Semi Live Colorado Pronghorn muzzleloader 2022

[Shortbowshot]

Good luck! Enjoying your thread!

 

[QELKhunter]

Yeah that’s a real nice buck! Hopefully I can find one like that. I’m leaving this morning for my own muzzleloader hunt

Best of luck! There is real dense fog this morning, can't see more than 100 yards if that. There is too much moisture in the air for my range finder to work. Not sure I am going to take my muzzleloader out in these conditions

 

[bonedogg]

lovin this thread too, thanks for sharing the adventure with us!

 

[QELKhunter]

Day 2 mid day update:

The rain moved in last night around 11pm and persisted throughout the night. This morning I woke up around 5:30 to the sound of hail bouncing of my truck. I had a headache so I drank some water and went back to sleep. When I woke again it was already 6:30. I did the morning routine and was headed out by 6:45.

The air was heavy with the humidity and the fog reduced visibility to less than 100 yards at times. With that I wasn't in any big hurry, as I can't really see much to start with and not too enthused with the idea of bringing my Hawken out in these conditions.

I hadn't made it 2 miles before spotting my first Pronghorn. He was a young buck, not but a few feet off the county road, laying against the fence line. He was sheltering in place given the wet and cold conditions and had no care in the world about me. He would have been a prime candidate for a quick pot shot and an easy load, but being a man of ethics, and someone pursuing more than just a kill, this was not my intention. I figured if he stayed there the next person coming along may not be as like minded. I honked the horn and hollered at him till he jumped up and ran like his hind end was on fire, which didn't take much. I thought removing temptation from a weaker man, and giving this critter a chance at life and some day a fair death, was the right thing to do.

I continued down the road to the locations I had marked the herds from the night prior. To my disappointment not a single GPS coordinate held any antelope. The antelope I did find close to my coordinates were now on private. So I opted to check some new locations.

It didn't take long before I found some more antelope. The first ones I came across were a pair. The buck was young, but had think horns, just no length. I liked the setup a lot as they were hunkered against a hill side in a wind break. I decided that even though I wasn't impressed with this buck it would be an opportunity to gain some experience if nothing else.

The pair was only about 150 yards off, which is twice my preferred range. So I started the stalk in. I made it only about 40 yards off the road before the hunt was foiled by no less than 5 googans in a fancy truck with NM license plates. The driver had the audacity to yell at me and ask if I had a buck or doe tag. I think he had the intentions of trying to some how coordinate hunting this pair with me. But as it would go, him stopping and yelling at me, spooked the antelope off. Who would have guessed that would happen!

I walked back to the road and tell him I have both tags, not true as I only have a buck tag, but I didn't want him to get the idea that I needed him and his party of five to tag along. I told him he could have this setup as those two are headed 60 mph in the direction of private. I wished him luck and went on my way. I was pissed, but I am a passive aggressive person and avoid confrontation more often than not. I was also giving him the benefit of the doubt that he meant well, but I hope he is part of this forum and reads this some time, as he is an asshat and pissed me off.

I got back on the road and headed down to a creek bottom I had e-scouted the night before. With the weather I thought it would have to hold something as it was a sanctuary setup. Well sure enough first thing I spot was a lone buck walking my way. He was a decent looking buck, much larger in body and head gear than the one previous. He dissappear behind some willows at maybe 50 yards, so I jump out of the truck, fumble a cap in my muzzleloader and get at least 50 feet off the road. I get setup in a way that when he walks out ill have a 45 yards shot at most...... but he doesn't come out. Rather he decided he was bedding down behind that willow. By this time the rain started again. I was doing my best to keep my muzzleloader dry while not having to go back to the truck. It rained for about 15 minutes before it let up. When the rain stopped I started working my way to the east trying to get a vantage point around the willow, and I did that perfectly with scaring the buck. I got perfectly lined up with and then I stood up to get him to stand, which he did quickly.

