Getting ready for Colorado backcountry elk hunting. Been carrying my loaded pack the last two days, and I am pumped. 17 days and I will be headed to the mountains. Here is my current pack setup. I had another hunting pack setup but couldn't get enough in it so i modified this 5000 ci pack.

Well that picture was side ways. I will try another. Here is the bow I am taking. Vpa riser with win win carbon long carbon limbs. Gold tip arrows and 180gr zwicky broadheads

I am jealous. Good luck ~Wojo

I'm several shades of green myself (envy). Good luck Cowboy!

Good luck and take LOTS of pictures!!!! We all want to see them when you get back!!

Hey Hank do you like that quiver pretty well?

Good Luck Hank,

Wish I was doing it!

Chris

Sweet! I'll be headed out on September 6 to hunt elk with my son. Can't wait.

Best of luck on your adventure. That's one hunt I've always dreamed of doing someday. Shoot straight!!

Thanks guys. Cliff, I just purchased this quiver a few days ago l, but I am very impressed. They are very well put together and extremely rigid. I have been thinking about buying one for several months but I didn't know if I would like the look on my bow, I always use great northern Quivers and love how the look, but this quiver looks pretty good. They balance the bow very well and are the most solid mounting Quiver i have seen.

Where are you headed to in Colorado? That pack looks extremely heavy!

I am going to the south San jaun, in southern Colorado. Right now it's about 40lbs. I walked 2.5 miles with it last night and it feels heavy. I am to narrow down exactly what I want to take. I will take a picture of it later on my back, it's not as big as it looks.

The more you carry it, the lighter it will get as you pull out what you really don't need. Take it on a few 5 milers and after that you'll have it pared down about right and your legs and lungs will improve tremendously.

Oh... and to help see what it is like carrying a pack in the San Juans at altitude... breathe through coffee stir straws while you are toting your pack around. Trust me...

CD

I have back packed in the San Juans. It is not bad if you are in shape. I have been there twice. Good Luck!

Hunt safe and have a good trip ,good luck

I have been 2 other times, but I wasn't prepared physically and mentally. I made my mind up this year I was going to give my best effort to kill a elk. I have lost around 50 pounds and started walking Almost every day.

I have that same Bison day pack and I love it, used it for 10 years now...........but I'd probably look for something lighter if I have to backpack it in.

It is kinda heavy, I would feel lost without it though. They are the best day packs made.

Good luck out there Cowboy! Nothing I look forward to more than elk season each year.

I'll be headed to Idaho on September 8. Been out west hunting elk for the past 12-13 years. This season will. E the first time driving instead of flying. Makes it a lot easier to pack.

It's only 14 hours driving for so I would much rather drive, it's to much trouble to fly unless you have to.

A Kifaru frame and a mountain rambler is the best day pack made. And doubles as your hump in pack and meat hauler. No bison pack does that. :^).

Without food and water, that's getting pretty beefy at 40 lbs already. If you need a light tipi shelter, let me know. I'll send you mine. 9.5 ft by 9.5 ft. Weighs 1.9 pounds with guy lines and stakes. I have a ground cloth too. I don't know what you are using but that puts your shelter at 2 lbs. just send it back after your trip.

Good luck and God Bless

Good luck! God Bless!

Looks a lot like my backpacking gear.

Good luck to you Cowboy. I've hunted the San Juan's North of Durango the past 2 years, but this year I'll be West of Denver near the flat tops.

Heading up right after the Labor Day crowd clears out.

I plan to truck camp every other night and overnight up on the trail in between. But every year my plans have changed 2-3 days in, depending on what the elk are doing.

Kifaru packs are awesome, I just couldn't fit one into my budget this year. I appreciate your offer on the tipi, I am going to weigh out my gear tonight and I may take you up on your offer. I have a few places i could still cut weight. Thanks for the support guys, and good luck to on your hunts this fall also. I am going out for opening week, it was the only time I could really get away. I was in the White river flat tops at CTAS and it is a nice area.

One word of advice...

Figure out how much water you drink and how to account for that. You can't always depend on reliable water in the San Juans, even if you have a filter. There are vast areas there that are dry as a bone and the springs and seeps are usually pretty high.

