singleshot1
Well-known member
Little behind on this, catching up with work after a trip takes a bit and Illinois archery deer season in the rut (another story to come). I finally have time for a quick recap.
This has become an annual trip now, with my parents and my brother all living in Colorado now it has become a hunting / family visiting trip. Like previous years we just picked up cow tags to fill freezers.
Arrived a couple days early to acclimate to the elevation change and do some scouting. At this time the fires were unreal all around and depending on wind direction smoke made visibility a little harder than normal. While climbing up the first morning of scouting I walked past memories of last year.
As soon as I reached my glassing spot I see elk scattered all over the opposite hillside. I seen enough, time to get out and check other places and not booger these ones up. We check multiple places throughout the day and have a plan for opening morning.
Opener arrives, warmer than I would like but I can hear elk chirping and a bull bugling his head off not very far away in the dark. The sun starts to rise and of course it looks pretty cool and i have to take a picture.
While taking the picture I look below by hands and can see the bull that is bugling standing only 125 yards away. Crap, I now see the whole herd and I'm not prepared for the rodeo that is about to ensue. I slowly lower my arms, put my phone away, grab my rifle and shooting sticks, get set up for the shot. By now several have seen my movements, several were confused, and the bull was still screaming (remember I just have a cow tag). I finally locate a couple cows standing still, range them at 147 yards, trying to pick the biggest one I finally have the crosshairs on her and squeeze the trigger. Shot sounds great, looked great, but the explosion of elk everywhere I hadn't seen before make it impossible to follow her.
I give it a few minutes to clear out and settle down. I make my way over to where she was standing at the shot, locate blood right away and follow it a few steps until I see where she dove off a rock into a nice little hell hole. Relief, excitement and the oh sh*t factor hit all at once. With temperatures climbing fast that day, we didn't have much time to waste to get the meat taken care of.
Between three of us we made quick work of it and got it taken care of.
Over the next two days my buddy and my brother each filled their tags making that three years in a row that a couple flatlanders and a Colorado transplant filled all our tags. It's always a fun trip to Colorado with friends and family. Already looking forward to next year.
Last trip out.
This has become an annual trip now, with my parents and my brother all living in Colorado now it has become a hunting / family visiting trip. Like previous years we just picked up cow tags to fill freezers.
Arrived a couple days early to acclimate to the elevation change and do some scouting. At this time the fires were unreal all around and depending on wind direction smoke made visibility a little harder than normal. While climbing up the first morning of scouting I walked past memories of last year.
As soon as I reached my glassing spot I see elk scattered all over the opposite hillside. I seen enough, time to get out and check other places and not booger these ones up. We check multiple places throughout the day and have a plan for opening morning.
Opener arrives, warmer than I would like but I can hear elk chirping and a bull bugling his head off not very far away in the dark. The sun starts to rise and of course it looks pretty cool and i have to take a picture.
While taking the picture I look below by hands and can see the bull that is bugling standing only 125 yards away. Crap, I now see the whole herd and I'm not prepared for the rodeo that is about to ensue. I slowly lower my arms, put my phone away, grab my rifle and shooting sticks, get set up for the shot. By now several have seen my movements, several were confused, and the bull was still screaming (remember I just have a cow tag). I finally locate a couple cows standing still, range them at 147 yards, trying to pick the biggest one I finally have the crosshairs on her and squeeze the trigger. Shot sounds great, looked great, but the explosion of elk everywhere I hadn't seen before make it impossible to follow her.
I give it a few minutes to clear out and settle down. I make my way over to where she was standing at the shot, locate blood right away and follow it a few steps until I see where she dove off a rock into a nice little hell hole. Relief, excitement and the oh sh*t factor hit all at once. With temperatures climbing fast that day, we didn't have much time to waste to get the meat taken care of.
Between three of us we made quick work of it and got it taken care of.
Over the next two days my buddy and my brother each filled their tags making that three years in a row that a couple flatlanders and a Colorado transplant filled all our tags. It's always a fun trip to Colorado with friends and family. Already looking forward to next year.
Last trip out.