We locked gazes with one another. I had my bead perfectly center behind his shoulder. He was slightly quartered away. I squeezed the trigger and ploof.... thats right ploof not BOOM! My round ball went flying maybe 10 feet followed by a burning wad of wet powder.

I've never seen anything like it before. I could have thrown that ball farther than it went. I can only think that the top portion of the powder got wet, while the bottom stayed dry enough to ignite. Either way I think that buck laughed at me before he ran off, I knew I sure did.

That's the morning Recap, now I am off to find an afternoon stalk.

Thanks for tuning in!

 

[BluHuntLine]

Day 1 Recap:

We will chalk day one up as a scouting day as that is what most of the day ended up being.

To pick up from where the morning update left off. After scouting the better part of the morning and having put eyes on at least 50 Pronghorn Antelope I decide my best setup was on the morning buck with three does. I returned to where I had left them and they hand only moved about 300 yards farther south than where I had last seen them.

The buck must have convinced the doe he was chasing all morning that it's best for her to just give in already. He wasn't chasing her anymore if you catch my drift. After watching him mount her no less than three times I decided to make the stalk. The setup is they are about 850 yards to the south of my walkin point. To either side of them there are small hills, and when I say small I mean you gain 5-10 feet at best. The wind and light rain are blowing at a west by northwest direction. The hill to the west of them has a small divit or saddle about even with them and a water tank directly west of it on the west sloping side.

I decide my play is to walk the fence line to the west, drop down behind the hill and walk in 850-900 yards to be directly parallel with them. By this time the wind is really starting to rip but the rain has let up and their is a break in the clouds. So I execute the plan and head on out. Being on the west slope of the hill gave me really good wind protection and allowed me to cover the distance in a stealthy amount of time. When I get to the saddle in the hill I start the army crawl to the ridge.

As I make the ridge I find that there is a ditch that has been cut to lay a waterline to the tank about 100 yards directly behind me. There is also a well worn cattle train leading to the tank right through the saddle in the hill. I decide this is the best place to setup as it's about 2pm and my thoughts were the antelope would need a drink sooner rather than later given their morning activities.

So it setup behind the burn of the ditch, in the saddle of the hill, dead center in the cow path. The burn gives me perfect cover and the cow path gives me a clear vantage point clear of grass or weeds. The buck and his does are still lying where they were when I started to walk in. The buck is farthest from me and laying with the wind to his back, basically facing me. I pull the range finder out and try to get a range, first reading was 506 and the second 610. So he's in that range give or take 100 yards.
View attachment 240815

From a prone position I watched and waited for about 35 minutes before he stood up. He walked around checking his does, taking a pee and then returning to his bedding spot. I watched him for another 15 minutes before he decided to stand. This time he chased his does from their beds and started them in my direction.... water time!
View attachment 240816
In the span of 10 minutes him and his does are within about 250 yards of me and heading directly for me! Over the next few minutes the does decide they want to head my way a bit faster than he does. Turns out there is another buck to the south of him, and he is being sure to keep the does ahead of him. The does close the distance on me and before I know it they are at 40, 30, 20....10 yards from me. The problem is they left the buck some 150 yards behind them! He is still 160+ yards out. What to do, what to do.

I was trapped..... absolutely stuck. Does at 30 feet or less walking right to me, straight down the cow path nowhere for me to go. The lead down busted me trying to get a range on the buck as it was the only thing I couldn't think to do. As soon as she saw my arm move to bring the range finder up she was booking it to the south. The other does didn't wait to see what she was running from and took off right behind her. Mean while the buck is too busy looking back at the other buck. When he sees his ladies on a dead run in the direction of the other buck he cuts then off, or tries to at least. They end of doing a 45 degree south by south west loop. The buck never got closer than 150 yards and that's well past my muzzleloader skills.
View attachment 240817
Still think he was a dandy of a buck, and I had a blast making that stalk!