My buddy I hunted with the past 2 years drinks 2x as much water as I do on a day-long hunt at 10-11K feet. I could get by with my 3L Camelback, but he would empty his 3L bag before lunch, and then refill it with a 3L bottle he brought with him, and it would be empty by the time we got back to the truck in the evening. That meant his day pack was always about 7 lbs. heavier than mine starting out each day.

Water is not something you want to skimp on, esp. at altitude. Make sure you have that covered.

One reason people don't feel prepared is they camp low n hunt high. The area you camp is what altitude your blood will adapt to. If you hunt 2k ft higher you're not acclimated any longer. Camp at the level you hunt or higher if at all possible. You only become acclimated to the altitude your spend your time at such as in camp or lower. You'd be surprised the difference it makes.

Where abouts in the San Juans? Not many places north of town that you can go in over three or four miles without crossing over into 76... east of town, Rainbow trail, its abut seven miles to the bouandary, but the trail follows the river and the sides are steep.

It's technically the south end of the Rio Grande national forest.

Best of luck Cowboy. My first time out my packed weighed 72 pounds, packed a ten pound tent. Second trip around 50 and I've stayed around there. New tent, stove, sleeping bag, etc.

Cowboy find a way to get whatever you have hanging on the back of that pack either on top or on the bottom. I guarantee your shoulders and back will thank you. Nothing worse after wearing a pack for hours and feeling like someone is behind you pulling down and back on your pack.

It's a bison gear day pack. I was going to carry a horn hunter pack that's around 3000 ci. I could still compress it down enough to day hunt and not have a big pack to carry all day. Unfortunately we are going in for enough days away from the truck that I couldn't carry enough stuff in that pack to get by. So I took this pack and made some adjustments and I think it's going to work okay.

Sounds like a good time to me. Best of luck Cowboy, hope you have the time of your life.

Thanks throwback, I am super pumped up. I have been before but I didn't backpack hunt. For me the build up to a hunt is one of the best parts.

"One reason people don't feel prepared is they camp low n hunt high. The area you camp is what altitude your blood will adapt to. If you hunt 2k ft higher you're not acclimated any longer."

If you stay in the high country for the entire season your bodies blood might adjust a small degree but it takes longer than that to increase the red cell count to the point of any benefit.

Once you hit higher elevations it's too late to accommodate it. You are stuck with the level of preparation that you have done in the months leading up to your hunt.

Camping 1000 or 2000 feet below your hunting area isn't unwise because you will lose any degree of acclimation on a daily basis. It's unwise because you are hiking miles and thousand (s) of feet up to the hunt area. By the time you get there you have burned out a good bit of your physical capacity. You have a whole day ahead of you and you are down to 1/4 tank.

COWBOY, If You run into KWIKDRAW, say HELLO! Get the camera ready! We wanna see LOTS of photos! STAY SAFE & BLESSED BE! Batman

Will do batman. I am going to take lots of hunt pictures and hopefully some success pictures

I'm heading down that way tomorrow to do a four day scout/backpack in the wilderness. Never been in South San Juan, so looking forward to this backpack. Probably bowhunt Sangres also some. good luck to ya.

I wish I didn't live so far I would love to spend a couple days scouting before season

Well you know once the crowds show up everything will change anyway.

I'm lucky that I'll get to spend nearly a week scouting before my hunt. The first year we hunted the San Juans, we got there and immediately started hunting. Took us 4 days to find the elk and by then we were just about done and had to go home.

Last year, I got there a week early and found cows and other hunters all over the spot where the elk were the year before, so I ended up finding a new area, about 5 miles from the first and we were in elk the first day.

As for camping at the same elevation as you hunt, I'm not sure how important that really is if you're in decent shape. We camped at 9500 and hunted between 10,200 and 11,200 every day. I was in good shape, my buddy in decent shape, and we were fine. Just gotta take it easy and catch your breath from time to time, but you really don't want to go too fast up there anyway.

