I just returned home from 7 days of hunting a OTC Colorado Archery Elk Hunt. It was the first time I had been in this area and it all looked great upon arrival. There was one downfall, Muzzle Loader season still had two days to go, and there were 25 plus ATV's a day that went by our camp.
The hunt started out with a 17 hour drive, which we did 14 of the first day and 3 the next so we could hunt that first afternoon. All went according to plan and I was in the timber by 2pm Saturday afternoon. I saw lots of sign, but no response to any calling and heard nothing in the way of elk. Just at dark when I was finding my way back, I heard my first bugle and it seemed pretty close. The bull would respond to calls, but wouldn't come any closer, but I thought it was a good sign.
Sunday was pouring down rain. I hunted regardless and it was uneventful. I came across the carcass of a bull and a cow that had been harvested a few days prior, so I was certain I was in elk area. The muzzle loaders didn't like much of the rain, and their season came to a close.
Monday morning was still pouring rain and I stayed in and dried my gear out. Monday evening was uneventful, lots of sign, but not a sighting or sound of an elk.
Tuesday came with perfect weather and it started out well. Within an hour of being in the timber, I got wedged between two bulls, both with cows. Neither of these bulls would move away from their cows to come check me out. I crept in and saw some of the cows, but never laid eyes on the bulls. This seemed like a good sign, but it was the only encounter of the day.
Wednesday found myself further away from camp in a totally different looking area. It didn't have as much sign, but within the first half hour, I was creeping through the timber and spotted a cow and calf walking to my right at about 40 yards. About ten yards behind was a small 4 or 5 point. I wasn't greedy and readied myself for a shot. The bull passed by, but just over a contour that blacked everything out except his spine and antlers. I could see them emerge about 100 yards away. I called to them and they didn't pause, break stride or show any interest. This was a bad sign to me with no interest shown. Nothing else the rest of the day.
Thursday was in another area, I never saw any ATV's go, but was close enough the way the crow flies, that it was huntable and looked good. I decided I was going to give up on calling unless I made a bunch of noise and would use it to cover up some of that. About an hour of creeping through the timber I spotted a cow just bedding down and it was only about 7am. I figured she wasn't alone, so I knelt down and started watching. I could see parts of two other cows and figured a bull had to be near by. I started ranging cows and tress and other landmarks in hopes of bull showing up.
I didn't wait long and he actually surprised me and I saw him about 30 yards to my hard right up the hill. He was skating through the timber and headed right at the cows. He walked over and kicked everyone one and they were stirring around. I didn't have many shooting lanes, but he pushed two cows through about a three foot opening. I ranged one of the cows and she was 53 yards. As soon as I put my rangefinder down, he stepped into the same spot and I was at full draw. I didn't think he would stay still long, but it was just long enough and the arrow was in the air. The shot seemed to break well, but it didn't sound like a hit or a miss, just kind of nondescript. They exploded out of there and over a little contour out of sight. I heard what I thought was the bull go down, but they were all making a ton of noise.
I quickly moved up to the edge of the contour to try and see. I could see three cows looking back at me at about 60 yards and saw a ton of blood on some blow down timber. I looked out a little further and less than 20 yards, the bull was piled up between two deadfalls. It was about a 2 or 3 minute process from when I first saw the cow bed down. The arrow entered one side of the heart and out the other. It didn't pass through as it hit the off side shoulder, but bled plenty and died quickly.
It certainly is not the biggest bull, but I am not a trophy hunter in any way. I am an any legal bull guy with a tag like this. The bull was a 5 x 6 and he was a real pain in the ass to move around by myself. I got one entire side deboned before my brother showed up. So we took pictures with the intact side facing the camera. it took us 6 hours from the time the bull was killed to get it all back to camp.
We only had one more day of hunting before I had to get back. That Friday had a lot of activity. 4 bulls and numerous cows were located, but nothing came together to fill my brothers tag.
So we packed up Saturday to start the drive home. What a head ache. We got a flat on the trailer the ATV's were on and then about 4 hours later the trailer frame cracked. I can be mechanical and handy, but this was out of my league to get another 14 hours of driving done. I called a few people for advice. Aside from stopping and getting someone to weld it back and weld a brace on, which wasn't going to happen on saturday night or sunday morning, we came up with running ratchet straps from the strong of the trailer diagonal across to the weak. The straps went up and over the ATV's to kind of give it a little A Frame look and it certainly took some weight off the back end where the crack was. I don't know if it made a difference or not, but we made it home on Sunday at about 5pm, so I was thankful about that.
