High-Country Scouting
By Andy Backus
My rental car slowly rolled down the last mile of rocky gravel forest service road, with the view of the vast peaks and valleys of my final destination growing larger and more impressive with every passing minute. I was driving very slowly with an uneasy feeling in my stomach. The gravel road would have been fine for the tires on my rental car, but jagged rocks poked out from under the gravel all over the road and I had been inconvenienced in the past when vehicle tires were punctured by smoother rocks than these in the backcountry.
The other reason for my uneasy feeling was the dark, brooding stormfront that had been building around the peaks ahead of me for the past hour or so. Right as I pulled into the parking area at the trailhead the skies opened up with biblical type rain, and multiple intense lightning bolts seemed to erupt at the tops of the peaks all around me. The thunder followed quickly, letting me know the lightning was indeed as close as it looked. It was quite a show. I had been traveling by car and then plane and then rental car for the past twelve hours and my plan was to get right out of the car, throw on my pack and start climbing to the top of one of the peaks in front of me where I would spend several days solo camping and glassing in the high country. I am very aware of the risk of thunderstorms in the Colorado Rockies in the summertime, but this storm was about as intense as any I've ever seen and it knocked my confidence down a couple rungs before my adventure even really began. The last place I wanted to be during a storm of this intensity was exactly where I planned to go.
I waited out the storm in my rental car, going back and forth in my mind as to what my next move would be. It was only a couple hours before dark as the rain began to taper off. I didn't look forward to setting up camp in the wet grass near my vehicle and I was disappointed that I hadn't gained any altitude to get me closer to treeline so I could be at a glassing spot at first light without climbing several hours in the pre-dawn darkness the next morning. I noticed a bit of sky poking through the dark churning clouds to my north and quickly decided that the storm clouds were blowing to the south and would soon clear. I threw on my pack after doing a last gear check and started up the trail that headed to the southern valley.
This particular trailhead was at the foot of two valleys that split off from each other, one heading southwest and the other northwest. I had hunted the south valley for a few days last year on an early-season high-country rifle buck hunt. My partner had been archery hunting for elk and spent those days hunting the northern valley. This season I planned to bring a different partner in late September for an archery elk hunt. We would mostly hunt the northern valley, where the main trail consisted of a nasty, unmaintained, wet, tangled maze of game trails often ending in dead-ends, knee-deep marsh, boulder fields and thick, wet willow tangles, the kind of place most people have no interest in spending time.
My main goals on this solo scouting trip were to learn the trail as well as I could to figure out which spots to avoid and which routes would get us deep into the valley the fastest and least painfully. I also planned to do a lot of glassing from various high perches above timberline to figure out where the elk were living. I don't expect there to be much pressure during hunting season to push the elk away from their summer areas by the time we start hunting in September.
I quickly veered off the southern trail and headed west into the timber. I followed a spine, gaining altitude quickly. I had studied Google Earth and topo maps for months leading up to this trip and had a first glassing spot in mind on the shoulder of the mountain peak that separated the northern and southern valleys. I had thought this route up the spine would be the most gradual yet direct, and so far my research was proving correct. The grass and leaves were soaked from the rain and I was getting a little wet as I climbed, but it felt wonderful to be back in the mountains I love so much, so I didn't really notice. This was my first evening in the mountains since my last hunt the year before. I'd been thinking about this moment since the drive home from that last hunt.
As I continued to climb I saw quite a bit of old elk sign, including some rubs from last year. Day was fading to night quickly and I decided to look for a relatively flat spot to set up my tent for the night. After about a fifteen minute push up an especially steep section I found the closest thing to flat ground I could and quickly set up my shelter, inflated my sleeping pad and crawled into my bag. As usual, the first night on the side of the mountain sleep didn't come easily. The forest sounds seemed amplified and unrealistic visions of black bear and mountain lion danced in my head, not to mention the fact that I was just excited to be there. The next morning I would wake early, leave my camp where it was and climb another thousand feet looking for a glassing spot. I couldn't wait to pop out above timberline and drink in the Rocky Mountain beauty!
By Andy Backus
My rental car slowly rolled down the last mile of rocky gravel forest service road, with the view of the vast peaks and valleys of my final destination growing larger and more impressive with every passing minute. I was driving very slowly with an uneasy feeling in my stomach. The gravel road would have been fine for the tires on my rental car, but jagged rocks poked out from under the gravel all over the road and I had been inconvenienced in the past when vehicle tires were punctured by smoother rocks than these in the backcountry.