We pretty well hunted the same herd of elk for a week, and we saw them anywhere from 9700 to 11000 feet depending on the day. This was the 2nd week of Sept.

We are going to be camping fairly close to the same elevation we hunt so we don't have to go straight up every day. Limbwalker did either of you get a elk.

Not because we didn't have opportunities. LOL

Long story, but there should have been two dead elk our 2nd day last year. ha, ha. We had every opportunity a person could ask for on public land.

I'll lend you a pack that'll do what you want as well. Serves as a great hauler and Day bag. I just need it back when you are done.

I agree with some guys on here, a bigger more comfortable pack is better. We run 2200 to 3000 cu. packs with load selves to haul out meat immediately. Can't carry much gear and haul out meat the first trip out, and it sucks trying to carry game bags out in your hands. It's warm there now, with not much rain so far. Flys are out and bad, so be prepared to get your meat out fast if your successful. I'm headed to Utah for a week before heading to Colorado. Got bear hunters coming in, stands to place and cameras to check and run. Good luck and be safe...

While I'm at it, I'll send you a quilt too. You pay shipping both ways. As, I said before, I need them back as I'm heading out for 2nd rifle season. Pm me your phone number if you want to talk about it.

Don't take any of these offers as suggestions you don't have good stuff. I'm just trying to help you shed 10-12 pounds of stuff. It really does make a difference when you get north of 40 pounds total. In wear and tear on you, plus time. getting your base gear light really ups the quality of your effort and your hunt. Don't pack too many clothes. Go synthetic for base layers, etc.... if you'll do that, your finished weight counting food and water going in could be 50 or less. But, at the rate you are going, it's going to be in the 70 lb range. Big difference in 50 and 70 pounds.

Good luck and God Bless

I'm leaving Sept 2 for Colorado Electric Mtn. for 16 days in back country.

Good Luck

7 or 8 years in a row I packed in did not go last year and not going this year my first time my pack looked like yours and it weight 55lbs I almost died getting that thing in. I would do something else before I would carry two packs in and like said before if you are on top is better. Two years ago when I went in for 7 days my pack weight 42lbs I think. You do not need as much as you think. I take one pound of carry weight of food per day and never go hungry. The pair of pants and shirt I wear in is the only pair I have a base layer pants and shirt, 3 pair socks, 1 spair pair underwear, jacket, rain jacket, light down coat, hat, gloves, face mask that is it clothing. You can wash socks and undies if you need base layer doubles as spair outerwear if needed and you can wear to sleep in. Tent, footprint, down bag, pillow,air mattress, and 1\2" pad for on top of mattress keeps cold air in mattress from you and if mattress deflates. Water bladder, Medical bag,survivel bag, utensils, stove and pot,spork,GPS,Maps,compass,knife,gamebags,paricord,calls,headlampx2 ,batteries. The best lightest waterbottles If your so incline is the bottle the water already comes in I carry two for my hike in that is all the water I carry in. A few odds and end stuff like a little whisky a shot or two before bed I never sleep good it helps. Last the most important Altitude adjustment the stuff is all natural and it works. Widow pm me if you have any questions

I am only going to be able to go for 7, 16 days will be a heck of a trip

You have a plan for getting elk out?

We aren't going to be more than 5 or 6miles from the truck at most so we can pack one out reasonably quick.

Cowboy, I'll call you tomorrow. I got home to late to do so tonight. God Bless

Sounds good

Widow's list is solid.

A downed elk 5-6 mi. from the truck is more work than I want to deal with. You must be in hella good shape.

I am hoping to get into some elk 3 to 4 miles in. I am not going to hunt places that we can't recover a animal from,

This coming September will be 3 years since I got this one and he was 8 miles from the truck. He is the reason I have nightmares about getting one out. I could not budge him so i went back to camp to get my buddy. He was out for evening hunt so back to Elk I went i had to butcher and hang him by myself it's amazing what you can do when you have to I did not get done till 10:00pm and I was 2.5 miles from camp. I got lost on way back did not factor darkness for trip back to camp and in the dark I used my GPS to get back to trail to camp after I did not believe it and walk to the top of a mountain I have never been on before they are right you should believe them. To top it off when I got back to camp I realized my buddy was lost looking for me and had no GPS or compass. I could not live with myself if I did not go try and find him even if it is the wrong thing to do so two miles out I went we're I thought he may have been emergency whistle blowing it and yelling for him could not find him so I went back to camp. I did not get to bed till close to 2:00am and having walked 14 miles and butchered a Elk I was beat to say the least. When it go daylight my buddy figured out we're he was and came into camp at 7:00am I heard him and was very happy to see him. So I paid someone with horses to get him out it is a good I had made plans for recovery just in case. Widow

Great Bull Darren!

