It's approaching quickly! I am taking my son on his OTC elk hunt this Friday, leaving Castle Rock around noon. Going to have a few hour drive if there isn't much traffic. We are bringing both our truck camping gear as well as backpacking gear. This spot doesn't have much dispersed camping off the main roads and there aren't any side roads, which makes it a likely spot to see some elk. I am prepared to hike in a mile or so to find a flat spot big enough to set up our two man tent and hopefully be closer to water. 1/2 mile in we'd split the distance to a creek and our truck for water. We'll see.
I am anxious to see this place again as it's been a few years. Geography is a big spine ridge at 9600' and a bunch of finger ridges down to a creek. The area is about 4 miles by 3 miles and any sign of old double tracks have 6' trees growing all along them, which will keep out ATV's. Numerous aspen patches are inside some beetle kill forest, as well as some open clearings. You can't see past 100 yards in most spots and less than 10 in many. The deadfall is horrendous but I am taking that into consideration that most hunters will avoid this spot.
Since last year's endeavor of packing out an elk I have sworn to a year of working out. I missed a day here and there but worked out every week consistently. On top of my normal lifting and running I incorporated yoga into my weekly routine as well as nightly stretching. Sounds ridiculous but it has all helped tremendously.
The thing I am looking forward to most with this hunt is it'll be the first time since my son and I began hunting five years ago that we won't be hunting together. He is OTC this year and I drew my tag. That means I get to photograph and video his hunt and be the caller this weekend. He gets to do the same for me next week.
Heading home soon to get everything moved from my basement to the garage so we can make sure we have everything necessary for the weekend trip.
Here's to another adventurous season. *cheers* I hope everyone has a safe and fun season!
Is your daughter hunting again this year?
ElkNut/Paul
Opening morning The Boy slept in a bit, 6:45, but this was his hunt and I wasn't there to tell him what to do. I had coffee ready and we ate pop-tarts and cranberries.
We grabbed our packs and hit the mountain. We covered close to 5 miles on Saturday and hit everything from 9800' down to the creek bottom at 8500'. We were exhausted!
His chest cold had him in a bad place Saturday evening and I had woke up feeling pretty blah myself. *mancold* I feel like garbage today.
He asked if it would be okay to hit the road as he wasn't feeling well. We packed up and drove to Beau Jo's Pizza in Idaho Springs and enjoyed pizza.
We had a good day but it was disappointing to not see anything even close indicating elk have been in the area this summer or fall...hell maybe not even in all of 2018.
Few things to note, I never packed my base layers, my sleeping pad leaked (truck camping pad, not the backpacking pad), he forgot gloves, and needed an extra payer as he ended up wearing my Kuiu jacket. I lost my long handled spoon and for the life of me can't figure out where it could be!
We leave for my draw unit on Thursday. Looks like we'll be parking a long ways from the trail head as there have been flash flood warnings and the Forest Service folks confirmed my suspicions...do NOT go back there is it has rained or could rain. Sucks but we'll make due with the extra miles on foot.
Here are a few photos from opening weekend. I spent more time with a small video camera than my phone and haven't had time to do any editing. Will get those loaded eventually. He's psyched to be videographer for the week while I hunt.
Keep positive and enjoy the journey!!
G
