2014 Colorado Archery Elk Hunt Invite

finally made it home. will get pics up tomorrow!

 

I had one of the best weeks ever. It started off seeing that huge bull moose on the first night I got into camp, then my first and unfortunately only elk sighting of a big ol bull elk the next night, too bad he was about 400yds away. After meeting all the different people for the first time at camp I felt completely at home there. I loved riding around with Will and Pat and Christine hunting deer.


Tuesday is for some reason the most memorable day I had. It started the day before having been riding around with Will and team driven, I happened to spot a couple of monster mule deer, before Will did even. I basically ran down the mountain around a ridge line to get between them and the pines below so I could cut them off but they ended up getting into the pines before me.



As I was doing the romp down the clearcut, Will was taking in every inch of the monster and devising a plan for the next day. Christine, Pat and I went back to that area early the next morning and sat hoping to intercept the toads working out to get a snack, but all we saw were a few chipmunks and a doe and 2 fawns. We met back at my truck and proceeded to head down the mountain to check for any other deer, unknowing to us the 2 studs we saw the day before were just up the road from us as Rob can attest to. so a couple switchbacks later I spotted a bedded fork in the clearcut a mere 35 yds from the road. Pat was on the case and sent and arrow into the unsuspecting quarry. After watching him run off with the arrow almost falling out the other side we crept up to where he was and good ol' eagle eye Christine found a bit of blood and we decided to back out and come back in an hour or so to pick up the trail again.





So down the mountain we go again and about 10 min later I looked up to my left up the hill and saw a buck standing broadside in a nice shooting lane, I said "there's one, I got this one", he was a bit outside of Christines range anyway. I parked and crept up to the opening around the trees and as I was drawn I asked Christine to range him and she said 75 and I settled my 70 yd pin on his back and let her fly, I watched him run off hard looking like he was hit good. As I climbed up the hill, finally understanding how steep and crazy these mountain slopes are to a flatlander, I reached the place where the deer had been standing. I almost immediately found my arrow covered in blood and then a blood trail a blind man could follow, so I slowly started to track him I went a mere 50 yds and found 2 big pools of blood in the dirt but no deer. Worried I bumped him I looked around and saw him laying 20 yds down the hill pinned against a tree, I caught an artery and he was dead before I even made it half way up that hill. As I promised team driven previously to the hunt a resounding "SUCK IT TREBEK" resounded through the woods, as I truly didnt know how impressive this animal was as I was not really focused on his antlers before I shot, seriously I didn't.





I attempted to drag him down the hill by myself, or more like it was dragging me. As I was going bananas Rex and Rob pulled up and had starting moving in my direction, because I was completely beside myself jumping above the trees as Rex put it. Rob was awesome and helped me drag him over a couple of huge dead fall logs and I was lucky enough to even back the truck up to the hill and slide him right in. Colby said when I told the story back at camp that I should have at least had to haul it up the hill and not have it easy like I did. Poor Pat about got run through by those antlers multiple times, including a low blow he got while we were hanging it. Will scored him at a whopping 186 6/8ths

I spent the rest of the day cutting it up and apparently twerking while I sawed off the legs according to Rob and Christine, thankful there is no video. That deer was trying to make Pat a pin cushion while he was hanging, I also found an old wound above the spine from a broadhead that was infected. Also a big thanks to those 2 for caping out the beast.

Unfortunately the rest of the week was fairly uneventful, other then killing a mouse and trying to startle Christine with it, no dice there. She is unfathomable.



The last hunt of the trip on Friday Albert, Mark, Dan and I were dropped off by Will and hiked down a slope hoping to stumble on some elk but 3 of us only found mule deer. I got some nice video and was within 5yds of this fork.



As we got to Will some weather was moving in.



The last day I said goodby to the 2 crazy blokes, and Pat.



Thanks to Will for putting on a great camp, and to all the other people I met and hope to see when I go back again.