Thanks Shifty. Widow

Widow, where do you even go these days to get 8 miles from the truck?

Glad it ended up okay for you, but I'm sure there were some scary moments in the meantime.

There are things I'm simply not willing to do when it comes to backcountry hunting, and killing an animal more than 3 miles in is one of them. I'm not going to pay for horses and I'm not going to walk more than 9 miles (making 6 with a heavy load) to get an animal out. Heck, if it's warm enough half the meat will start to spoil by then anyway.

I've seen enough elk within 1 mile of major highways - during the hunting season - to know this simply is not necessary. The idea of it may sound great sitting at my house typing on this machine, but in the real world it can turn into a life- threatening process real quick.

during 16 years of law enformcent, we were trained to focus on "going home safe" at the end of every day. I have the same mentality in the mounatins. I'm going to go home safe. If that means I never kill a bruiser way back in deep then so be it.

I'll add that if I were a single man, I may feel differently. But I'm not and IMO it's irresponsible for a father and husband to play games that could get them killed.

That's a hell of a bull, congratulations. There is a guy with horses close to were we hunt that will pack out elk for a fee. I figure if I do get one down in a place I can't pack out of I will be getting him.

Limbwalker all throw I am a father but no longer married I do try my best to be safe. Sometimes things happen not only in the mountain but just as or more likely can happen in civilization. You take precautions, be prepared, get in shape and do everything in your power to be safe can't and I don't want to live in fear of what could happen. Packing into the wilderness gets under your skin and is very exciting and fun. I don't fool myself about the dangers and I know time is ticking away fast and someday (it may be soon) I will not be able to do it. You are right you do not always have to go in deep to kill nice bulls and I am thinking more about that the older I get. Two years ago we hiked in 7miles it was not going to work there so 2 days latter we went to a different area we hiked 6 miles in those two hikes that close together were something i will never forget theey were brutle. I called 6x6 beauty and a 5x5 in at the same time unfortunately I missed both of them how do you do that I'm not sure but I did. The next day I called in a 5x5 was gun shy from day before and did not take the shot later that morning i called one into my friend he hit it a super facial wound no recovery. As tough as this hunt was it was worth it. Widow

Thanks Cowboy. Widow

O ya Cowboy and limbwalker that was thee 6th bull I got into that day it was a great day for sure most days are not like that. Widow

What weeks do you like the best. I am going opening week. Because that is what works for me to get away.

Hate opening week I hunted it once and will never again. I like the third week best but try to time it when there is no moon don't like full moon they go to bed very early in morning when full moon. I may go before or after third never first week some like it but not me. Besides being in shape I think learning how to call and know what you and they are saying is most important. Never underestimate hunting over water or wallows first week. Widow

I have been thinking wallows or water holes might be my best bet.

Seeing all these threads come up each fall makes me really want to go on one. I wouldn't mind if I couldn't hunt and just tagged along just to see the country and enjoy the camaraderie and campfires. I've never been out west and seen any elk country and never have been on a hunt like that either.

Maybe one day I'll get to go and see it all....maybe even hunt too.

Larry

If you want to go you just have to make it happen.

This was what I carried on my first backcountry hunt.We were prepared to stay 6-7 days. It was a bit overdone but not too much. Lot's of work but so much fun. I wish you well!

