Mt Grafton Cow Elk Hunt

[ammohead]

A little belated reprinted from the NCBS group page:

Headed out after work on Thur Dec 6. Took the camper to elk camp late Friday morning with the cold from hell. Couldn't breathe, no energy, you know, the works. My friend from work filled his tag friday morning and left Sat. I hunted the trees near camp but couldn't get far enough out to where the elk were at. I saw them hanging out in the junipers when scouting this summer and fall but they were only passing through this time of year. Lots of tracks but all straight as an arrow, not milling around. I saw elk everyday, but toward the benches on Mt Grafton a good 2 mile walk from the trailhead at the end of the camp road, and a bit too far for my condition. I also hindered myself by only taking lever action rifles with cast boolits. I could have maybe made a 200 yard shot as I have been practicing some at that range but never got that close.

I am leaving again on Friday for the final week of season. It ends Jan 1. I have been recovering nicely from my cold (not an easy task at 57). I have been taking mucinex and vitamin C and am feeling much better. I am ready for a 2 mile morning walk. We will have to see about the pack back out with a boned elk, but I have a week. I am also taking the old reliable 338-06 this time. A proven elk killer and capable of much farther than 200 if needed. I probably will end up shooting one at 50 yards with it. I am also taking the 45-70 cowboy and the 9.3 husquvarna both with cast.

Mt Grafton proper is all wilderness area but there is a road that goes in about 2 miles diagonally from the main road and I camp about 3/4 of a mile up it. Across the main road is a valley with grazing and the elk will come down at night to feed and go back up in the morning. I am wondering if the elk that I used to see hanging out in the junipers are just bedding between the main road and the camp road and not going to the mt at all. So I intend on doing some walking in that strip between the two roads with the cast rifles a bit too. I would really like to fill my tag walking slowly through the trees. On the other hand I have seen herds of up to 130 animals on the benches of the mountain and will probably do most of the hunting there. Lots of groups of 9-10, 20-25 etc. In the spring helicopter survey they counted 450+ elk on this side of the mountain in a stretch about 7 miles long. A target rich environment, but elk hunting is never easy. Wish me luck.

[ammohead]

Posted 12/18/2012

Found out from Jane via phone that it is snowing blue blazes in Ely today. If it keeps up there is little chance that I can get my camper up to my spot. Good thing that I have a house near by and can commute each day if needed. It will make it easier to track from the feeding area back to their beds though. Not a bad way to hunt elk, especially if the wind cooperates. Much easier to identify recent bedding areas and routes. And I just bought 4 new aggresive tread tires for the durango and have chains that fit perfect for all 4. I will get in!

[ammohead]

Posted today:

Hi Folks:

Camera broke so no more pictures. Got to Ely Friday Dec 21 about noon. There was a foot of snow on the ground and the secondary roads were white if plowed at all. Decided to stop and talk to the local biologist and pick up the new "Water Resources Atlas" NDOW is selling this year for $50. Sounds expensive but it is a coffee table sized spiral bound book with topographical maps of the entire state with guzzler locations noted. The biologist said that the elk in the area I have been hunting should not have migrated yet but didn't know the condition of the roads. So I got up early Sat morning and headed out in the dark to my spot. The major dirt road had been graded but was still white and when I got to my area there was not one elk track going to the feed in the valley that I could find. It didn't look good. The road to my camp spot was untouched except for the few trucks that drove in. It was quite passable though and I was able to make it all the way to the trailhead.

The snow was dry and pretty easy walking for the most part. Shortly into my walk I spotted 4 cows up on a bench feeding right to left (north). One cow was prancing around and leading the other 3 farther north and into my scent eventually. They finally went out of sight and I was about to quit when the 3 cows reappeared and were heading south. This meant my scent would be covered and I started after them. Not long and they dropped into a drainage and out of sight so I really picked up the speed. In not too long I was easing over the edge of the drainage keeping juniper trees between me and where I suspected they were. I hadn't seen them come up the other side so figured they were still there... but where? The snow was quiet walking and the wind was near perfect for once. Then out in front about 120 yards near the bottom was a cow feeding. I kept putting junipers between me and her and got within about 70 yards. I dropped to one knee, sucked up the sling and let fly with a 185 gr triple shock barnes from my 338-06. She droppped at the shot and then got back up on her feet and headed up the other side of the draw. But not alone. I had walked into the bedding area of about 20 cow elk and soon there were elk going everywhere. I was excited and missed my next shot, put the next one through the top of the backbone just ahead of the hams and the last through the boiler room. Damn they are tough!

