Well, I am back from my annual elk/mule deer hunt to Colorado. While I have nothing to show for my time other than blistered feet, it is always a privilege and quite enjoyable to spend a few days in the Rockies. I went to the same area that I have gone to for the last 4 years and have either killed something or at least have had shot opportunities each of those years. However, this year was very dismal. We spotted two small groups of elk 2+ miles away from glassing but were never able to get on them when going into those areas. Elk can come and go, so this by itself doesn't necessarily mean anything, but the fact that we only saw 1 group of Mule Deer (a bachelor group of 4 bucks) has me puzzled. This particular area is right on the Continental Divide and we hunt at 11,500-12,500 feet elevation. Because of the elevation, the animals tend move out of this area early and is not known for being a good area for later seasons, but has a pretty good reputation for early season like right now. So we are wondering what made such a difference in the "sighted" game population this year. We came up with several theories. This is part the area that was hit hard with Winter two years ago. Suprisingly, last year the game was plentiful, so we are wondering if a bad winter doesn't really show a significant decline in populations until the second year? The second possibility is that the game have already moved to lower elevations this year for some reason. On average, it was a bit colder than previous years but not enough for me to really think it would be moving game. In fact it was temps that I think game would favor (night lows upper 20's highs low 50's). The third and most likely possibility that made it a dismal year probably lies within ourselves. Maybe we just stink. But whatever the reason, as I already mentioned,it is all good. I have a vivid memory of glassing on top of a ridge at 12,400' that overlooked three different drainages and nothing but mountain tops in all 4 directions and reminding myself how lucky I was to just be there and how many people never get the experience even once. I didn't really even get any good pictures, but at the same time, I don't take my "good" camera out very far from camp as an extra 4 pounds in the mountain is a pretty big dealbreaker. But here are a few landscape pictures I took.
John, those are awesome pics .... sorry you didn't b ring anything home, but I bet you would still go knowing that .... that air must have been sweet .... how were the temps?
Thanks for sharing some great pictures. I'll be heading to Idaho in about a week for elk. Love camping and hunting in the mountains.
Magnificent country! Sounds like you enjoyed your time. You give it all you have and what ever happens happens.Thanks for sharing the pictures!