What was your total weight

Paul we always carry our bow in our hands have seen bulls three times and a cow once while hiking in and out but hiking with poles is nice. Widow

Widow, well said and I understand completely where you're coming from. In my 20's I made some decisions like that (was still new to being a father and really didn't appreciate my full responsibility yet) and had some adventures that I'll never forget. Everyone needs to consider whether the risk is really worth the reward to them. I view offshore fishing the same way. I don't know how some guys with families can justify the things they do, but I suppose that's for them to decide.

"Seeing all these threads come up each fall makes me really want to go on one. I wouldn't mind if I couldn't hunt and just tagged along just to see the country and enjoy the camaraderie and campfires. I've never been out west and seen any elk country and never have been on a hunt like that either. Maybe one day I'll get to go and see it all....maybe even hunt too...Larry"

Larry, Cowboy has your answer

"If you want to go you just have to make it happen"

I had dreamed about elk hunting most of my adult life and finally in my mid-40's I realized I had wasted much of my fittest years just sitting and dreaming instead of doing. So I made a deal with a friend to split the cost of a license and we'd both go. When we got there, we drew straws to see who got to hunt, and the other person (in this case me) called and spotted and was there to haul out meat if we connected.

We didn't get an elk that year but I considered the price of half that tag to be my tuition into elk hunting 101. And it was a great week spent with a good friend in gorgeous country.

If the money is holding you back, just go and spend a week scouting and try and get into some elk. Hell, that's all most of us do even if we have a tag! LOL

It don't matter if you know anything at all when you get started. You will learn and have fun doing it. But first you just gotta go.

These days, my annual trip to Colorado is something I look forward to and plan for all year long. I try not to, but I occasionally kick myself for waiting so long to get started. I could be sitting here with 20+ years of elk hunting experience under my belt instead of 3.

My total weight with bow was 55 lbs. We hiked in almost 5 miles. Started at 10300 ft and camped close to 12000. It was a hard hunt and unfortunately we did not shoot an arrow. It was an amazing time though as we did have some close calls.

Paul, what were your overnight temps at 12K and what was your sleeping bag rated for?

Paul, your lumbar pad is setting on your tail bone. Not your lumbar. Shortening that harness to get that lumbar pad up about 3-4 inches would make the same 55 pounds ride like 10 in comparison. Just sayin'.

On a "normal" night at that time of year it's often warmer at 12,000' than at the bottom of the valley 3 or 4 thousand lower.

But, it's those abnormal nights with wind and a front coming through changes everything.

At 12,000 you are above Timberline in most situations so you are very exposed. Timberline runs around 11,200 to 11,500 in most of Colorado

The picture is typical.

I put the pack on, then lean forward and hump the pack up while I cinch the shoulder straps to get the pack high on my back.

Then I do up the hip (lumbar) belt nice and tight while it is above my hips.

Then I slack off the shoulder straps until the pack settles where VW Mountaineer recommends, which is around the pelvic girdle, on the curve of the lumbar spine and above the hips.

If it's too low you can't walk properly as the belt interferes with your leg movement.

Every once in a while give it another lift and re-set the hip belt.

If the pack isn't extremely heavy, simply tightening down the belt, when it is setting correctly on the lumbar of the back, lifts it off the shoulders automatically. Then, snug up the shoulder straps, loosely buckle the sternum strap if you have one, and roll. I agree that when it is heavy, I still do it mostly this way while bending slightly forward. I also agree, wearing one like Paul pictured will absolutely wear your hips out. And, make for a stiff neck and shoulders. Plus, you lose all load lifting angle too.

Longcruise, I learned the hard way how cold the bottom of a 9800' valley can be at night! LOL Didn't make that mistake again, and the next year we camped at 10K but not in a valley.

12K is getting pretty serious though. Lots can happen at that altitude.

The coldest was mid twenties. My bag was a zero bag. Didn't get co D.

Several nights were at 11350 but did spend some at 12000. We were in trees at 113500 .

Yeah, I camped at 9000 one night in August and it was 15 deg at sunrise.

WV I do know where to put the pack on and It may have been low as we were just talking a picture in our house. I think backpacking is just about half the fun of hunting! Combining the two makes for an Awesome time! I do have a newer, lighter pack and some better equipment now. This last year I made it for a 4-5 day camp hunt and was a lot lighter. Without my bowI was at 45 lbs.

