Come along on a DIY elk hunt with me this year in Colorado. Pictures added

[Gil Verwey]

I get questions about DIY hunts from some members here on Tradgang. I have been doing DIY hunts for a long time and have also gone on guided hunts. I thought I would provide some information for those that have asked me specifically about DIY elk hunting, but it can pertain to any other types of DIY hunting.

This year we are going on a DIY elk hunt in Colorado from September 6 through September 24. Last year we went to the same place and found elk heaven. This year we intend to send a few elk to heaven.

Next year I am going solo on this elk hunt, because my hunting partner is going halibut fishing in Alaska. This solo hunt is in my bucket list so next year works out great. The following year we are going to do a DIY hunt in Alaska for moose and caribou.  

My hunting partner and I like to do DIY hunts. We enjoy the whole experience of planning, scouting, camping and doing our own hunting. In addition we can make our own time table for the hunt and are not restricted by time constraints of the outfitter. Also in our case it enables us to do these hunts yearly since the cost is much less. There is an initial cost for some equipment you may not have, but who doesn't like buying more toys. Once this equipment is purchased, it can last a life time if cared for.  

With the tools we have today you can scout any place in the world from your computer and topo maps. With Google earth I can see the tree I post in Ohio,  where I came within 20 yards of a monster herd bull in Colorado and look down at Lewellyn Glacier in North Western BC where I hunted Mountain Goat.  

There is nothing wrong with guided hunts and I have enjoyed them very much, but for us DIY is the way to go.

You don't have to travel far to put adventure back in your hunting. You can do it right at home and if you are unfamiliar with camping and hunting for extended periods of time I recommend that is how you start.

Some of our most fun hunts have been close to home deer hunting, by camping on public land.

We all are pressed for time and try to grab any hunting time we can to get out in the woods with our bows. I do it too. I suggest you get much more out of the hunt by just adding a small amount of adventure to the hunt and little more time for yourself to enjoy the hunt and immerse yourself in it.

In our case it may be heading to Stokes State Forest in NJ, renting a lean-to from Friday night through Sunday. There are bear, deer and turkey there. For me I enjoy taking a deer fair chase with my bow and enjoying the whole experience of the hunt, much more than making it work trying to shoot a trophy buck. After a while trophy hunting becomes more of a job to me, rather than a labor of love experiencing the whole enchilada. For me a nice fat doe taken on an short local extended, camping\\hunting trip is worth more than measured inches.

I am not knocking trophy hunting. Trophy hunters have my utmost respect, because I know how hard they have to work to accomplish their goals. It has to be a labor of love to them, because it very time consuming and labor intensive. I am just saying that for me at my age (58), I have moved on to enjoying the experience more than just accomplishing the goal. Now my goal is enjoying the whole experience.

[Flingblade]

This will be a fun thread and thanks for the advice.  I am wanting to start DIY hunting for elk as the cost of guided hunts is out of my price range.  The solo aspect interests me as well as I've not yet found a hunting partner I match up with well for out of state hunts.  Good luck out there and I'll be following along.

[Raminshooter]

Well said.

[rushlush]

When do we leave? I'm looking forward to this.

[Gil Verwey]

I am not going to go over any health requirements. That is something you should really go over with your Dr.

My Doctor knows I am not the sharpest knife in the draw when it comes to my health, so I sure can’t give advice to anyone else. Both he and my wife call me an idiot! I tend to disagree, but not by much.

My Dr. made me get my heart and lungs thoroughly checked out, because I wanted to get a diet pill prescription to help loose weight and get in shape for the trip. He is smarter than I am, so he made get my lungs Xrayed and have a nuclear stress test for my heart before he would give the Rx. I believe in magic pills and boy did they work.

I checked out fine and got the magic diet pill. I worked out during lunch at a nearby gym. I did ½ hour everyday on a stair climber. I went on a low carb, high protein diet. I also did some bike riding and that was the extent of my exercise routine.  

