Average Joe Hunting Adventures with Dan and CJ

vanish said:

Aspens are perfect, but how the heck do you use a climber on a cottonwood? All the ones around here are multi-trunk twisted behemoths.

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The cottonwoods I climbed in WA were typically in thicker woods than what you usually have in Colorado. That meant they were smaller diameter and straighter. In WI the cottonwoods were to big for climbers, straps, and the bark was too thick for screw in steps. They can be challenging

Good luck on the hunt, drive safe and enjoy yourself

Don K said:

Good luck on the hunt, drive safe and enjoy yourself

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Thanks Don!
Good luck on your all star CO elk hunt!

Well, I've finally decided how I'm going to schedule my hunts this fall, and picked up my OTC deer and elk tags yesterday. I am not envious of Dan's long drive he has ahead of him, and I'm glad most of my hunts are relatively close to home.



I'm going to try to kill an elk this weekend, but if I don't pull it off I'll go back up there 16-24 September. I'm still undecided if I want to hold out for a decent bull or not.

The antelope season is 10-24 Sep, but I have to be at work the week of the 11th so I'll spend all day the 10th chasing them and after work each day. Since I've never killed an antelope, I'm going to shoot whatever gives me the first opportunity. I also really like antelope meat, so I'll take what I can get.

The moose hunt is the primary focus of the season for me, which is the reason I might shoot the first elk that comes into range. I'd love to get an elk this weekend so I can have more leave for the moose hunt if needed. Right now my calendar is marked out for 30 Sept to 15 Oct and 10-24 Nov if needed. The moose area has a lot of bears too, so if I cross paths with a nice one I'll shoot him.

Deer is kind of the odd ball out in the hierarchy of prioritization. There are so many general seasons all over the state that I'll probably be one of the weekend warriors. I don't plan on taking any leave to deer hunt, and I will focus most of my e-scouting efforts on the December archery seasons.... Hunting deer in the snow is by my favorite deer hunting, always has been.

My wife's deer tag is for November, and if I kill a moose in October I'll take leave to devote some solid effort into her hunt. I have a few places that we could take the kids with us and probably find something decent animals. I might not be able to stalk into range with the wife and kids, but I'm confident in my wife's ability to close in and seal the deal.

All in all it's going to be a busy fall. I'd be lying if I said I was 100% confident, but I have my doubts. It's going to be tough hunting areas I've never hunted before, but I think I have a few good spots and the mental toughness to give it everything I have.

The season is upon us! Hopefully we'll have some updates this weekend.

So I'm leaving for elk camp in a few hours and I'm already off to a bad start...

Safe travels and good luck sir.

We have to start watching Irma to see what it will do to our travel plans next week. Everyone be safe out there. We hit the road on the 13th for our 28 hour road trip.

Just got back from the mountains. It was a good trip. More to follow after I get some sleep.

You're killin' me Smallz...congrats!

I feel a good story coming on!!! Congrats!!!

Congrats fella!!! can't wait to see the animal that the arrow drew red on!!!!

He's the top buck on my hit list so far....It's early and things can change really quick if a bigger buck moves in, which has been known to happen....

I wasn't planning on elk hunting this weekend until literally last Wednesday. I was going to hunt deer closer to home, but I figured this weekend would be a good scouting trip for later this month. Thursday night I threw my pack together and got everything I needed set aside so I could grab and go after work.

I skipped out of the office early, and was able to make it to the mountain with enough time to setup my shelter and do some glassing before sunset.



The view from my shelter was pretty solid.



I only saw one elk (a young 5x5) Friday night, but he snuck past me at 50yds without giving me a good shot. I didn't hear any bugles or other elk sounds. There was absolutely zero wind, which made it eerily quiet. There weren't any bugs or birds making sounds either. With the almost full moon on top of the silence, it was one of the strangest nights I've ever slept outside.

I was up and at it around 5am, and I got to the spot I wanted to glass from 30 minutes before shooting light. I found several groups of elk, and tried making my way to the closest herd before the thermals switched. There was almost zero wind and you could hear a church mouse; moving in close was pretty much impossible. I made it to within 200yds before the elk showed me how important cardio is. They moved across the valley faster than I'd ever be able to, and they were gone.



Since it was so quiet I figured my best chance of killing something would be to sit in a pinch point that had 2 wallows and several trails skirting the edge of the meadow. It was also pretty warm, so you never know when something will come down to water.



Off to the right, and tucked away from the large meadow in the pic, was a nice thick patch of grass which had a lot of elk tracks and droppings in it. The wind was perfect for anything that would come into the large meadow or the opening to my right. So I nestled myself between 3 large spruces and got comfortable.

Sitting in one spot is not my favorite thing to do, so I spent the time playing with different settings on my camera. Around noon, while I was taking some long exposure shots of the flowing water next to me, a large bull with a split g3 came out on the other side of the meadow. He was the biggest bull I had on trail camera, and he looked a lot bigger in person. He was too far for a shot, and there was no way to sneak closer.