I spent the rest of the day scouting up other herds but was never able to find a setup that would work in the remaining day light I had. I ended up marking 3 herds to check in the morning along with 2 lone bucks.

Till tomorrow folks!

Day 2 mid day update:

The rain moved in last night around 11pm and persisted throughout the night. This morning I woke up around 5:30 to the sound of hail bouncing of my truck. I had a headache so I drank some water and went back to sleep. When I woke again it was already 6:30. I did the morning routine and was headed out by 6:45.

The air was heavy with the humidity and the fog reduced visibility to less than 100 yards at times. With that I wasn't in any big hurry, as I can't really see much to start with and not too enthused with the idea of bringing my Hawken out in these conditions.

I hadn't made it 2 miles before spotting my first Pronghorn. He was a young buck, not but a few feet off the county road, laying against the fence line. He was sheltering in place given the wet and cold conditions and had no care in the world about me. He would have been a prime candidate for a quick pot shot and an easy load, but being a man of ethics, and someone pursuing more than just a kill, this was not my intention. I figured if he stayed there the next person coming along may not be as like minded. I honked the horn and hollered at him till he jumped up and ran like his hind end was on fire, which didn't take much. I thought removing temptation from a weaker man, and giving this critter a chance at life and some day a fair death, was the right thing to do.

I continued down the road to the locations I had marked the herds from the night prior. To my disappointment not a single GPS coordinate held any antelope. The antelope I did find close to my coordinates were now on private. So I opted to check some new locations.

It didn't take long before I found some more antelope. The first ones I came across were a pair. The buck was young, but had think horns, just no length. I liked the setup a lot as they were hunkered against a hill side in a wind break. I decided that even though I wasn't impressed with this buck it would be an opportunity to gain some experience if nothing else.

The pair was only about 150 yards off, which is twice my preferred range. So I started the stalk in. I made it only about 40 yards off the road before the hunt was foiled by no less than 5 googans in a fancy truck with NM license plates. The driver had the audacity to yell at me and ask if I had a buck or doe tag. I think he had the intentions of trying to some how coordinate hunting this pair with me. But as it would go, him stopping and yelling at me, spooked the antelope off. Who would have guessed that would happen!

I walked back to the road and tell him I have both tags, not true as I only have a buck tag, but I didn't want him to get the idea that I needed him and his party of five to tag along. I told him he could have this setup as those two are headed 60 mph in the direction of private. I wished him luck and went on my way. I was pissed, but I am a passive aggressive person and avoid confrontation more often than not. I was also giving him the benefit of the doubt that he meant well, but I hope he is part of this forum and reads this some time, as he is an asshat and pissed me off.

I got back on the road and headed down to a creek bottom I had e-scouted the night before. With the weather I thought it would have to hold something as it was a sanctuary setup. Well sure enough first thing I spot was a lone buck walking my way. He was a decent looking buck, much larger in body and head gear than the one previous. He dissappear behind some willows at maybe 50 yards, so I jump out of the truck, fumble a cap in my muzzleloader and get at least 50 feet off the road. I get setup in a way that when he walks out ill have a 45 yards shot at most...... but he doesn't come out. Rather he decided he was bedding down behind that willow. By this time the rain started again. I was doing my best to keep my muzzleloader dry while not having to go back to the truck. It rained for about 15 minutes before it let up. When the rain stopped I started working my way to the east trying to get a vantage point around the willow, and I did that perfectly with scaring the buck. I got perfectly lined up with and then I stood up to get him to stand, which he did quickly.

We locked gazes with one another. I had my bead perfectly center behind his shoulder. He was slightly quartered away. I squeezed the trigger and ploof.... thats right ploof not BOOM! My round ball went flying maybe 10 feet followed by a burning wad of wet powder.

I've never seen anything like it before. I could have thrown that ball farther than it went. I can only think that the top portion of the powder got wet, while the bottom stayed dry enough to ignite. Either way I think that buck laughed at me before he ran off, I knew I sure did.

