Awesome man! We just got back from a successful otc CO hunt as well. It was well worth the sore muscles, lack of sleep, and few bumps and scrapes. Congratulations!4 weekend trips
30+ miles under my boots
Totally silent elk. I never heard a single bugle (from an elk) or so much as a chirp from a cow.
The area I hunt is OTC, and gets a lot of pressure, both hunting and hiking. I had to put miles in to piece together bedding, feeding, and travel corridors, and was finally able to put enough together to find a bull. I saw a few bulls total, and last sunday just after first light i saw this little guy trying to sneak through the timber. When he got out of sight i gave him a few soft cow calls from my Phelps diaphram.
He sprinted in to 12 steps and stopped broadside behind a little clump of trees. There was a little opening where I could see his shoulder, so i threaded the needle a bit and put a 642gr iron will tipped arrow through him. He was down in a few seconds about 75 yards away. The arrow stopped around 40+ yards behind him.
Packing him out solo kinda sucked, but did it in 3 trips. It feels great to be able to put something together and get my first solo diy otc bull. I'll get pics in a few. His antlers do not line up right, I'll get a better pic of his antlers when i finish the euro this week.
edit: I should add, I've killed 2 other archery elk prior to this on guided hunts. One big bull back in '07 and a little 4 point last year (though we didnt find the 4 point in time to recover the meat and i fed the very healthy bear population). This is the first diy elk I've taken; and it really means a lot to me to diy it. The only thing missing on this hunt was the camaraderie of fellow hunters. The pain, bruises, exhaustion, sore muscles were well worth it!