After reading this thread I am extremely grateful that I live in a place where I can hunt elk within 30 minutes of home. Your pack makes my back hurt, I'm not sure I've carried much over 30 pounds out to the woods, even staying out for 10 or so days. Good luck to you guys heading out west to hunt, hope everyone shoots straights this season.

Limbwalker's comment on "if the money is holding you back, just go and spend a week and scout" is great advice. It still requires you to get in shape to hike, etc and that is a really good thing. That is what I do those years that I cannot justify the non-resident elk tags $$$. I sneak around and just enjoy the back country and the amazing "quietness" of it all.....at age 71.

In the last decade there have been incredible advances in light backpacking gear. Incredibly, it is now getting to be common to have a loaded pack at twenty five to thirty pounds, including food for a week. That's literally HALF the weight of a similar gear load out twenty years ago. Cuben fiber pack, tent, 800 fill down sleeping quilt, JetBoil, ti pot spoon etc. Of course, a full complement of new state of the art backpacking gear is incredibly expensive, about equivalent to having a dealership replacing the timing belt on your truck. lol No water weight and no weaponry, and accoutrements, included. I can't even imagine a pack that weighed twenty five pounds loaded for a week.

Best I've ever done is 30 lbs for 3 days. But it was warm.

Paul, I figured there was a down 0 degree bag involved in that trip. LOL

I was camped at around 11,200 in elk season last year, except when I was in my "office" re-hydrating and sending posts to Leatherwall.

The weather was gorgeous; around 28º in the mornings and 60-65º by mid-afternoon. I wasn't cold at any point during those two weeks. I certainly did drink a lot of water, which came from a spring close by my tent. I took plenty of electrolyte replacements as well, to keep the leg cramps at bay.

I know these guys on YouTube carry giant packs with them when they hunt..but I just took my bow and arrows, my camera, and a fanny pack with a snack and a bit of survival stuff. Saw lots of elk!

stix, I liked your office. ;) Need to visit there someday myself.

Ol'stix did have a cool office didn't he? I remember those pics..

I think the temps are still going to be fairly warm while I am there, I have been watching the weather and it's not supposed to get below the low 40's. Now that is for 1000 feet or so below where we are going to be hunting so it will be a little cooler but it shouldn't be to bad.

Cowboy, last year I was camped within about 10 mi. of Silverton, CO at 9600' - this time, not in a valley. The forecast for Silverton at night (roughly the same altitude but in a valley) was around 40 degrees. Every morning at my camp, on a South facing slope, I woke up to frost on my tent.

IOW-don't believe the forecasts in the mountains. I think a 0- degree down bag is probably the best insurance a person can have at those altitudes.

limbwalker i love that area around Silverton I saw a good Bull Moose there last year and some good Bucks ,i was not hunting,just scouting around . I am there about every yr and 4 yrs ago i was a little north of the town with my dog and some thing scared the crap out of her( Lab -Border Collie mix)she slipped her collar and was gone back toward the car,i left too.Some good camping there on Mineral.

My brother in law is a PHD weather egg head who worked for National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder for many years and he told me that they could sit in Boulder and do accurate weather prediction for the US east of the Rockies but couldn't do very well predicting for the Colorado Rockies.

Over the years I've found that to be true so I just expect anything and everything. LOL.

Hank, will be doing the same thing but in the Flat Tops and can hunt the total season with the stick. Will be hunting and spike camping at 10,200, a gain of 1400 ft from the truck in two miles. Looking forward to the quietness of the mountains and the bugle of elk. Good luck on your hunt. My best, Paul

you got to love elk country

Indeed Paul. Indeed.

It's always worth the trouble. Always.

I have 11 days left and I wish it was tomorrow. The mountains are calling my name. I haven't worked this hard for something in a long time, and it feels really good. The only bad thing or good thing depending how you look at it is I have had to buy some new hunting clothes because I lost so much weight.