Now I was way out shape and needed all the help I could get. I went from around 244 lbs to 193 lbs by the time I was in Colorado. After 11 days in the back country I came out of the back country at 183 lbs. I went from a tight 40” waist to a loose 33” waist. Man it felt great!

If I can do it, anybody can. I was glad I did, because it made the trip more enjoyable.

The first step is deciding what you want to hunt, where and when. Then commit to it, giving yourself plenty of time to prepare.

There are so many resources for you today over the internet it is amazing and anyone can plan a back country hunt with your fingertips sitting in your man cave. You have so many neat tools, you can see where you want to hunt in 3d over the internet and get the exact GPS coordinates. Every resource for information in the area you want to hunt is posted on the internet, with their name, responsibility and phone number. I haven’t encountered one person I have cold called that was not glad to help me. They usually answered more questions than I knew I even had.

When we started doing this before the Internet we had to call people locally, that put us in touch with other people and it was a chain that took a lot of time and effort. Even to get where we wanted to go, the best resource was either a Map Atlas or AAA Trip Tic (for old timers that may remember them). Then when we wanted to find where we wanted to be in the back country we used topo maps and a compass. I still mostly use a topo and compass. I do carry a GPS but I do not strictly rely on it, most of my navigation is by compass and topo.  

All I am saying is that today it so much easier to get your home work done. What would have taken months of planning to accomplish, can now happen in an instant. So take advantage of it.            

Once you have decided on a game animal and committed to do it. It is time to start the fun of finding the right state, time of year and area to hunt.

If you are going to do a back country hunt make sure you get some resources to prepare you for that type of hunting. If you will hunt out of a base camp prepare accordingly for that.

Both my hunting partner and I like to ensure we are hunting in areas most other hunters do not want to go. Whether it is elk or deer we find remote walk in only places to hunt.

Here are several examples of hunts we went on for elk. Each has it's advantages and disadvantages.

We went to Montana elk hunting several times along the Missouri Breaks in the Charles Russell Wilderness area along the Missouri River. In this area it is easy walking and there were many trophy elk. We hunted out of a base camp and each of us had opportunities at elk. This is a good area to start, since there are roads, you can effectively hunt out of a base camp and the walking is easy as compared to other areas. We packed out a P&Y 5x5 in about 5 hours, the whole bull, skinned and boned. The negative to this choice is that you have to draw a permit and they are expensive in Montana. If you are going with other people you have to try to get a party permit to make sure everyone gets one that is going. You also have to apply by March 15th. The laws and process probably have changed since we went, so you have to check with the current process. Because of the expense and permit process we no longer go to Montana. Also there were many hunters. You could rarely consider a bugle to be from a bull and not another hunter. We did see bulls bugle, but I was going to throw a rock at the 5x5 we got, because his bugle was so bad I really thought it was another hunter. i had all I could do from yelling shut up! Ha!    

At the other end of the spectrum we hunt Colorado in mountainous walk in only wilderness areas and back country hunt for 11 or more days. We go in 10 or 11 miles on foot. There are trophy elk in the back country on public land and we were very surprised that there were NO other hunters where we went, while there were BIG trophy elk. Many hunters hunt out of a base camp and travel 3 to 6 miles in a day. We backpack in 10 miles and hunt between 3 to 6 miles from there each day. We found that in the area we hunted the elk were up high. That is nice for hunters, because once we got up to the elk elevation the alpine hunt was flat without a lot of up and down. Other nice features of alpine hunting is that there were no bugs and plenty of water. If we find the the elk moved so do we. We started out hunting by not bugling and cow calling only from our Montana experience. We thought that the bugles we heard may be hunters. What we found was that every bugle was an elk. We also got responses from elk bulls for nearly every bugle we made. We wound up hunting by bugling up high. When we received a response the other hunter would move to the bull. One legal bull I bugled at for 45 minutes. He answered every time and my partner got within 40 yards until he got winded. He said the bull was feeding and just lifted his head to answer my bugle and went right back to feeding. This was a small legal bull. Also if you back country hunt in Colorado there are areas that do not require getting a permit ahead of time and you can buy your license and permit right over the counter. That makes planning very easy and if plans or circumstances change you can change with them. One thing to realize in Colorado, is no matter how many hunting licenses you have, you have to have your hunter safety card to get a license. In my case I took my archery hunter safety course in 1968. That was before it was computerized. Because I have a resident license they printed me a new one. Otherwise I would have had to take the safety course again. These are some of the things you have to make sure about up front.  