By the time I put my binos back in the harness, picked up the camera, realized after pressing the shutter I had the exposure set WAY too long, the bull was gone. He slurped some water, laid down in the wallow for a few seconds then left. I missed the shot with my camera. Rookie move.

Other than seeing the big bull, the day as a whole was utterly boring. The only sounds were the occasional squirrel dropping a pine cone or barking at me. I split my time between napping and snapping pics of everything around me.



I was happy to be in the woods. No emails to answer, no technology to distract me (other than my camera), and no sign of other people. I was alone with my thoughts, and enjoying the solitude. It was the most peaceful 8 hrs of my life....

Until I heard a branch break on the other side of the creek, and saw an antler through the trees.

I don't know if the animal was bedded right there or if he somehow snuck in without me hearing it. Regardless, I ranged the spot I thought he would walk through. As I ranged it, he stepped into the view through my rangefinder and stopped to tickle his antlers on a small fir tree. 61.7yds. He looked familiar.

I dropped the rangefinder, adjusted my slider, and drew back. At full draw I chuckled inwardly as I realized I hadn't set my feet properly. I didn't want to cut corners and possibly mess up the shot, so I let down my bow, fixed my feet, and went through my shot sequence properly this time. I floated my pin on his chest and executed a crisp release. The familiar pop of a double lung hit was matched with blood coming out of both sides as he turned and ran up the hill out of sight.

A few seconds of running, a cough and the sound of lungs deflating were followed by the crash of a large animal falling down a steep hill. It was silent for a few more seconds, then animals were running everywhere. Some went up the scree slope above the meadow. While others ran through the thick woods. I knew the animal I shot was dead, but I always proceed with caution after a shot. Hearing all of the animals take off put a small amount of doubt in my mind, but I was confident in my shot.

I don't know when it happened, but sometime between shooting my first deer when I was 12 and now, I've gotten over the adrenaline rush. If you'd have seen me shooting this animal, you wouldn't have been able to tell if I was even excited. In the heat of the moment I block out everything and focus entirely on accomplishing the task of killing the animal in front of me. I am definitely excited, but I don't feel any of it. I wouldn't make a good TV hunter.

As the mental video of the shot and post shot events rolled through my mind, I took a knee, exhaled for the first time in a while, and then sat with my back against the large, old spruce tree I spent all day under. Over the next 20 minutes I sat taking it all in and reflecting on my life's events which brought me to this point

As a kid growing up in WI, images of hunting in the mountains only existed in magazines, TV shows, and my dreams. My passion for hunting has burned bright since before my first memories when father took me hunting and fishing. Since then I've walked far more wilderness than I ever dreamt I could, and I've killed animals in places I didn't even know existed. I have been extremely blessed to have experienced as much as I have. Tucked away in this remote drainage, far away from the places that lit my passion, I was living my dream.



After finding my arrow, I texted Dan on my inreach, and took up the bloodtrail. Momentary doubt set in as I didn't find much blood for the first 20 yards. I took it slow to avoid bumping him. I could have mistaken a lung hit for a liver hit, and didn't want to mess it up. 50 yards into the tracking job the figurative faucet turned on and my doubts were gone. Another few paces of easy tracking and there he was.




He rolled about 20 yards down the hill and died less than 50 yards from where I arrowed him. I couldn't have been more happy with him and the experience.







He's the same 6x6 I got on my trail camera in mid August.



And then the work started. This bull was 4 miles away from the truck with a 2k foot climb in between. I packed my first load back to camp that night and slept until 6am before continuing the pack. I did it in 3 loads and it took 15.5 hours to get the last load back to the truck.





I got home at midnight last night and slept like a rock.

The day after I get back from hunting is similar to Christmas for my kids. They're always excited to see what I brought home this time.





I am still in a state of disbelief. I just killed a great bull, my first true OTC elk ever. I packed it out solo, and did it all in one weekend. I've held 5 elk tags since 2014 and I've killed 5 elk in 9 days of hunting. Like I said before, it's been an amazing blessing, and I couldn't be more thankful.

Congrats on your early success! I look forward to following the rest of your adventures this year.

Wow, congrats on a great bull!

LCH said:

Congrats on your early success! I look forward to following the rest of your adventures this year.

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Thanks! We've kinda been building this thing up for a while, and I'd hate to let you guys down. I hope we can keep it up for the rest of the season.

Crumb said:

Wow, congrats on a great bull!

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Thank you! I knew he was the bull from my trail cams right away. I couldn't be more happy with him. He's a beautiful bull. I would have shot a cow if it came out first, so having this bull come out was icing on the cake.

Crossbowguy said:

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He's the top buck on my hit list so far....It's early and things can change really quick if a bigger buck moves in, which has been known to happen....

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Dang! That's a really nice buck. Sadly I'm far too familiar with the disappearing act those bucks like to do after the season opens. I hope he sticks around and stays on his summer pattern long enough for you to get him.

Many congrats, and what a great shot you pulled off, good work.
Cheers
Richard

Excellent job CJ. Great write up and awesome photo's of your hunt. I look forward to reading about the rest of you and Dans fall.

-Jon