Just got back from Unit 9 with my 12 year old daughter after her muzzleloader hunt. We had a great time with lots of fun, laughs and one bad experience that I'll share later. But for the good part first. Tuesday morning was cold and foggy. Weather was forecasting winter storm warnings for the area so we drove out to the area we were going to hunt and decided to watch from the truck. After about 30 minutes it was just getting light enough and the fog thinned for us to see 4 elk moving between a couple of hills away from a tank. Of the four, two of them were bulls. Fortunately for us, the fog held and we were able to run about ? mile, several times in the open and within view of the elk, to get in position for a shot of about 150 yards. I got on my knees and she laid her 50 cal. Encore Pro-Hunter on my shoulder for the shot. The bull turned broadside to look at us and she let the 250 grain round do the rest. The bull ran about 50 yards to the other elk and piled up. For a young lady that turned 12 on January 2 she has now gotten two elk this year. A cow in Colorado on a late season hunt North of Vail and now this beautiful 4x4. What a year? See the link below for the picture
Now for the bad part of the story or at least one where another hunters inconsiderate actions placed a sour note to an otherwise wonderful hunt. On Sunday evening I took my daughter to Boulder Tank. I had seen several elk in the area while archery hunting and thought it would give her a good chance. We were there for about 20 minutes when a cow and calf came in and provided about 15 minutes of entertainment for us. They left and about 30 minutes later I heard a vehicle parking across the meadow and up the hill from the tank next to where I had left my quad. Sure enough a hunter came sneaking in. I began whistling to get his attention but he did not hear me and proceeded to sit about 20 feet from us. How he could have missed us I do not know. Even though it is not required I still had my daughter wearing hunters orange and that is kind of hard to miss. I went over and let him know that we were sitting just on the other side of the trees from him behind a log that offered a good rest and kept us hidden. We talked a little and he had said that they had seen some elk around there that morning and was interested in a big bull. He then said he was going to sit under another tree about 50 yards away even though we were already there. I know that it is public land and we all have a right to be there. However, with all the areas to hunt he still decided to sit on top of us. About 20 minutes after that we saw 3 bulls coming in through the trees. A spike and two forked antlered bulls, one that was pretty nice looking. Before the bulls even left the trees the other hunter, Mike, took a shot. After seeing the bulls take off the other direction I walked, stormed over, to Mike and let him know what I thought about him and his actions. According to him, the bulls had stopped and were looking at us so he took the shot. It is one thing to do it to me but when someone does that to my daughter and they know that it is my daughter that is hunting it kind of gets under my skin. I found out later that he did get one of the bulls, the smaller of the two, a 4x3.
Now for the bad part of the story or at least one where another hunters inconsiderate actions placed a sour note to an otherwise wonderful hunt. On Sunday evening I took my daughter to Boulder Tank. I had seen several elk in the area while archery hunting and thought it would give her a good chance. We were there for about 20 minutes when a cow and calf came in and provided about 15 minutes of entertainment for us. They left and about 30 minutes later I heard a vehicle parking across the meadow and up the hill from the tank next to where I had left my quad. Sure enough a hunter came sneaking in. I began whistling to get his attention but he did not hear me and proceeded to sit about 20 feet from us. How he could have missed us I do not know. Even though it is not required I still had my daughter wearing hunters orange and that is kind of hard to miss. I went over and let him know that we were sitting just on the other side of the trees from him behind a log that offered a good rest and kept us hidden. We talked a little and he had said that they had seen some elk around there that morning and was interested in a big bull. He then said he was going to sit under another tree about 50 yards away even though we were already there. I know that it is public land and we all have a right to be there. However, with all the areas to hunt he still decided to sit on top of us. About 20 minutes after that we saw 3 bulls coming in through the trees. A spike and two forked antlered bulls, one that was pretty nice looking. Before the bulls even left the trees the other hunter, Mike, took a shot. After seeing the bulls take off the other direction I walked, stormed over, to Mike and let him know what I thought about him and his actions. According to him, the bulls had stopped and were looking at us so he took the shot. It is one thing to do it to me but when someone does that to my daughter and they know that it is my daughter that is hunting it kind of gets under my skin. I found out later that he did get one of the bulls, the smaller of the two, a 4x3.
