Monday before the opener I made my way out west out of Woodland Park to my 4th rifle cow hunt. Got into town late so I couldn't glass that night. My son was gonna get into camp Tues night so I was gonna spend all day Tues glassing . Made my way to my normal spot with a cup of coffee and breakfast in the warmth of the truck. I can see private down below, oak brush drainages in the middle and aspen conifer up high. So from 7500 up to 10500 I can get a good feel what's going ok if I have the time. Snow left amounted to about 4-6 inches in spots about 9000, 1-2 foot on the north facing heavy timber slopes and a mix of both in the open areas where it was wind swept. My primary spot is in the oak brush up at the head of a valley and there I found three bulls putting on the feed bag. Undisturbed or pressured I'm sure they would be there all week or at least till the opener. Need horses or packs to get them out. My second spot a little higher up held 3 cows just milling around. Good to know they are in the area, so maybe some more that I can't see.
I look up high to a ridge that has always intrigued me and low and behold.....lots of em. 20 or so cows feeding. My first reaction was like you got to be sitting me. This is the second light winter year that they were up there. 10300 feet in the middle of November. Then I thought to my self, you dummy, they are right where they should be, south facing and unpressured. Ok, so now how do I get there. I come up with a plan to put them to bed and see how long they stay out and feed, then go get the quad and get up to this Ridgeline trail to evaluate if I can even get there. I'm worried about snow drifts in the shade. They ended up feeding till 1000 before laying down. Tjat was a good sign they were truly unpressured and just hanging out for the long haul.