Father, sons try out Colo. elk hunting
Published 7:05 pm Sunday, December 24, 2017
Christmas maybe came a little early for Richard Morton and sons Justin and Jared.
The three recently spent two weeks on an elk hunt in Colorado, a trip that the elder Morton called “a hoot.”
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“It was a wonderful time for father and two sons to spend together in beautiful country in Colorado,” he said.
The trio hunts the old-fashioned way.
They hunt public land, apply for and receive elk tags, do not use a guide and walk in, camp out in a tent and then pack all of the meat back out on their backs.
“I first went in 2007 after a friend showed me the area,” said Morton, who is an assistant district attorney for Beauregard parish and is a retired colonel in the national guard. “The three of us first went together in 2015.”
This year both Jared and Richard drew bull tags for the hunt on land near Craig, Colo., while Justin had a cow tag.
“We go to the same spot every year, roughing it,” Richard said. “It’s not for everybody.”
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Jared, who is a detective in the Beauregard sheriff’s department, got his elk the first day while Richard killed his on the third morning. Justin, who is an RN, failed to get his cow during the hunt.
The trio hunts public land outside of Craig which is located in the north corner of the state.
Richard said that the trio will walk in about a mile from where they park their vehicles and set up camp.
He said that they will hunt a valley down away from camp, taking positions about an hour before daylight.
“It has been a good spot for us. What I think happens is that there are a lot of hunters that go higher, will start shooting and the elk will run off, coming down through this valley,” said Morton.
Sometimes more than one elk will run out. On their recent hunt, two bull elks came out one at a time and they were able to take both down. Each bull weighed right at 700 pounds with a 4×4 rack.
“Every year we have been able to bring some meat back,” Morton said adding that they will skin and debone the elk in place and then pack it out on their back.
He said that it takes more than one trip carrying about 50 pounds of meat at a time, traversing about 400 feet in elevation.
“Justin carries about twice what I carry…we call him our pack mule.”
In his 61 years, Morton said that he has also hunted deer, squirrel and duck but that his favorite is what he has done for the past 10 years in Colorado, particularly since 2015.
Richard Morton holds up his 700-pound elk
