6A Muzzy hunt question

[azelkhunter69]

Hey guys.  My wife and her brother have tags for the 6A muzzleloader hunt next week.  His first big game hunt.

We have had this hunt many times over the last 15 years and had good luck but, if the forecast holds, never that cold for that long.  Typical hunt the temps are 60/35, this one looks like 45/23.  The water is going to freeze and the bulls will go lower.  We usually hunt 7000+ ft.  I don't think that's going to work on this hunt.

I have some ideas but, anyone have any experience hunting the southern part of the unit when it gets cold and they move?  Please send me a private message.  Those of you that have talked to me in the past know I don't share the information I am given.  

Thanks.

[PRDATR]

Ive hunted from Morman Lake to Cedar Flats and the elk never move because of lower temps. Hunt your usual area, they will still be there.

[Crazymonkey]

Had the same hunt 2 years ago and was blowing  snow on the way in .Was 17 at night and low 40 during  the day. The elk were still in there normal spots .We didn't  have water in the trailers  for 4 days .

[goinhuntn]

My buddy had this hunt few years back & had quite a bit of snow. He hunted around Clint Wells & Happy Jack areas, shot his Bull (nice 6x6) in a canyon behind Clint Wells.

[dsotm]

Sent you a PM. Had this same hunt a few years ago.

[AzRaised08]

On 11/4/2022 at 4:38 PM, PRDATR said:

Ive hunted from Morman Lake to Cedar Flats and the elk never move because of lower temps. Hunt your usual area, they will still be there.

I’m not overly familiar with late hunting in 6a (though I should be at the end of the month with my wife’s tag!), but based on late hunting I’ve done in unit 1 and 27, elk didn’t tend to move too much until December unless there was a lot of snow. Like PRDATR said, they should be in the same spots you’ve been hunting/seeing them even in those temps

[Hoss50]

We had a late hunt a few years ago in the cold in 7E. Temps at night in the teens and highs in the 30-40s like you are talking about. 

We had water in the trailer for 5 days. The tanks are below the trailer and exposed with no insulation.

We bought a roll of duct wrap insulation before we left. When we got camp setup we used the duct wrap to skirt the trailer and block the gap from the trailer to the ground. We kept the heat in the trailer set to the lowest of 55* inside during the day, and a little warmer at night. The water never froze. 

The year after we were in Kaibab and temps were below freezing at night and the water never froze with no skirting at all. It was just open. It wasn't windy though. 

 

 

[CWpredator]

Don’t stress. I’ll be in a neighboring unit tent camping for the late archery hunt solo at the same time. Just think of how it could be worse. I’m bringing more wood cutting gear than hunting supplies…..

[azelkhunter69]

2 hours ago, CWpredator said:

Don’t stress. I’ll be in a neighboring unit tent camping for the late archery hunt solo at the same time. Just think of how it could be worse. I’m bringing more wood cutting gear than hunting supplies…..

We'll be comfy with the wood stove going.  Nothing better then a good wood pile.  Good luck.

[azelkhunter69]

The way things have gone over the last few years, I hate to throw info out on the Internet but I also don't want to be the guy that doesn't give an update.

The guys that said they would be in the usual spots were kind of half right.

There was a rain/ice/snow storm the Wednesday before the hunt.  We didn't see an elk until Saturday afternoon.  Sunday was a nice day with highs in the mid 40's and elk were everywhere in the morning.  My brother-in-law scored on a 3x2, his first big game animal.  You would have thought he shot a world record, it was awesome.  We dropped him and the meat off at my mom's on Wednesday and my wife and I went back for the last day and a half.  She was finally able to get it done on a 4x3 the last morning.  That was the biggest bull we saw the whole hunt.

Other than two days, it was windy and cold.  The last day topped out at 50, but started at 19.  I have discovered in 20+ years of hunting elk, that they are pretty soft for such a big animal.  I have witnessed a bad rain storm(with some hail) drive them into the canyons to hide.  This hunt was no different.  The storm(and the snow storm the week prior) drove the elk lower.  The big bulls never came back.  I am not a biologist, but it makes sense to me that after expending so much energy during the rut, once they went lower, the big bulls weren't going to expend energy to travel back and/or to fight the cold.  Everyone we talked to said/saw the same things we did.  No elk, then cows and spikes/rag horns.  

In the end, I am glad we were able to give my brother-in-law a good experience and that we filled the freezer again.  We want to shoot big elk as much as the next guy/gal but the meat and the opportunity to get in the woods is the most important.  Definitely learned some lessons, as I do every elk season.  Happy Thanksgiving and good luck to those that still have tags.  I don't know what's going on with the pictures.  I know this is a common problem, but not one I have ever had before.  But, you get the idea.

 

I 

[Ed67]

Great write up and congratulations on the bulls. 

[AzRaised08]

Congratulations on the bulls! Sounds like they were hard earn and I’m glad you were able to get two on the ground in tough hunting conditions 

[CouesPursuit]

Great job, thanks for sharing back the update. Congratulations to your brother and wife!

[elkaholic]

Nice job filling a bull tag!

[CATERPILLAR]

Congratulations, late hunts are tough, even tougher with a muzzle loader, yall did good.