Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) – I’m looking for any suggestions from people on lining up a rifle hunt for a 14 year old daughter. Ideally, paying a trespass fee on private land is preferred. Hunt can be antelope, deer, or elk. Doe/cow is fine. I don’t want to hunt, but escort my daughter. Not looking to harvest a trophy, just want to get away from the masses and provide a decent hunt to a nice young lady and help maintain her interest in this sport.
Background. Most of my personal hunting is archery, and I enjoy the extended days above tree line like the rest of you. My daughter is a great girl, but this level of exertion does not appeal to her. I started taking her out on simple rifle hunts three years ago. First year was antelope plains. I stuffed mailboxes with a nice letter looking for a private land months in advance to the season with no luck. We hunted public land and it was nearly impossible to avoid the masses who hunted from vehicles. Two hour belly crawl stalk on a dandy buck chasing does was foiled by a bubba shooting from his truck 600 yards away. The next year we hunted a piece of “youth only” state trust land north of Steamboat for deer. It was a good hunt, but the state trust land was really small and had a lot of other fathers/kids. No complaints; this was a decent hunt. Last year I had a good little mulie spot scouted out for her, but had to change plans due to early snow. Ended up having to hunt easily an accessible area that was absolutely crawling with people.
I’m willing to spend a little money to ensure she gets a decent (doesn’t need to be spectacular) hunt, but I don’t want to go fully guided. Outfitters cater to fully guided on private/public land, and meeting private land owners in Colorado is really difficult.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Background. Most of my personal hunting is archery, and I enjoy the extended days above tree line like the rest of you. My daughter is a great girl, but this level of exertion does not appeal to her. I started taking her out on simple rifle hunts three years ago. First year was antelope plains. I stuffed mailboxes with a nice letter looking for a private land months in advance to the season with no luck. We hunted public land and it was nearly impossible to avoid the masses who hunted from vehicles. Two hour belly crawl stalk on a dandy buck chasing does was foiled by a bubba shooting from his truck 600 yards away. The next year we hunted a piece of “youth only” state trust land north of Steamboat for deer. It was a good hunt, but the state trust land was really small and had a lot of other fathers/kids. No complaints; this was a decent hunt. Last year I had a good little mulie spot scouted out for her, but had to change plans due to early snow. Ended up having to hunt easily an accessible area that was absolutely crawling with people.
I’m willing to spend a little money to ensure she gets a decent (doesn’t need to be spectacular) hunt, but I don’t want to go fully guided. Outfitters cater to fully guided on private/public land, and meeting private land owners in Colorado is really difficult.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
