Jarbidge Elk 2020

Colfax_Hunter · Nov 3, 2020

First wanted to thank everyone that provided information on hunting elk in Jarbidge for this years early rifle elk hunt.

I had helped a friend on his elk hunt in 2016 and started applying that next year. I was late to the point race, but everyone has a chance in Nevada, so I had planned to just keep applying until I could draw a tag.

The draw came and I think it was around 3 AM when I received the text notification from my credit card of a large purchase. Opened up my email and was pleasantly surprised to see I had drawn the 72-74 early rifle tag. Let the planning begin. Started with the biologist, then paper maps, OnX, GoHunt, BaseMap, scouring thru all the posts I could find, I used them all.

In 2016 we went in thru the west side and that had a pretty going amount of people, so I chose to try one of the southern end trail heads as my access point. I let my wife know that in order for me to make the most out of this tag I would need to be in Nevada every month until the season started. To make things a little more complicated I wanted to get my daughter her first D Zone buck in California, I drew fourth season tags in Colorado for deer and elk, and I had two tags as well for California, one was the same area as my daughter and the other is the open season deer tag.

Scouting trip #1 was early June. Five hour drive to Elko then another two hours to the trail head. We camped at the trail head and did a day hike up the trail and into the area I wanted to focus on. Everything was green and water was everywhere, unlike California this year. Ticks were bad, river crossings were cool, saw a few elk, but decided I needed to backpack in and not spend the 2 hours hiking in and 2 hours out for this hunt. Decided to make the 2 hour trip over to the west side for the one night, first run in with the sheep, little did I know they would end up right where I wanted to be.

BradA · Nov 3, 2020

Dang it is beautiful! Can’t wait to hear the rest of the story.

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Colfax_Hunter · Nov 3, 2020

Back home, more discussions with the biologist, more maps, marking spots on OnX that I wanted to check out. GoHunt released a beta version of 3D maps but only for the computers, this was nice to see the elevation and different areas that we could not see from the trail. River still needed flip flops to cross, luckily the three crossings were somewhat together so we would just leave them on until the last one.

Mom was not happy with the lack of cell service on the first trip, so a Garmin In Reach Mini was added. Pairing with the phone and using the Earthmate app for texting was nice to have. We used the Steripen on this trip for the water, but with it being 95 degrees during the day we just couldn't keep up with our need. A filter will be added before the next trip. Grass/weeds were starting to dry out some, so I do not recommend tennis shoes. We spent a few hours each day picking stickers our of the shoes and socks, every time we moved.

Elk - we did see 15 bulls on this trip, which was nice to see, but being summer and my hunt in October, I knew things could change.

Colfax_Hunter · Nov 3, 2020

and the sheep - they had moved the sheep into this area, had a camp set up just east of the river, three dogs, horses, mules had be questioning if I had made the right decision.

Colfax_Hunter · Nov 3, 2020

Scouting trip #3 - early September. With muzzeloader season opening Sept 1st and the hopes of seeing & hearing rutting elk I planned our last trip. Unfortunately it was a short one. Another seven hour trip to the trailhead. This time with pants and hiking shoes to limit the stickers, which did help. But the heat and smoke from the west coast fires my son was done by Saturday afternoon. We did spot some elk, but far off with some very faint bugles on Friday night. Didn't see or hear anything Saturday and by 3 PM, the smoke was pretty bad so we called it and made a mad dash to pack camp up, hike back to the truck and made it to Elko by 10 PM. Big car show in Elko that weekend and we were lucky to get the last room we could find and get a burger before closing time.

Colfax_Hunter · Nov 3, 2020

My friend that I helped get his elk in 2016 would be joining me for the opener. We talked and decided to go in three days early, to get camp set up, water filtered and packed up to camp and to use the three days to figure out where the elk have gone. I spent the last of September and up to October 17th hunting in California. My daughter was able to get her first buck on Oct 2nd and we spent the rest of the time trying to fill her second tag.