Good for you! I don't usually lose weight until I'm in the mountains. This time of year I'm putting on some much-needed muscle and my weight doesn't change very much. Then again, it might have something to do with no beer in elk camp. LOL

Well six months ago I was over 40 pounds heavier than I am now so I badly needed to lose weight. I think going elk hunting was just the motivation I needed.

Shifty, I think I saw that same bull moose. Got some great video of him thrashing an alder bush in fact.

Paul, what part of the tops you gonna be in? My son and I will be on the East side.

Cowboy, congrats to you on the weight loss. That has to feel like a win, regardless of whether you get an elk or not. I agree that elk hunting has changed me for the better as well. Maybe not 40# worth, but it does give me something to look forward to all year and a way to spend quality time with my son in the mountains. And you just can't put a price on that.

What boots are you wearing for this hunt?

I have a pair of Lowa rangers that I broke in and I also have a pair of scarpas that I broke in this summer. The scarpas fit a little more perfectly to my foot and are slightly lighter so I will probably wear them. If I was going to buy a different pair I would get light hiker zamberlan or the light hiker Solomon.

Getting close! [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/3oqlaJY.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/KN0r2Sd.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/415R8uA.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/WSqk7vP.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/TqQoFZq.jpg[/IMG]

We the first one didn't work, let's try again

You're killing me smalls...

3 more weeks for me.

I leave a week from tonight

I have 5 and half days left before I leave the anticipation is killing me. The one good thing is I run my own business and am covered up so it's making the time pass fairly quick.

I haven't read this thread until last evening. I sat down and read the whole thing. I think I could have read the book of Philippians faster. Great stuff. All it did was make me want to go. Good luck cowboy. Hope you put a gold tip into a good bull.

Thanks shadehaven I am counting it down and can't wait.

Four more days and I can't chase elk!

Loaded up my new pack frame today. I hate changing packs, but it was time to break in a new one. Going external frame this time. 28 lbs. pack and all so far. Need to add clothes and food for 2 nights.

My plan is to go in prepared for 2 nights at a time, then come back to the truck camp to resupply and maybe make a run to town if I need to.

One thing I've learned to love about elk hunting is the preparation that goes in to each year's hunt. I spent time preparing for deer, sure, but not on the same scale as a remote hunt 1000 miles from home, where every decision really matters.

I know what your saying, I spend allot of time preparing for deer hunting but this has been at another level. I don't know how many times I have gone through my stuff but it has been a ton. One of my good friends loaned me his brand new kifaru tonight so I packed it and have been trying to get it adjusted. I feel like I have been preparing for six months. Now the week is here and I am going to put my preparation to the test. Taking a recurve bow on a diy public land hunt is definitely stacking the odds in the favor of the animals we pursue. Maybe I am nuts but I feel good about my chances. I have walked several miles with a pack on, and shot thousands of arrows into imaginary elk. In a few days I will find if I have prepared enough.

If you pass through town on I-70, make a detour at Kipling street and go south just past 44th Ave and look for Rocky Mountain Specialty Gear on your left. Certainly the best trad shop I've ever been in and probably one of the best in the country.

Cowboy, one thing I learned the past two years is that it was my legs, not my lungs, that needed more work. I swore last year I'd do a lot more bleachers than I had in the past. Before I would just run, and that helped, but this year I am doing 30-40 sets of bleachers, 3x/week with a 30 lb. pack to condition my legs. I hope it helps.

I'm lucky to say that the long days/weeks/months of preparation did pay off and my first two hunts went off without too many issues.

Some things I learned:

1) don't camp in a narrow steep valley near a stream, even if it is 2K feet lower than where you are hunting, because you will freeze at night. The cold air settles right down in those creek bottoms. It's warmer halfway up the slopes.

2) Good lightweight raingear will save you a couple days of hunting vs. staying in camp. Last year we put on and took off rain gear probably 10x in 2 days because of the pop-up storms that moved through. Rain at 11K feet is COLD.

3) Noplace is safe from other hunters. Last year I got walked in on no fewer than five times, and in every case we were more than a mile in, and sometimes more than two miles in, in very steep and rugged terrain. People who hunt those mountains, unlike the Eastern whitetail hunters, are not afraid to go anywhere, and they do.

