Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Packing Up For A Colorado Elk Hunt
One of my great hunting passions, other than hunting whitetail deer, is hunting elk in northern Colorado. Each year for at least the last 20 years, I’ve made an annual trek to Colorado to hunt bull elk with a bow.
Most years two or three other hunters go with me. Some years we have 100 percent success, and some years we have a 50 percent success ratio.
On occasion we have taken antelope as well, but bull elk are the trophies of a lifetime for us.
We hunt a ranch we’ve hunted all these years, and we can drive most of the way up to the hunting area. We establish a camp there, and range out in all directions to hunt.
Some of our greatest success has come from hunting the water holes. Many sportsmen think this is easy, but elk are extremely cautious when approaching water. My favorite water hole offers 20 to 35-yard shots, and I’m fully capable of making killing shots beyond that distance but am entirely at ease with 35-yard shots.
Most years I’ve shot my bull with a bow during this early season, and I have a tree stand on my favorite water hole. It is downwind of where the bulls normally come from, and it has been in place for many years. The elk are accustomed to it, and as long as I can hold still, taking a shot is reasonably easy unless a large number of animals are watering at the same time.
It’s one thing to shoot a whitetail buck, and something entirely different to shoot a bull elk. The elk is a much larger animal, but all of the same conditions apply to this as to shooting a buck.
One must take their time, size up the situation (and it varies from day to day), and wait for the bull to turn to offer a broadside or quartering-away shot. Sometimes only small bulls, cows and calves come to the water hole, and at other times, only a good bull will show up while the other animals wait their turn down the mountain.
Western elk hunting is done three different ways, and at one time or another, I’ve hunted each of these methods. There is water hole hunting, calling or taking off after the animals on foot, catching up without being seen and trying to work into a position to shoot without being spotted.
Hunting bugling elk is a great time. The bugles and grunts echo through the mountains, raise your neck hairs, and it’s possible to call a bull without his harem in tow within bow easy bow range. The larger bulls are very protective of the cows, and imitating a challenging bull is one of the most exciting ways to hunt.
I do favor the water hole hunts. I know the elk will come to water; what I don’t know is when it will happen. Sometimes they arrive after dark, but if the animals are not disturbed, they usually will head for water at least once each day.
The trick, obviously, is to be there before they arrive. If the first elk comes in to drink, another will follow. Sometimes the bulls are first to water and often they may come last, and it seems to be an individual quirk for each bull.
I’ll be gone for about 10 days, and will try to keep my daily blogs running while I am away. If I miss a day or two, just remember one thing: I’ll probably have a good elk hunting story to tell when I return.
Think fall, keep practicing your shooting, and soon we’ll be climbing a Michigan tree to greet the Oct. 1 bow season opener. - The Whitetail Wizard