well, I would not trade my place on Crow Mt. for anything, but ya'll guys that live in the mnts have the most beautiful horizion scenery that I have ever seen. I have just watched the sun set in the mnts for the first time only a few minutes ago. I am on vacation right now and am just amazed at all of this.
i was raised in the "mountians" of AR, but always knew they were not classified as mnts. I did not know what a mountian range looked like, except in pictures, until today. I AM BREATHLESS!!!! We really did not have anything planned for tomorrow, so I told my wife that I am going to climb up in those mountians. I may not go all the way to the top, but I MUST ROAM. Something in them is just drawing me. I cannot resist, nor do I want to.
GOD is great and good to us. No one can look to this blessed world and deny that fact.
John
It's great that you are enjoying yourself. Be careful when you go stomping around bears like to eat too!...lol
Pictures!!!! Lot's of pictures please!
God bless,Mudd
PS You are so right, man is without excuse!
Enjoy yourself...the mountains in the inter-mountain west are fantastic.
Think how beautiful they would be had GOD not cursed the Earth after the fall.
Well, guys the beauty is absolutly amazing, but I need to make this a skill sharpener also. I have been talking with one of my buds, we have decided on a fall 2011 bowhunt for elk.
I need to use this outing to sharpen my skills, wait, I mean gain some skills, for scouting the mountians for elk. The only elk sign I have been around is in the AR hills where the elk have been transplanted. They are more like cows than anything there.
Any of you elk hunters got any suggestions on what to look for? i am pretty fair at whitetail hunting and can read sign pretty well. Do elk travel like deer? i have heard some folks compare it to turkey hunting... Any help would be appriciated.
thanks
Hey John, when you get back send me a PM and we can talk. I've been to Colorado a few times and may can help some. I'm no "expert" like many are here but maybe I can help some. Have fun!!!!
BOB
Welcome to Colorado, but take it easy. Mountain sickness is real, and while you won't die from it, it will make you pretty sick from headaches, nausea, etc. The air's pretty thin up there.
If you have a chance, go over Red Mountain Pass into Ouray. The scenery up there is absolutely breathtaking!
Enjoy the moments...make sure the campfire is fully out when leaving.
Roaming those mountains will help you appreciate the fact that getting in shape should be one of your top priorities for an elk hunt. An out of shape elk hunter will be very limited as to how you can hunt and for how many days in a row. Did you bring a bow? What better way to spend a day than stump shooting in the Rocky Mountains?
my wife did not want me to bring a bow because she knew how it would turn out. Alot of stumping and not much traveling, already been down that road. lol Anyway, i have got to tell ya'll how it is going so far. I have been snowed on, rained on, waded snow, slid down draws, and wondered endlessly through black timber. I HAVE HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE!!!! I have seen stuff that I never dreamed I would gaze at, I have been lioke a kid in a candy store for the past 2 days. WOW!!!
Mudd, I have pics, lots and lots of pics. I figured out vaguely how to find an elk. Almost like whitetail deer. I found lots of tracks and trails lo
s of mud holes with tracks all over and in them, maybe wollows?? Don't know, but the elk seemed to like them alot. I went all around in the woods and even got to an elevation where there were hardly any trees.
I am on my phone, so I can't get the pics on photobucket, but I will soon.
I have plans to go back and learn to find these critters a little more on thursday, tomorrow its a train ride, wednesday is Masa Verde bluff shelters, then more scouting.
I may have to find an over-the-counter tag for this fall. These guys would give me and my Robertsons a good week chase for sure. I have seen alot of sign, but no visuals yet. THIS HAS STARTED A FIRE.
John
Hey John,
I think I just took the same train ride you are going on day before yesterday. It was amazing.
Have fun!
And another one bites the dust!
Once you have the rockies in your veins there is no turning back. You are now destined for the rest of your life to yearn to return every year. If you think this is good, just wait until you come back in September!
Hey John, spend plenty of time at Mesa Verde. Truely an awesome place. I'm still blown away how they made those dwellings by hand!!!! BTW, I got your message, get ahold of me when you get back and get a chance.
BOB
Mesa Verde is awesome, as stated. The train ride from Durango to Silverton is spectacular, too. One suggestion, though, ride the train up to Silverton, and take the bus back. That will free up half a day for more sightseeing.
Forgot to add, don't miss the museum at MesaVerde.
Whip, you are right!! I feel an addiction starting, and I am thinking September for the next trip, also!!
it is a small world. A TGer was just taking the same path that I will be on tomorrow.