We decided to meet in Wells on the 18th, and go in to the trailhead early on the 19th. Packs were heavy and the weather forecast for the next 10 days had low temps in the single digits just after the opener. We decided to pack in as much as we needed for three days and would resupply on the 21st, the day before the opener. The hike in wasn't bad as the trail along the river is pretty simple. Water crossings were done in boots, but the water had come up since the beginning of September. We decided we needed elevation so the last half mile was up the trail to get camp set up on a saddle. This provided a great vantage point, we could see in all directions. Spotted some elk each day but not the numbers I had been seeing, again the questions about me choosing the right location came into my mind. The sheep were gone, but they hadn't been gone too long. You could see where they went, and they went everywhere in that basin.

Monday night and Tuesday had us glassing for elk early and late and we came to the decision that it was nice having this vantage point, but there was no way to actually hunt an elk from there if we saw one. Tuesday night we decided to move camp back down by the river to give us more options. Wednesday morning I glassed for a couple hours and saw a few elk, but again far off and no where near our vantage point. Camp was moved down and we did our resupply run. With the single digit weather that was supposed to come we chose to take in four days of food and would come back out to the trucks if the weather was too bad.

On our resupply run we came across a couple groups of people with horses on their way in. Not unexpected to see people, it's a big place to hunt, right? Talked with each group and told them where our camp was. That night we had a cow moose come by camp.

Colfax_Hunter · Nov 3, 2020

Opening Day - Oct 22nd.

Our plan was to up on a vantage point above camp before sun up that will allow us to view a basin where we had seen three bulls on Tuesday morning. Up at 4:15, coffee and hiking by 5. Took us about 45 minutes to get to where we wanted to be, had to wait a little for the sun to get up to see how far up the hill we wanted to go. Wind was blowing pretty good and it was cold, and getting colder. Our bladders and drinking tubes were frozen by 6:30, luckily I had thrown in a liter bottle if we needed it, it was slushy but we could drink it.

Anticipation changed to disappointment when it became clear that the people we had passed on our supply run, were all hunting the same exact spot. Within 30 min of sunrise we had seven people all within 1000 yards of us. Out thru the bottom of the basin we were watching came someone that didn't have a tag, just helping a buddy, then 200 yards above us someone talking loud enough for the entire area to hear, another 500 yard up we found two horses and a spike camp. It was clear there would be no elk in this area and I kicked myself for choosing the "easy" hunt that morning, I knew it wasn't going to work.

We did see four bulls higher in the basin in some nasty country. Rocks above and below them, it's obvious why they were in there.

We decided to put on a hunt and proceeded to climb close to 1500 feet out of the area we were in, found where the elk had been, found where a few groups of hunters had come down from the east side and got into a spot where you wouldn't want to shoot an elk. I unloaded my rifle, put it on my pack, and bailed off the top to try and find our way down. On the way back down I spotted a bull just coming out of the timber. To far way and not enough light to go after but it was an elk. Then a cow elk came thru the area which got the bulls attention. The cow went up thru the bottom, picked up the bull I had spotted, picked up another, then another and took all three up and out of the basin we were in, thanks for that.

Made it back to camp after dark, water was in the process of already freezing. Luckily we filled the stove pot with water for the morning, everything froze that night.

Colfax_Hunter · Nov 3, 2020

Oct 23rd - Pretty miserable night, everything froze, one of those nights where you put on most of the clothes you packed in and still struggle to stay warm. The alarm went off, I wasn't sleeping, and I jumped up, just wanting to get moving

That night we decided to get away from the crowd and try and hunt some elk we had glassed to the west of us. We thought a drainage 30 min south of camp would get us in the general direction but didn't want to go up it in the dark. We started walking at 6 with the idea we would be at the mouth of the drainage by first light. Warmed up during the hike down the trail and started to remove hoods, pack gloves, unzip jackets.

We came around a small bend and could start to see the mouth of the drainage, walking a little further I look up and see an elk coming from our left to right, moving from water up the drainage we were heading too. I drop my gloves, hiking sticks, and sat down right in the trail. The elk was really tan and I had a feeling it was a bull, threw up my rifle and confirmed that it was and said "I am shooting this bull"!