I trudged through the snow up the hill to where she lay and then my heart sank into my stomach. There at the bottom of the drainage was a dead cow elk! I was sick. I had shot two cows. With my first shot my cow dropped on the spot no more than 4 feet from a bedded elk who promptly got up and fooled a damn fool into thinking that it was the first elk. I walked down the hill and sure enough there was the impression that the other bedded elk left right next to the dead cow. So I field dressed the cow in the bottom of the draw and propped her cavity open then proceeded to dress, skin and quarter the cow on the hill. A lot of work for an old guy like me! I packed one hind quarter to the top of the hill and put the meat up in a juniper tree. Then the other along with my rifle and knives. When I got back all that was left to do was both backstraps and the front quarters. I had to sit down to put the pack on and when I got to the top of the hill I decided that I would get the rifle on the next trip. It was 1.1 miles back to the truck as the crow flies, and gps tells, and I was never happier to see my durango. I was whooped. I had walked the distance nonstop cause I knew if I set that pack down I would never get it back up on my back. Thank God it was all downhill. There would be no going back that day. I needed to get to town and contact NDOW about my impending citation for shooting two elk.

I met a couple on the way out that said they would take the other elk if ndow would ok it. So we all headed into town not thinking that it was saturday and the office would be closed. So we exchanged phone numbers and I called Jane's son in law knowing that he would have contacts for wardens. When the warden finally called he explained that with budget cuts, bad weather and Xmas so close there wasn't a warden closer than 150 miles to handle my case. He listened to my story, commended my honesty and said that if anything came of it I might get a citation for $50 in the mail. He gave the couple permission to salvage the other cow.

Jane and I went up the next morning with a plastic toboggan and retreived the hind quarters, my rifle and the ivories from the second cow. No one else had been on the mountain since I left. On the way up the trail we saw 80+ cows 700 yards to the north in a bunch, and another herd of 50+ just south of the drainage where I filled my tag. Steadily walking and talking out loud to each other we approached 125 yards of the feeding cows. Not so much spooked as perturbed that we interrupted their feeding they moved off to the next bench talking to each other the whole time. Quite a morning, elk are fickle animals, never know how they are going to act. The toboggan worked excellent and almost beat me back to the truck. On the way back to town we found out that the other couple flaked out and wouldn't be getting the other cow and a bit of a bummer set back in. We decided to get the meat ourselves rather than leave it. But when we got up the next morning there was 4 inches of new snow on the ground and still snowing. So there are some well fed coyotes and ravens on that mountain for a while anyway.

Originally I had hoped to take this elk with a cast boolit. But after the set backs of the first trip and the distances that I was seeing elk at I resorted again to using my old reliable 338-06. That rifle and caliber are one elk whackin' sob. As it turns out I was close enough at the moment of truth to have used a cast boolit rifle. In fact with a cast boolit the cow probably would not have dropped in its tracks and could have saved me the heartache of shooting two elk. Hind sight is 20-20 they say. As with any hunt I have ever been on, I would not have traded any of it...heartache and all.

[ammohead]

57131

Mt Grafton from camp. The salt and pepper junipers in lower left are 2 miles from camp straight through the trees. Elk feed just off the trees in the open in the evenings. Bed sometimes right in the open during the day. Just try to get close without being seen. Solid junipers and pinion from camp to the open benches that you see on the front of Grafton. Mornings and evenings groups of elk will be feeding all over the benches going to bedding areas in the aspens and mahogany. Earlier this year a hunter took a 417 inch bull off this mountain.

[ammohead]

58120

My outfit weather permitting.