That's the morning Recap, now I am off to find an afternoon stalk.

Thanks for tuning in!

This is awesome! Thanks for sharing this! F.Y.I. Heading up towards Mammoth/ Stunner tomorrow night or Saturday

 

[QELKhunter]

Day two recap:

Given all the moisture today I spent more time glassing from the comfort of a truck than putting boots to the ground. Glassing was less productive today than it was yesterday as the rain and fog persisted throughout the day.

The only stalks I made were in the morning, unfortunately an afternoon stalk was not found. I did find a few lone bucks as last light faded away into a crisp clear star filled night sky. I marked the coordinates on my GPS and will pick up where I left off in the morning.

There is also one herd of about 17 critters with one unique buck. They are about a quarter mile from public land and appeared to be headed in that direction. Hopefully tomorrow brings more opportunity than today, but I would not say today was a bad day of hunting. I made two good stalks, covered more ground and became familiar with new areas.

When I got back to camp I broke down my muzzleloader cleaned it, swabbed it really well with a clean cotton rag and liberally applied gun oil to combat the moisture and humidity it was exposed to today.

I've enjoyed this hunt immensely and have continued to learn more about the way Pronghorn Antelope react, think and move. They are both curious creatures and flight creatures. If they don't like what they see they are gone in a second. If they see something that looks interesting but not threatening they take their time coming in to check it out.

I'm hopeful that I'll find a buck to connect with tomorrow, but if not I'll be back at it Monday as my daughter has a special event Saturday that I would not miss for anything.

Good night all and best of wishes on your own endeavors!

 

[QELKhunter]

Day 3 Recap:

This morning was an early riser for me, up and at it by 5:00am as today regardless if I get an antelope or not I am heading home for the weekend for a family affair. The game plan for today is to hunt the public land where I've seen the most critters over the last two days. I'm blindly going to hike into the main water hole before sunrise and use that as my glassing spot.

This water hole will provide a great 360 view of the large basin it resides in. To get there it's a short 1.5 mile hike from the parking spot. I've found others hunting this spot in the evenings but I've never seen anyone hunting it in the morning. So when camp is all packed I'm my stomach full I head down the road. It's a good hour before sunrise when I start out and the parking spot is only about a 15 minute drive from camp. On the drive over I almost hit a decent 3x3 whitetail, or as you eastern people would say, a 6 point buck. This is the first whitetail buck I've seen this trip and I can't help but admire him. Whitetail deer aren't found where I live, at least not in any abundance.

I quickly make it to the parking spot and head on in. There were no other vehicles there yet, which didn't surprise me, as I had said I've never seen anyone here in the mornings. This morning was a little chilly but the kind I'm used to, the rain left the area damp and humid. The air was a brisk, fresh delight this fine morning. I took my time hiking in, using first light to glass along the way. I didn't see any antelope on the way in, but I did see a badger and a few coyotes though.

As I made my way to the water hole I noticed quite a lot feathers scattered everywhere. Thought it kinda odd the iver abundance of them. I finally made it to the water hole, but I was not alone. I got to share the spot with a good 30 or 40 Charolais. They didn't seem to mind my being there and I thought the would provide decent cover from any approaching antelope. I sat there at that water hole for a good two hours before I saw my first antelope, and he was a handsome buck. He wasn't really headed to the water hole, more just skirting around it. By this time it was around 9:30 am. The cows had all stood up and started to feed off to the south east, back in the direction of the parking lot.

The buck that had come in was about 500 yards to the west. He had bedded down facing the water hole. I glassed the entire basin to make sure there wasn't anything I was missing. Nothing was out there that I could see aside from that lone buck.

