Hummer
Well-known member
This year I hunted the second Colorado rifle season and carried two elk licenses for bull and cow, as well as a buck deer tag. I hunt an area of public land near the Flat Tops Wilderness that ranges from 8700' to 10,200' elevation. The chance of seeing a good buck at this date in the higher elevations is slim, but I like to go prepared. Much of the country is "dark timber", mature Engleman spruce and white fir forest jammed with fallen trees where the elk like to hide out during the day. Interspersed with the spruce-fir are aspen groves and grassy meadows where the animals feed at night. Hunting along the edge can be productive.
Opening morning began with 8" of fresh powder snow at my camp trailer and a good 14" higher up the mountain. While I like a little snow for tracking, this much of it would make getting around difficult and limit the miles of country I could cover in a day. This photo is a scene not far from camp, a mostly frozen pond in the timber where deer and elk sometimes find water.
I hunted the area hard trudging through the snow, following tracks, most of which seemed to be made overnight. On the morning of the fourth day I made my way about a mile and a half up and over the mountain working my way along the edge of the aspens and into the dark timber to an area where I took a nice bull in 2003.
I meandered along an obscure game trail that went through some elky woods. The pungent scent of elk wafted my way as I peered through the trees with my binoculars to spot the head of a cow elk, then a calf coming up from behind. I had a narrow, foot-wide window through the trees. When the beast stepped forward I took the shot and she dropped, dead right there. Offhand, 74 yds, .30-06 220 grain Hornady round nose, high just behind the left shoulder, shattering the ribs, spine and lungs. I like those heavy round nose bullets for close shots on elk, they mushroom beautifully and retain their mass better than the 180 and 200 grain Nosler Partitions.
The close distance is pretty typical of most of my elk kills made by still hunting. This was my 20th elk kill, 19 in the past 22 consecutive years of hunting this area of the White River National Forest. I credit my regular use of good binoculars to peer through the forest to spot animals before they spot me. In this situation, had I not been using them it is likely I would have spooked the animals before getting a shot. As it turned out, there were five elk in that group, some closer to me than the two I saw. Now, the real work begins:
This was a young dry cow, probably 1 1/2 years old, and considerably smaller than the one I took last year. After field dressing I skinned and quartered the animal ready to pack out the next morning. I arranged the meat over some logs to cool and hopefully freeze overnight. I covered the carcass with the hide and fir branches to discourage the birds, and pee'd several times around the site to make my mark for the coyotes and bears.
Well, little good that did. Next morning I could see right away that a bear had gotten to it, taking chomps out of the hind legs and eating a good portion of the backstrap on one side, about 7 lbs. of the best meat on the animal! This is the second time in the past few years a bear has gotten to my elk.
I must have bad bear karma, I've been battling bad bears all year. I run a couple bird banding stations and at one a big bear has been wreaking havoc on my feeders and traps, destroying about $300 worth of equipment just for the cheap calories. (I did get a chance to see that bear one night at about four feet away outside my cabin window. He was a huge bear, the biggest I've ever seen in Colorado!)
I had my old friend Dick bring some mules up and we packed the meat out before the bear came back to finish the job. For the rest of season, I'd be hunting antlers.
The next day it snowed like a son-of-a-gun, dumping another 12" of powder on top of what was already there. Last Friday morning with heavy fog and 12 degrees on the thermometer, I got an early start and climbed the mountain in the dark. By daylight I stopped on a favorite ridge in an aspen grove where I took a big cow last year.
I looked behind to spot a big lone doe moving toward me. She was the first deer I'd seen in the area this season. I had a brief but clear shooting opportunity at 70 yards and was cursing myself for buying a buck license instead of a doe tag. It's thrilling to take a big antlered animal but I am, firstly, a meat hunter, and wanted a little more for the freezer, especially after the bear gobbled part of the smallish elk.
In spite of good pac boots and two layers of wool socks, my feet were icing up. I decided to take my boots off to insert a small heat pack. Just as one socked foot was waving in the air, I spotted a patch of deer down the hill about 250 yards away, and it had antlers! Aw, shoot, he was moving behind some trees!
I scrambled to slip the boot back on without lacing and ran down the hill to get a view between the trees, then sat my butt down in the knee deep snow to take a good sitting position. With a view of only the rump and back, I waited. A step or two forward and I'd see my last opportunity before the animal disappeared behind some fir trees and down the slope. That step forward into a foot-wide window between some aspens was all I needed, and I squeezed the trigger. Sitting, 221 yards, .30-06 180 grain Nosler Partition, just forward of the right shoulder exiting through the left scapular; dead right there. I swept the loose snow out of my open boot and laced it up, then walked down the hill with my pack and rifle.....
He was a very nice 3 x 4 buck, not including brow tines. I field dressed the animal and dragged it three-quarters of a mile down the mountain to camp. The last two hundred yards across a sedge filled wetland was the worst. Working uphill, I heaved four feet at a time back to the camp trailer where I skinned and cut up the animal to freeze overnight. (Thankful I'm still alive at 55!) This was my 27th mule deer.
I hunted one more day in hope of finding a bull, without success. But I did see near the site of my deer kill, a feisty pine marten bounding through the snow with a fist-sized chunk of bloodied deer fat. What a sight, wish I'd been quick enough to get a picture of that! I hadn't known martens were scavengers too. With one day of the season left, I decided it was time to head home. While I would like to have taken a bull, it wasn't very practical to keep hunting. With the cow and buck, along with some elk and antelope left from last year, we just don't need the extra meat and don't have freezer space to store it. Besides, Mrs. Hummer could help me butcher on Sunday :>).
