willidru
WKR
I’ve been hunting Colorado with my uncle and cousin for the last 10 years. My uncle has been going for almost 40 years. This year I was able to take my son with me for his first big game hunt. Spent a good amount of time preparing especially shooting with him.Had some concerns on what the harsh winter did to the heard in NW CO saw first hand in Wyoming in September that it was real. Had some time constraints with other hunts and and wanted to find a decent buck and we are in mandatory CWD testing area so tried not to look for bucks walking in circles
.15 hour drive day 1 and 2.5 day 2 and he loved the BSing and limitless snacks on the way. Hit the range then camp for set up and some pre scouting.
Third season was abnormally warm this year. Seemed like rut never hit couldn’t seem to turn up any mature bucks. My son was amped every morning getting up for coffee and shooting the sh*t with the guys. Opening day was Saturday and I had to be done and on the road by Wednesday to get to another hunt.
Glassing was definitely a test of patience for him. Almost ever deer he saw he was ready to shoot even a doe he saw he said “well she’s got a big body and we are here for the meat right” I feel like I did ok holding him back. Back at camp when we talked about the day he would just say my dad won’t let me shoot anything. Nobody was turning good deer and overall number we saw were much less than usual.
Camp was fun, dinners are always great, fantastic memories created with my family. We had one good stalk on a solid buck but couldn't get to a spot to shoot him. Going into Tuesday I was getting nervous knowing I had to be on the road Wednesday.
Mid morning saw a buck that we had seen a few times he was coming across a small flat raking the oak brush at about 500 yards. My son said “dad you gotta let me shoot him” I knew he would be heading to a draw that funnels a lot of deer over the years. We hustle to a spot and as soon as we got there my son spotted him moving. He got prone and I ranged the buck at 338, I wasn’t liking the distance but he was confident so I dialed the turret. First shot went over, 2nd hit good. We waited about 45 minutes and made our way to the buck. Got to put hands on him not sure which one of us was more excited. I blooded my son and then got to work. Such a proud moment for a father.