The other reason for my uneasy feeling was the dark, brooding stormfront that had been building around the peaks ahead of me for the past hour or so. Right as I pulled into the parking area at the trailhead the skies opened up with biblical type rain, and multiple intense lightning bolts seemed to erupt at the tops of the peaks all around me. The thunder followed quickly, letting me know the lightning was indeed as close as it looked. It was quite a show. I had been traveling by car and then plane and then rental car for the past twelve hours and my plan was to get right out of the car, throw on my pack and start climbing to the top of one of the peaks in front of me where I would spend several days solo camping and glassing in the high country. I am very aware of the risk of thunderstorms in the Colorado Rockies in the summertime, but this storm was about as intense as any I've ever seen and it knocked my confidence down a couple rungs before my adventure even really began. The last place I wanted to be during a storm of this intensity was exactly where I planned to go.
I waited out the storm in my rental car, going back and forth in my mind as to what my next move would be. It was only a couple hours before dark as the rain began to taper off. I didn't look forward to setting up camp in the wet grass near my vehicle and I was disappointed that I hadn't gained any altitude to get me closer to treeline so I could be at a glassing spot at first light without climbing several hours in the pre-dawn darkness the next morning. I noticed a bit of sky poking through the dark churning clouds to my north and quickly decided that the storm clouds were blowing to the south and would soon clear. I threw on my pack after doing a last gear check and started up the trail that headed to the southern valley.
This particular trailhead was at the foot of two valleys that split off from each other, one heading southwest and the other northwest. I had hunted the south valley for a few days last year on an early-season high-country rifle buck hunt. My partner had been archery hunting for elk and spent those days hunting the northern valley. This season I planned to bring a different partner in late September for an archery elk hunt. We would mostly hunt the northern valley, where the main trail consisted of a nasty, unmaintained, wet, tangled maze of game trails often ending in dead-ends, knee-deep marsh, boulder fields and thick, wet willow tangles, the kind of place most people have no interest in spending time.
My main goals on this solo scouting trip were to learn the trail as well as I could to figure out which spots to avoid and which routes would get us deep into the valley the fastest and least painfully. I also planned to do a lot of glassing from various high perches above timberline to figure out where the elk were living. I don't expect there to be much pressure during hunting season to push the elk away from their summer areas by the time we start hunting in September.
I quickly veered off the southern trail and headed west into the timber. I followed a spine, gaining altitude quickly. I had studied Google Earth and topo maps for months leading up to this trip and had a first glassing spot in mind on the shoulder of the mountain peak that separated the northern and southern valleys. I had thought this route up the spine would be the most gradual yet direct, and so far my research was proving correct. The grass and leaves were soaked from the rain and I was getting a little wet as I climbed, but it felt wonderful to be back in the mountains I love so much, so I didn't really notice. This was my first evening in the mountains since my last hunt the year before. I'd been thinking about this moment since the drive home from that last hunt.
As I continued to climb I saw quite a bit of old elk sign, including some rubs from last year. Day was fading to night quickly and I decided to look for a relatively flat spot to set up my tent for the night. After about a fifteen minute push up an especially steep section I found the closest thing to flat ground I could and quickly set up my shelter, inflated my sleeping pad and crawled into my bag. As usual, the first night on the side of the mountain sleep didn't come easily. The forest sounds seemed amplified and unrealistic visions of black bear and mountain lion danced in my head, not to mention the fact that I was just excited to be there. The next morning I would wake early, leave my camp where it was and climb another thousand feet looking for a glassing spot. I couldn't wait to pop out above timberline and drink in the Rocky Mountain beauty!
High Country Scouting - 2
The alarm on my watch woke me at four a.m. and I quickly got dressed, ate a power bar and some jerky and drank as much water as I could. I have found that one of the most important keys to feeling good at high altitude in the mountains is to drink about twice as much water as I feel like I want to. Luckily the area I was scouting had seeps and creeks all over the place and finding water was easy. I had decided to go extra lightweight on this first climb so I was using water purifying tablets rather than carrying a filter with me. Much of the water in the area seeped right out of the mountain and was probably safe to drink without purifying, but I didn't want to learn the hard way that it wasn't, so I always purified it.
