2024 Elk Hunting Season Recap
Even though we’re well into 2025 at this point, the 2024 hunting season just wrapped up for Dark Timber Outfitters and Timber to Table Guide Service. Having really enjoyable hunters in camp throughout the fall and early winter coupled with really good elk hunting made this one of the better seasons we’ve ever had.
There’s a lot of subtle, quiet moments during a hunt that stick in every hunter or guide’s mind that become lifelong memories but there’s also not so subtle moments that stick out too. When I say “not so subtle” I’m referring to notching tags!
On that note, these were a few highlights we wanted to pass along:
First-Time Youth Hunters
Having first time youth hunters in camp is always fun. It’s all brand new to them and we had a young teenager during 1st Rifle who connected on a bull on his first elk hunt. The fact that his dad and our guide, Todd, were right there with him made it a truly special experience. The young hunter did great and was all in on helping pack meat out back to the trailhead. Upon returning home, his dad immediately put the antlers above the mantle of the fireplace and had friends over for elk burgers. This entire paragraph displays awesomeness on a bunch of levels!
Archery Elk Hunts
We had a few archery hunters who drew for unit 61 and to put it bluntly, they were basically covered up in elk during their hunts. Yes, it takes a lot of points to draw that license, but the bugling sessions and elk behavior one can experience during the rut in that unit is remarkable. When you’re in it, it’s magical. Our hunters notched tags on good bulls and had plenty of encounters which is what unit 61 is all about. The number of elk you can see, hear and get in on is incredible. There are some dark timber patches and aspen stands that are so physically beat down with elk sign and awash with the essence of elk that it’s honestly hard to describe. You could really apply that description to our whole area, units 61 and 62 both. Yes, unit 62 sees more hunting pressure but despite that pressure the elk are still consistently there. I believe a lot of that has to do with the high-quality habitat in our area: good feed throughout, available water, and reliable sanctuaries. Habitat, habitat, habitat…it’s what keeps the elk there.
Father-Son Rifle Hunts
During 2nd rifle we had a couple father/son groups and all three of the sons and one of the dads tagged out on bulls. I know I’ve said it before in these write-ups, but being able to participate in and help facilitate those types of moments for our hunters is a big reason why we love guiding. It’s humbling and so cool to be a part of.
Late Season Cow Elk Hunts
A couple highlights from our Timber to Table hunts included a first-time female hunter who killed a cow and wasted no time delving into learning how to cook elk meat properly as soon as she arrived home. She shared photos of the meals and asked some culinary questions along the way. But it puts a big smile on our faces to know that as soon as she got home, she made elk chili and successfully reverse-seared a beautiful roast. That’s wonderful.
Donated Hunt
We also donated a Timber to Table hunt to Coloradans for Responsible Wildlife Management (CRWM). We did this to help raise funds that were necessary to defeat the misguided and completely misinformed effort to ban mountain lion hunting in Colorado. The proposition was defeated by the public voting it out but not without a massive effort to engage and educate the public. This was a classic example of really awful ballot box biology. The non-profit, pro-hunting group Howl for Wildlife was able to auction our donated hunt on behalf of CRWM and we hope to continue donating hunts to these organizations going forward because the anti-hunting crowd is not going to back down or go away. If you’re not familiar with either of these groups, I encourage you to become familiar with them and support them in any way you can.
Howl for Wildlife: https://www.howlforwildlife.org
Coloradans for Responsible Management: https://savethehuntcolorado.com
We hope 2025 is off to a great start for all of you and you’re working on getting ready for whatever adventures you have planned for the upcoming spring and/or fall hunting seasons. If you’re interested in booking a hunt with Dark Timber Outfitters please reach out via email (timbertotable@hotmail.com) or a good old-fashioned phone call at 208-691-3014. Thank you!