First shot hit him low thru the brisket which turned him around, he came down the hill about 10 yards and stopped, second shot hit him right in front of the shoulders and dropped him. Frustration from the opening day turned into elation, texting my family on the In Reach was a great way to share the information with them. At this point I honestly didn't care how big he was, I just shot a bull in Nevada.

Took a while to gather everything I had thrown down, I looked back up and no elk, what just happened. We gave it another 15 min but it wasn't needed, the bull dropped at the second shot, then rolled down the hillside a bit and got caught up on some trees.

Some pulling and moving the trees and he rolled a little bit more.

Always have to have the lucky Snickers...

Quartered and ready for the pack out.

Back to camp to get camp out that day. Water was still frozen so had to use the stove to warm water to thaw out the containers.

Made it to the trail head and set up a base camp, had sausages and a few beers that tasted pretty good that night.

copple2 · Nov 3, 2020

Great write up and pictures! Glad you had success and thanks for sharing.

Colfax_Hunter · Nov 3, 2020

We woke up Saturday morning with a plan to make three trips, two if we felt like we could do it. The bonus was the elk was only 2.5 miles from the truck, closer than camp.

We started just after sun up and finished around 3, did it in two trips, and I am still paying for that last load. Made it back to Wells for the night and home by 1 on Sunday.

Yes there are bigger bulls in Jarbidge, and this is the bull I chose to shoot and am completely happy with it. In total I probably hiked 90 to 100 miles between three scouting trips and opener.

Going in three days early, it was good to be in there and find where the elk were and we not. But that three days added close to 30 miles of hiking to the trip and definitely impacted us when the hunt started.

Did choosing to focus on the southern end of the wilderness have an impact on the number of elk we saw, maybe. We heard 5-6 shots on opening day and my two shots were the only ones we heard on the second day, and no shots on the third day.

For those of you that find this thread when searching for future hunting seasons. Believe what everyone says, this place is no joke and is an extreme environment. Don't take in extra just in case you need it, you have to carry it all out. The dream of killing big bulls is great, but be thoughtful of how far in you are willing to get an animal out. Be prepared for anything, 95 degree heat in the summer where water is your most important thought, to single digits during hunting season. We were extremely lucky that the weather that was in the forecast didn't happen and stayed north and east of us, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado got hit hard.

Like I said I hiked 90-100 miles for & during this hunt, but that is just a very small percentage of the overall wilderness. I would be happy to answer any questions based on my experience.

A few more, I like to take pictures, sorry for such a long post.

Terry

Wapitiwilly · Nov 3, 2020

Great story, thanks for sharing??????

treedagain · Nov 3, 2020

Cool bull and story.

unclebuck · Nov 3, 2020

Great story, sounds like you paid your dues. The Jarbidge is no joke for sure. Congratulations

BradA · Nov 3, 2020

Awesome story thanks for sharing it with us and congratulations!

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sjhgraysage · Nov 3, 2020

Congrats
You earned that bull

eelgrass · Nov 3, 2020

A huge congratulations for working hard and doing the best you could, and for the great write up. Glad you scored on a good bull!

Troubadour · Nov 4, 2020

Great narrative. Proud of you.

DeerHunter53 · Nov 4, 2020

Great story and a trophy is in the eyes of the beholder. You earned yours congrats

heywouldya · Nov 4, 2020

Great pictures and a heck of a write-up. Congrats on a successful hunt.

hwy

SS! · Nov 4, 2020

Well done!!!

GeoHunter · Nov 4, 2020

Congrats on getting a nice bull! I pulled one out of Jarbidge a few years ago with my muzzy, and that area is a beast! You definitely put the work in and earned it!

StillLernin · Nov 4, 2020

Well-earned! Great trip! Have to give some thought on any more backpack hunts though...

Deerlove · Nov 4, 2020

sweet, did you see any monsters?

