Colorado DIY Elk Hunt

Planning a 5 day back-country DIY Elk hunt for next year and we were just wondering what are somethings you guys wouldn't leave the house without (besides the obvious things) any advice would be greatly appreciated as this will be our first Elk hunt!
Thanks

Havalon knife, or similar.
Game bags.
Hydration bladder.
First aid kit.
Quality boots.
Quality pack.

These are the things I depend on the most, besides the obvious.

Are you hiking from a to b over 5 days or setting up a camp and day hunting out of?

IMO quality bag and boots are two of the most important things.

I used danners my first year and they worked but went back the next year with better boots and had a far better experience.

You also have to decide how much money you want to sink into it. I have been 2 of the last 3 and plan on going for many more years so have no problem buying gear that I can use

I don't know what is obvious and what is not. Toilet paper, granola bars? I didn't use hiking poles until a couple years ago and now I don't know how I got by without them for so long. Bungy straps and rope are always handy when camping.

I have only been twice and just got back from Colorado...here are a few things I have learned:

Weight is everything, even ounces count
Good boots are invaluable, absolute must and don’t skimp
Train before you go, the mountain is no joke
A pack is as important as the boots
Wool socks, no cotton anything...including underwear. Wear things that will dry out easily
Always carry rain gear, no matter what
The hell with tp, take wipes
Head lamp
Water filter pump
Extra container for camp water
Caffeine packets to add to water if you are a coffee drinker or like soft drinks


When we packed into set camp, we were heavy. Hunting out of camp, only the essentials went.

Jetboil w/fuel

Ramen

Mountain House

Swiss Miss

Spork

Bottle Water

We would have a base camp at the vehicle and then have a satellite camp up on the mountain. We would live on the mountain for 3-6 days. Our base camp would have all the fancy camping stuff. Our satellite camp was minimal.

Along with the good boots, pack, etc, here's some other items.

High-end, light weight tent
Klymit sleeping pad
Light weight sleeping bag
Multiple Water purifier (we had a ceramic manual pump that was great, and had a filter one that clogged, and needed a back up)
And also had iodine tablets as next back up
Multiple water packs to store water
Lots of good dehydrated food (we shopped for the best, and I made our own)
We had the Jet Boil and some other high end brand of water boiler. Both were good.
Get the high end game bags. I got some cheaper one's that were not good at all.

We had a spring fed creek near our camp (planned this ahead of time) and would pump water from here. We had multiple water bladders to store water in for camp water and filling up drinking jugs. We had our main packs for hiking in, and a secondary pack for hunting elk with basic essentials.

Also, get in shape. I lost some weight and got in real good shape for our second trip. The first trip I thought I was in shape, and the mountain kicked my tail. The next time I KNEW I was in shape to go.

We have what we call a "Honey Hole" for a DIY elk hunt. It's on public land and is known, but we went to the back areas where the 4 wheelers couldn't go, and where the elk were. We had multiple close calls, and I took a cow elk with my bow one year. I had several bulls within range, but no shots. Bow hunting elk is a thrill you can not explain or put into words. It is truly amazing.

This is a big pile of worms.

Really comes down to budget and ability.

No point spending massive money on high quality ultra light gear if you are only going in two miles, or truck camping. Or if you are ultra in shape, some of the expensive weight cutting doesn’t have as much of a return

Out side the normal boots and pack. I would say a good inflatable pad, and start sampling food now. There are a lot of good hunter owned or hunter friendly options hitting the market. Out side of gear, dialing in your food is a big one, grant it there are guys out there that can go 5 days off eating two Mountain House beef stroganoffs a day but they are a rarity.

Biggest part of hunting the backcountry is staying in the backcountry. If you are hungry and miserable you will be back at the truck quick. Also if you are over packed and heavy you will be burned out quick also.

99% including my self over pack.

Biggest money savers are clothing. You can rock solid colors and save money and still have great technical gear.

^^^ This, everyone has a comfort level, get what you need to meet that, you wont kill many Elk sitting at the trail head because your feet are wet. As far as food, I'll just add, take higher energy carbs than you probably eat at home, 1 week out of the year in the Rockies will burn calories and energy your body usually doesn't back in the office cubicle.

So many variables as mentioned.

For back county where you will be packing out your own, I'd say good game breathable bags, elk size, whether you bone out or not. small roll of orange flagging tape and make that bull and yourself look like a landing Airbus A380, You'll be wearing orange, but half that disappears when you throw meat, pack, or antler on your back.

