September 10th, my brother were in southern Colorado hunting, deer,elk and bear. The first day we didn't do a morning hunt due to getting into camp at midnight. We spent the afternoon and evening setting up camp, getting things squared away and finally got out to do a little scouting on the lower lands. The low lands showed some deer prints in the valley we were looking, but it was pretty darn dry and hot there so we decided to skip that and concentrate on the elk first.
Day 2 comes by and we are in a new area just loving the heck out of it! Over 10,000 feet in deep thick forest and aspen. On the way up we kicked up a couple doe and then a small buck that went straight up a steep cliff and into the aspens.
The past 4 years they FINALLY allowed does to be hunted and since then, the buck population has exploded to the point, I actually feel comfortable putting in for a buck tag.
So on day 2, we kick up a couple does, hes getting his rifle ready and Im looking and said, forget it, to small! They look big in the woods, but if you have the time, you can look at their heads and if it looks almost like a dog in a way, short, shubby and scruffy, its not a mature doe.
They took off after a while and we moved on, finding some torn up ground, followed that and eventually worked into a large section of aspen.
My brother first spotted it but it was a NICE 17-18" wide muley with freshly scraped off velvet hanging on top of his head! The funnies thing I ever seen on a deer. He was only a 2x3 but the width and height showed me that he will be a real looker in a couple years if he lives that long.
After messing around and videoing the buck for a while, we moved on and just about jumped into each others arms when another buck popped up along the side of the trail and made a loud blowing sound out of his nose. He was an even nicer buck but was gone before I could see how may points he had. I hate it when they do that nasal exhale as it alerts everything within ear shot.
Moving on onside more the light trail we had to follow forked off and we decided to take the right fork and probably 200 yards down my brother stopped, dropped to his knee and said DEER!
I got down behind him and was going through my pack in a hurry to get the video camera. He couldn't tell if it was a buck or doe because from his friend, a tree branch was blocking the deers head.
I got the camera going, zoomed in and said, DOE! Its a doe! He asked if he should shoot, I gave the ok and he did.
His .54cal CVA Hawken just filled up the forest around us with a big gray cloud of smoke, but through the camera I saw the deer stand straight up, sit on her butt and fall over backwards and kick.
The shot was under 60 yards and dropped her in her tracks. She didn't have any fear of us, so she was calm and relaxed while he ate and watched us. I am sure that helped.
She was a pig of a doe however! I'd say at least 130lbs + we actually got 45lbs of meat off her that went into the freezer. Scrap rib meat and other neck meat went into the chicken bucket to make maggots for the birds, so basically, all meat we could cut off, went to use.
He used home cast .530" round balls, 80gr jim shockeys gold, frontiers anti rust & patch lube with a .020" patch. Load was compressed FIRMLY until powder could compress no more.
It was one heck of an enjoyable hunt. The elk were driven deep into the thick stuff and by the time they are in that jungle, you can forget it. 2 mile drag is not in my book unless horses are available! We saw a total of 6 elk, but 5 of them were 600+ yards away looking down at us from a huge open field where they have every advantage.
Bear hunting is another extremely hard thing. I found zero sign of bear. No poop, nothing!
Great memories in the mountains for sure! The big noman nose muley was mature and a heck of a haul of meat.
Day 2 comes by and we are in a new area just loving the heck out of it! Over 10,000 feet in deep thick forest and aspen. On the way up we kicked up a couple doe and then a small buck that went straight up a steep cliff and into the aspens.
The past 4 years they FINALLY allowed does to be hunted and since then, the buck population has exploded to the point, I actually feel comfortable putting in for a buck tag.
So on day 2, we kick up a couple does, hes getting his rifle ready and Im looking and said, forget it, to small! They look big in the woods, but if you have the time, you can look at their heads and if it looks almost like a dog in a way, short, shubby and scruffy, its not a mature doe.
They took off after a while and we moved on, finding some torn up ground, followed that and eventually worked into a large section of aspen.
My brother first spotted it but it was a NICE 17-18" wide muley with freshly scraped off velvet hanging on top of his head! The funnies thing I ever seen on a deer. He was only a 2x3 but the width and height showed me that he will be a real looker in a couple years if he lives that long.
After messing around and videoing the buck for a while, we moved on and just about jumped into each others arms when another buck popped up along the side of the trail and made a loud blowing sound out of his nose. He was an even nicer buck but was gone before I could see how may points he had. I hate it when they do that nasal exhale as it alerts everything within ear shot.
Moving on onside more the light trail we had to follow forked off and we decided to take the right fork and probably 200 yards down my brother stopped, dropped to his knee and said DEER!
I got down behind him and was going through my pack in a hurry to get the video camera. He couldn't tell if it was a buck or doe because from his friend, a tree branch was blocking the deers head.
I got the camera going, zoomed in and said, DOE! Its a doe! He asked if he should shoot, I gave the ok and he did.
His .54cal CVA Hawken just filled up the forest around us with a big gray cloud of smoke, but through the camera I saw the deer stand straight up, sit on her butt and fall over backwards and kick.
The shot was under 60 yards and dropped her in her tracks. She didn't have any fear of us, so she was calm and relaxed while he ate and watched us. I am sure that helped.
She was a pig of a doe however! I'd say at least 130lbs + we actually got 45lbs of meat off her that went into the freezer. Scrap rib meat and other neck meat went into the chicken bucket to make maggots for the birds, so basically, all meat we could cut off, went to use.
He used home cast .530" round balls, 80gr jim shockeys gold, frontiers anti rust & patch lube with a .020" patch. Load was compressed FIRMLY until powder could compress no more.
It was one heck of an enjoyable hunt. The elk were driven deep into the thick stuff and by the time they are in that jungle, you can forget it. 2 mile drag is not in my book unless horses are available! We saw a total of 6 elk, but 5 of them were 600+ yards away looking down at us from a huge open field where they have every advantage.
Bear hunting is another extremely hard thing. I found zero sign of bear. No poop, nothing!
Great memories in the mountains for sure! The big noman nose muley was mature and a heck of a haul of meat.
