be a lifetime goal fulfilled. I'm up for it, I think.

If anyone out there wants to preliminarily put together a hunt for NEXT YEAR and wouldn't mind me being a part of it, let me know.

Can't wait to see the pics and info from this adventure though.

Are you allowed to carry a sidearm for protection or no? I know I would.

Nalajr

"It would be like having a youngster along..."

You make it sound so appealing. :D LOL.

There is a good chance I'll be going solo next year as my elk hunting buddy is moving back East and I really doubt he will make the drive from FL to CO. If that's the case, I'll start a thread here and see who wants to join me. I would enjoy getting someone started, even though I'm still just getting started myself.

Sometimes, it's just having someone to go with that makes all the difference.

As far as a sidearm, what are you wanting protection from? Four or two-legged critters?

Should be a great adventure. I plan on going to CO next year myself. Have not been there in almost 20 years. Good luck and be safe. Look forward to your story.

I'd be nervous a couple of those bows would grow legs while I was out hunting with the third! Just a bit of advice before you get too excited over those Google Earth images...call and be sure the roads are open to get to them...and don't ask how I know:(

All roads are open when you're on a mountain bike. All gates can be walked around. (Don't ask how I know). ;^P

Leaving all those bows and your personal belonging in a truck locked up is not a go idea. I would rent a place to lock them up during the hunt. I have heard of everything in a camp come up missing.

I'd just bring all the bows along and store them in the tent or rent a locker as suggested above. Bringing the bows along would be best, and make sure your camp is hidden from others. The only problem I see is you can't hide from a grizzly, especially if you get an elk, lol!

Joe

"All roads are open when you're on a mountain bike. All gates can be walked around."

That's what I thought too, but big signs when I got there "WARNING all entry prohibited". Apparently the USFS was doing some kind of timber cut and they didn't want anybody in there. One phone call before heading out could save a guy a lot of headache.

No grizzly in CO. Sounds like a great trip, enjoy it all. Hope you get one down!

Good luck. I hunted not too far from there in 2013. The year of all the flooding. It was wet but we had a great time. I tagged out on day two. Scotsman hunted hard for another 5 days with a cow tag but couldn't close the deal. Now or buy an either/or tag if I were you. Elk were 7500 to 11000 ft. Cattle aren't suppose to be in all the areas. Had a park official stop at our camp and look at pics of cattle to try to get evidence of them being in an area they weren't suppose to be. I would say most of the wallows we found you wouldn't be able to see on google earth. There is the highest number of black bears per area there someone told me. Some big ones too.

Gaur, I can see some of the smallest wallows we found last year on G.E. I'm talking 15' across. That technology has almost gotten too good.

I found five outfitter's camps on G.E. last week. Not hard to spot those big white wall tents.

Agreed about the big white tents, Limbwalker...and it's good to know where the outfitters send their sports--tells you where the elk are, for one thing; but also where you can expect to see other hunters.

The rule in Lizard Head is no wheeled vehicles of any kind, including my bike; that's just to get me around the perimeter of the wilderness. Once I chain it to a tree, I'll be hiking a mile or three up from there, hunting a few days, and then moving to a different area if it seems appropriate. Not planning to leave anything of value in the truck--and not expecting to encounter any thieves above 10,000 feet.

Gaur, I am getting an either-sex tag. $636 sounds like a lot, but it's only about $30 a day if you go for three weeks--that's pretty cheap entertainment, to say nothing of the value of any organic elk meat I might acquire.

That's definitely cheap entertainment per day. " I wish you the best time you can have" JF

I'd like some organic, prion-filled elk steaks when you're on your way back home. Otherwise, we might have to settle for last year's doe tenderloin.

Joe

Hey Kerry, good luck, be very careful, and have a ball, I know you will! Sounds like you're in excellent shape, so, as an aside, after harvesting your royal bull, there is a terrific golf course in Telluride, at 11,000'. First time I hit all 14 fairways in a round (no trees). Looking forward to pics and tales! Wyatt

Just heard from fellow LW'er "Grabwad," who is headed home now after getting doused by a lot of rain and hail up in the Lizard Head. He saw plenty of elk, including one bull with antlers that could "scratch his own ass," as he put it. Yes...I'd settle for one like that!

This is why they call it Lizard Head, by the way...a spike of rock reaching almost 14K feet that looks like this when seen from the western side.

I'm still trying to figure out how they see a lizard head in that rock.

Joe

I guess Lizard Head used to look more like a lizard's head, but some of it broke off.

Joe

Frisky it's got it's mouth open to the sky

Ok, lol!

Kerry, you make me laugh, (antlers that could scratch his own ass) I bet it would be fun around the fire with you sucking on a beer(s) after an exhausting day on the mountain. Have fun, and get blessed

Good luck Kerry, and a photo essay is a requirement during your stay in the mountains. Be safe! Lance.

I found some dinosaur crap up there... Watch out and good luck! I should get back up there on the 21st or 22nd

Grabwad- Make sure you take a working compass to help Crooked out. He has one of those $1.97 jobs from Walmart. You know, the one with the compass on one end and a whistle on the other and the middle is a mach compartment. Last year, his son found him, exhausted, in the Maine woods, as he had spent a day traveling round and round, following his compass around an iron ore pit.

Joe

"match" compartment. I hate spell check!

Now Frisky--don't be running your trashy mouth while I'm traveling and can't defend myself! Lucky thing I just stopped at a MickeyD's in western Massachusetts to check up on things; I might have known your vile slanders would be starting to roll in.

Gregg--looking forward to catching up when you make it back out. Between the two of us, Old Ass-Scratcher's days are numbered(I'm referring to the bull you saw; not Frisky, LOL)! And thanks also to Fisherick for the hot tip in the PM he sent me, which I'll be sure to check out.

I'll start a new thread once I make it out to the promised land...about 50 hours from now, I hope!

You might make it to the promised land, but you might not make it back out with that compass of yours.

Joe

Well I finally made it home and was hoping for an update. No elk taken by me or my buddy. We were muzzleloader hunting for cows near Silverton. But there's always next year! :D

Good news is I lost 10 lbs. from all the hiking at high altitude (and to be honest - no beer for two weeks. LOL)

And then I realized Crookedstix made a new thread. LOL.

If you have already registered, please

sign in now

For new registrations

Click Here