[ammohead]

I almost didn't post this here. Some on this board can be quite judgemental. But not posting it made me feel like I had something to hide and that is not the case. So here is my story warts and all.

[mac60]

Good story and congrats on the elk. I hear they're good eating. That ought to be quite a bit of meat for the freezer.

[runfiverun]

elk is a notch above beef anytime.

we all make mistakes from time to time.
i walked up [seen him from about 500 yds away and spent over an hour getting to him] on a real nice 4 point one time that popped out the other side of the juniper bush right in front of some buck brush, and i promptly shot it [with my 45 colt levergun]
when i shot the deer dropped, and the 4 point went out the other side of the tree.
the same side he went in on.
it was another waaay smaller buck that had walked out first,i seen antlers and focused on the about 80 yd shot against the dark brown brush.
the 4 point popped out the other side walked towards me about 30yds and just stood there broad side for what seemed like an hour.

[Thumbcocker]

Stuff happens. I once shot a " doe" with it's head behind a tree feeding with a bunch of other does. Turned out to be a basket rack six point. Took me two hours to get a DNR officer on the phone to confess to. I field dressed the deer and then officer took him. I had wanted to give it to the landowner but he didn't think he had the authority. I paid a $50 ticket. What chapped me most was the officer later told me he had dumped the deer in the brush on state land. I had an out of work neighbor with four kids that would have loved that meat. Only one hole in and hole out.

You tried to do the right thing.

[MT Gianni]

Great hunt Bruce with a bitter sweet ending. I know a few who that close to home would take the tag and both elk if they could get them out. I would congratulate you more on your honesty than deride you for loosing track of your target.

[waksupi]

That's too bad Bruce, but you did the right thing. Too many would have just abandoned the second one.

[Wolfer]

I doubt there are many expierenced elk hunters that don't know exactly how you feel. If it hasn't happened to them they probably know someone that it has.

[ammohead]

She certainly is good eating and a good amount of meat for the freezer. I am real picky about what goes in the package and a good deal of questionable meat, vellum and silver tendon goes in the scrap bucket. But I would guess that close to 130 lbs of trimmed red meat got put up. I have a couple or 3 pounds dry marinating for jerky and close to 20 lbs of meat to be ground with pork fat for sausage ie chorizo and breakfast sausage.

I took the cow that I hit forward of the hams for two reasons. I didn't want it to look like I shot the two cows because of the bad hit even though it was the second one shot, and it was closer to the top of the hill. I lost a bit of meat from my decision. But after examining the two sets of ivories it was obvious that even though they were both BIG cows the one I ended up with was definitely the younger of the two. So the coyotes got the chewy one.

When Jane and I went back the next day both animals showed sign of predation mostly from birds in the rib area and gut pile. But the meat that I stuck up in the juniper was untouched. This is the third time that I have left meat in a tree, usually urinating around the tree, and it has never been touched by animal or bird.

[quilbilly]

Looks like you found my camping spot on North Creek. Its a wonderful place to listen to elk bugle in the fall with a nice little stream for water. When you have elk running in all directions in brush or timber, it is hard not to make that mistake. My hunting partner did that twice on cow elk over the years with a muzzleloader and fortunately, both times, there were plenty of other cow tags in the area with grateful holders so nothing was wasted which is most important. I wonder if those big brook trout are still up in the canyon. Your story is making me itchy to head down your way with the cross country skis and do some real biathlon, hunting coyotes on skis. BTW - If that is North Creek as I presume, the bottom of that triangle of pinyons at the mouth of the canyon is where I got my B&C mulie that I need to get into the Longhunter book for muzzleloaders one of these days. That area looked a lot different before the big fire burned off most of the timber on Grafton. For those who have not been there, the top of Grafton is a little over 10,000 and this is all BLM land.

[ammohead]

For those who have not been there, the top of Grafton is a little over 10,000 and this is all BLM land.

quilbilly,

Not just blm, Grafton is all wilderness area now. The road into sage hen spring/north creek is open for about 2miles but is closed off way before you get out of the trees. When you get well out of the junipers on the bench there is a drainage just to the left/north. That is where the elk were bedded. A quick hike up the hill and I was on the road. NDOW counted 450 elk on the west side of Grafton this last spring. Definitely a target rich environment if you don't mind some walking and packing out.