I decided, given the lack of cover, I would just wait him out. So there I lay against the side of the dirt tank, with the buck behind me and the sun in front of me. I started reading my book I had brought (One Second After by William R. Forstchen, if you're interested) and every so many pages I would stop and check to see if he was still there and what he was doing. This went on for about an hour before he stood and darted off in the opposite direction. WTF!!!! Just as he darted off I heard the report of several shotgun blast.

I stood up and looked back to the south east, the direction of the parking lot and the direction of the gun shots, and saw four guys walking my way. Well the feathers made sense now. These gentlemen have been hunting doves, which are in abundance in this area. I had thought to myself several times over the two days prior how I wished I had brought a shot gun.

When I stood up the guys stopped, paused and then continued my way. I walked back towards them as well as I was going to call it for the day. I cordially walked up to them, had a great conversation. They apologized for blowing my setup and admitted they knew someone was hunting out there but thought it was just another dove hunter. I told them I wasn't upset as it was an honest mistake and I could have been more aggressive in pursuing the back had I had the inclination.

I didn't make any more attempts at locating an antelope today as the drive. Back is about 5 hours and I am trying to avoid driving in the dark as the Elk incident from the trip down was close enough for me.

I will head back out Sunday afternoon and stay the duration, or until I get a buck.

Till then stay safe!

 

[QELKhunter]

Hunt update:

Unfortunately I have not been able to make it back out yet and the hunt ends Thursday. I am all packed up and ready to go if the opportunity comes, but my grandpa became ill yesterday and needed my help with the ranch.

I also have two buddies that have archery elk tags in our home unit, so even if I don't make it out easy again I can still hunt by helping them with their tags.

My grandpa being sick gives me anxiety as he is getting up there in years and has a bad heart. Having lost my father last year to covid I've found taking a solo adventure much harder mentally. I feel guilty being out and about when I could be spending that time with family and building memories with them.

This tag and hunt have been especially taxing on my emotions. Last year was my first time hunting antelope, not only that but this was the last hunt I would do with my father. We had had a blast and learned a lot about hunting antelope. After each setup last year we would talk about what happened vs what we were expecting to happen. We laughed and joked about many things, including a stalk my dad blew for me. Admittedly I was a little peeved at him as I had belly crawled for a good 300 yards or more to get on a buck pushing some does, when all of a sudden he drives up on an adjacent road with the thought the would spook in my direction.

We ended up cutting that hunt 3 days short last year as I had received a call from work. The call wasn't an urgent matter or one that was really all that important, but it presented an opportunity for me to advance my career. Having been upset about the blown stalk and thinking with emotions, I told my father it was time to go. I didn't think much about this situation until after my father passed away, and now the memory haunts me.

On this year's hunt I took my father's truck. The same truck we used last year, my thought was to try and keep as much of last years similarities as possible for a more reminiscent feel. It worked! While stalking the first group on day one in the same place as stalk one last year, I would look back towards the truck and felt like my dad was watching the stalk as he did last year.

I found myself talking to my dad, as if he was sitting right next to me, about the events of the day. I can't tell you how many times I would look to the passenger seat expecting him to be there and the yelling out loud "damn I miss you!"

My father had always been my hunting partner, camp cook and geologist. One of the most fun things about our trips were him telling me the geological make up of the terrain and how it formed. Or while hunting our resident unit, him telling me about a gold vein he had found while surveying a rock face in his early career days, the location is still a secret to me but he left enough clues that maybe some day I'll find it.

At the end of the day the thing that matters most is those you care about and the memories you make with them. As a young EMT my mentor, and now one of my best friends, told me "in thirty year's of doing this, I have never had anyone on their death bed tell me they wish they had worked more. They always say I wish I had spent more time with family"

I'll leave my ramblings at that.

If I make it back out I'll continue the thread. If not I'll start a new one for my wife elk hunt coming up. As a sneek peak, here is the bull we plan to pursue!

