# D.I.Y. Elk Hunt, big elk country Colorado



## ShoerFast

Posted a successful DIY hunt last year for north west Colorado, Black Mountain north of Craig Colorado.

Unlike last years hunt, Craig is known for a lot of elk, they are not a lot of wall hangers in the mix.

GMU #86/861 are also in over the counter (OTC) unlimited license, not a lot of elk, but known for some monsters.

This 2nd Rifle Season hunt was done off horses, but I did encounter hunters on foot.

Out of Gardner Colorado, take County
Road #580 13 miles west, and you could camp in the Huerfano Wildlife area 
About Southern Colorado: Huerfano State Wildlife Area 
. That is the trailhead back to Green and Slide Mountains. Only one trial out, same one back.

If you distance your self from the crowds, or go back 3.5 miles, your going to see some elk, if you work it.

In fact this is about the only place you can see elk, deer, wild turkey and bear on the same day!

Scout it out for elk moment and activity, I chose one of the ridges coming off is Slide Mountain to the north, as it merged with a ridge coming off of Green Mountain. Hunting across that drainage I could cover well over a section of land.

If I had a choice between lucky of good, I would take lucky every time. As it got light opening morning, I spotted a small herd with one decent Bull. I cought up to them just as the first rays of sunlight streaked the ridge they were grazing on.







View attachment 207161


This 6X6 will score right at the 300 class Fair Chase, Public-Land Bull Elk. There is room for bigger, but this is the biggest one I have personally shot hunting for myself (not guiding).
This one will go on the wall!

I have my 'B' tag to fill, a cow elk license right at the head-waters of the Colorado river and in an area called Troublesome. It will be a hard tag to fill, as the area I am going to hunt will be steep, and on foot. If anyone would like to join me, bring you rifle, there are tags still left over for this weekend? (4th Rifle season)


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## MiracleRepair

Nice elk. What is going on with the elk out there? We had a young bull wander through our farm in south central ks. a few months ago. Fish and game tranqualized him, said he was a wild elk and shipped him back to CO. I had never heard of wild elk being this far east.


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## ShoerFast

MiracleRepair said:


> Nice elk. What is going on with the elk out there? We had a young bull wander through our farm in south central ks. a few months ago. Fish and game tranqualized him, said he was a wild elk and shipped him back to CO. I had never heard of wild elk being this far east.



Not sure what gets an elk to wander that far? But they uses to be plains animals, I believe they have their own distinct genetics?

Next one come by, put it on your freezer, jk, but they are good eating.


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## MiracleRepair

ShoerFast said:


> Not sure what gets an elk to wander that far? But they uses to be plains animals, I believe they have their own distinct genetics?
> 
> Next one come by, put it on your freezer, jk, but they are good eating.



Really good eating. I've got a BIL and 3 nephews that live and elk hunt out there, so I get elk meat in exchange for whitetail hunting here.


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## deeker

Nice elk!!!

How many critters for that  (ugly)  fine shooting Savage?

And loads and stuff that is important to a fellow hunter.


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## ShoerFast

deeker said:


> Nice elk!!!
> 
> How many critters for that  (ugly)  fine shooting Savage?
> 
> And loads and stuff that is important to a fellow hunter.



Like Reloading recipe?


I had to shoe a horse and trim a mule for that old Savage. I doubt if it has had 2 boxes of bullets run through it before I traded for it. Thinking it's about a 1965 version or so.

But I did do a little work to it, like a few coats of rattle can paint, so you can't see that I piller-blocked and bedded the action. 

It really settles down at the upper end of the 140 gr specs. with a little over 1MOA with Nolser Ballisti-Tips. Really wanted to test a Hornaday SST on an elk this year, but chickened out when I could only get about a 1.75MOA out of them. I think the SST is too pointy to clear the box, and still not get close enough to the rifleing? (scant ogive)

Magic for this rifle is 71.00 grains (over book, approach maximum loads with caution) of H4831SC at 3.455" and a fair crease factory crimp. Lucked out, I scrunched the box longer in a vice before I glassed the action, just in case I might need more room to load to the rifleing. Now what just what clears the box (tips drag) is .005" (smoked) off the rifleing.

Here is a 100 yard group, big holes , mixed in with a bunch of .223 pistol holes.





I am good with the results. For a screaming-hot elk load, (best guess? 3250fps) it is a tight and flat shooter on the cheap.


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## indiansprings

Nice public land DIY elk. You should be proud of that one, I've had the pleasure of hunting your state many times for elk, done it the hard way, DIY and have been on private land guided hunts.
A 300" elk is a very nice elk. I usually hunt close to Crested Butte, but have done some hunting down around Durango and up by Rand as well.
Working for a firearms and ammo company the last five years of my corporate life, I've shot a lot of animals in product development hunts and my favorite bullet for tough big game is by far the Barnes X
family, also really like the Swift A-Frames. I literally thru a bull stem to stern with a moly coated 140 grain Barnes X going 3640 fps out of a 7mm STW. 
Great Post, wish I could have went this year, good luck taking your cow.