Ranger1 · Nov 5, 2020

Congrats and thanks for sharing the journey!

BroadHead · Nov 5, 2020

Great write-up and awesome pictures. Congratulations on the harvest! Time spent outdoors with your son is always priceless

hikenhunt · Nov 6, 2020

Thanks for a great story and congratulations

Colfax_Hunter · Nov 7, 2020

Deerlove said:
sweet, did you see any monsters?

We did see two really nice bulls on the opener, but they were in some nasty country and I would probably still be there trying to get meat out 5 lbs at a time.

Calbuck · Nov 7, 2020

I can't believe you drew all those tags plus the open tag in Cali

paulrock · Nov 8, 2020

incredible story thank you for sharing

PleaseDear · Nov 8, 2020

Good reading right there!

congrats

Robb

Moe · Nov 8, 2020

Thanx for the hunting story. Loved it. Nice bull!

Founder · Nov 8, 2020

Good stuff. Dandy bull.

sage_mule · Nov 10, 2020

Great story and pictures! I also wanted to do a trivia comment on your Rubber Boa pic. I saw my first one last month in Idaho while on a muzzy deer hunt. I've never seen a snake without scales so I took a pic and googled it when I got home. They are native to the West-NW US and Southern Canada. One researcher documented one that was over 50 years old. Anyway, thanks for the fun read.

twdjr · Nov 10, 2020

Well done!

3TOE · Nov 12, 2020

Awesome story man & congratulations on a hard earned & well deserved bull. I have been hunting for 35 years and it still amazes me how much work, effort & dedication goes into what most of us consider a passionate hobby. Well done & excellent write up! ??

Wiszard · Nov 23, 2020

Very cool write up and congrats on your bull. I literally started researching elk units in NV yesterday as I have 15 points and I will look to burn them in 2022. I am scratching this unit off the list. Just kidding.....you def earned your bull. Congrats again!

chasemike · Nov 27, 2020

Awesome write up

dancermatt · Dec 5, 2020

Colfax_Hunter said:
Oct 23rd - Pretty miserable night, everything froze, one of those nights where you put on most of the clothes you packed in and still struggle to stay warm. The alarm went off, I wasn't sleeping, and I jumped up, just wanting to get moving

That night we decided to get away from the crowd and try and hunt some elk we had glassed to the west of us. We thought a drainage 30 min south of camp would get us in the general direction but didn't want to go up it in the dark. We started walking at 6 with the idea we would be at the mouth of the drainage by first light. Warmed up during the hike down the trail and started to remove hoods, pack gloves, unzip jackets.

We came around a small bend and could start to see the mouth of the drainage, walking a little further I look up and see an elk coming from our left to right, moving from water up the drainage we were heading too. I drop my gloves, hiking sticks, and sat down right in the trail. The elk was really tan and I had a feeling it was a bull, threw up my rifle and confirmed that it was and said "I am shooting this bull"!

First shot hit him low thru the brisket which turned him around, he came down the hill about 10 yards and stopped, second shot hit him right in front of the shoulders and dropped him. Frustration from the opening day turned into elation, texting my family on the In Reach was a great way to share the information with them. At this point I honestly didn't care how big he was, I just shot a bull in Nevada.

Took a while to gather everything I had thrown down, I looked back up and no elk, what just happened. We gave it another 15 min but it wasn't needed, the bull dropped at the second shot, then rolled down the hillside a bit and got caught up on some trees.

View attachment 16490

Some pulling and moving the trees and he rolled a little bit more.

View attachment 16491

View attachment 16492
View attachment 16493

Always have to have the lucky Snickers...

View attachment 16495

Quartered and ready for the pack out.

View attachment 16496

Back to camp to get camp out that day. Water was still frozen so had to use the stove to warm water to thaw out the containers.

View attachment 16497

Made it to the trail head and set up a base camp, had sausages and a few beers that tasted pretty good that night.

View attachment 16498 View attachment 16499

Great write up and congratulations on a great hunt and bull.