Well guys, I haven't had to go South as of yet but there's pretty good chance that when I return from Colorado next week, that could change. Anyway, I'm typing this from the OKC airport. My elk hunt will be cut short this year, but a few days is better than none at all. My friends have been in the mountains since monday, so I'm hoping they'll have everything figured out by the time I roll up in the Hyundai Accent rental car. I'll be back at the beginning of next week, and since I only have a few days... I'll shoot any legal bull or legal elk for that matter. Adios, and I'll see ya next week.
Good luck dub, my flight leaves in the morning. Hopefully we both come back with some success stories.
Thumbs up Dub. Good luck in slammin' a bull elk. When are you gonna invite me to hunt elk? I did let you borrow my screwdriver at a critical turning point in your life.
Well guys... I'm back and long story short, it was rough. Between Friday morning and Sunday night I put 23.4 miles on my Danner Pronghorns between 9,400ft and 11,000 in elevation. I was extremely happy with physical preparation... which made the hunt very enjoyable. I saw rain, hail, sleet and lots of elk poo and tracks but I didn't see or hear a single elk. The elk were doing all their rutting after dark and lots of the locals said that this area (in the last couple of years) has had an almost silent rut. The muzzleloader hunters pushed the elk into some of the most remote locations and down onto the private ranches. After I left, I talked to one of the guys that I was with up there (they are still in Colorado) and they ran into a guide that had finished up with all of his customers and told them exactly where to go and gave them his contact info if they needed anything. Too bad we didn't have that info last thursday. It was a really cool 3 days none the less. I stalked to well within bow range of a mule deer that would go somewhere in the 180's and I had a camera malfunction. We shot and ate several grouse and saw some incredible country But the coolest/scariest part of the hunt was the moutain lion... We set up to call in an area that had some really dark timber with lots of really fresh elk sign. We began calling and I was watching a cow moose that was bedded down below us. She was looking our direction when I saw a flicker of something about 150 yard out and perpendicular to the moose, but I looked and couldn't see anything. When I looked back at her she was looking in the direction of the flash that I had seen. About 10 seconds later I saw ears from behind a fallen tree and I whispered "coyote" to my buddy who was about 10 yards up from me. At this point the "coyote" was about 70 yard out going parallel to the line of me and my two buddies. Shortly after I noticed the tan color and 4' long tail. My first thought was "this is pretty cool, he's gonna sneak past when he doesn't see the any elk that are making the noises." Then in a split second he went into the stalk mode, hung a right, and absolutely silenty jumped from fallen tree to fallen tree until he was 25 yards. He had already gone past me was staring my buddy eye to eye. It was a little unnerving and I came to full draw with my new 100gr GrizzTrick pointed down range and had my 20 yard pin between his eyes at the top of his head. Trey stood up and yelled "HEY!" and the cat got down like he was going to charge, as I was about to let the Allegiance loose he yelled again and the cat turned slightly before heading off into the timber... again completely silently. It was truly a rush, and a really cool experience. I'm extremely thankful that it turned out the way it did, had he come from behind us, it could have been bad. Walking in and out of the woods in the dark had a little different feeling about it after that. Anyway, I wish I had more time but here are a few pics. I think I'm heading south to do some hurricane stuff tomorrow, but I should only be gone for a week or two.
Sounds like a fun time, and Im sure it was a blast. But man, those big cats are probably the scariest thing in the woods IMO. The only time I saw one it was 200 yards away and I nearly needed to change my panties then. I can't even imagine being within bow range of one, much less at full draw, with a pin on him, ready to shoot. I probably would have too paralyzed with fear to do anything Glad you had a good time though
Cool story Dubbya.You'll bag a big one next trip.Its gotta be pretty unerving when you yell and that cat got ready to attack.Is it open season on them.That scenery in those pictures is godly.
