2006 L2 Season Jan 2007

Jason,

You thought you had a difficult hunt last year! Well, we hunted 9 days and only got a cow and a calf on the last day of the L2 season, but we had a wonderful time in the Tarryall area. I think Charlie enjoyed the challenge of elk hunting and being in elk camp too. Other folks knew how to hunt and I believe 4 elk were harvested by Wednesday. We were the only camp after Wednesday.

Beautiful weather in-between snow storms, balmy for South Park at only -12 degrees for the low. The L2 season had Blizzards and blowing snow for bookends.

There were only 3 camps total for the season, some day hunters from Denver and of course the folks with cabins/houses in the area. More elk and tracked-up snow than I have ever seen in the past. I have never seen more bulls than this year. Six times on six different days I had safety-off and cross-hairs on spikes/rag-horns/5x5 or better in the black timber; we had to be very careful. We even had a pet bull below camp that let us get within 30-40 feet without running off. Remember, we did not harvest cows until the last day, so it was both frustrating and amazing at the same time.

We got stuck on the way in and had to chain-up/dig out and set up camp under lantern light. On the way out, we had to excavate snow drifts and almost didn't make it out. I broke a chain and had to wire the broken links together. At one point I needed a tow chain for grade at the fork of 56 and 39.

We saw elk every day, even though the majority were bulls. Charlie got to see 4 elk on the hillside, stalked them to the edge of the timber, only to discover they were bulls. If they would have been cows, he would have had his elk, but he got the idea of spotting/stalking. The next day we kicked 6 elk out of one of the black timber stands north of Robbin Spring only to discover they were all bulls (4x4 or better).

You can get a sense of the hunt by the attached pictures. The Lord blessed us on the last day!

Buzz

See Jan 25 2007 Posting for story