Aspirin, could save your life if you experience heart issues.

Leave someone you trust a map, or location of your intended camp.

Take a box of red wine. It has anti oxidants and it relaxes your back so you will sleep better at night.

Being in shape will be your biggest pay off and hardening your body to being on the ground. There is nothing soft in elk country. Work your problems out at home, take your gear camping rain or shine, sleep on floor, carry loaded pack everywhere you can. Go hunting with stuff you have used and know, not wrapped in plastic.

Wet wipes: replaces TP and you can take a wet wipe shower & dry off in the sun.
Protein powder: Take one scoop at night and one in morning
Para cord: 25 feet.....
Heavy duty garbage bag: Shelter, clean dry spot to sit, work, eat, collect water....
Handkerchief bright color: Signal, warmth, marker...
Torch lighter.
Headlamp.
Leatherman

Gear lists are everywhere these days from lots of guys who know what they are doing. Study every one you can find.

After you go over a lot of them, you will see much overlap - specific brands may be different but you will see the patterns emerge. Follow those patterns tailored to your own needs/desires.

That’s the easiest, most complete way to go about it the first time out. No need to reinvent the wheel. As you go on more and more trips you will customize your gear even more to your style. The basic patterns won’t change though. Shelter, sleeping, good clothing, water, food, everything else.

Don’t forget a good map!


I did a year of this and found a lot of good info
https://www.elk101.com/onlinecourse/

Nice! Can I find this in dehydrated form?

Here’s mine from a sheep hunt last year for reference. It is not just a backpack gear list but includes everything that went with me on the trip. And it’s actually not the final list because I over-listed and did a good bit of culling before I went. Most gear lists will look similar.

Sheep Hunt 2017 Gear List

Get in Whitehorse:
Food
Jerky
Energy bars
Gas canister for stove


To get/do:
Mark/label various stuff sacks
Make copies of passport/put in pack and luggage.
Copies of Passport and 4457 forms in luggage/rifle case.


GEAR LIST:

Certified check
Cash
Sako .300 WSM & 40 rounds sighted in 2" high (will be 3" there)
Cartridge carrier
Packable soft rifle case
Rapid rod gun rod
Shooting stix
Binocs/bino holder
Spotting scope/tripod/pistol grip head
Camera and case w/charger and spare battery
DeLorme and charger
Rangefinder
Knife
Altimeter watch


Eberlestock Just One w/Gun Commander sling hook only
Rain cover for pack
Glow in dark zipper pulls on pack
Cabelas waterproof duffel
Cabelas aluminum rifle case
Rifle case locks (4)
Luggage belt(s)
Sleeping bag/NeoAir pad/silk bag liner.
NeoAir down pillow.


Passport
Forms 4457 and copies
Airline firearms/ammo rules
Driver's license
Rifle permit forms
Waistbelt cash/passport carrier
Sunglasses
Spare glasses
Cigs/mints
Ram talisman
Field repair kit
Anti-lens fog stuff (Cat Crap/Parker's Perfect wipes)
Waterproof 3x5 notebook
Phone in waterproof case/regular and portable chargers/cords
Bug dope
Paperback
Soto stove/canister

Clothes:

Kenetrek hikers w/Superfeet insoles
Camp shoes (blue crocs)
Two pair liner socks
One pair Smartwool medium socks/one pair Kenetrek hiking socks/one pair Kenetrek Montana socks
One Patagonia Capilene top/bottom -1/4 zip
One First Lite top/bottom - 1/4 zip
KOM Bunlite pants
Mammut Champ pants
Three pair briefs
Patagonia Merino Air crew shirt
Woolrich green shirt
Kuiu Superdown jacket
Browning down jacket
Arcteryx Beta AR shell
Mountain Hardware Epic rain pant
Buff
Light beanie and medium beanie
Ball Cap
Gloves - medium and liner
Belt
Gaiters

Water bladder
Blister pack
Lip balm
Sunblock
Pee bags
Via coffee Columbia
Emergen-C drink packets-raspberry
Honey stinger waffles
Salt/pepper/Sweet 'N Low packets
Wet wipes/bathing wipes
Prep H wipes
Toothbrush/toothpaste
Lighter w/gorilla tape around it
Ibuprofen/Claritin
Eye drops
Gold Bond/Non-chafe stick
Small Deodorant
Body lotion
Sol emergency bivvy
Sit pad
Mountainsmith slingback chair


Small tent hanging light
Headlight
Trekking poles
New batteries in electronics/spare batteries for all.
Small multi tool
Scope wrench
Glasses repair kit
Bose earbuds for flight

Oh yeah, carmex! even if you don't use it at home normally, you will want it up there. Small item I keep and was reminded from NP's list.