I climbed for about an hour and arrived at a large boulder field I had seen on Google Earth. As I had hoped, I found a great perch for glassing that gave me a view of the other side of the valley. I could see four of the bowls above timberline on that side along with the marshy valley floor. I arrived at my perch at the perfect time just as the morning glow started to provide enough light for glassing. Since I had decided to travel extra-light, I only had my 10x42 Zeiss binoculars with me, no spotting scope and tripod. I began scanning the open, grassy bowls hoping to see elk out feeding. I quickly spotted a couple skylined cows way off at the far end of the valley. What a feeling to have travelled 1100 miles and now to be at the top of the world seeing what I had come all this way to see! I continued to glass for another hour or so and spotted a few more elk scattered around the valley. They were all at the far end, as far away from the trailhead parking area as they could be in the valley. Without a spotting scope I couldn't see antlers but I was happy to get a feel for where the elk were feeding.
I was feeling antsy and decided to continue to climb up above timberline to the top of the shoulder. I was pleased with how I was feeling. I had been training pretty hard in preparation for this scouting trip and the hunts that would follow, but coming from under 1000 feet of elevation back home and climbing right up to 12,000+ feet I never quite know how I'll feel. Sometimes I feel fine and sometimes I really struggle. Today I felt great. As I broke out above timberline the sun was now shining and I could see forever. I felt like I was in the movie the Sound of Music! I absolutely love spending time up above timberline. It's just good for the soul.
The rest of that first morning I moved around the top of the shoulder and glassed different areas in both the northern and southern valley. I saw several more groups of elk, many of them bedding out in the open, chewing their cud above timberline. The elk were up in the bowls at the far end of the northern valley. I began to plan to drop back down to the trailhead and head into the nasty trail back into the valley and then climb up to some of those far off bowls to check out the access and get a feel for how the elk were moving around up there. I hated to leave the high country so soon because it was just so beautiful, but I wanted to start figuring out that trail as soon as I could. I had gained about 2500 feet of elevation from the trailhead to the top of the shoulder so I had a long downhill hike ahead of me. After eating a quick lunch I headed down. Along the way I picked up my small camp. I had marked a waypoint on my GPS so finding it was easy. I use my GPS a ton on scouting trips marking waypoints when I find good glassing points, good elk sign or water sources. I always have my GPS and a compass easily accessible and I use them together to navigate. It's easy to navigate with a map when you have an open view of mountain peaks or other landmarks, but when deep in the timber, it can be really tough. That's when a GPS is invaluable.
I reached my vehicle at the trailhead around 3:00, right as another thunderstorm hit the area. I waited it out for a couple hours taking a nap in the back of the little car. When it broke I adjusted the gear in my pack and headed up the trail into the northern valley. I remembered from the previous year that the first section of trail is fairly reasonable. There were a couple wet, marshy spots to hop across with a strong likelihood of getting some water over the top of my boots. I spent some extra time trying to figure out if there was a different route that would avoid the wet spots, but I didn't find any so I just had to go for it. I didn't do too bad.
It's amazing the number of elk and deer tracks that stay visible in wet, marshy areas. It looks like a herd of elk just passed through hours before, but I know from past experience that many of the tracks are days or even weeks old. Still it's exciting to head into a hunting area with so much sign. The first section of trail climbs fairly steeply following a fast moving creek. At the top of a waterfall the ground levels some and the first really challenging section of trail begins. Actually the trail completely disappears in a maze of thick willows and wet marsh grass. I decided to set camp off to the side of this area where several huge boulders created some nice flat ground and an old fire ring told me that others had liked the spot. I had covered a lot of ground and tons of elevation in 24 hours and I didn't want to overdo it so setting camp early in the evening seemed like a good idea. I often don't like to have campfires in valleys that I will be hunting or scouting, but this was a vacation too and I wanted to enjoy myself. Being solo can get a bit lonely and a nice fire in the evening is a welcome comfort. Sleep came easier the second night and I decided to sleep in a little bit the next morning since I didn't plan to be at a certain glassing spot at first light anyway.
After packing up camp I spent some time searching behind camp to see if there was a route up into the timber that would avoid the marshy, willowy mess near the creek. Sure enough there was! This was the first of many such discoveries I made about the trail that would allow me to travel deep into the valley without killing myself in boulder-fields or willowy marshes. For the next few hours I marked dozens of waypoints on my GPS indicating the direction I needed to go to avoid trouble. Every time I came to a difficult area that seemed like the only route was through something extremely uncomfortable, I would take time to search around for a different route, and I found one every time. I was beginning to feel very confident in my ability to hunt this valley in September without absolutely killing myself day after day getting back to the good hunting areas.