[Catsmith]

no judgment here. you did the right thing. top notch in my book. did that with whitetails a number of years back. buck walked behind the bush and a doe walked out. david copperfield would have been proud of them. the warden was pretty cool and we went together and gave her to an old couple down the road.

[horsesoldier]

Everybody makes mistakes. Glad to see the game warden let the other go to a someone who could use it.Here they probably would have arrested you after the other party turned you in for bonus drawing points

[TXGunNut]

You did the right thing and the game warden did as well. Here in TX the other couple could have been cited for wasting a natural resource or a similar charge. As it turns out the scavengers had a nice windfall so it's all good. I've always heard elk meat is pretty awesome, enjoy!

[quilbilly]

The last time I was there helping an old friend find a mule deer, we camped along the creek about 200 yards below where the BLM blocked that road. Given that there are roads, concrete culverts, and other improvements the ranch put in for water, under the Wilderness Act, it is illegal to make that area a wilderness. Harry Reid was just pandering to the ecofascists in the Sierra Club. Technically, you could sue to remove the wilderness designation and win if you had the money to fight the ecofascists. Given the terrain, you could easily take one of those deer tote push carts into the area to claim the meat and I doubt the locals from the BLM or the NDOW would mess with you.

[Idaho Mule]

ammohead, Poop happens, you did the rightest thing you could. Congrats on the cow, they sure do taste good. Pretty country there too, I may have to venture that way one day/ JW

[TCLouis]

Congratulations on the kill. Good memories of the area and hunt with EVERY bite

Sometimes a second animal does appear.

It looks like the Mountain has roads in to it in almost every direction. Duid they just close them off and call it "Wilderness Area"?

Did Not see North Creek on the map.

I love Google, I can sit here and look at country most anywhere and see what it is like.

[ammohead]

TCL, There are two North Creeks actually. One flows east and one flows west and the headwaters of both meet at a saddle on the mountain or at least that is how it appears on maps that I have. Yes they bulldozed a hill in the roads and put up wilderness signage. A couple of roads were left as "designated roads" but they don't go far.

Quilbilly I will have to look for the creek you refer too. As of yet I have seen no running water were I hunt. Are you perhaps thinking of the Geyser Ranch side of the mountain. I have seen water coming out of North Creek on that (east) side. I hunted on the west side at Cave Valley. A cart has wheels and therefore a vehicle and not allowed on the wilderness land. I used a plastic tobogan which I believe is allowed as it has no moving parts.

[clintsfolly]

Having had the the same thing happen to me but with whitetails does. I can say Proud of you and Great Job!! Plus the CO showed good sense too!! Clint

[mkf350]

Good to see some common sense around here.

[quilbilly]

Yes, the North Creek I am talking about is the one that flows east. It and the streams north and south all have populations of brook trout with the occasional cutthroat trout. When I hid the hide and head of my mule deer in the creek to keep the voracious yellow jackets off, I scared what I estimate was an 18" brookie half to death. I had already dined on a 12" brookie the evening before. Fit for a king! The NDOW classifies North Creek as a Class I trout stream meaning that the trout reproduce without help much like the half dozen Creeks on the east side of the north end of the Schell range north of hwy 50 (I have only fished three so far but that is a long term project being as I live on the Olympic Peninsula).

[ammohead]

Quilbilly, I fished Cleve Creek last May just for giggles and had a limit in no time. All turned loose of course. Beautiful country all.

[9.3X62AL]

Repeat after me......Nevada is entirely desert, there are no trout and few elk in the state. No trout, few elk. No trout, few elk. No trout, few elk........

[ammohead]

Repeat after me......Nevada is entirely desert, there are no trout and few elk in the state. No trout, few elk. No trout, few elk. No trout, few elk........

How right you are Al. Just a vast wasteland. Not worthy for anyone to come live here.