 

Great pics Guys and you Christine , also thanks to all that turned up for making this year the best Elk Camp to date, don't think I've ever laughed so much and felt so relaxed.
Dan, you are a true Gentleman, that day out in Leadville and Frisco was a day I will remember for a long time and for all the right reasons, my ribs ached that day from laughing, glad you enjoyed it mate. Now put the shopping in the boot and lets go get wankered...... "Home James"

Christine, I wanna thank you for giving me jaw ache from smiling like an idiot, getting to shoot the AR-15 was a highlight for me and something I will be forever grateful, your smile and enthusiasm to hunt was infectious and hope to see you at Camp again in the future.
Greg, Pat, Albert, Colby etc, I'd share camp with all you Guys anytime, great times my friends.... great times!

Waid, cannot thank you enough Buddy, you made me choke with your kind gesture and words. You are the man

Matt, you did it again, so happy for you, enjoy your backstraps and tenderloin.

Rob and Sexy Rex, great to see you guys again, you crack me up with your stories and banter, see you soon

Troy, you crazy Aussie Ba$t@rd, definitely a friend for life mate. Laugh, laugh and then laugh some more, but those two days in the backcountry was definitely the highlight of my trip. I hope to see you soon, but will deffo be staying in touch ya bloody great mongrel :D

Will, what can I say, you're like a big brother /father figure, I have nothing but the greatest respect for you. You open your doors to me every Elk Camp and the good times follow, thank you so much for making me feel so welcome !!!

Lastly, thanks to Chase, Ramone and Lee for a great last night at camp, humbled to be in your presence, you Guys stay safe, hope to catch up again some time.

Finally, Yes I got to eat tag soup again!, but If I never see another Elk again I can rest knowing I called in a huge 330-340" 7x7 to 54yds on the Thursday and nearly got him again on the Friday, but that wind had other plans!
To see a herd Bull of that size and exchange bugles on the meafow was just a memory I will never forget. The look on Troys face was priceless, high 5's followed by knuckle bumps followed....... amazing!!

Thanks again everybody for turning up, anybody who needs to paypal Will the money for the trip can PM him for his details.... thanks.

 

Holy deer frog. That buck is a stud, big congrats man!

 

Frogtosser Congratulations on the big beautiful muley. You took some nice photo of the hunt area, thank you.

 

Just got off the mountain from the most brutal pack out imaginable... We killed two bulls within a second of each other in the same calling setup 6-7 miles from the truck at the head of a long drainage... Pouring rain all weekend and after 20-30 miles most of which with 100+lbs on my back, I legitimately can't walk. Had SEVEN bulls come in on the same setup within 10 minutes. One of those once in a lifetime experiences I'll never duplicate, less than 48 hrs into my first elk hunt. Mine was the bigger of the two killed, an awesome 6x6. Got a lot of meat cutting to do tomorrow before heading to Idaho for bear... Will try to update story a little better before we head out. Here's a pic for now though!

 

Moved to Colorado this year. This is a thread I hope to see again next year. This looked like an AMAZING week. Congrats to all of you that had a great harvest.

 

Beautiful bull Trevor! Congrats! It's all fun and games until you go to carry one of those things out.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

 

Wow, some nice deer and elk. Thanks all for letting us live your hunts vicariously.

~Bill

 

Thank you Will. Amazing time had a blast with my friends and meeting friends of a lifetime. Thanks will for making Sunday morning a lot more interesting to wake up with that scotch. Thank you will that's all I can say.

 

Congrats to everyone! Some beautiful animals and pictures.

Looking forward to more of Trevor's hunt.

 

Sent from my C811 4G using Tapatalk

 

Looks like it was a great camp and congrats is in order for some.

 

Sent from my C811 4G using Tapatalk

 

Sent from my C811 4G using Tapatalk

 

Sent from my C811 4G using Tapatalk

 

Sent from my C811 4G using Tapatalk

 

Sent from my C811 4G using Tapatalk

 

But I only wear a size 11 boot. How we going to fit it all?! Lol. Can't wait till my wife drives my butt home some night and I get to say "Home James" hahaha.

I was very bummed to hear of your close encounter with that giant. You have busted your butt trying to kill one and you deserve it. You have more patience than I do my friend. You will be rewarded!

 

Sent from my C811 4G using Tapatalk