I climbed for about an hour and arrived at a large boulder field I had seen on Google Earth. As I had hoped, I found a great perch for glassing that gave me a view of the other side of the valley. I could see four of the bowls above timberline on that side along with the marshy valley floor. I arrived at my perch at the perfect time just as the morning glow started to provide enough light for glassing. Since I had decided to travel extra-light, I only had my 10x42 Zeiss binoculars with me, no spotting scope and tripod. I began scanning the open, grassy bowls hoping to see elk out feeding. I quickly spotted a couple skylined cows way off at the far end of the valley. What a feeling to have travelled 1100 miles and now to be at the top of the world seeing what I had come all this way to see! I continued to glass for another hour or so and spotted a few more elk scattered around the valley. They were all at the far end, as far away from the trailhead parking area as they could be in the valley. Without a spotting scope I couldn't see antlers but I was happy to get a feel for where the elk were feeding.
I was feeling antsy and decided to continue to climb up above timberline to the top of the shoulder. I was pleased with how I was feeling. I had been training pretty hard in preparation for this scouting trip and the hunts that would follow, but coming from under 1000 feet of elevation back home and climbing right up to 12,000+ feet I never quite know how I'll feel. Sometimes I feel fine and sometimes I really struggle. Today I felt great. As I broke out above timberline the sun was now shining and I could see forever. I felt like I was in the movie the Sound of Music! I absolutely love spending time up above timberline. It's just good for the soul.
The rest of that first morning I moved around the top of the shoulder and glassed different areas in both the northern and southern valley. I saw several more groups of elk, many of them bedding out in the open, chewing their cud above timberline. The elk were up in the bowls at the far end of the northern valley. I began to plan to drop back down to the trailhead and head into the nasty trail back into the valley and then climb up to some of those far off bowls to check out the access and get a feel for how the elk were moving around up there. I hated to leave the high country so soon because it was just so beautiful, but I wanted to start figuring out that trail as soon as I could. I had gained about 2500 feet of elevation from the trailhead to the top of the shoulder so I had a long downhill hike ahead of me. After eating a quick lunch I headed down. Along the way I picked up my small camp. I had marked a waypoint on my GPS so finding it was easy. I use my GPS a ton on scouting trips marking waypoints when I find good glassing points, good elk sign or water sources. I always have my GPS and a compass easily accessible and I use them together to navigate. It's easy to navigate with a map when you have an open view of mountain peaks or other landmarks, but when deep in the timber, it can be really tough. That's when a GPS is invaluable.
I reached my vehicle at the trailhead around 3:00, right as another thunderstorm hit the area. I waited it out for a couple hours taking a nap in the back of the little car. When it broke I adjusted the gear in my pack and headed up the trail into the northern valley. I remembered from the previous year that the first section of trail is fairly reasonable. There were a couple wet, marshy spots to hop across with a strong likelihood of getting some water over the top of my boots. I spent some extra time trying to figure out if there was a different route that would avoid the wet spots, but I didn't find any so I just had to go for it. I didn't do too bad.
It's amazing the number of elk and deer tracks that stay visible in wet, marshy areas. It looks like a herd of elk just passed through hours before, but I know from past experience that many of the tracks are days or even weeks old. Still it's exciting to head into a hunting area with so much sign. The first section of trail climbs fairly steeply following a fast moving creek. At the top of a waterfall the ground levels some and the first really challenging section of trail begins. Actually the trail completely disappears in a maze of thick willows and wet marsh grass. I decided to set camp off to the side of this area where several huge boulders created some nice flat ground and an old fire ring told me that others had liked the spot. I had covered a lot of ground and tons of elevation in 24 hours and I didn't want to overdo it so setting camp early in the evening seemed like a good idea. I often don't like to have campfires in valleys that I will be hunting or scouting, but this was a vacation too and I wanted to enjoy myself. Being solo can get a bit lonely and a nice fire in the evening is a welcome comfort. Sleep came easier the second night and I decided to sleep in a little bit the next morning since I didn't plan to be at a certain glassing spot at first light anyway.
After packing up camp I spent some time searching behind camp to see if there was a route up into the timber that would avoid the marshy, willowy mess near the creek. Sure enough there was! This was the first of many such discoveries I made about the trail that would allow me to travel deep into the valley without killing myself in boulder-fields or willowy marshes. For the next few hours I marked dozens of waypoints on my GPS indicating the direction I needed to go to avoid trouble. Every time I came to a difficult area that seemed like the only route was through something extremely uncomfortable, I would take time to search around for a different route, and I found one every time. I was beginning to feel very confident in my ability to hunt this valley in September without absolutely killing myself day after day getting back to the good hunting areas.