4) Elk tend to move a lot at night, so if you saw the herd on one slope at sunset, expect them to be somewhere else the next morning. I followed two herds last year over a week of scouting and 9 days of hunting. I saw each of those herds a mile from where they were the night before, every morning. It was impossible to guess where they would be the next day.

5) The best trail lunch I've come up with to date is a pre- packaged single slice of spam on a roll (spamburger). Those single packaged slices are incredibly convenient and take up no space.

6) Cotton is the enemy. After my first year, I threw away all my cotton clothing and invested in dry-fit gear, all the way down to my underwear. I can't begin to tell you what a difference that made. I was warmer in the cold, cooler in the hot sun, and carried 1/2 the weight of clothes that I had the year before. I will never again take Cotton to the mountains to hunt.

Is it Saturday yet!

I don't wear cotton and will pass on spam, do you carry rain pants. I have always just brought a packable rain coat.

I carry a very lightweight pair of camo Frog Togg pants, just in case. They weigh nearly nothing and pack small.

I understand wanting to pass on Spam. I tried other things before I came to that conclusion.

If I am going to start carrying rain pants I would want something like that, mine are ok for whitetail hunting but to heavy to carry on backpack hunts.

I hunt one area where part of the morning hike in is through a meadow with near waist high grass. On cold clear mornings it's loaded with dew or frost. Rain pants are your friend.

Another wet scenario is a three to five inch snow in the evening or during the night followed by a clear sunny day. Any time your in the trees that snow is dripping and dropping on you most of the day.

And to echo limbwalker, there is a saying among mountain wise outdoors people. "Cotton kills"

Cowboy, most Wal-Marts these days are carrying the lightweight camo Frog Togg suits. The pants are what I use. The jacket is bulky and loud so I use a different jacket.

One problem I had last year with my rain gear is that my jacket is camo and I was muzzleloader hunting, which meant I had to wear hunter orange. So the real pain was having to take off my binocs, then my orange vest, then put on the binocs, then the jacket, then put the vest over the jacket, then reverse the process when I "thought" it was going to stop raining for a little while. I learned to hate that process.

This year, I'm just going to take an orange rain jacket so I can just put it on and take it off.

Of course, if you're bowhunting this is not really a problem.

What I can never figure out is in the muzzleloader season, why it's okay for the people without guns to have full camo, but the people with guns must wear orange. Seems completely backwards to me. LOL

Have a great time cowboy. Here is one on my last backcountry elk hunt. In Wa. Yes, it rained. Hard, mixed with snow. Stay dry, get an elk!

Limbwalker, your question about ML/bow season is timely. Here's a link to Colorado bowhunter forum topic on that very subject.

http://forums.bowsite.com/tf/regional/thread.cfm? threadid=233911&messages=104&state=CO

Off-topic but thanks for the link Longcruise. That is interesting. I know in IL, the archery seasons shut down periodically for ML and Shotgun, then started back up. Frankly, up there I didn't want to be in the woods during those seasons anyway.

Anytime the people with the guns are wearing orange and the other folks aren't, it seems odd to me. Completely backwards IMO.

2 day 6 hours tell I go

I bet the anticipation is killing you. :D

I still have 2 weeks til I leave so I'm trying not to think about it. LOL

I am driving out in 3 weeks for the last 9 days of Colorado elk bowhunting. We (3) will be doing most of our hunting from WRNF road side tent camp and may venture out for a 3-night bivy hunt. We have been doing this every other year since 2003. Can't wait. Good luck to all.

You could say that. Luckily I have a lot to do at work so tomorrow will go fast. I am going to try and take Thursday off for the most part so I can get ready. I am going to try and sleep some Thursday afternoon because we are going to drive all night. I made my mind up I was going a year ago and it is all but here.

Good luck to you fisherick!

Cowboy, last year I drove 17 hrs straight. Left the house at 0700 and got to my camp at 10K' in Colorado at midnight. LOL

I was so excited about being there I slept for 5 hours and got up before sunrise to go scout. ha, ha.

I found three new elk spots to check out while I was at work today. Best day of work yet.

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