I've done this a few times in CA. I learned that weight is everything, so getting rid of what you don't need is what it's all about. No spares of anything. LED light with one extra set of batteries. No change of clothes. You wear the same thing every day. Nothing cotton. Wool socks with silk liners. Rain jacket and pants. Heavy jacket and a good quality vest. The best gloves out there!!! Top quality sleeping bag and a pad. The pad is extremely important!!! Two man tent. One man is just too small. Bigger is too heavy. Mountain House food. Eat twice day. No snacks. I used an lightweight coffee pot to heat the water. It's ultra light and I can fit stuff inside of it in my pack. One good sized water bottle and Iodine tablets. They taste bad, but work great and they don't weigh anything. You will be drinking creek water, so plan on that. Toilet paper in a freezer bag. Parachute cord. I used to carry a small amount of duct tape, but I've learned that ZIP tape is much better. Instead of a normal knife, I like sheetrock knifes. Get a lightweight one that holds extra blades inside of the handle and make sure it's easy to use. Some are junk. My current favorite is a red one made my Milwaukee, but the Stanley Fat Max are nice too, but a little heavy. Heavy duty 40 gallon construction type garbage bags to pack the meat out. Be sure to know how to bone out an animal before you go. A lightweight saw might be nice to cut off the antlers, but I've never done that out in the field. I pretty much European it before carrying it out. A good lighter, and maybe some all weather type survival matches. Some type of fire starter. A small cloth soaked in oil to clean your rifle. A small mirror. A compass. A tube of anti itch cream. Something for blisters. Most bandages that I've used where made from duct tape.

This seems like a lot but it’s really not. Note mostly my September list- so weather is different,


· << Denotes in/on pack all times

Main Camp and Pack
Pack- Exo Mountain Gear k2-Bag depends on trip (2000/3500/5500—actually used all three for 5 plus day trips)
Tent- Kifaru Tut or Mountain Hardware UL 3 Ghost (Solo I’m using the MH Ghost)
Tryvek
Sleeping bag- 20degree Enlighted Equipment Apex Revolution Quilt
Pillow-Sea to Summit
Pad- Sea to Summit Comfort Plus
MRS Windburner( 2 +people) or MRS Pocket Rocket and Titanium pot one person
Fuel canister- size depends on people
Trekking Poles- S&S Archery new carbon Back country (have about three feet of Blk Gorilla tape wrapped on them)
One dry bag -use to hang trash/food
· Water Purification- Steripen/MSR Trail shot----Or Guardian depending on people
· 2.5 Liter water bladder
· Skelton knife-(No idea on make)
· Nalgene bottle
· Inreach
· Blk energy 10Hm Battery pack (w/ short cords)

Kill Kit & Possibles bag

· First aid- Superglue, carmax(Rolled with Leupkoe tape, Two gaze, two mole skin pads, 5 bandaides),
tenuous patches
· Lighter(Wrapped in Leuopke tape)
· Fire Starter and flint steel
· Pill container(Meltonin, Benadryl, pain killers, Advil(Reg/PM), Aspin)
· 3-Extra Triple AAA batt
· Disposable Pick/Toothbrush/w/paste already one it, sea to summit wet wipes
· Emer Bivy (SOL Model)
· 50’ Ultraglide Bear Line
· Spoon
· Compass
· Spare head lamp(Little Cyclpos hat clip)
· One contractor trash bag(For Dave when he forgets rain jacket)


Clothing-Wearing
Prana Zion pant or Kuiu Alpine (Kuiu Belt)—Note I don’t like wearing a standalone belt if I don’t have too.
Kuiu 145 Merino Base or Sitka corelight weight hoody
Firstlite Boxers
Farm to feet socks
Boots- Hanwag Yukon or Chillkat
Kuiu Yukon Gaiters

In pack
Klamath Hoody
MH Ghostlight Puffy or MH Stretch puff
· Kuiu 97 Pelton
· Rain jacket- Columbia Outdry reversible
· Socks-One extra pair of Farm to feet
· Pair of Kuiu Merino gloves
· Pelton neck Gaiter
· Sorel Beanie

Chest/Bino Pack-(FHF or AGC)
Outdoor edge- Knife + four blades
Head lamp- Blk Diamond- No idea on model
Tags
Three MSR Water tablets
Lighter (Wrapped in Electrical tape)
Fire starter
Rangefinder
Pen
Phone
Carmax Wrapped in Leukotape
Pea shooter and Underwood P ammo

