So far nothing but an ass kicking. Seems I missed all the action by one day. Still good to have this view from the office though.

I took my youngest son Logan on his first elk hunt this last week. He really wanted to try an archery hunt, so I was excited to take him.
He got the tag on his own in the same unit I had a deer tag in. The plan was to fly him to Colorado on the Sept 7th and chase elk before muzzleloader season but he got the flu on the 6th. Decided to wait until 21st (after muzzleloader) so I came back home.
Long story short he got some other virus so we get delayed again.
Finally make it to Colorado on the 24th with 4 days to hunt. I took him to an area that I thought should hold elk but knew it had pressure.
First morning we got to the spot before daylight and no bugles. I did spot a few small bulls up high so we headed that way.

About an hour into the hunt I picked up some cows moving about 120 yards away.
We set up in a position where they should feed by us. About 5 minutes later a really nice 6x6 comes out pushing the cows.

He was coming at us quickly and got to 40 yards. I looked at my son and he was shaking like a leaf. I told him to get ready but his movements were a little too quick. A cow picked us off and it was game over.
Really cool experience though. Probably good that he didn't get a bull that big in the first hour of his elk hunting career.

That bull never made a bugle the whole day and would not respond to any calls. There were tons of boot tracks around so I'm sure he got messed with plenty of times.

We decided to move on and go after the smaller bulls up higher. I had a pretty good idea where they bedded so I got him into position and made a few cow/calf calls.
The younger bulls were looking for love and came immediately. I had them at 20 yards for a few minutes but Logan didn't have a shot. They passed by him at 25 but not in the shooting lanes.
I definitely screwed that up by not getting him in a good set up. When I left him to find a spot to call from I passed a better shooting lane. Should have moved him but was lazy and paid the price.
We headed back to camp and got to the area before daybreak the next morning and still no bugles.
We had to still hunt, moving slowly(which I hate) but it was really the only option. Occasionally a cow call but no response.

About 8:30 I picked up some elk moving above us and we paralleled them for about 500 yards getting closer keeping the wind right. My son was battling a cough trying to stay quiet as we snuck in. We set up in a spot where they should cross at 40 yards.

A cow and calf passed with a bull right on her tail. Logan can't hold at full draw very long so I had to try to time it as soon as the bull was about to step out.
He drew a little late and the bull spotted the movement. He spun and went to 54 yards but was blocked by a limb. I had shown Logan how to lower his bow and rest it on his leg at full draw which helped. He rested his arm until the bull took a step and looked back again. I gave him the yardage and I could see him going through the shot process(grip, peep, and settle the pin).
The shot broke and the arrow was perfect.

A 50lb bow with a 26in draw shooting the ironwill solid and it was a total pass through, which I wasn't expecting.

The bull went 40 yards and crashed. My first words to Logan were "Bow hunting elk is not this easy".

We got the bull packed out and Logan at 110 lbs carried a 65 pound pack. Impressed me.

It's a hunt I will always look back to, and his first archery hunt. I think he might be hooked!

Outfitter caught this lion coming out of the cook tent at low camp beginning of season during set up. When occupied at night we run a hot wire around it to keep bears out. Well be back there opening rifle week in MT.

TL; DR Version: Punched a 2nd rifle bull tag on day 2 of the hunt. First elk for me, couldn't be happier. Type 1 and Type 2 Fun.

Knowing I had to be home for trick-or-treating with the kiddos I showed up the weekend before the season started, assuming this would allow me to hopefully tag out opening morning. A days drive to be home on 10/31 meant that I really only had 4 days to hunt of the 9 day season. I truck camped for the majority of the scouting period, first time trying the vac sealed+frozen meals reheated in water route. A nice change from mountain house and very quick/clean.

First morning scouting I began to realize I walked into a bit of a rut fest with bulls rounding up herds of cows and fending off other bulls, bugling just about all day/night. Was an incredible thing to experience, and quite abnormal I felt for this late in the year. Ended up covering about 40-50% of the unit but had a good feel for where the elk were at in terms of elevation/slope/vegetation. Got to the point where I stopped counting legal bulls, and had identified 1-2 really big bills and maybe 6-10 shooters.

I picked up my brother Thursday morning from the airport and we continued to scout, deciding to backpack in about 4 miles on Friday afternoon so we can hunt a spot where I had consistently seen elk every morning and evening that is about 5 miles in. We get to our camp spot and set up in time to enjoy a nice mountain house dinner, only to be interrupted by a big herd that moves up the ridge in front of us about 500-600 yds away, pushed by bugling bulls. Said bulls continue to bugle all night around our tent and we get little sleep because of it. Bummer.

