My Tripod Page

1998

(This story is an Email message from Dr. Brian Wiseman, who lives in Grand Junction, Colorado)

Hi Ange,

Well I got some pictures to go with the story. I have not tried sticking pictures in files, so if it doesn't work let me know and I will try again. I went hunting with 2 other guys. One had a cow license and the other a bull license like me. The guy with the cow tag organized the whole trip. He and the other guy spent the whole week up there but I could only stay the first weekend. We went on the Uncompahgre plateau about 30 miles southwest of Delta. We took a couple of horses and lots of assorted camping gear. The area is a wilderness area so there weren't many other hunters because you can't use ATVs. Opening morning it was so foggy you could only see about 30 feet if you were lucky. It cleared off by about 10 but all we saw in the morning were a few deer. About noon the fellow with the other bull tag saw a herd of cows down off a ridge but didn't go to check them out. The area over looks a huge canyon. You can easily see animals a mile away, and the whole view is probably about 60 miles. That afternoon we went back where he had seen the cows and sure enough they showed up about 3:45.They were probably 800 yards away and down a very steep 300 or 400 foot hill(almost cliff). The guy with the cow tag decided to head after them. Earlier that day he had gotten bucked off one of the horses, so I went along to help stalk the elk and clean the cow when he got it. We couldn't tell then but the herd had 30-40 cows in it.

When we got to them he had a cow in his sight and finger on the trigger when a bull walked through his sight. The entire area was thick with brush so even though they were in a large open area-probably25x50 yards, we could only see little pieces of it through the trees. Naturally the bull laid down were I couildn' t get a shot at him. We sat there for about 45 minutes with me telling my friend to shoot a cow because they were constantly moving around and in our sights, and him telling me that we were going to wait until the bull moved and get him. Finally with about 10 minutes of daylight left the bull got up and I got him at about 200 yards with a 30-06. When that happened the cows bolted briefly and then stopped, but my friend had already stood up, then they saw him and really took off so he didn't get one.

By the time we got him gutted, quartered and hung in some trees it was about 8 PM and very dark. We had an interesting walk out on game trails with flashlights.

The next morning I took one of the horses down to pack it out. There was about a 5 mile trail that was decent for horses instead of the game trails that went straight over the edge. In the picture with me and the horse the point type ridge above our heads is where we were sitting when we first saw them and we walk down and up that night. The whole rest of the week they saw lots of elk but due to all sorts of goofy happenings did not get another one. Also later in the week the weather turned bad, snowing 6-10 inches . I was lucky it wasn't like that. So it was a pretty eventful weekend for me. The rack is in the garage and our freezer is very full of meat. There may be a little better picture of the rack with the girls holding it, I will send it along when we get it developed.


COLORADO ELK HUNT 1998 (This story is an Email message from Dr. Brian Wiseman, who lives in Grand Junction, Colorado) Hi Ange, Well I got some pictures to go with the story. I have not tried sticking pictures in files, so if it doesn't work let me know and I will try again. I went hunting with 2 other guys. One had a cow license and the other a bull license like me. The guy with the cow tag organized the whole trip. He and the other guy spent the whole week up there but I could only stay the first weekend. We went on the Uncompahgre plateau about 30 miles southwest of Delta. We took a couple of horses and lots of assorted camping gear. The area is a wilderness area so there weren't many other hunters because you can't use ATVs. Opening morning it was so foggy you could only see about 30 feet if you were lucky. It cleared off by about 10 but all we saw in the morning were a few deer. About noon the fellow with the other bull tag saw a herd of cows down off a ridge but didn't go to check them out. The area over looks a huge canyon. You can easily see animals a mile away, and the whole view is probably about 60 miles. That afternoon we went back where he had seen the cows and sure enough they showed up about 3:45.They were probably 800 yards away and down a very steep 300 or 400 foot hill(almost cliff). The guy with the cow tag decided to head after them. Earlier that day he had gotten bucked off one of the horses, so I went along to help stalk the elk and clean the cow when he got it. We couldn't tell then but the herd had 30-40 cows in it. When we got to them he had a cow in his sight and finger on the trigger when a bull walked through his sight. The entire area was thick with brush so even though they were in a large open area-probably25x50 yards, we could only see little pieces of it through the trees. Naturally the bull laid down were I couildn' t get a shot at him. We sat there for about 45 minutes with me telling my friend to shoot a cow because they were constantly moving around and in our sights, and him telling me that we were going to wait until the bull moved and get him. Finally with about 10 minutes of daylight left the bull got up and I got him at about 200 yards with a 30-06. When that happened the cows bolted briefly and then stopped, but my friend had already stood up, then they saw him and really took off so he didn't get one. By the time we got him gutted, quartered and hung in some trees it was about 8 PM and very dark. We had an interesting walk out on game trails with flashlights. The next morning I took one of the horses down to pack it out. There was about a 5 mile trail that was decent for horses instead of the game trails that went straight over the edge. In the picture with me and the horse the point type ridge above our heads is where we were sitting when we first saw them and we walk down and up that night. The whole rest of the week they saw lots of elk but due to all sorts of goofy happenings did not get another one. Also later in the week the weather turned bad, snowing 6-10 inches . I was lucky it wasn't like that. So it was a pretty eventful weekend for me. The rack is in the garage and our freezer is very full of meat. There may be a little better picture of the rack with the girls holding it, I will send it along when we get it developed.




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