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Final hunt of the year for me.... #27665
11/17/2014 11:52 AM
11/17/2014 11:52 AM
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 76
Fort Carson, CO
SFC (R) B Offline OP
Hoosier Hunter
SFC (R) B  Offline OP
Hoosier Hunter
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 76
Fort Carson, CO
Thursday night I will be heading out to rendezvous with my hunting buddies for our last hunt of the year. We will be sp-ing from Ft Collins headed to Craig for a Ranching For Wildlife hunt on a big ranch. These are publicly available hunts (for CO residents)on ranches with some great hunting opportunities. I will be hunting the same ranch I got my Pronghorn on earlier this year. This camp will be a little different from our past outings due to lack of backcountry camping opp and the accompaniment of my buddies boy (10. We are renting a popup camper and staying at a state park int he AO. Between 3 of us hunting we have a doe and 2 cow tags. If we tag out it will be full freezers ALL AROUND for us. Weather looks to be in the 20s-30s during the day with a couple of days with a chance of snow. Can't wait to get back out there and go at it. Think good thoughts and I will post updates.....


"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." George Orwell
Re: Final hunt of the year for me.... #27666
11/17/2014 02:45 PM
11/17/2014 02:45 PM
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 8,794
Mooresville Indiana
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Weedhopper Offline
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Weedhopper  Offline
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Joined: Mar 2003
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Mooresville Indiana
Good luck!


Brew coffee....not tards
Re: Final hunt of the year for me.... #27667
12/04/2014 02:19 PM
12/04/2014 02:19 PM
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 76
Fort Carson, CO
SFC (R) B Offline OP
Hoosier Hunter
SFC (R) B  Offline OP
Hoosier Hunter
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 76
Fort Carson, CO
Well, I have been pretty busy with work and the holidays since I got back but here is the write up on this trip. I will try to get the pics uploaded tonight....blew my mind.


So here is the story and the real "kick". This RFW hunt was my last of the season. Myself and my buddy's father had tags for cows for one ranch and he had a doe tag for another ranch nearby. So, on opening day we head out. The dad and I get set up on a couple of high points overlooking several valleys and a large wheat field. Pretty slow going except for several deer and then at 0850 a HUGE cow walks out in front of the him and down she goes. Not another elk anywhere around our area. She was an old girl and apparently all on her own. So we started working on her. By the time we get to the bottom of the valley (we were about a mile up) with her there is a missed call from my buddy. He has his 10 yoa son with him and he has just shot his doe. So we hustle getting her loaded up and head to that ranch with the sled to help with the doe. We get there and are now loaded up and head back to camp. On the way the dad gets a call and finds out his mother has passed. He is 70 and she was 90. So now our hunt which should have been until WED will only be until COB Sunday. Saturday night it snows about 5 inches and things are looking interesting. My buddy and I go out and scour some drainages Without any luck. The weather moves back in and it starts snowing. We head in for lunch and on the way out we spot about two hundred elk in the spot in the pics (to come). With my GPS and HuntMaps (first time using and it was good) it looks like they are in a spot on our property. We were only a couple of miles from the outfitter that runs the ranch so we scoot back there to check on exact property line. We are informed that the property line is at the BOTTOM of the hill they are on in the creek bed. We go back out to the hills and hunt the rest of the day. We only came across a lone calf. She was bedded down 30 feet off the road and wouldn't move, even with us really close to her and moving around. She ended up skirting the road until she reached an open area (not on our ranch) and headed in there. Got within 20 yards of her several time but never any legal or ethical shots. Still stinging from that close encounter, we head back toward the outfitters to check out as my hunt was ending. We decided to cruise by the hill side again to check and see if the herd had come back. We turn the corner and saw what is in the pics. We almost wrecked the truck. Best guess on the herd (trying to do a count) is somewhere between 12 and 1500. The herd stretched over a mile on the hill side. We stopped and glassed just wishing for a sudden and massive movement As I looked into the sage I saw that there were a good number of elk in there and some moving down. I tell my buddy I have to give it a shot and approached through some sage on a finger that reached out overlooking the creek bed. SURELY there would be some elk down there, right? I got our there easily without spooking any of them and had PLENTY in range but as light began to fade the closest any got to the property line was about 200m above the creek. I stayed until it was fully dark It was incredible to see all those elk but MAN was that a tough pill to swallow. So ends my season.


"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." George Orwell
Re: Final hunt of the year for me.... #27668
12/05/2014 03:32 AM
12/05/2014 03:32 AM
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 8,794
Mooresville Indiana
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Weedhopper Offline
Hoosier Hunter
Weedhopper  Offline
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 8,794
Mooresville Indiana
Sounds like a great time irregardless. Thanks for sharing! Look forward to the pictures! cool


Brew coffee....not tards
Re: Final hunt of the year for me.... #27669
12/05/2014 10:22 PM
12/05/2014 10:22 PM
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 76
Fort Carson, CO
SFC (R) B Offline OP
Hoosier Hunter
SFC (R) B  Offline OP
Hoosier Hunter
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 76
Fort Carson, CO
Here are some pics....the brown dots ARE elk!!

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]


"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." George Orwell
Re: Final hunt of the year for me.... #27670
12/06/2014 12:38 AM
12/06/2014 12:38 AM
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 1,554
se indiana
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THROBAK Offline
Hoosier Hunter
THROBAK  Offline
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 1,554
se indiana
Kinda Like Water, Water Everywhere and not a drop to Drink


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