Rifle Elk and Deer are falling.....

[WapitiTalk1]

I’ve got some updates/photos from “on the mountain” from a few WT members. They’ll post their stories and update the meat pole when they get a chance, probably once off the mountain. Couple of nice bulls and a really nice MD buck.

Good luck to all you other rifle hunters out and about; anxious to hear about everyone’s hunts.

[Lefty]

If all goes well Im headed up tomorrow afternoon. And hope to have a story for the meat pole

[Tigger]

And antelope!

[wawhitey]

Yeah, its rifle deer season. And its causing me some anxiety. Still stuck up north (now dutch harbor) and every day im checking the 2019 deer thread on huntwa, making sure nobody is posting grip n grin pics of the buck ill be hunting when i get home. Odds are practically zero that anybody is going to get him, but i cant help but think about it while im stuck up here. Odds are much higher of a lion or wolf bringing him down, but im still wishing mf deer season was cancelled this year

[saddlesore]

Not here for 2nd rifle. I got to hunt Saturday opening day and saw about 50 head and three bulls at about 2,0000 feet elevation picking there way across a rock slide. I took a poke and hope at 400 yard s and thankfully I missed. It took me an hour and a half to climb where they were and when I got there, no blood or anything ,and it would have taken me four days to get it down to where I could get the mules to.
Back to camp in the afternoon and it started to snow and snowed until Tuesday morning.15-18" was reported where I hunted and we had 10-12" at camp. A col d3 days cooped up in 6 &1/2 ft camper.We said screw. The fun meter was pegged out and we came home.
Cow in freezer from ML season is enough anyway and I just started to eat the bullI got last year

[SoCo Mark]

Saddlesore, sorry you got snowed out but glad you filled your ml tag. Was that herd happening to be traveling to the east??? PM me if you'd rather.. Did you have lots of hunters in the area? Even if you did, that kind of snow there changes things drastically there. A herd of 50, that's getting to be like the good ol' days.

[saddlesore]

Yes it was traveling east towards the Beaver Pond TH but up high way above that scree. You know that big meadow east of where I hunt.They were above that at least 500 yards. Strange but several hunters I talked to saw bigger herds of elk, but not many 2-3's.Tenderfoot Outfitters claimed to see 70 plus near south Castle Creek the week before. The bulls in the herd I saw were semi bugling. More like growls.

More hunters than usual. Not many on horses. Mostly foot hunters but they were working lean up to Swampy Pass.One hunter told me there were 4 camps or so right at Swampy

[Elkduds]

Saddlesore, thanks for a good report. That just leaves more for next year. I know you will enjoy the cow in your freezer from ML. I'm off to the Uncompahgre this Thurs, hopefully get my tricks/treats up there 3rd season. Supposed to snow there intermittently for the next 4 days, then dry up. We shall see.

[saddlesore]

Good luck Elkduds. Might want to throw in your snow shoes. Lot of bulls left out there.

[SoCo Mark]

I've never seen elk up that high on that range, and I've looked a lot. I've seen some dandy bucks- years ago- lately I haven't seen the class of bucks in that area that I did 7-10 years ago.

Hey Saddlesore, maybe that bruiser bull from last year has tenderized in the freezer over the last year?? All kidding aside, that was a dandy and your pics were awesome, brings me back to that place every time I go back and look at them..

[Daniel-J]

How I envy you. I miss my rifle, lies at home in a drawer. I hope I can go there and shoot at home from my favourite weapon.

[Joe Schmo]

Indeed they are...

[2MANY]

Looks like some good meat chilling weather.

[7mmfan]

Looks like some good meat chilling weather.

This exactly. Nice to kill them already in the cooler.