Things that Change on hunt season
Puffy size
Optics(Bino Powers/Tripod) * note my rangefinder is 7x
Sleeping bag drop to o degree or -10 in later seasons
Merino zip off base bottoms or synthetic base pants
Stove for Tut
Calls
Array of food and supplements

I highly recommend back up items back at truck-- extra Clothing, extra food, extra pad

BOBO, might add a bow to that list Or will you have room J/K

Season can make a difference for sure, but, I have woke up to 6" of snow on bow hunts and cold, like wise I have hunted 2nd 3rd season and it was nearing 80 and upper 50's respectively. Keeping additional gear in the base truck is a real good idea. Better to have and not need sts.

I just buy tags to support wildlife

Yelp, big difference in weather between Idaho and Southern CO/ NM. I can’t remember ever having snow accumulation via early sept and under 10k in Southern CO, but I will never forget getting a foot In Idaho.

To the OP- My best advice is start shopping now for next year. Example Mountain hardware ghost whisper puffy(7.4 oz) is on sale for 50% off for $159, etc. good gear is expensive but you can cheapen it back a lot when you have time to shop.

Do you need exceptional gear? absolutely not, but makes life on a hill a little more comfortable. Look in your closet also, you would be shock at carry over items you might have.

Don’t under estimate the value of dropping 10+ lbs of fat off your body.

Elk hunting can get expensive. Here was my approach...

Get some feedback from people like in this thread
You will notice a few trends that are being brought up constantly.
Figure out what your plans are. Is this a one time trip? How and where are you hunting?
Lay out a list of what you have.
Lay out a list of what you want to take.
Figure out what you NEED to get and WANT to get
Determine a budget and priotize items. I spent the most money on bags and boots
Start watching the discount sites and used gear
Great gear to get used (range finders, bags (if sized right), bino harness, survival gear)
If you get gear new try to buy it 3-5 months before your hunt. You may need to test or break in gear
Start scouting on google maps. Ask hunters who are going to that area.

Used and discounted gear are huge money savers for sure. If you have a year or two to accumulate that’s a huge help.

My wife introduced me to Poshmark. Sounds like a womens’-only site, but you would not believe the deals you can get on gently used high quality clothing and boots on there.

You know where I hunt pretty close, I think it was 1998 I got 6" at 9k, saw it down to 5k and it went from h80's to h40's for 2 days, sure got them moving around tho, not because it was cold, but comfortable for them.

I'm with ya on "tags to support wildlife" done that myself the past 2 years, but at least I brought hope a bunch of trout

BTW fellas, see if ya'll notice this as well, outside of Name brands, BOBO and NP pretty much have the full cabootle, sink, outhouse and 2 car garage loaded! I think they should hunt together, that would cut thier load by half each

Ha, 98 I just moved back to Texas from CO and was going through withdrawals all while making my brain donatable to science via foozballlll.

Yes sir, came back to Tx to work with my brother in 02, still have withdrawals

Rule No.1 of elk hunting.

90% of people overthink it

Soooo, do we get a hunting story, or do we have to wait for B&C certification?

When talking high end clothes. I have been 3 times in sept. Worn a pair of North face hiking pants all 3 times last year it rained like who'd thunk it every day. Those pants held water pretty dang well. I won't be back in cheap clothing.

Potential world record going to committee after drying period..... it’s amazing what holding out and only eating mountain house will do to your system.

I can handle 3-4 days of the same grub, just man up for one week of the year, but the carrying of trail cam flash cards smdh

I knew he went, I was driving thru uravan, came out near Redvale and saw a team heading back into a trail head. At 1st it wasn't unusual, but then I saw the horse and riders, two guys on qtr horses, a couple of pack mules, then a little fella on a Shetland pony, was no doubt then...

I can't believe he came all up in hur and said "I just got back" and gave no hunt details smh,, just because he got back a week after you did isnt anything to be much embarrassed about.

We had a good trip, I talked him out of shooting called in cow elk at 15 yards, then he got payback by not helping me with a small kitty situation. All in all had opportunity, wind and impatience got us a few times but we could of tagged out if we hadn’t over thought.

Hey guys, I appreciate all the advice and lists! Has already started to help me add and take things off of my list!

Sounds like a heck of a time and better than normal odds on opportunity And just look at the view ya'll had for a few days And... you came home with your truck, so heck of a trip.