October 31st, 2004 - Just before the storm
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October 31
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Spent the day hunting deer in GMUs 50, 500 and 501. Seen a small heard near the closed Round Mountain Campground. No bucks in the herd, however, when I came through the same area later that day one party had a deer hanging. That was the only one seen all day. Seen two herds of elk, the first was crossing SH 77 just below the Lazy River Ranch. They crossed from Forest Land onto private property along the Tarryall River. Might have been thirty or more in the heard. Not enough light to see if any bulls were in the herd. The other herd of fifty or more were on ranch land near Jefferson. A calf was laying on the ground near US 285 and it's mother was running back and forth trying to get it up. The calf looked like it had got caught in the fence when the herd crossed US 285 from GMU 500 to 50. It was just worn-out and had also lost one of it's horns in the fence foray. The mother came right up to my truck like she was begging for help, would like to have been able to help her. Later I talked to some hunters at the Jefferson Store and they said the Game Wardens knew about the calf. The area Game Wardens are good about helping animals in distress, and only as a last resort will they destroy them. Got back to Lake George and on home before the snow storm and bad weather moved in. I could see that it was on the way. The temperature dropped considerably and it started to snow, understand they have since received several inches of snow.

October 29th, 2004

The third combined rifle season opens Saturday, October 30th. The local TV Weatherman reported ice and some snow on Ute and Wilkerson Passes early this morning and snow down to about 8500 feet in some areas. Some areas on the western slope received lots of snow. For more detailed weather and road conditions check the Tarryall Elk Camp link to CDOT Real Time Roads and Weather.