 

[QELKhunter]

Day 4 Recap and hunt wrap:

Day 4 of the hunt ended up being Tuesday of this week. I took a three day break to be there for my daughter then extended my break from hunting because my grandpa was sick. I didn't think I would make it out again, but my grandpa only had a 24 hour stomach bug and shortly after my last update was posted he called me and told me he was well and did not need any help with chores for that day.

So I made a mad dash back to the unit. I was able to make it to huntable public land in about 4 hours. The closest public lands that I was eligible to hunt have never really shown much promise for locating an antelope, but today was different. Just off the hwy not maybe 40 yards was a buck bedded down along the fence. I was shocked, surprised or any other adjective you can come up with for the disbelief that a legal animal was just sitting there in prime country for an easy stalk and easier shot.

I pulled off the hwy just about a 1/4 mile past the buck. There was a drainage with a culvert running under the hwy with an easy access ramp to pull off and hide the vehicle. I quickly exited the truck, crawled through the culvert and then used the thick vegetation of the bar ditch to close the distance. I was able to cover that 1/4 mile very quickly. When I was within about 70 yards I made my way to the fence, crossed and and then crawled to the only cactus between the buck and I. I pulled my range finder out and ranged the buck at 39 yards. I couldn't believe that this had all come together so quickly.

The buck continued to just lay there, completely unaware of my presence. I pulled my firing cap from my side pocket, inserted it and then just sat there watching this beautiful animal rest. It was likely only a few minutes but it felt like quite a long time. My heart was racing, I went through a few breathing exercises, pulled my shooting sticks out took aim and waited for him to stand. Just about that time a truck drove by, slowed and came to a stop just about even with the buck. The buck quickly stood and BOOM. I squeezed the trigger and watched the bloom of black powder smoke billow from my barrel.

I stood quickly and was pleased to see the buck down. The truck that had stopped pulled to the shoulder and 3 guys exited, all in orange vests and hats. They had not seen me behind the cactus and were planning to make a play on the buck. They walked up to the fence and told me that was the most excitement they had all season. They were not upset to have lost an opportunity, but rather excited to have seen such a perfect setup executed right before them.

We had a good conversation and exchanged some information. They offered to help me with my buck but I declined as this was a more sentimental experience for me. I wanted to live in this moment for a bit and share it with the spirit of my father.

I won't share anymore of following moments as those are mine and mine alone. But I will share that I have my own beliefs and in the minutes following my harvest I found solitude and comfort. A memory was created that will forever be with me and an animals life has now joined mine and will live on within me.

I'm not much of a picture guy, as I've always felt awkward taking a picture of an animal I've killed. But I'm sure some of you would like to see the end result.





Thank you all for taking the time to follow my journey. Elk season will soon be upon us and I will do another write up on both mine and my wife's hunt.

In good spirit, QELKhunter

 

[perma]

This was a privilege to read. Thank you for sharing. Following for the elk hunt.

 

[Sask hunter]

Congrats nice buck. Should be an easy pack out lol

 

[QELKhunter]

Congrats nice buck. Should be an easy pack out lol

It was brutal! I had to pick that buck up over the fence and then walk all the way back to the truck! And then I could only get the truck within about 20 feet of the buck!

All joking aside I did more walking on my first stalk than I did on the successful one. It wasn't quite the adventure I had planned but I am pleased with the way it turned out.

 

[CPAjeff]

Great recap - loved every word! Congrats!

 

[trb]

Great buck, glad it came together for you!

 

[Shortbowshot]

Awsome hunt! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Firehead117]

Enjoyed this read! Congrats on the buck

 

[vanish]

Way to stick with it! Thank you for the story.

 

[QELKhunter]

Here is the start of 2022 elk thread.

2022 Colorado elk hunt day by day

Pre-Hunt scouting: Welcome fellow hunt talk members! This thread will be my wife and I's elk hunt day by day Recap. It may include semi live recaps depending on the availability of cell service in our area. This year my wife and I were each lucky enough to end up with a cow tag, my wife also...

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