So, as you know, my hunting season has been over for almost two weeks now. The good news is that the boy had a doe tag for the Academy! This was not only a hunt for him, but also a scouting mission for me as I have been saving points with an eye toward a buck hunt there (currently 8-9 points for residents). We got to the Natural Resources office for our safety briefing and to pay our 15 dollar "hunting license" fee for the Academy and found the process to be MUCH more streamlined than ANYTHING associated with an Army base. After the briefing we were all paired up with guides. The guides were a mix of Base NR folks, Federal Fish and Wildlife folks, a CPW officer and Airmen from the base. They were all issued government vehicle to ferry us around in. The amount of ground open to hunting was surprising given the structure of the Academy. We headed out we Dave ( a CE Airman) and were rolling. As soon as we hit the area Dave wanted to check we came upon 2 folks that had already tagged our and were field dressing. We spotted a couple of does that were in a position we couldn't pursue and then headed off to other areas. We watched a guy take a shot at a nice tall 4x4, hit it low and then start trying to track it (as of our departure he was still looking). Then we moved over b y the stables and again saw does that were out of bounds by mere feet. Finally, we headed toward the archery range area. On the way we happened across the buck you will see pictures of just east of the prep school about 10 feet off the road!!! Our guide got on the horn and called out to another guide that had a buck hunter with him.....telling him to get on his horse and get over there. We kept watch on the buck until they got there. Upon their arrival the buck was about fifty yards off the road slightly side-hilling away at a slow walk. We left them to it and headed back into the woods. We happened another guides truck pulled over and stopped to check it out. They were watching another buck at about 40 yards and the hunter was hem-hawing about the buck. It was a simple 4x4, not to wide but MASSIVE. They just happened to say "Oh yeah, there are 2 does just down the hill about 100 yards". With him not ready to pull the trigger we snuck down the hill and found my sons doe and another one still feeding in the same place. We were able to get to about 50m. I gave my son the sticks and he smoked her easily (using my 110 as the optics on his rifle had loosened up after the last range outing and we hadn't discovered it until last night). We took care of her and were quick enough back to the check in to see the buck we had put the young lady on earlier hanging on the gambrel Even with that rack he only dressed at 185. There was another typical brought in as we were leaving that was wider than this and pretty massive. It was a good (short) day and I think I will go ahead and keep saving for a chance at one of these bucks.
(pics will follow when I get home and can access photobucket)

here are the pics...

Nice. thanks for posting this.

FYI, You can apply for this tag if you are a non-resident as well. It just takes more points Feel free to contact me if you have questions.

Nice, I think I will start applying.

Anybody who draws this let me know.....I live 5 minutes from the Academy and my kid goes to high school on the Academy. BTW, there is also a new Bass Pro about 5 minutes the other way.

nice post. congrats

I grew up just north of there (CastleRock/Larkspur area) and dad worked just south by Garden of the Gods. There were always HUGE deer wandering around the grounds, but at least back in the 70's & 80's there was no hunting there whatsoever