Friday, with breakfast in our bellies, groceries and water in the truck, and tags in our pockets, we once again left Steamboat for the hour and 20 min trip back up to camp so we could officially start our hunt. That night and all day Saturday, Dad and I explored the areas nearest our camp. We not only wanted to familiarize ourselves with our new home, but thought it'd be best to take it somewhat easy the first couple days so our bodies could adjust to the 8400' camp altitude. We found tons of elk and cattle sign, saw some mulies and found a really nice swampy draw that we hunted a couple times. Fresh sign everywhere, but no sightings of elk. They were pretty quite too. Only a handful of bugles here and there, and I'm guessing that many of those were not elk. As Saturday night came, we were excited for a couple reasons. 1- We were finding more fresh elk sign as the days progressed 2- Sunday not only meant the end of muzzleloader season and fewer hunters, but Nick would be flying in and our camp would be complete.
So Sunday morning we were back on the road, this time to Hayden and the airport to pick up Nick, then back to Steamboat for more groceries and to get Nick his tag. We were back at Camp around 3:30 and spent the evening letting Nick get his bearings. We also decided that we wanted to hike a little way up the trail behind the gate on Monday if Nick was feeling up to it. Another clear morning and no signs of altitude sickness. We packed light with some snacks and water. The hike awesome. With each step it seemed that the likelihood of seeing elk was exponentially increasing (take that with a grain of salt coming from three elk hunting rookies!). By 11:00 AM, we had already reached where we had planned to hike to. Feeling good we kept going. 2:00 and we were enamored by breathtaking views and more fresh sign. We kept going. 4:00 found us near Floyd Peak and less than a mile from our hopeful camp site we wanted to drive to. We decide to break off the trail and sit a while. Nick and I decided that since we were so close, we should probably climb to the peak. So we did. On our way back down we got a text from my dad. He had a mule deer doe walk right by him at 7 yards. He was pumped, we liked what we saw, so we kept going. 5:30 and we were standing at the spot that We wanted to camp. We decided that we wanted to hump back to camp, rest and pack a spike camp back up the trail for a couple nights. By the time we got back it was dark and we were beat. We had second thoughts about a morning departure back up the mountain. We had put on 10 miles on that "quick hike".
When morning came we were all surprised with how good we felt. We decided to have a good breakfast, pack up our gear and hit the trail. We set an easy pace and picked our way to our spike camp. We got there in time to set up and hunt that evening. The day was beautiful and our spirits were high. Our initial scouting showed lots of promise. The first morning on the mountain and we split up. Dad headed back toward the area he had the mulie encounter on the "hike" day. Nick and I wanted to follow the stream next to our new home to see how the sign was along it's descent. We soon cut fresh tracks and thought we could hear cow calls in the distance. We did our best all morning to quietly catch the group of cows but there was no hope. Flatlanders do not gain fast on moving elk. Back at spike camp for lunch, we took a nap and put together a game plan for the evening.
This afternoon, my Dad was going to head SW over the next ridge and do a bit of still hunting and sitting. Nick and I decided to head up the ridge to our E to see what an old burn looked like, then head toward a swampy bench to our SE and glass for activity from above. The burn area we found was huge. It was wide open and a snarly mess of fallen trees. This wasn't going to be beneficial for any hunter with a bow. We turned S and head towards the swampy bench. I can't believe how perfectly we timed the aspen colors on this trip. Seems like we had to stop just to take it all in every few minutes. As we got closer to the overlook of the swamp, we came to an area where the burn fingers in a westerly direction and cut us off. It was 4:30 and we debated on what to do. Keep cover and stealth by still hunting the edge of the burn around to where we'd get our view, or save time by busting across the open burn to get to our vista quicker and have more time to look before heading back to camp. We elected to take the quicker route. On the other side of the burn finger, we came to the high ridge. Looking down, we could see part of the swamp, but needed to move further West to see the more open areas of the swamp. As we worked West, I stopped in my tracks. Nick heard the next few cow calls as well.
