Mineral Mountain Guides and Outfitters
Deer, Mule Deer, Elk
Contact Shannon and Greg Roy – 970-641-2783
My cousin and I have been drawing and hunting throughout the west, generally for backpack elk hunts and decided to finally put our Colorado points to use. We drew our unit, GMU66, and then the real research began. We knew the area had some steep terrain and that we needed to find a way into the mountains, so we could get away from others and have a great hunt. We ultimately decided to try a drop camp service, so we could go deep into the timber. This required us to do even more research. After narrowing it down to a couple outfitters and having a lot of discussions we decided to use Mineral Mountain Outfitters.
Shannon and Greg offer various options, such as mountain horse rides, fishing and camping trips, fully guided or drop hunts. They walked us through what we should expect, what type of gear they provide at camp, and what we should pack along. The main things we needed to make sure we had with us was food, clothing, packs, and other personal items we’d need on an elk hunt.
We arrived at Powderhorn headquarters in the evening and rented a nice bunkhouse to get our gear together, eat some food, and take our last good showers before the 13 days in the mountains. The bunkhouse was more of a mountain cabin with a kitchen, couch, couple beds and a bathroom. The next morning we got up pretty early, got our gear back in the truck and drove over to the barn where we met Shannon and Greg. After meeting and discussing the plans we loaded up headed up the mountain.
If you aren’t used to riding horses, give yourself some time and let the horses do their thing. They’re well trained and do a great job, however when you go up the mountain trail, and I do mean up, don’t let the horse try to peel your legs off by hugging the trees, as my cousin found out. It was a great ride with some beautiful scenery.
The camps were well supplied with a wall tent, wood stove, firewood, cook top stove, table, cots, and other amenities you would expect at a Top Shelf drop camp. You’ll also be given a radio, which you can use to make contact to Shannon or Greg, if you need to have them bring you something, or come and help pack out your elk, or deer.
We did eat tag soup, but that’s not for the lack of animals, as we were in bulls just about everyday. I did take shot, ok maybe 2 shots, at a decent bull halfway through the hunt, but I missed on both shots. John nocked an arrow, but never let one fly. If you’ve watched or read about any of our hunts you know why he never took a shot…
The end of the hunt was as much fun as the beginning, as we got to ride the horses back down the steep trail to the camp headquarters. By the way, video and pictures don’t do it justice. It was a steep ride. Lots of fun. As a reward we were able to have some fresh coffee and some homemade cookies when we arrived back at headquarters. Thanks Shannon! My cousin and I thoroughly enjoyed the camp, the hunt and everything Shannon and Greg made available. Our plan is to go back and do it again! We would certainly recommend them, for your Colorado GMU 66 Hunts! Visit them online at https://www.mineralmountainoutfitter.com/