Opening morning we are running about 10 minutes behind schedule due to the elk near our camp, they end up moving back across the ridge and likely into some thicker timber well before shooting light that would be hard to hunt, so we stick with our original plan to go about another mile in. At shooting light we are 300 yds from where we wanted to be on a trail, and skylined on the rise ahead of us are a handful of cows followed by the world's smallest 4 point bull at about 40 yds. Decided not to shoot the legal bull against my better judgment given how small he was. In hindsight this was a good call as it would've been a much longer packout (with a smaller bull), but would haunt me for about the next 36 hours as the dread of going home empty handed started to grow.

They feed off and we start to sneak closer to our desired spot, but the small group we saw ended up being the tail end of a herd of probably 60-70 elk with multiple shooter bulls, that we bust. They saw / heard us but wind was good so we think things aren't too messed up. Herd stops at about 260 yds for about 15-20 seconds but there are so many elk I can't seem to find a clean shot on any of the bulls. Bit of a rodeo.

That evening we hunt on the ridge where the herd came in evening before by camp, but nothing happens there. Bulls seemed to have stopped bugling about noon on opening day once the hunt pressure cranked up some. I do spot a black bear at 250 yds, and then as evening sets in I spot multiple bulls with a few cows on the opposite side of the canyon from the ridge we are on. Too far to make a play on but good to note for the next day. We head back to camp for the night and get a good nights rest with the absence of bugles in the area.

Next morning we are early and at the spot we wanted to be opening morning, we see a few cows and spikes at about 350 yds but nothing else. Further confirming our hunch that the herd dynamics drastically changed with opening day hunt pressure. We bust timber on the way back to camp through a deadfall hell hole, bump 1 elk or deer but nothing much else to show for it other than busted up shins. At this point I am starting to think that given my short timeline it is likely not going to come together, and ponder my decision to pass the legal bull on opening morning. We decided to pack up camp and hunt our way back out to the truck that evening.

We set up at about 3:00 pm on the backside of the ridge from camp in a spot where I would have 250-400 yd shots on open faces where we had seen elk the previous evening. There is also an open patch where I had first seen elk moving the evening before and it is about 560 yds away. These are roughly 3 miles to truck.

My brother jokingly says "would be sweet if one popped out 4:00". We split up by about 100 yds to make sure we have all angles covered of the canyon side in front of us. Sure enough at 4:30 I look to the left to see my brother waving his blaze hat to get my attention, pointing towards the mountain. I look and immediately spot an elk in the open patch that is 560 yds, which is now shaded. Glassing, I can tell it is very nice bull but a bit further than I feel comfortable shooting. I decide it would be best to hoof it down to the bottom and up the other side to the opposite side where a different ridge would allow me about a 200 yd shot. I start my way down the mountain with this plan, but once I chew off some distance I find a perfect shooting lane through the timber to the open patch where the bull is. I range this spot right at 500 yds, the bull has no idea I am there and is feeding perfectly broadside. Realizing I'd be gassed by the time I made it up the other side, I begin to set up for a shot. Using my tripod as a front rest and trekking poles as a back rest I take the next couple of minutes to get comfortable and set. Once my breathing is under control I settle in the crosshairs, I am dead steady and squeeze the trigger. The bull drops and begins rolling down the mountain and out of sight.

We gather our gear and on the way down filter some more water at the creek and head up to where last saw the bull, finding him in a bit of a ravine/wash. Walking up on one for the first time it is hard to capture the "wow these elk are big / what the heck did I do" feeling. Ends up being a 6x6 frame with an extra on his left 4th to go 6x7. We snap a few pictures and the real work starts. We quarter out and hang meat (overnight lows in the 20s) about 150 yds away from the carcass where it should be well shaded once the sun is up. We start the packout about 11:00 pm, arriving back to the truck with a load of meat and all of our camp gear at 2:00 a.m. We have another buddy that is hunting across the unit out of a cabin, we get there at 3:00 a.m., take a quick nap, eat breakfast, and are back on to the trailhead by 9:00 a.m. with the extra help to packout rest of the meat and antlers, returning to the truck at 3:00 pm. Greasy hamburger in town never tasted so good.

All in all we estimate we did 30+ miles Thursday evening-Monday afternoon. The hike from the bull to the truck was 900' of elevation gain and 1100' of elevation loss, so got what we paid for with that. At one point I was planning to do this hunt solo, ended up being the equivalent of five 1-man trips to get it all out. For me even with the good bit of training I did for this hunt, that would have been foolish. The company was better to have too. After having been there, done that, and got the T-Shirt I think I'll go the meat packer or llama rental route next go-round. Heck of a trip.

I missed the bull of a lifetime today. I'm sitting in the corner with a bottle of Pappy listening to Air Supply. I seriously have had the worst day hunting ever.