My Colorado 3rd Season Buck

Calif_Mike

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I finally had a few minutes to put together the report of my 3rd season hunt in Colorado. We left Calif on Oct. 27 and arrived in Cortez, CO mid morning on the 28th under sunny and warm conditions. Day time temps were as high as 70 and conditions had been dry through the fall so far, things were not promising for elk. Dad had a bull tag and I had a deer tag.

We setup camp the afternoon of the 28th at 10,000 feet in the Dunton area of unit 71 and were ready to begin scouting the 29th. Over the three days of scouting we located 3 small herds of elk that would move at the very crack of dawn and at very last light from bedding to feeding areas and there were several bulls in the groups. We were surprised to see any animal activity. We never saw any deer during scouting but noted fresh tracks each morning on some of the trails.

Opening morning came on Nov 1st with a very modest temperature of 28F and were on our way into one of our regular spots to sit and watch a series of meadows. Since dad had the elk tag he was sitting watching up the mountain and I was behind him where I could get his attention of elk came out down below. 20 minutes into the morning I was startled by the bounding of a deer off to my left about 50 yards. I looked over and a buck was bounding down the meadow heading to the Aspen grove at the bottom. I put the scope on him and noted he was a 3x3 with a spread just outside the ears. I decided I would take him if he stopped at the bottom of the hill as I had set my goal for a buck with a spread outside his ears. As he reached the Aspen grove 192 yards below me, he stopped and looked back. His body was facing away but he was looking back up the hill at me. I centered the cross hairs on the back (top) of his neck and sent the 180 grain Nosler Partition on its way from my 300 WSM. The bullet flew true and the buck crumpled, ending my hunt 20 minutes into opening day.
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Not a huge deer but he met my goal and he far exceeds anything I have taken here in Calif. We spent the rest of the morning getting him back to camp, hung and skinned to cool. Talking with dad while working on the buck he told me he had 13 elk come by him in the dark of the morning but it was still to dark to make out antler points.

That evening we sat on the edge of a meadow on top of a mountain where we had seen elk every evening of scouting. Just as dark was closing in we had 8 elk come into the meadow with one small bull but we could not tell if it was legal so we let it walk. Sunday morning was a bust so we wrapped it up at about 11AM and headed back to camp to get my deer and take him to the butcher. As we rolled into camp there were 3 bucks standing in our camp, one of which was a nice 4x4, figures doesn't it? That would have been an easy drag back to camp!

Sunday evening found us back up on top of the mountain watching the meadow again and this time 14 elk came out, there were several bulls but again it was just too dark to clearly count antler points. We got a heck of a lightning and thunder storm just before dark and it continued until about midnite. Our whole tent would shake with each thunder clap. Monday we didn't see anything in the morning or evening. Tuesday morning we were back in our morning spot with me watching my dad?s back. It was overcast and the light levels were low. About 30 minutes into the morning I had a bull come out about 300 yards below me so I turned around and whacked dad in the back with a stick and motioned him over. He snuck over and setup on his rifle. We could both tell is was a multibranch bull but due to the very dark conditions and distance we could not be sure he met the 4 point minimum. The bull kept working his was across the meadow and I started hitting him with a cow call to keep him around for as long as possible but he finally left the meadow without us being sure of his antlers. Tuesday nite and the elk decided to come out early, only problem was they were 4 cows and two small bulls, not legal. Tuesday nite it started to snow and it snowed most of Wednesday.

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It got cold Thursday, 0 degrees that morning, and only got to a high of about 20. The snow locked us out of our two spots so we began watching a couple of other areas where we have watched elk move out of the backcountry after a snow. However, very few animals moved with the weather and the only ones that did, moved at nite. We hunted through Friday morning without seeing another animal and dad said he was ready to head home, half a day early. We were happy with the trip, seeing elk most days and getting a nice buck, so once again our CO trip was a success.

Calif_Mike
 
Mike,

Great story and success for you on the hunt, too bad your dad could not connect with a Bull. It was great meeting and talking with both your dad and you that day before the opener of the season, finally found your camp and left after seeing that you guys must have gone to town. Did you take the Deer to the place between Dolores and Cortez who also is a Taxi guy?

Thanks for posting the story and pictures and maybe we will meet again in the field.

Brian
 
LAST EDITED ON Nov-19-08 AT 03:17PM (MST)[p]Forgot to include in my story that I met the great Kilowat during our trip, great to meet you Brian.

Yeah we took it to the same guy. He is a flake but his cutters do a good job. We had some of teh steaks the other nite and Colorado deer eat a heck of a lot better than our Calif. deer.

Mike
 
Way to go Mike, you did a great job in that story. Glad you were able to get your buck and have time to hunt with your Dad. Even though he didn't get a chance to fill that Elk tag, who cares, it's going that matters!

You guys showed true sportsmanship several times by being certain of legal points before shooting. I'm impressed! Great stuff!! Congrats on that buck!!

Joey
 

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