Good afternoon all-

I have been a frequent lurker on this board for some time now and I now feel " up to speed" enough that I thought I could post. As I mentioned above, I finally convinced my wife to allow me to leave NE Wisconsin and venture out west for an elk hunt. Man, I' m so excited. I' ll be going with an old buddy of mine and both of us are first time elk hunters. We' re both very excited, however, we also realize that the odds are not stacked in our favor. With that in mind, we' re exhausting every possible option to try and improve those odds. No matter though, if we bring one (or two) home, then great...if not, I' m sure it will be a great time.

We' re applying for a draw in unit 67 near Gunnison for either sex 1st rifle season and if we don' t get in the draw, then we' re going over the counter to unit 441 just west of Steamboat. We' re going unguided and strictly on foot. We have already been conditioning and reading every elk magazine, book or article I can lay my hands on. I am in the process of ordering topo maps for the area from huntinmaps.com. I have my rifle and load picked out (my 30.06 Remington with 180 grain Nosler Partitions.) and most of my gear purchased, but since this is my first elk hunt and scouting is not possible (and the season is so short) I am looking for any tips that can my hunt more successful.

I' ve spoken to the DOW several times and I' d like to thank Charlie, Bud and Roy for all their help up to this point. We' ve ordered the Big Game CD and in combination with that and several phone conversations, have narrowed down our hunting areas to some specific locations:

For unit 67, we' re looking at backcountry areas in the La Garita Wilderness and Sawtooth Mountain. And for unit 441, we' re looking at Routt Natl Forest at Quaker Mountain, Meaden Peak or Sand Mountain.

Does anyone have some firsthand experience in these areas?

What sort of calling would work on elk in early to mid October from the 11th to the 15th?

Any additional tips, or reassuring words :-), regarding game care once we get one back to camp would also be appreciated. I' ve read several other posts regarding packing the meat out and stuff, but I' m slightly concerned about spoilage during the day if it gets warm.

Thank you in advance for any advice!!

Big TK