Just got back from a week in the White River Forest. The hunting was tough, I have an unlimited either sex tag for Elk. Conditions were very dry and that made stalking (while scouting for sign) difficult to impossible without noise. This hunt was mainly in the Sawatch Range, with a couple of days at a lower 10500 mountain. I saw at the lower Mt. dear, turkey, bear and blue grouse in either very fresh tracks or in body. There was no elk or any sign of them old or new on the lower mt. Nothing. Also found a fresh dead cow (a lot of permit grazing going on here) that would be good to stand hunt for bear on the lower Mt.
Went over to an area where there was access to above tree line and found elk right away at tree line or above. The weather is still very warm and I think in this area they are still very high. I found a herd hanging just below tree line under a huge snow field above tree line (wet and cool). I had climbed up above them and they started to move down before I realized they were there. I had been trailing what looked like a cow and a yearling all the way to tree line and had lost the track there. I went up and checked out an old mine above tree line and then started down, cutting thru the forest. Then I stopped at a trail crossing were I saw new elk tracks over my tracks. I sat there for an hour or so then started my best fred bear stalk down towards the pickup. I started to see several new sets of tracks heading down across the trail and I wasn't sure if I had missed those tracks earlier as this was in dry dirt. Then just above the pickup I blundered into a sizable herd. If it had been wetter I might have gotten close enough to see them first and maybe get a shot. I was about 50 yards went they crashed.
At least I found some, trailed some, and hunted them. Later, checking some other maps I found that the mine and snow field area was private to below treeline. So I didn't try to blind hunt there later because the property boundaries are not well known and in dispute with the forest service I gathered. Dang, at least I didn't get into trouble, but that figures they were right on private property. I'm pretty sure that where I spooked them I was on forest service, but I had inadvertently trespassed up above and drove the herd down to were I spooked them for good. The confusing part is the trails are marked forest service trails and pass thru the private areas to access areas above.
The elk were not at all vocal at this point in the season and very elusive. If I could find and get to them I would probably not be able to pack an elk out (I'm toooooo ooooold). I was trying to put the truck right below were I was hunting above tree line so I could get an elk to the truck if I shot one. I saw quite a bit of recent and old sign above 11000 and hunted as high as 12200. That is the biggest issue with hunting out of a pick up with little planing. Finding some where you can get to them and pack them out. We did see a few deer down in the valley floors. Our friend Felix from Italy was on this hunt.
This isn't over yet as I have some time and quite a bit of season left .
Topic: White River Forest Hunt Report (Read 250 times)
