On a particularly mediocre Thursday afternoon walking back to my classroom after the bell, I opened my phone to see a new voicemail from an unknown CO number.
As a public school teacher, my hunting season schedule has always been a confounding source of frustration. I have to pick and choose how I dedicate my limited time off, and often rush the hunts that I do prioritize. Contrasted with that, is my surplus of scouting time available. Thus my quandary when I texted some friends to gut check whether I should accept this potentially once-per-20-years hunt with 5 hunting days left in the season. @winmag summarized it best when he texted me, “ will it provide the experience you want?” My gut reaction, was hard no. Having never held a “big 3” tag before myself, I always envisioned spending my summer off scouting, then acting on my scouting decisively in the 3-5 day window I’d be able to take off during the season itself. On the other hand, it was impossibly difficult to resist the urge to go for it and appreciate the opportunity presented to me with whatever time I had.
As luck would have it, my wife would be traveling for work, so I could have my toddler spend some quality grandparent time for three days while I got after it in the little time I had. Also, it was a weekday-only hunt. Hugely tipping the scales towards accepting CPW’s offer, was the offered assistance of a good friend from my USFWS days, as well as the invaluable presence of @Bluffgruff for all 3 days, and @winmag on Sunday. Here would be the draft schedule: scout starting around noon Saturday with the help of bluffgruff and my buddy K; scout all day Sunday with the help of all 3, and aim to kill by Monday with a hard cutoff of 10 am in order to be back in time for an RMBS/BHA event I organized to spread the word opposing prop 127. Not exactly the “experience” I had dreamed of over my years of applying, but gotta take what you can get!
Another con to accepting is that I had purposefully avoided jumping down the rabbit hole on any of the big 3, so my confidence was not exactly brimming with knowledge of determining gender, age, or even behavior this time of year. However, having two experienced hunters like winmag and bluffgruff, really boosted my confidence of being able to do this tag at least some abbreviated justice. Also, I was coming off the back of a goat hunt! Just a few weeks prior, one of my closest friends got this very same call for a different unit. I dropped my leave days I had taken for my muzzleloader elk hunt, and immediately went to help.
It is not really my story to tell, but I can share that we had 4 guys, we glassed about 6 different basins, and saw 1 goat, a 2.5 year old billy that my friend was thrilled to take with limited time on the tag. After that experience, not only was I potentially addicted to goat hunting, but at least I had some minor experience to hang my hat on.
All that is a long way of saying, I accepted the tag.
As a public school teacher, my hunting season schedule has always been a confounding source of frustration. I have to pick and choose how I dedicate my limited time off, and often rush the hunts that I do prioritize. Contrasted with that, is my surplus of scouting time available. Thus my quandary when I texted some friends to gut check whether I should accept this potentially once-per-20-years hunt with 5 hunting days left in the season. @winmag summarized it best when he texted me, “ will it provide the experience you want?” My gut reaction, was hard no. Having never held a “big 3” tag before myself, I always envisioned spending my summer off scouting, then acting on my scouting decisively in the 3-5 day window I’d be able to take off during the season itself. On the other hand, it was impossibly difficult to resist the urge to go for it and appreciate the opportunity presented to me with whatever time I had.
As luck would have it, my wife would be traveling for work, so I could have my toddler spend some quality grandparent time for three days while I got after it in the little time I had. Also, it was a weekday-only hunt. Hugely tipping the scales towards accepting CPW’s offer, was the offered assistance of a good friend from my USFWS days, as well as the invaluable presence of @Bluffgruff for all 3 days, and @winmag on Sunday. Here would be the draft schedule: scout starting around noon Saturday with the help of bluffgruff and my buddy K; scout all day Sunday with the help of all 3, and aim to kill by Monday with a hard cutoff of 10 am in order to be back in time for an RMBS/BHA event I organized to spread the word opposing prop 127. Not exactly the “experience” I had dreamed of over my years of applying, but gotta take what you can get!
Another con to accepting is that I had purposefully avoided jumping down the rabbit hole on any of the big 3, so my confidence was not exactly brimming with knowledge of determining gender, age, or even behavior this time of year. However, having two experienced hunters like winmag and bluffgruff, really boosted my confidence of being able to do this tag at least some abbreviated justice. Also, I was coming off the back of a goat hunt! Just a few weeks prior, one of my closest friends got this very same call for a different unit. I dropped my leave days I had taken for my muzzleloader elk hunt, and immediately went to help.
It is not really my story to tell, but I can share that we had 4 guys, we glassed about 6 different basins, and saw 1 goat, a 2.5 year old billy that my friend was thrilled to take with limited time on the tag. After that experience, not only was I potentially addicted to goat hunting, but at least I had some minor experience to hang my hat on.
All that is a long way of saying, I accepted the tag.