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## ShoerFast

indiansprings said:


> Nice public land DIY elk. You should be proud of that one, I've had the pleasure of hunting your state many times for elk, done it the hard way, DIY and have been on private land guided hunts.
> A 300" elk is a very nice elk. I usually hunt close to Crested Butte, but have done some hunting down around Durango and up by Rand as well.
> Working for a firearms and ammo company the last five years of my corporate life, I've shot a lot of animals in product development hunts and my favorite bullet for tough big game is by far the Barnes X
> family, also really like the Swift A-Frames. I literally thru a bull stem to stern with a moly coated 140 grain Barnes X going 3640 fps out of a 7mm STW.
> Great Post, wish I could have went this year, good luck taking your cow.



Good post! Thank you!

Can't imagine a better job then yours if the corporate life is chosen!

I am out-numbered in most elk camps I have ever been in. While having a select few hunters, fellow Guides and Outfitters that will choose the rapid expander.

If I may explain my view? My $0.02 cents worth.

Back in guide school, lucky morning, with a little time just after chuck. The owner of the guide school came gassing it down the driveway, laying on the horn. Highway Patrol gave him a road-kill rag-horn bull elk for guide training, yippi-skippy. Time to dig in.

It was good training, just about to lay my bone saw on the rib-cage the head instructor/guide grabbed a section of 2X4" about a foot and a half long off the firewood pile, and asked if I would sever the top of the diaphragm next to the back-bone. And had me slide that 2X along the back-bone, it fit right in there. 
Latter that day, elk anatomy class, that 2X was a new visual aid. Elk have a no-joy dead spot, rather large, and just a couple inches from either a spine, or high lung shot.

Elk are wired to be fairly shock-proof to began with, but a controlled expansion bullet, narrow broad-head will have a better chance to pass right through that area, and the elk '1' hunter '0' .

If a larger broad-head will do more damage, with less penetration, if faster expansion has a better chance of destroying vitals placed high, I improve my chances of not having that 'dead elk walking' syndrome.

A huge kicker for me, Barnes has been bought out, and I have a hunch by some people that would love to lobby for the never proven to be safer for the environment, lead-free bullets. California has or is considering that route, I do believe?

I would rather not spend a penny greaseing those gears.

I very much understand the controlled expansion, deep-curl concept, just as a point of discussion, it is 6 of one, half dozen of the other. Broad-head manufactures are leaning on new tricks to get wider wound channels by expanding their broad-heads on contact.

I know, arrows are not bullets, but the elk taste the same! And the aggressive bullets do the trick for me.


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## sbhooper

A 300 bull in Colorado is a good bull. I have hunted near Craig many times for cows, but never saw a bull worth the non-resident fee. We filled every tag we ever had, though, hunting cows. I killed a good non-typical 6x6 north of Buena Vista a couple years ago. He was no monster, but was neat due his right side essentially having a double beam.

Elk are everywhere now in Nebraska. There was a 375 bull killed about 30 miles south of me. There is one living in a feedlot west of town. It is a problem trying to get a permit and then find a place to hunt as most is private. I have never even applied, although I should start at least for a cow tag. My cousin finally got a land-owner permit after several years and got a 350+ bull a quarter mile from his house. 

California is a totally lead-free state and so the copper bullet manufacturers love it. I have killed lots of elk with Hornadys and Nosler Partitions. I have never had one walk away with either. Barnes are great bullets, but can be finicky in some rifles. I used to shoot them in an old 7 mag, but my newer one did not like them at all. I went to Hornady and Nosler and never looked back. I shot my moose with a 160 partition over 69.6 grains of RL25 for 3040 fps out of a Remington SPS 26-inch. That load shoots easy sub-minute in both my Remington and my newly-rebarreled Savage.


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## Boydt8

*DIY elk*

Great job!
I too am trying to fill my freezer with some elk meat, well honestly mainly to fill the wall with nice rack.
I am hunting on the Legendary White Mountain Apache Reservation.
I seen some nice Book bull during the Trophy Elk hunt back in September. BUT I CANT FIND THEM NOW! Too many people driving around, darn road warriors...

Great job on your bull!!!:msp_thumbup:


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## Buckshot00

Nice shot. Congrats.


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## deeker

And how has the cow elk hunt been?

AS rules....pics required!


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## indiansprings

Can you hunt on the White Mtn. reservation? Last time I checked in a hunt it ranged from 10-20K depending on the B&C score and there was a waiting list. It was my impression the Apache controlled every elk taken on the reservation, same with the Jicarilla reservation. I now a couple of hunters that have spent more than 20k there on 400" class bulls. I'd never pay it, even if I could afford it. Although I've been blessed to take some nice animals on guided hunts in the corporate days, it is so much more satisfying to do the research, go out west with old friends, spend time in the mountains and if you kill something it is just an added bonus. Fortunately Colorado manages the herd so well, I've never failed to have an oppurtunity to fill my tag. Last time out I got some beautiful pics of a band of big horn, I was surprised they would let me stay within 100 yards for quite a while allowing for some great pics. I seen plenty of porkypines, fisher,grouse, mulies, antelope,badger, marmots, but after at least 10 hunts out in Colorado have never encountered a bear on a hunt, seen them on vacation, but never when I had a tag in the pocket.
I wish our state actually managed wildlife rather than just seeing how many tags they can sell, money they can generate, the Missouri Dept of Conservation is the states largest landholders. They just keep buying more and more, they wasting their time and money now on trying to reintroduce elk on small 2000-2500 acre tracts.


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