[onceabull]

Allen & Bruce have it pegged.. Those bull elk pic's on Lowell Prunty's website---I'm sure he appropriated them from various articles,and then bribed his references should anyone have doubts. Remember where you heard it... Onceabull

[pls1911]

Uncommon quality, that stuff called common sense.
Mistakes made by honest men, dealt with reasonable action to acknowledge the issue, and NOT waste the resource.
In my experience, most enforcement personnel simply do their best to do a good job.

[swheeler]

Honesty, something real men appreciate, congratulations on the elk hunt!

[abqcaster]

+1 swheeler. Congrats on the harvest!

[Jeffstone1960]

Thank you for your informative posts, ammohead. What camp or trail are you referring to? Are you coming off 93 or cattle camp road? I was thinking of trying around Robber's Roost this year.

[ammohead]

Jeff,

I have a house in McGill. So I come to Grafton via Ely south past the charcoal ovens and when I get to the horse and cattle camp junction I stay on the main road south to Cave Valley. Before you get to the Cave Valley Ranch there is an old stage stop site on the right called Parker's Station. Not much but rubble left of it. There is a small road headed east across from Parkers that takes you into the Mt Grafton wilderness up toward North Creek. All of my pictures were taken on that road. Seems there is always elk somewhere in that vicinity. This country would also be due south of the Robbers Roost Basin and the road that goes to the top of the basin. There is also alot of elk activity at Robbers Roost Spring with it's year round water. Which hunt do you have tags for? My stepson and I have late cow tags for the wilderness only. Good Luck.

[GhostHawk]

I applaud your honesty sir. Posting that story had to be hard.

[ammohead]

I applaud your honesty sir. Posting that story had to be hard.

Ghost,

Posting the story wasn't nearly as hard as coming to the realization of what had just happened. "How could I have been so stupid!" Once I got past that part it was easy to see what had to be done. A hard pill to swallow for sure. But that was nearly two years ago and I have another cow tag for the same area. Can't wait to see if the gods of the hunt let me fill it, or call it justice for what happened in 2012.

The good news it that I also have a 111 late tag for the Schell Creek Range for Antlered Mule Deer. This should be during the rut and historically BIG trophies come out of this area. I am having high hopes for a big cast boolit buck!

[quilbilly]

I can't help but wonder what condition the roads are in after all the rain of the last few weeks. In particular the one going up North Creek from 93 which was rough to begin with and cross a couple washes. With all the rain, there are probably springs everywhere scattering the elk and deer which made both the archery and ML hunts tougher than usual. Cattle Camp got another 1.4 inches of rain today.

[ammohead]

Q,

I remember you telling me that it was going to be wet this year back in June at NCBS. North Creek Rd on the 93 side was fine last Dec. In fact all the roads looked like they got serious attention last year. I took 3 cottontails off that road last year with my Rossi 92 in 45 Colt. Lots of culverts for them to hide in where the washes used to be. Now the north/south road along the fence is a different story. We need the rain. Illipah Res. was just a mudhole this year compared to other years. Hope it fills up for ice fishing!

I am going up to McGill next weekend to do some more scouting for mule deer. Hoping to see some snow up high to bring the bucks down for the rut. The hike to the top of North Fork Timber Creek is a killer. I would much rather chase them around in the bitter brush down low.

[quilbilly]

The weather happening now is a classic El Nino pattern. No matter what NOAA says, since May this has been the most powerful El Nino I have noted in 35 years of doing salmon run projections. The rain and hurricane remnants in Eastern and SE Nevada are exactly what you would expect but unlike previous El Nino's, this one is still hanging on. Your rain is coming. I told some people from S. Cal. touring up here that by December, they and possibly you will be wishing it would stop raining. I am expecting a particularly violent wind winter up here (don't know about rain - above my pay grade) so am stockpiling chainsaw fuel and chain sharpeners. Thanks for the info on the roads. The winter range for the mule deer from about Elko south will be extraordinarily good this winter so there will be excellent fawn survival. I will probably put in for a Nevada ML deer tag myself next spring to take advantage of this probably once-in-lifetime occurrence when even an over-the-hill half cripple like me might get lucky.