We moved a bit further and moved into ambush position. The group of cows were S of us, moving slowly up the ridge right in our direction. The Thermals and West wind were working in our favor. We sat and listened to the cows and calves calling back and forth. It was amazing to hear all the different inflections in their calling. A few of the lead cows had moved just past us up the ridge and to our West, but a few of the trailing cows were headed right at us. As those leading cows got above me I was worried that I didn't have enough cover from that directing, so I began a slow three point crawl down further into the young aspens they were walking through. Just as I started feeling more comfortable with my cover I spotted movement just below me. A cow was walkin through the aspens on a trail that would bring her right between Nick and I. I caught Nick's attention and pointed in her direction so he knew she was coming. As she past behind one small pine I ranged trees on either side and got ready to draw. She paused behind the pine for 30 seconds or so, it might as well have been 10 minutes. Just then a bugle cracks off just below us both. The cow turns behind the pine fully and I lose sight of her. Then I hear foot steps. Heavy footsteps. I catch a glimpse of big dark legs walking up the ridge right at me. My heart jumps. I make eye contact with Nick again, my eyes wide and mouth agape. To me it looked like he'd have a better line of sight. When he looks at me he shakes his head and mouths something I can't make out. He lowers his bow and holds up 3 fingers and mouths the words again. This time I know what he's saying. "Three Horses." Just then, three guys on horseback ride out from behind the pine I was watching. Completely dejected, I lay my bow down and sit back. As they pass within 10 yards of me, I pull my hat and wave. Then whistle. Surprised with how close I was, they stopped. Nick walked out and we talked with our new friends. They were 3 guys from Michigan bowhunting. They'd been out in Colorado hunting for the last 3 weeks. They had seen the group of cows from below, moved close and bugled at them to see if any bull was with them. When they got no response, they rode up and split the herd. They then proceeded to ask if the trail was nearby. I asked what trail they were looking for and they said, "doesn't matter, any trail." I pointed them up the ridge to the burn and a Divide trail and they were on their way.
It was now quarter to 6 and we both felt like we had just been kicked in the gut. We decided to work our way NW towards my dad and hopefully come across the spooked cows. Tired and pissed at the missed opportunity, we hiked on. We did end up seeing a bunch of mulies on that walk back. We even bumped one 6 or 7 times until she hopped past my dad at about 20 yards. Too bad none of us had a mulie tag. As dark came we found ourselves back on the trail to our spike camp.
We spent a total of 3 nights up at our spike camp. We got close to one more group of elk and ran across another couple hunters. We seemed close every day, but it just wasn't going to happen for us. Friday morning we packed up and headed back down to our base camp. We weren't the only ones unhappy about our departure. We made good time on the hike back, but we were all physically and emotionally beat.
Back at base camp, there was only one thing to do. A night to sit back, relax, and remember the awesome trip we had. These are truly two of the greatest people you could ever share camp with. It meant a lot to share that time with them. We may have come home with unfilled coolers and tags, but we all had an absolute blast. As one could imagine, there is much talk of "next time".
Great read brother, my family wants to do a similar hunt in the next few years. Not sure if were going to go guided or not though.
Good journal of your elk hunt and great pictures. Thanks for taking the time to post and sharing. How awesome to get to spend time with your dad like that.
Man that looks like some beautiful country out there Fitz. Sounds like you guys had an awesome hunt, sorry you weren't able to fill your tags. Wyoming is one of the states I'm looking at after my time in the military is up and find a flight job out there.
Great pic's and story Fitz. Though the coolers were empty and the tags unfilled, the hunt was still a success. A hunting trip with a good friend, and your dad. That's what it's all about. Congrats to all three of you.
Great story Fitz, looks like you guys had a blast. Makes me look forward to my trip even more next fall. Good luck on the whitetails now!
Fantastic story, looks like you guys did have a great time...Nicks dejected look after the horse encounter was spot on, with a pic worth a 1000 words.
This is just what I would except from Fitz, just awesome! I feel like I was there Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
