SFC B will be at it again....

[SFC B]

We were a jolly bunch that night after the traditional Schnapps and a few beers. It was even colder that night and I was thankful once again for my Browning sleeping bag....big and heavy but WARM!! The plan was to get up, moving and out of camp by noon. The cold made it a bit challenging but we kept a bonfire going (we had plenty of wood ) to stay warm and started out ahead of schedule. The snow total around camp ended up being about 6-8 inches which could make the trip out tricky with the Burro (we know Doug is always good ). The start of the trip out has a long, fairly steep climb that is the biggest obstacle on the trail. Up we went without issue!! The same with the rest of the trail. We reached the county road, unchained and had an uneventful (except for some elk sightings) trip back to Wellington and some well earned showers and pizza

Today we unpacked and repacked my vehicle, processed the doe and I took my happy but home...where I type. A good, cold trip

 

[Crossbowguy]

Awesome hunt thank you for letting us tag along!!!!

 

[SFC B]

Heading to my part time gig on USAFA today I almost wrecked my motorcycle. Right next to the gym a BIIIIG buck was tending 4-5 does right next to the road. Serious headgear with junk. Then on the way into my neighborhood a decent 3 yo buck was pushing a couple more ladies. Apparently the rut switch has been moved to the "ON" position.

 

[SFC B]

Here is another big boy about 2 blocks from where the other was. He was dogging these girls hard. The buildings in the background are part of the USAFA Prep school.

 

[SFC B]

Time for my last actual trip of 2020. I will be meeting up with a looooong time Army buddy this afternoon and heading up to the Silverthorne area to meet up with mutual buddy and chase some late season cows for the next 5-6 days. We will be on public trying to catch them coming back into cover after feasting in the pastures. With meat in the freezer already the pressure is off but I would sure like to top off with a cow or calf. Doug will get a break on this one as we are carpooling. Not quite as much snow up there as we had been hoping for but we will make the best of it.

 

[SFC B]

I am back from the hills once more! It was a good trip with a great opportunity to spend time with friends in a nice place. Weather was pretty chilly (the warmest morning of the bunch was 8f as we left the truck at the trailhead before heading up the valley to elevation) but the only snow around was about 6-8 inches that had fallen a week prior. As we feared this put a real kink in our plan. The elk were NOT down near where we were hunting and none of the 3 of us had a single sighting (although Dave did startle a cow moose up one creek). In the 4.5 days we hunted 1 cow was shot in our area and it was 3 ridges over from us. So, we put miles on boots, saw some beautiful sunrises, ate well, drank well and laughed a lot. Very successful even without meat. The only real downer of the trip was that I found out the ranch I was supposed to being hunting in Parker with the 104 C tag has had some type of issue in the last few months, the gates are locked and nobody is answering any of the phones we have numbers for....so the only shot I have left is the late doe PH tag which is a low chance one. I will have to catch a PH wandering across my buddy's 100+- acres to fill that one Here are some pics....including a lil melanistic fox that wandered in front of the place we were staying as we packed.

 

[Mudranger1]

looks lovely minus the ugly mug in the 1 picture

 

[SFC B]

Well, the big game season has officially wrapped up for me. With the COVID related cancellations and some other bits things were very different to what I had anticipated. I ended up harvesting the cow and doe. Because of scheduling with the hunts I actually ended up with 2 elk tags, the doe tag and the PH tag (edit-I forgot the PL doe tag in 104- the ranch ghosted us ) . The PH was my last chance but it was private land owner and on the days in December I had available for a run out to Ramah he didn't have any goats on his place. I am very grateful to have a big chunk on meat in freezer and had more lifetime memories made. WY was a hoot and resulted in some great new friends. Hunting 3rd season for the first time was enlightening. Hopefully I will find a way to get some waterfowl action in here before the end.

One kind of big thing is that I start a new part time job today at ......wait for it......SCHEELS!! Bonus, I will be selling guns So if you are around the Springs and need some more pew pew come see me starting 27MAR21 I am REALLY excited about my discount!!!