[dlbarr]

ammohead, this likely won't sit right with several on this board, but I frankly wouldn't fault you for an honest mistake like that if you NEVER reported it to F&G. You had no intention of law breaking and, as it turned out, the people who were supposed to do the right thing, didn't. As a result, a resource was wasted - but not by you. The only thing I'd really change about your story is that you'd had two elk in the freezer instead of one.

[ammohead]

dlb,

If I hadn't reported it to the authorities there would not have been a story. I surely would not have posted it here. The 3S rule would have applied then.

The following morning there was more snow. If not for the deep snow or if not for it being a wilderness area with no snow machines allowed a good portion of the meat would have been in my freezer. No worries. None of that meat went to waste. I am sure all manner of beasts ate their fill. Even a coyote deserves a free lunch every once in a while. Mother nature does a better job than the Division of Wildlife seeing that nothing goes to waste.

[9.3X62AL]

Right thing for the right reasons.

[starmac]

Back seems like lifetimes ago, when I was courting my wife, she worked at a small lodge in colorado her dad owned. The local game warden, dick Wells iirc, was known for a stickler for the books, and reputed to be one that would fine his mother if he should have a cause. He ate at the lodge pretty regularly, and told a story of watching a hunter through binouculars, shoot and kill three bulls, thinking they were the same one. One would drop at his shot, and another would take off. He walked down the hill to basically congradulate the hunter to find him sitting on one of the elk, thinking he was toast. lol He told me that if he hadn't of been actually watching the whole thing unfold, he would have nailed him hard, but he had been fooled himself, so basically let it slide.

[waksupi]

Back seems like lifetimes ago, when I was courting my wife, she worked at a small lodge in colorado her dad owned. The local game warden, dick Wells iirc, was known for a stickler for the books, and reputed to be one that would fine his mother if he should have a cause. He ate at the lodge pretty regularly, and told a story of watching a hunter through binouculars, shoot and kill three bulls, thinking they were the same one. One would drop at his shot, and another would take off. He walked down the hill to basically congradulate the hunter to find him sitting on one of the elk, thinking he was toast. lol He told me that if he hadn't of been actually watching the whole thing unfold, he would have nailed him hard, but he had been fooled himself, so basically let it slide.

I know a fellow who shot five like that years ago. When he found what he had done, he hot footed to town, called some buddies with more tags. It was legal to tag game shot by others back in those days.

[TCLouis]

Starmac

Was that in the Antonito Area?

Thought I recognized that name, but then it has been a while.

Conejos?

[starmac]

Yep........

[quilbilly]

Back seems like lifetimes ago, when I was courting my wife, she worked at a small lodge in colorado her dad owned. The local game warden, dick Wells iirc, was known for a stickler for the books, and reputed to be one that would fine his mother if he should have a cause. He ate at the lodge pretty regularly, and told a story of watching a hunter through binouculars, shoot and kill three bulls, thinking they were the same one. One would drop at his shot, and another would take off. He walked down the hill to basically congradulate the hunter to find him sitting on one of the elk, thinking he was toast. lol He told me that if he hadn't of been actually watching the whole thing unfold, he would have nailed him hard, but he had been fooled himself, so basically let it slide.
About a decade ago my hunting partner did exactly the same thing with a muzzleloader and two 5x5 Roosevelts. The houses all around there all had tags and were happy for the meat. A couple years later he and I both had muzzleloader cow tags in the same area. We were about 1/3 mile apart when I heard three well spaced shots. When I got there he was dressing one cow and I looked around and about 40 yards away I found another so put my tag on it and a farmer found the third 100 yards down the hill. In both cases he thought it was the same animal he shot at. We don't hunt together anymore. The guy had uncanny luck with elk but can't get a deer due to a horrendous case of buck fever. I am the opposite and never see a live elk during season (seen one in fifteen seasons).

