BeanMan
Long Time Member
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LAST EDITED ON Nov-26-05 AT 11:24AM (MST)[p]I've posted that I hunted before, now I think I have pictures.
Here is the story;
We had two people quit the Research Farm I work on in August. Unfortunatley I had to assume both of their roles as well as my own. The result was that I had to return both the blackpowder bull tag and the blackpowder pronghorn tags that I drew ( I got to keep my points).
I bought a leftover either sex elk tag for Colorado unit 41 for 4th season. I felt I would be past the busy season and I could hunt from my house. I hoped for snow to bring them lower and that didn't happen so I knew I would have to go high up the side of the Grand Mesa. On opening morning I got up at 0430 and had a cup of coffee and some cereal. I got on my ATV in the garage and rode up the long and bumpy trail called "Half Assed Pass" ( a legal BLM trail) which is about 12 miles and 3000 vertical feet up the side of the Grand Mesa. My plan was to hug a private property boundary loaded into my GPS and hunt south towards Whitewater Basin. After about 2 miles of walking and glassing I spotted a whitish cream colored patch up in the oakbrush. I couldn't see the head but from the color and the fact it was alone I guessed it to be a bull. I snuck to within 400 yards and could tell it was a decent bull. I wasn't comfortable with the long shot and decided to risk being seen and heard by struggling through a hundred yards of Oakbrush. I made it 50 feet before the bull disappeared. I fIgured I'd been busted. About a minute before this the sun peaked over the edge of the Mesa. I was wondering what to do next when I noticed the bull working his way in and out of the oakbrush and PJ towards me. The was a steep gulley he seemed to be heading for, I guess it was where he planned to bed. I used my range finder to measure 307 yards to an opeing I figured he would hit just before disappearing into the gulley. He walked into the open and paused just long enough for me to get a good off hand shot off. ( I was on a steep hill and he was across a ravine on another steep hill so my new homemade shooting sticks were worthless). At the shot he dropped and spun. I could see him raising his head looking around, not wanting to chance him getting up I put another shot into his chest.
It took Us two trips to pack him out on our backs, My Wife and one of her friends who wanted to experience it each carried a front quarter through the thick brush while I carried the back straps and tenderloins. The next Day a friend helped my carry the hind quarters. We spent 3 days cutting up our own meat.
In the end I feel very lucky to have gotten the chance to go hunting after all and glad I made the effort to capitalize on Lady Luck.
The second picture is from my backyard with the area I hunted up high in the background.
Thanks to Andrea, Desiree, and Chip for your help
BeanMan
Here is the story;
We had two people quit the Research Farm I work on in August. Unfortunatley I had to assume both of their roles as well as my own. The result was that I had to return both the blackpowder bull tag and the blackpowder pronghorn tags that I drew ( I got to keep my points).
I bought a leftover either sex elk tag for Colorado unit 41 for 4th season. I felt I would be past the busy season and I could hunt from my house. I hoped for snow to bring them lower and that didn't happen so I knew I would have to go high up the side of the Grand Mesa. On opening morning I got up at 0430 and had a cup of coffee and some cereal. I got on my ATV in the garage and rode up the long and bumpy trail called "Half Assed Pass" ( a legal BLM trail) which is about 12 miles and 3000 vertical feet up the side of the Grand Mesa. My plan was to hug a private property boundary loaded into my GPS and hunt south towards Whitewater Basin. After about 2 miles of walking and glassing I spotted a whitish cream colored patch up in the oakbrush. I couldn't see the head but from the color and the fact it was alone I guessed it to be a bull. I snuck to within 400 yards and could tell it was a decent bull. I wasn't comfortable with the long shot and decided to risk being seen and heard by struggling through a hundred yards of Oakbrush. I made it 50 feet before the bull disappeared. I fIgured I'd been busted. About a minute before this the sun peaked over the edge of the Mesa. I was wondering what to do next when I noticed the bull working his way in and out of the oakbrush and PJ towards me. The was a steep gulley he seemed to be heading for, I guess it was where he planned to bed. I used my range finder to measure 307 yards to an opeing I figured he would hit just before disappearing into the gulley. He walked into the open and paused just long enough for me to get a good off hand shot off. ( I was on a steep hill and he was across a ravine on another steep hill so my new homemade shooting sticks were worthless). At the shot he dropped and spun. I could see him raising his head looking around, not wanting to chance him getting up I put another shot into his chest.
It took Us two trips to pack him out on our backs, My Wife and one of her friends who wanted to experience it each carried a front quarter through the thick brush while I carried the back straps and tenderloins. The next Day a friend helped my carry the hind quarters. We spent 3 days cutting up our own meat.
In the end I feel very lucky to have gotten the chance to go hunting after all and glad I made the effort to capitalize on Lady Luck.
The second picture is from my backyard with the area I hunted up high in the background.
Thanks to Andrea, Desiree, and Chip for your help
BeanMan
