2020 OTC hunt

[lowpressure]

Not sure if anyone is really interested but i just found my drive that has all of my pictures and short videos from my 2020 OTC hunt. I wasnt successful in harvesting an animal but it was a great time and i learned a ton about the unit i was in so if i dont draw in any of my other limited entry draws this year ill be back with a lot better idea of what needs to be done. (not passing on mature cows in a heavily hunted otc unit again)

Passed on 3 different cows in the first week. All within 30 yards and me at full draw. Since i was going to be there for the entire season i decided to wait until closer to the end to take a cow if i was not successful in getting a bull. This turned out to be one of my only regrets. I did lay eyes on multiple bulls though. Made a play on two different occasions and in both instances my inability to make myself wait for the thermals to switch in the late morning cost me. The learning curve is steep but im climbing it.

Just figured id post some pics and a small writeup since most people i see asking questions on here rarely come back and continue the story. Ill do it tomorrow sometime after i get home from the firestation.

 

[JLeMieux]

Looking forward to seeing them.

 

[NCtrapper]

^

 

[lowpressure]

Here are some pics if they will load.

 

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Have a ton of short videos but it’s not letting me load em. Any suggestions?

 

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And since the wife never even blinks about time or money spent in the woods I carved this on an aspen and set the coords in my gps so she can go back one of these years to see it in big black letters.

 

[NCtrapper]

Awesome Pictures, Thanks for sharing

 

[fmyth]

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Public land? What happened to "leave no trace"? If every otc tag holder did this the forest would look like a damn subway in New York.

 

[AaronMColeman]

Public land? What happened to "leave no trace"? If every otc tag holder did this the forest would look like a damn subway in New York.

As long as they pick up their beer and dip cans I'm cool with that.

 

[fmyth]

As long as they pick up their beer and dip cans I'm cool with that.

I don't want to see either when I am enjoying our public lands. Both littering and carving your name on a living tree are illegal in National Forests. They both take away from the natural beauty of the forest and cause damage. At least dip cans and beer cans can be removed. The carving in that tree will be there for the life of the tree. It's nothing more than permanent vandalism and can cause the tree to die prematurely.

As hunters we should be better stewards of the land. Leave no trace.

"To carve an aspen tree — to take a blade to the trunk for the sake of your initials, for example — is to do harm. Harm to a being with a life expectancy much like our own: 100 years, if we’re lucky.

To leave your mark, “it may sound cool,” says Dan West, an aspen expert with the Colorado State Forest Service. “But that tree might not survive because of what you’re doing."

 

[HuntCrazy]

you lost me a post 4 with the Hush hat.....

 

[AaronMColeman]

I don't want to see either when I am enjoying our public lands. Both littering and carving your name on a living tree are illegal in National Forests. They both take away from the natural beauty of the forest and cause damage. At least dip cans and beer cans can be removed. The carving in that tree will be there for the life of the tree. It's nothing more than permanent vandalism and can cause the tree to die prematurely.

As hunters we should be better stewards of the land. Leave no trace.

"To carve an aspen tree — to take a blade to the trunk for the sake of your initials, for example — is to do harm. Harm to a being with a life expectancy much like our own: 100 years, if we’re lucky.

To leave your mark, “it may sound cool,” says Dan West, an aspen expert with the Colorado State Forest Service. “But that tree might not survive because of what you’re doing."

First off, it was mostly a joke. I see so many faded beer cans and always think, how hard would it be to crush it and throw it in your pack?

I don't mind seeing a few things like this around in the woods, it's kinda fun to be honest. We log and use the land for all sorts of things, a little entertainment from a carving doesn't seem to be more harm than we cause in just general usage of the land. I mostly agree with you, and if every other tree had a carving on it I'd be 100% with you. At least where I live I see something like this every other year (and I put a lot of hours in the woods) so yeah, I totally get what you're saying and mostly agree. It's just so few people doing (for now) that it's not a big deal to me...but I'm also open to other opinions as well.

 

[alex_b11]

First off, it was mostly a joke. I see so many faded beer cans and always think, how hard would it be to crush it and throw it in your pack?

I don't mind seeing a few things like this around in the woods, it's kinda fun to be honest. We log and use the land for all sorts of things, a little entertainment from a carving doesn't seem to be more harm than we cause in just general usage of the land. I mostly agree with you, and if every other tree had a carving on it I'd be 100% with you. At least where I live I see something like this every other year (and I put a lot of hours in the woods) so yeah, I totally get what you're saying and mostly agree. It's just so few people doing (for now) that it's not a big deal to me...but I'm also open to other opinions as well.

I was in Colorado this year hunting for the whole archery season. The first couple times I saw a carving on a tree I thought it was kinda cool. Made me wonder about the stories those woods held. But then I kept seeing more and more carvings. After a while it really started to bother me every time I saw someone carved their name into the tree. It started to seem like all these people cared more about leaving a mark in the woods somewhere they may or may not every see again than preserving a forest that will be there long after they die. I must have seen around 50 carved up trees last September.

Not trying to bash on OP or anything. It’s something that seems totally harmless at first. But if you think about it, it is pretty disrespectful to our public lands.

That aside, looks like you had an awesome elk hunt! Can’t wait to get back in the mountains this September!

 

[fmyth]

First off, it was mostly a joke. I see so many faded beer cans and always think, how hard would it be to crush it and throw it in your pack?

I don't mind seeing a few things like this around in the woods, it's kinda fun to be honest. We log and use the land for all sorts of things, a little entertainment from a carving doesn't seem to be more harm than we cause in just general usage of the land. I mostly agree with you, and if every other tree had a carving on it I'd be 100% with you. At least where I live I see something like this every other year (and I put a lot of hours in the woods) so yeah, I totally get what you're saying and mostly agree. It's just so few people doing (for now) that it's not a big deal to me...but I'm also open to other opinions as well.

I get it. I've packed out a ton of trash. Where I hunted last year you couldn't walk 100 yards without seeing someones name carved in a tree. Perhaps I am getting old and grumpy. I could have responded in a more polite way. I do apologize to the OP for derailing his thread.

 

[lowpressure]

Well, seems like the tree carving bashing finally lost some steam. Its all good and i dont really mind the thread derailing i guess since it wasnt much of a thread. just some pics of a fun trip.

As for the carving......Thats not something that bothers me. I grew up in that state and spent a large portion of my childhood in those mountains. Ive hauled more wood out of there than id care to remember. My carving for my wife is just a bit over 3 miles from the nearest trailhead and not somewhere that most will be just passing by. I will, if the urge hits me, make another one for her this year. I might be inclined to put this one on a standing dead or not who knows? I rarely let the opinion of others (besides trusted friends and family) place any real influence upon my life when at all possible.

 

[bozeman]

Carve away- great pics, glad you had a good time. It’s their opinion, nothing more. It’s very liberating when peoples opinion, especially those you don’t know personally, don’t matter to you…….try it. U b u!

 

[NickD40]

We've had plenty an elk hunt turn into a grouse shoot! Cool pics.