[starmac]

My experiance has always been that elk were much easier to find during deer season, and the same when deer hunting. lol I always thought they needed to reverse the seasons. lol

[Jeffstone1960]

[QUOTE=ammohead;2946688]Jeff,


Thank you for the reply, Ammohead! And, sorry I'm responding late. We have two early elk tags in the Mt Grafton Wilderness area. Weren't able to leave open season but will be there around the 9th. I'm excited about spending time with my two sons. We were thinking of setting up a base camp outside the wilderness boundary and then backpacking in for a second camp. This will be our first wilderness hunt . I enjoy reading your posts. Good luck to you on your hunt!

[quilbilly]

[QUOTE=ammohead;2946688]Jeff,


Thank you for the reply, Ammohead! And, sorry I'm responding late. We have two early elk tags in the Mt Grafton Wilderness area. Weren't able to leave open season but will be there around the 9th. I'm excited about spending time with my two sons. We were thinking of setting up a base camp outside the wilderness boundary and then backpacking in for a second camp. This will be our first wilderness hunt . I enjoy reading your posts. Good luck to you on your hunt!
Having hunted and fished around Mt Grafton's east side many times over the years, I would not think you would have to go far into the wilderness area. The elk in that area hang pretty close to the lower benches within a mile or so of the boundary unless they are seriously pushed.

[ammohead]

[QUOTE=Jeffstone1960;2957353]
Having hunted and fished around Mt Grafton's east side many times over the years, I would not think you would have to go far into the wilderness area. The elk in that area hang pretty close to the lower benches within a mile or so of the boundary unless they are seriously pushed.

+1 on what Quilbilly said. You can camp near or at the trailhead and it is a short walk to the benches. Camping on the benches may push the elk to another spot. Camping near a water source is guaranteeing they will move as there are only so many and far apart. The road from Parkers station has many nice camping spots with only a short drive to the end of the road and the trailhead. Good luck. We will want pictures.

[starmac]

Starmac

Was that in the Antonito Area?

Thought I recognized that name, but then it has been a while.

Conejos?

It's a small world, conejos canyon inn to be exact. This had to be in 76 or 77, seems like a lifetime or 2 ago. lol

[Jeffstone1960]

Thanks for all your help. I plan on taking a lot of pictures. One of my boys has a gopro. Not sure how he intends on using it!

[Jeffstone1960]

Now you got me interested in the fishing. I've mostly done the streams in Utah (Mammoth, Sevier River). Are there trout on the East side of Mt. Gafton on the 93 side? We're going via Parker Station as you suggested up North Creek. Any decent streams near there?

[quilbilly]

North Creek on the east side of Mt. Grafton has brookies with a very few cutthroat trout. There are two even smaller creeks about 1-1/2 miles north and south of North creek that also have brookies. Best fishing is about a mile beyond the "wilderness" boundary into the canyon although the creek flows well out into the valley. This non-wilderness "wilderness" (it has roads, concrete culverts and even buildings) was created by Harry Reid as a payoff to the Sierra Club eco-fascists for their campaign donations. The Mt Grafton area has no business being a wilderness. My favorite truck camp was well up into the North Creek canyon. If you go up into the canyon, I would like to know if any of the big Ponderosa pines survived the big fire a few years ago. I loved those meadows and parks within the big trees. The meadows had wild mint that made excellent tea. I would appreciate it if you let me know about those trees and maybe even a pic since my arthritis will not allow me to go back to that wonderful hidden place.

[ammohead]

New update to this old story. Just when you are thinking that you are irrelevant!

Went cow elk hunting last weekend with no luck so far. Friday I had a nasty bout of food poisoning and spent all morning curled up in the fetal position in the Durango. Started feeling human again about 11:30am so did some scouting in a different location. Afterward I came back where I started cause I heard some shooting earlier and figured it was the hunters in the other truck parked at the trailhead. I took a walk up the access trail into the wilderness area and had a conversation with one of the hunters going back with some front quarters and the hide. I kept going up the trail and ran into the tag holder, a late twenty looking bloke, and started asking him where they had been seeing cows etc. He mentioned a canyon not far away and I commented that I had taken a cow there two years previous. Actually I shot two cows and began to relate the story to him. He stops me and says "Do you post your hunt stories online"? I said that I post on this forum and the hunting thread. He said "That's the one, you are the reason I came here to hunt." Seems this was his first elk tag and had never hunted the Mt Grafton area before so he googled Mt Grafton Elk Hunt and my post from two years ago was what came up. He saw the pictures of camp, the benches where the elk hang out, even my old trailer. He printed it out and had it with him to refer to. Small world huh?