High Country Scouting - 3
I finally arrived at the bottom of the drainage in which I had spotted elk bedding out in the open the morning before from my high-country perch. I began to climb and figured I had about 800 feet of elevation to gain before I would pop out above timberline. Almost immediately I found an area with many rubs from the year before along an obvious travel corridor. I marked this waypoint in my GPS and continued up. It was mid-morning now and the sun was pretty warm. I was working up a pretty good sweat as I climbed with my 30 lb pack. I worked my way into the timber near the cool, fast-moving stream that ran down the mountain and immediately felt relief from the heat. I'm sure the elk appreciate this natural air conditioner too.
Eventually I reached the edge of timberline where the ground leveled off and opened up into a vast, green, grassy bowl. It was mid-afternoon and I was happy with how my body was feeling after the climb. In addition to finding elk and figuring out the nasty trail into the valley, one of my other goals on this scouting trip was to push myself hard to get in shape for the hunting season to come, and I was pleased with how I was doing in that regard. Where I live it is not easy or convenient to get to any large hills to train so when I'm in the mountains I feel like I need to take advantage of the opportunity as much as possible.
From my location at the edge of treeline I couldn't see as far into the open bowl as I had hoped, so I dropped my pack and set out with my binoculars to see if I could find some elk. I slowly eased up into the bowl, gaining another couple hundred feet of elevation. My view continued to change as I got to the top of the next rise or past the next clump of trees. I did not find any elk in the bowl, but the view was absolutely stunning and I was seeing lots of sign. I worked my way back to my pack and set up camp for the night. After a couple hours of relaxing I grabbed my binoculars and worked my way through the timber at the edge of timberline to the East heading for a large opening I had seen from down below earlier in the day. I found a good spot to sit and began glassing the opposite side of the valley. There was a good mix of open, grassy hillsides, avalanche chutes and timber. Below a large patch of snow and just above an avalanche chute I spotted four elk. With my 10x42 Zeiss binoculars I could tell they were all bulls and that three of them were solid 5 or 6 x. The largest bull lay on a rock outcropping looking especially regal overlooking his kingdom while the other three bulls fed around him. Who knows if he will still be in the area once the rut kicks into full gear, but I sure hope to see him again in September! That evening I slept with a big smile on my face picturing the four nice bulls.
The next morning I woke early and slowly worked my way around the shoulder of the basin I was camping in headed around the corner into the next basin. I was pleased to find out that I could get over to that basin without having to gain much altitude. The elk trails on this shoulder were heavily used and there were lots of old rubs. This would obviously be a good area to hunt come September. I didn't see any elk that morning but I felt great about what I had learned about how to get up to the areas I had seen most of the elk in from my glassing spots the morning before, and about how easy it was to move laterally once up there to move from bowl to bowl.
I had planned to stay up in this area for the rest of the day and another night, but I was feeling like I had really accomplished what I needed to. It would have been fun to do some more glassing up there that evening and the next morning, but I also wanted to explore a couple of other areas, so I decided to pack up and head down. On the way down, I did a fair amount of side-hilling to explore some other routes up and down from the high-country and to look for more sign. At one point I caught the unmistakable scent of elk musk and knew that elk had bedded close by within the last day or two. Once down to the valley floor, I headed back towards the trailhead along the nasty trail. I spent even more time perfecting my waypoints and notes to ensure that come hunting season I could bring my hunting partner up the trail with as little struggle, wasted time and wasted energy as possible. Not to mention that if we were fortunate enough to kill an elk or two, we would need to avoid wasting any extra energy getting the meat out.
Over the next day and a half I hiked into a few different areas looking for sign and stopping to glass for elk. I also hiked back up to the first glassing spot in the boulder field between the two valleys to confirm that I could glass enough of the northern valley from there that there was not a need to climb the extra 1000 feet to the top of the shoulder during the hunt. All the while I was formulating a schedule and plan for the seven hunting days my partner and I plan to spend in late September.
On the five hour drive back to the Denver Airport I had lots of time to think about what I had accomplished and what I had learned on this scouting trip. I now know so much more about the valley we plan to hunt than before. I am confident that I will be able to find the elk and confident that we can get deep into the valley day after day without burning ourselves out too badly. I am also extremely confident that my partner and I will have a wonderful time in some of the most beautiful country in Colorado. Most importantly my soul just feels full after spending several days alone in the wilderness of the Rocky Mountains and knowing that I will be back soon!