Tough as it was in the deep snow and cold, I had a fantastic hunt with lots of wildlife and beautiful scenes in the high country of Colorado. Two perfect shots on fine animals that never knew I was there, what more could you ask for? I'll be back next year,
Good hunting,
Hummer
Opening morning began with 8" of fresh powder snow at my camp trailer and a good 14" higher up the mountain. While I like a little snow for tracking, this much of it would make getting around difficult and limit the miles of country I could cover in a day. This photo is a scene not far from camp, a mostly frozen pond in the timber where deer and elk sometimes find water.
I hunted the area hard trudging through the snow, following tracks, most of which seemed to be made overnight. On the morning of the fourth day I made my way about a mile and a half up and over the mountain working my way along the edge of the aspens and into the dark timber to an area where I took a nice bull in 2003.
I meandered along an obscure game trail that went through some elky woods. The pungent scent of elk wafted my way as I peered through the trees with my binoculars to spot the head of a cow elk, then a calf coming up from behind. I had a narrow, foot-wide window through the trees. When the beast stepped forward I took the shot and she dropped, dead right there. Offhand, 74 yds, .30-06 220 grain Hornady round nose, high just behind the left shoulder, shattering the ribs, spine and lungs. I like those heavy round nose bullets for close shots on elk, they mushroom beautifully and retain their mass better than the 180 and 200 grain Nosler Partitions.
The close distance is pretty typical of most of my elk kills made by still hunting. This was my 20th elk kill, 19 in the past 22 consecutive years of hunting this area of the White River National Forest. I credit my regular use of good binoculars to peer through the forest to spot animals before they spot me. In this situation, had I not been using them it is likely I would have spooked the animals before getting a shot. As it turned out, there were five elk in that group, some closer to me than the two I saw. Now, the real work begins:
This was a young dry cow, probably 1 1/2 years old, and considerably smaller than the one I took last year. After field dressing I skinned and quartered the animal ready to pack out the next morning. I arranged the meat over some logs to cool and hopefully freeze overnight. I covered the carcass with the hide and fir branches to discourage the birds, and pee'd several times around the site to make my mark for the coyotes and bears.
Well, little good that did. Next morning I could see right away that a bear had gotten to it, taking chomps out of the hind legs and eating a good portion of the backstrap on one side, about 7 lbs. of the best meat on the animal! This is the second time in the past few years a bear has gotten to my elk.
I must have bad bear karma, I've been battling bad bears all year. I run a couple bird banding stations and at one a big bear has been wreaking havoc on my feeders and traps, destroying about $300 worth of equipment just for the cheap calories. (I did get a chance to see that bear one night at about four feet away outside my cabin window. He was a huge bear, the biggest I've ever seen in Colorado!)
I had my old friend Dick bring some mules up and we packed the meat out before the bear came back to finish the job. For the rest of season, I'd be hunting antlers.
The next day it snowed like a son-of-a-gun, dumping another 12" of powder on top of what was already there. Last Friday morning with heavy fog and 12 degrees on the thermometer, I got an early start and climbed the mountain in the dark. By daylight I stopped on a favorite ridge in an aspen grove where I took a big cow last year.
I looked behind to spot a big lone doe moving toward me. She was the first deer I'd seen in the area this season. I had a brief but clear shooting opportunity at 70 yards and was cursing myself for buying a buck license instead of a doe tag. It's thrilling to take a big antlered animal but I am, firstly, a meat hunter, and wanted a little more for the freezer, especially after the bear gobbled part of the smallish elk.
In spite of good pac boots and two layers of wool socks, my feet were icing up. I decided to take my boots off to insert a small heat pack. Just as one socked foot was waving in the air, I spotted a patch of deer down the hill about 250 yards away, and it had antlers! Aw, shoot, he was moving behind some trees!
I scrambled to slip the boot back on without lacing and ran down the hill to get a view between the trees, then sat my butt down in the knee deep snow to take a good sitting position. With a view of only the rump and back, I waited. A step or two forward and I'd see my last opportunity before the animal disappeared behind some fir trees and down the slope. That step forward into a foot-wide window between some aspens was all I needed, and I squeezed the trigger. Sitting, 221 yards, .30-06 180 grain Nosler Partition, just forward of the right shoulder exiting through the left scapular; dead right there. I swept the loose snow out of my open boot and laced it up, then walked down the hill with my pack and rifle.....
He was a very nice 3 x 4 buck, not including brow tines. I field dressed the animal and dragged it three-quarters of a mile down the mountain to camp. The last two hundred yards across a sedge filled wetland was the worst. Working uphill, I heaved four feet at a time back to the camp trailer where I skinned and cut up the animal to freeze overnight. (Thankful I'm still alive at 55!) This was my 27th mule deer.
I hunted one more day in hope of finding a bull, without success. But I did see near the site of my deer kill, a feisty pine marten bounding through the snow with a fist-sized chunk of bloodied deer fat. What a sight, wish I'd been quick enough to get a picture of that! I hadn't known martens were scavengers too. With one day of the season left, I decided it was time to head home. While I would like to have taken a bull, it wasn't very practical to keep hunting. With the cow and buck, along with some elk and antelope left from last year, we just don't need the extra meat and don't have freezer space to store it. Besides, Mrs. Hummer could help me butcher on Sunday :>).
Tough as it was in the deep snow and cold, I had a fantastic hunt with lots of wildlife and beautiful scenes in the high country of Colorado. Two perfect shots on fine animals that never knew I was there, what more could you ask for? I'll be back next year,
Good hunting,
Hummer