This place is great.
Hey John,
Where are you at?
Mike
John, being a fellow crow mtn dweller, I also love the san juans, I think Ouray is my wifes favorite town in the world!! we TRY to go there at least once a year.. went on a back pack elk trip there a couple years ago with Roger A. and am dying to go back.. Bill Wray who is in the TBA has a cabin (more like a big log house) and 20 or so acres just outside of Creede..he spends 6 mos there and 6 mos here..(smart guy) bet ya miss this hundred degree heat dont ya?? LOL be careful Dave
I was there 2 years ago with TBARM Outfitters on a 7-day elk hunt, it is a beautiful area indeed. I am heading a little futher north this year with some friends from this site on a pack-in wilderness elk hunt.
I dream in color and 3D of Colorado!!! :campfire:
i am in Pigosa Springs right now and just saw a huge bull on the way back from Mesa Verde. HUGE!!! That guy must have been 60" wide and way taller that he was wide. I thought i would not see any with that much horn this early, but I will say he had a huge advantage also... He was inside a high fence area. Not the same as seeing a toad in the wild, but it was still very impressive.
Is Roger still living in Colorado, Dave? Man, that guy is something else. I loved shooting with him at the range.
yea he is in Salida,a little north of ya, kinda out of your way, but ya ought to look him up, holler if ya want his phone number he would love to talk to ya..i miss shootin/huntin with him as well
Going elk hunting in Colorado , september north of Deloris in unit 71 .Got room for 1 or 2 more bow hunters will leave from Glenwood area let me know if any one wants to go,
Is that an over the counter tag?
Well, here are some of the pics that I took while out scouting for elk. Remember, I have never been to the mountians befor this, so I was just as excited about the scenery as the elk.
I did manage to see alot of elk, but I did not manage to take a pic of them. When I finally started running across the elk, my card was full. I guess I got too wrapped up in the scenery.
(http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab80/jnferguson/colorado/DSC00098.jpg)
(http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab80/jnferguson/colorado/DSC00079.jpg)
This is the best trail that I ran across. It was coming down a narrow ridge goin to a large flat. The flat looking like a food source, but as I said earlier, this was a trip to learn how to find elk and I did find them. They are kinda' like a whitetail and I can find whitetail.
(http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab80/jnferguson/colorado/DSC00068.jpg)
This is next to what looked like a place they rolled in the mud. From the quantity of tracks and range of sizes of the tracks, I bet a man could kill one here if he stand hunted. Tons of tracks and they were almost all fresh.
(http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab80/jnferguson/colorado/DSC00096.jpg)
Some of the beautiful Dark Timber.
(http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab80/jnferguson/colorado/DSC00077.jpg)
This next pic was taken on the way to the mountians. It is actually a "hiking trail" pic. It is kind of one of the tourist spots on the side of the road, but still beautiful.
(http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab80/jnferguson/colorado/DSC00059.jpg)
It sure is too bad that them San Juan guys don't have any scenery to look at when they stomp thru the woods huntin'.
(http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab80/jnferguson/colorado/DSC00056.jpg)
(http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab80/jnferguson/colorado/DSC00124.jpg)
Well, glad yall could come along for a lil' bit.
I love the pictures!! Thank you for posting them.
God bless,Mudd
I never tire of seeing pictures of the mountains. Thanks for sharing your adventure...
Beautiful place no doubt
John, One big difference with elk is that they run a lot farther when bumped. Mule deer run and circle and if they are big they just leave and you usually don't see them again. I don't know what whitetails do. Elk sometimes will run over three or four mountains before they stop. That is why they can be difficult if anyone else has been hunting in your area. Hunting pressure really ruins an elk hunting spot. Gary
Beautiful country. Good luck to you sir! :thumbsup:
Malcolm Parker and I will be hunting near Unit 71 opening weekend till tne middle of Sep. Maybe we'll run in to some of you guys!
Yes archery elk TAGS for unit 71 Deloris to Rico area are over the counter...also unit 70 Teluride south and west to utah line...don't get any better than that...
I agree with all of you, that the Rocky Mtns are one of Gods greatest creations, cause you can reach up and touch his face when your at 14K. I just came back from vacation in the Adirondacks, I told my wife I wish I had a thousand acres of that country, because of all the hardwood forest that run from NY to the Ozarks. Just being in the woods listening to the wild is being on Gods Country.
May the Creator watch over us All. >>>---->