Overall, it was a good trip, but I don't know about 20 hour drives to go hunting anymore. It is just a long, long drive.
The hunt started out with a 17 hour drive, which we did 14 of the first day and 3 the next so we could hunt that first afternoon. All went according to plan and I was in the timber by 2pm Saturday afternoon. I saw lots of sign, but no response to any calling and heard nothing in the way of elk. Just at dark when I was finding my way back, I heard my first bugle and it seemed pretty close. The bull would respond to calls, but wouldn't come any closer, but I thought it was a good sign.
Sunday was pouring down rain. I hunted regardless and it was uneventful. I came across the carcass of a bull and a cow that had been harvested a few days prior, so I was certain I was in elk area. The muzzle loaders didn't like much of the rain, and their season came to a close.
Monday morning was still pouring rain and I stayed in and dried my gear out. Monday evening was uneventful, lots of sign, but not a sighting or sound of an elk.
Tuesday came with perfect weather and it started out well. Within an hour of being in the timber, I got wedged between two bulls, both with cows. Neither of these bulls would move away from their cows to come check me out. I crept in and saw some of the cows, but never laid eyes on the bulls. This seemed like a good sign, but it was the only encounter of the day.
Wednesday found myself further away from camp in a totally different looking area. It didn't have as much sign, but within the first half hour, I was creeping through the timber and spotted a cow and calf walking to my right at about 40 yards. About ten yards behind was a small 4 or 5 point. I wasn't greedy and readied myself for a shot. The bull passed by, but just over a contour that blacked everything out except his spine and antlers. I could see them emerge about 100 yards away. I called to them and they didn't pause, break stride or show any interest. This was a bad sign to me with no interest shown. Nothing else the rest of the day.
Thursday was in another area, I never saw any ATV's go, but was close enough the way the crow flies, that it was huntable and looked good. I decided I was going to give up on calling unless I made a bunch of noise and would use it to cover up some of that. About an hour of creeping through the timber I spotted a cow just bedding down and it was only about 7am. I figured she wasn't alone, so I knelt down and started watching. I could see parts of two other cows and figured a bull had to be near by. I started ranging cows and tress and other landmarks in hopes of bull showing up.
I didn't wait long and he actually surprised me and I saw him about 30 yards to my hard right up the hill. He was skating through the timber and headed right at the cows. He walked over and kicked everyone one and they were stirring around. I didn't have many shooting lanes, but he pushed two cows through about a three foot opening. I ranged one of the cows and she was 53 yards. As soon as I put my rangefinder down, he stepped into the same spot and I was at full draw. I didn't think he would stay still long, but it was just long enough and the arrow was in the air. The shot seemed to break well, but it didn't sound like a hit or a miss, just kind of nondescript. They exploded out of there and over a little contour out of sight. I heard what I thought was the bull go down, but they were all making a ton of noise.
I quickly moved up to the edge of the contour to try and see. I could see three cows looking back at me at about 60 yards and saw a ton of blood on some blow down timber. I looked out a little further and less than 20 yards, the bull was piled up between two deadfalls. It was about a 2 or 3 minute process from when I first saw the cow bed down. The arrow entered one side of the heart and out the other. It didn't pass through as it hit the off side shoulder, but bled plenty and died quickly.
It certainly is not the biggest bull, but I am not a trophy hunter in any way. I am an any legal bull guy with a tag like this. The bull was a 5 x 6 and he was a real pain in the ass to move around by myself. I got one entire side deboned before my brother showed up. So we took pictures with the intact side facing the camera. it took us 6 hours from the time the bull was killed to get it all back to camp.
We only had one more day of hunting before I had to get back. That Friday had a lot of activity. 4 bulls and numerous cows were located, but nothing came together to fill my brothers tag.
So we packed up Saturday to start the drive home. What a head ache. We got a flat on the trailer the ATV's were on and then about 4 hours later the trailer frame cracked. I can be mechanical and handy, but this was out of my league to get another 14 hours of driving done. I called a few people for advice. Aside from stopping and getting someone to weld it back and weld a brace on, which wasn't going to happen on saturday night or sunday morning, we came up with running ratchet straps from the strong of the trailer diagonal across to the weak. The straps went up and over the ATV's to kind of give it a little A Frame look and it certainly took some weight off the back end where the crack was. I don't know if it made a difference or not, but we made it home on Sunday at about 5pm, so I was thankful about that.
Overall, it was a good trip, but I don't know about 20 hour drives to go hunting anymore. It is just a long, long drive.