Andy Backus is a husband and father of two little girls. He grew up hunting whitetail deer in Wisconsin with gun and bow and over the years has been fortunate to hunt and explore most of the Western US states and Alaska. He plays soccer to stay in shape and also enjoys most other sports and outdoor activities. Andy is the Field Editor for Long Range Hunting Online Magazine and also manages the Long Range Hunting Store.
Eventually I reached the edge of timberline where the ground leveled off and opened up into a vast, green, grassy bowl. It was mid-afternoon and I was happy with how my body was feeling after the climb. In addition to finding elk and figuring out the nasty trail into the valley, one of my other goals on this scouting trip was to push myself hard to get in shape for the hunting season to come, and I was pleased with how I was doing in that regard. Where I live it is not easy or convenient to get to any large hills to train so when I'm in the mountains I feel like I need to take advantage of the opportunity as much as possible.
From my location at the edge of treeline I couldn't see as far into the open bowl as I had hoped, so I dropped my pack and set out with my binoculars to see if I could find some elk. I slowly eased up into the bowl, gaining another couple hundred feet of elevation. My view continued to change as I got to the top of the next rise or past the next clump of trees. I did not find any elk in the bowl, but the view was absolutely stunning and I was seeing lots of sign. I worked my way back to my pack and set up camp for the night. After a couple hours of relaxing I grabbed my binoculars and worked my way through the timber at the edge of timberline to the East heading for a large opening I had seen from down below earlier in the day. I found a good spot to sit and began glassing the opposite side of the valley. There was a good mix of open, grassy hillsides, avalanche chutes and timber. Below a large patch of snow and just above an avalanche chute I spotted four elk. With my 10x42 Zeiss binoculars I could tell they were all bulls and that three of them were solid 5 or 6 x. The largest bull lay on a rock outcropping looking especially regal overlooking his kingdom while the other three bulls fed around him. Who knows if he will still be in the area once the rut kicks into full gear, but I sure hope to see him again in September! That evening I slept with a big smile on my face picturing the four nice bulls.
The next morning I woke early and slowly worked my way around the shoulder of the basin I was camping in headed around the corner into the next basin. I was pleased to find out that I could get over to that basin without having to gain much altitude. The elk trails on this shoulder were heavily used and there were lots of old rubs. This would obviously be a good area to hunt come September. I didn't see any elk that morning but I felt great about what I had learned about how to get up to the areas I had seen most of the elk in from my glassing spots the morning before, and about how easy it was to move laterally once up there to move from bowl to bowl.
I had planned to stay up in this area for the rest of the day and another night, but I was feeling like I had really accomplished what I needed to. It would have been fun to do some more glassing up there that evening and the next morning, but I also wanted to explore a couple of other areas, so I decided to pack up and head down. On the way down, I did a fair amount of side-hilling to explore some other routes up and down from the high-country and to look for more sign. At one point I caught the unmistakable scent of elk musk and knew that elk had bedded close by within the last day or two. Once down to the valley floor, I headed back towards the trailhead along the nasty trail. I spent even more time perfecting my waypoints and notes to ensure that come hunting season I could bring my hunting partner up the trail with as little struggle, wasted time and wasted energy as possible. Not to mention that if we were fortunate enough to kill an elk or two, we would need to avoid wasting any extra energy getting the meat out.
Over the next day and a half I hiked into a few different areas looking for sign and stopping to glass for elk. I also hiked back up to the first glassing spot in the boulder field between the two valleys to confirm that I could glass enough of the northern valley from there that there was not a need to climb the extra 1000 feet to the top of the shoulder during the hunt. All the while I was formulating a schedule and plan for the seven hunting days my partner and I plan to spend in late September.
On the five hour drive back to the Denver Airport I had lots of time to think about what I had accomplished and what I had learned on this scouting trip. I now know so much more about the valley we plan to hunt than before. I am confident that I will be able to find the elk and confident that we can get deep into the valley day after day without burning ourselves out too badly. I am also extremely confident that my partner and I will have a wonderful time in some of the most beautiful country in Colorado. Most importantly my soul just feels full after spending several days alone in the wilderness of the Rocky Mountains and knowing that I will be back soon!
Andy Backus is a husband and father of two little girls. He grew up hunting whitetail deer in Wisconsin with gun and bow and over the years has been fortunate to hunt and explore most of the Western US states and Alaska. He plays soccer to stay in shape and also enjoys most other sports and outdoor activities. Andy is the Field Editor for Long Range Hunting Online Magazine and also manages the Long Range Hunting Store.
