Name: Aaron P
Date of Hunt: September 9-12, 2018
Location of Hunt: Northwest Colorado
Animal Hunted: Cow Elk
Were you successful?: No
Weather, Wind, and Conditions: Dry and warm.  Highs in the 70’s with lows in the upper 40’s.  Last day was very windy.

Interesting Details of the Hunt: This year I drew a cow tag for muzzleloader season here in Colorado.  After purchasing a CVA muzzleloader this summer and practicing with it, I was ready to go.  Colorado regulations require open sights for muzzleloaders, but with the possibility to hunt in the middle of the rut, I was excited to get out there and see what I could find.

Due to other commitments, I didn’t get out till the 3^rd day of the season. The weather was warm and everything was incredibly dry.  While there was water here and there, it was noticeably brown and crunchy.  I found it impossible to walk quietly through the woods and so resigned myself that if I could not walk quietly through the woods, the animals would likely have to make noise as well.

As I hiked, I was pleasantly surprised about the lack of hunter pressure. This hunt was entirely on public land and in the past I found the area quite busy.  During my entire time hunting, I did not run into a single other hunter.  I heard that the weekend had been busy, but during the week, the entire area was empty.  I had the woods to myself!

Overall, I was able to hunt 3 days.  The first day I hiked to the top of the mountain.  After watching two does and two muley bucks work their way through a high meadow, I headed up in elevation where I thought the elk would be.  I saw a few bulls but only ones by themselves. I really didn’t see a lot of fresh sign.  It did not appear that any herd was up high.  It was great to see elk, but none of them were cows.

Day two I went down by private land and here I did locate a herd!   Working my way down over a ridge, I heard a bull bugling like crazy right over the edge.  As I stood there, I could hear multiple elk moving around in the grass.  I cow called lightly a couple of times and tried to determine a good attack strategy.  Before I could even move however, the wind swirled and took my scent right over the edge.  I heard the entire herd crash off through the woods.  The bull continued to bugle and so I followed them for a couple hours but could never get close enough to see them.  Eventually the bull went silent and I had to come up with another plan.

After giving up on that herd, I turned and went down through a large open grove of aspen.  As I came up over the hill, I was immediately hit with an incredibly strong scent of elk.  It was so strong I was convinced there had to be elk around.  I slowed down to a crawl and worked my way through the grove.  What I found was not elk, but the evidence of elk…..a LOT of elk.  I found beds and fresh dropping of a herd that must have been over 40 strong.  It was clear they were there that morning.  I had located where they had been, now I just need to find out where there were now.

My last day I tried one final big loop looking for cows.  The day started off exciting.  Right at first light, I called a spike all the way across the meadow and into 10 yards. While I would have loved for there to be a cow, it was still fun seeing elk.  After toying with him for a bit I headed up the hill.  I saw some sign and a number of rubs, but I never did see a cow elk.

I would like to say I found them, but after three days of hiking, I did not see one cow.   Every day I saw elk…. unfortunately it was all spikes and bulls.  It was as if the animals knew I had a cow tag. I saw a total of 8 spikes and 3 legal bulls.   Using only a cow call, I called in two different bulls.  Once was a nice 4×5 that came into 15 yards before he lost interested and walked away.

I ended my hunt disappointed that I couldn’t fill my tag, but with a lot of good memories and experiences.  I believe I will continue to explore muzzleloader season and may investigate getting a bull tag sometime here for this season.   I don’t know though…..I’ll probably only see cows then!