Kind of made my day.

[TXGunNut]

Small world, indeed. Funny how when I do online research sometimes I find myself back here, more than once to one of my own posts, lol. Maybe he'll join the forum and start pouring his own once he gets that elk in the freezer.

[smoked turkey]

Tremendous thread here. A good read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the whole thing. It is nice when it all comes together as it did for you ammohead with the young hunter on the trail almost two years later. You have had a positive influence on a lot of people with your story. Thank-you for posting. Your courage to do the right thing even if it cost you money is truly inspiring.

[ammohead]

No elk yet. Just got back from second attempt. I came close twice this time. Xmas day I got within 300 or so yards from about 50 bedded down in a sideways blowing snowstorm and decided I was too far from the truck in that weather by myself so they lived another day. This was way up the north most road up the trailhead on the Cave Valley side of the wilderness. There was no more cover and it would have been a offhand shot in a 25 mph crosswind when they got up even if I did get quite a bit closer. Too iffy. There was a single calf only 70 yards away but something didn't look right. It just stood there facing away for about 40 minutes without hardly turning it's head. When it did it was an obvious baby face. Maybe it's mom was shot and was weak, or wounded itself. I don't mind taking a calf, but not if it isn't healthy. No need to be in a hurry as I have lot's of season left.

Yesterday I made a stalk on a cow feeding on a small knoll above a gully. Didn't get as close as I thought cause I missed with the 9.3 and 280 gr NOE boolit. I should have gotten closer but was thinking that it wasn't possible. I should have tried it anyway. Elk do some stupid stuff when they can't smell you. Hindsight 20/20. She had me pegged for a while. I took off the snow camo coat I had on and draped in on a sagebrush and snuck away when she went back to feeding and for a while when she looked up she would look at the coat and go back to feeding. This let me close the gap from 500 to about 300?. Then she saw me move again and the jig was up. Followed her tracks with no blood and no sign of being hurt. This is the spot where Jane got her cow last year south of Cave Valley Ranch. Wide open sage and bitterbrush with lots of drainage cuts for them to feed, hide and bed in. There is a nice overlook that you can drive to and glass from. It is high enough to see down into quite a few of the drainages. I will be going back there more.

Going back wed night after work. I have thurs thru wed off with youngest stepson Aaron coming out friday night to try to fill his tag. We put in as a party seeing as you can do that with cow tags now. They will let their guard down sooner or later. Season ends Jan 15.

[thadfz]

Good luck Ammohead. I feel like I've been with you for the entire journey. Thanks for doing the right thing, and keep telling us about your adventures. I don't have mountains here, so I need to read about them and see pics from guys like you. Thanks again.

[Idaho Mule]

ammohead, as others have said, good luck to you. Keep on keepin' on and you"ll get them. I would love to help out if I was a little closer. JW

[TXGunNut]

Welcome to the forum, thadfz!

[quilbilly]

Good luck Ammohead. I feel like I've been with you for the entire journey. Thanks for doing the right thing, and keep telling us about your adventures. I don't have mountains here, so I need to read about them and see pics from guys like you. Thanks again. Thadfz, if you would like to see a little bit of the country where Ammohead is hunting, check out www.fsvisimages.com and scroll to the images of the "High Schells" and "White Pine Range". Ammohead is hunting on both sides of the south end of the Schell Mountains. In the forest service webcam picture, those are the northern peaks of the Schell Range just east of Ely, Nevada where the highest peaks are around 11,000 feet and the valley floor is about 6,000 feet. The Schell Range has over 20 trout streams having fine trout fishing and only couple of the streams ever get hatchery plants. The other web cam (the White Pine Range) is about 30 miles west of Ely.

[thadfz]

That's cool stuff. I'll check it out.

Thanks for the welcome. I've been trolling on a few sites for a couple years. It's about time I start contributing. Thanks again.