The negatives of doing a alpine back country hunt is that you have to work hard to get into where you want to be. You have to get accustomed to the altitude. Your pack is going to feel very heavy climbing up to 11,000’ no matter how light you think you packed it. Another issue is getting the elk out from being so far back in the back country. Even if you have a lot of time you have to realize it will takes days for two men to pack out an elk. Therefore if you are successful at the end of the hunt you have to figure on more time to get the elk out.

Last year both my hunting partner and I came very close to scoring on big bulls. I have no doubt that we will do it this year. We found elk heaven, but if we had to pack out an elk on foot from there we were going to leave elk heaven for someone else and we were going to find someplace else to hunt, where we could arrange to get the elk out. My partner is 59 and I am 58. We packed in and out on foot 10 miles with heavy packs. We hunted between 3 to 6 miles everyday. When we packed out we were truly glad we didn’t shoot an elk near the end of the hunt. If I remember right it took us about 16 hours to pack out. On the way out it was up and down and 10 miles in this area is like 24 miles along the Missouri Breaks. I have packed out elk, moose and mountain goat. Packing out a elk from here would have taken at least 3 or 4 days and doesn't count any time to sleep in between.

We are going back to elk heaven this year and I have locked in a packer to get the elk out on horse back. We also arranged for the packer to pack us and our gear in and out on horse back. This will add many more days of hard hunting on our trip. If I hadn't been able to arrange a packer we would have looked for a new elk heaven. I can't begin to express how monumental the effort would be to pack out on foot, at least for two sea level landlubbers. If you do decide to do it on foot you can consider you are only hunting one elk. Because as soon as someone scores the hunt is over for both of you and 3 or 4 days of very hard work will begin. Once you are done with packing out the last of the elk, you won't have the energy to go back or desire for a second elk. Believe me when I tell you.

[Rob W.]

DIY elk in Colorado has been my dream for some time. Good stuff.    


Rob

[bofish-IL]

Great information. Once you hear the bulls bugling you can never forget it. I have been on several DIY elk hunts and hunted from a base camp each time,  which just never worked out good. Too much time wasted coming and going.

[Bel007]

Finally !!!  An elk thread.  Oh boy.  Been waiting to start reading some of these.  I am going DIY to CO on my first elk hunt this year.  I have been acquiring gear and making plans for the last 16 months.

Thanks Gil !  Will be watching and reading   :D  

 

[wooddamon1]

Looking forward to this as I just moved back to MI from CO and won't get back to hunt this year...

[Gil Verwey]

The first part of the preparation is in regard to where, when and how.

The resources that can help are the Internet, books, services provided by BLM, State Fish and Wildlife, ranger offices for the area you will hunt, national park offices, state and federal biologists, game wardens, sporing goods stores in the area, the list can go on and on. The nice thing about it, is you can find as much or as little information you want on the Internet with a keystroke.

My first step many years ago was books in regard to doing western DIY hunts. Here are a few books that helped me greatly.

To determine the where and when I recommend the following books to start you off.

Bugling for Elk by Dwight Schuh. This is an older book but still holds a lot of valuable information. This is the book that started me on my DIY journey for elk. I had the desire but Dwight set the direction. Dwight has another book for mule deer, which is also great for DIY information and that book is Bowhunting for Mule Deer.    

Elk Hunting the West by Mike Eastman. This book is more current and the Eastman's are all about hunting DIY public land in the west.

For back country how to information, there isn't any better book (it also comes with a DVD) than Backcountry Bowhunting by Cameron R Hanes.

I have experienced what Cameron writes about in his book and it is all great information that works and can be followed for a successful and safe back country hunt. I disagree with very little he writes and learned a whole lot about back country bowhunting. It saved me from a lot of lessons I would have had to learn the hard way.

I started with the desire to do this, then these books fueled the fire, then some smaller scale remote hunting gave me the confidence I could do it. Then I committed to it and got er done.

I will do these DIY elk hunts until one time I do not come back. I told my family, my hunting partner will give them the GPS coordinates in case they ever want to throw some flowers out there. I also told them coyotes and bears have to eat too.

You will understand what I mean if you ever go and do it properly prepared. If I could have brought enough food I could have stayed there for 30 days (I can't rely on me or my partners hunting skills to feed us). Once you experience it you will be hooked. When you spend time immersed in the back country for long periods of time hunting, you come back a different person. Your view on the outdoors and hunting takes a turn that you can't turn back from. It is a good direction to go in though.

[eflanders]

"Once you experience it you will be hooked. When you spend time immersed in the back country for long periods of time hunting, you come back a different person. Your view on the outdoors and hunting takes a turn that you can't turn back from. It is a good direction to go in though."

Truer words have never been spoken!

[Gil Verwey]

Before we go any further in planning and doing a DIY ELK hunt, I thought I would post some pictures of last years hunt. This should wet your appetite and get some of the juices flowing.

We spent our first night in base camp at 9000' at the trail head to acclimate ourselves to the altitude.

My hunting partner had a itch on his hand so he thought he would let the birds scratch it.

     

Then some neighbors stopped by for a visit. It looks like this one was in a bar fight.

     

Then a few more joined the party.

 

The next day we headed out on the trail. This is what a 58 year old man that lives at sea level with a 80# pack looks like when he is going to take his first step on the trail to climb to 10,800'. My face looked much worse! If I remember right I think I was crying!

     

[razorsharptokill]

Doing Wyoming DIY elk hunt this year. Can't wait!

[Soonerlongbow]

Good pix

[Dogboy900]

Cool thread. DIY is mostly what we do over here in NZ but love to see how others plan and carry out major hunts.

[Gil Verwey]

When we hit 10,200' we found a place with good elk sign. We thought we would hunt there that night and the next morning. We backed back down to 10,000' so we could set up camp and not disturb the elk. I cried again because I do not like to give up ground when climbing!

 

At 10,000' where we set up camp we found that the mosquitoes were so bad, we thought if the rest of the trip would be like this we would be miserable. We had to wear head nets, gloves and long sleeves. Neither one of us brought any bug juice.

 
 
This little meadow had a lot of elk sign and we thought why walk through this to go find elk sign while we had it right here.

 
 

[Talondale]

       

I didn't know Kenny Rogers elk hunted.  

Enjoying the thread.

[Gil Verwey]

I bet you didn't know Gabby Hayes hunted elk either. Man I was glad to make it here. I am at  10,800' and 5 miles in. We are nearing our first planned camp. We have 5 more miles to our next camp. I am on a snow pack here.    

 

Here is our first camp. Home sweet home. We hunted here for 3 days. Some elk sign and we saw several elk and mule deer, but not what we were looking for.

 

I love BIG mountains and this place had them plus other great hunting terrain. This is what I live for!

 
 
 
 
 
 

[Whip]

Now you've gone and done it Gil.  I just broke out in a full blown case of elk fever!!  

Fantastic thread, and great information for everyone who dreams of one day chasing elk in the mountains.  You are absolutely right about how addicting it is, and can end up changing your life and adds so much enjoyment for the entire year, just thinking about it.

Come on September!!

[two4hooking]

80# packs!  You guys are hard core!  I made the mistake of carrying that much gear last year up a 3 miles incline and it almost killed my brother and I at 38 and 48 yrs old!  We are both ex-infantry soldiers to boot.   This year we are going ultra light and our packs weigh 45#.