mtngoat Report post Posted September 29, 2010 Had a chance to head back home to southern co for a couple weeks and managed to sneak in 9 days of bow hunting. The season started off great with lows in the mid to upper 30's at night, warming up to the mid 70's during the day. I had a lot of missed opportunities the first 3 days of hunting, i missed two different bulls and several close calls. The next couple days were pretty slow, only finding elk that were way to far for the evening hunt and it seemed the wind was always swirling pretty bad in the mornings. My dad showed up and hunted with me the last weekend. We called up a really nice bull from a drainage only to have him hang up about 100 yds out and decide to head over the opposite side of the hill. Well the next morning we headed out and i glassed a really nice bull with about 20 cows and a few other bulls with him feeding over a bald ridge into the timber. I set up about 100yds to far from where they actually crossed and had to make a move. I was able to get within 40 yds and right when i started to draw i got busted by a couple of cows and a spike that i didn't see. Needless to say, i didn't get the shot. We started heading back the way we came and heard a bull bugle on the other side of the hill down in the timber. We started out after him and could hear three other bull bugling and a couple fighting, so we set up close to a wallow and started cow calling. We were about to give up and head out when we heard him again , he was on a b-line right for us. I saw him trotting in, grunting & snorting and figured the path he was going to take would be about 25 yds out. Sure enough, he popped out and i stopped him with my reed and let her fly. All i saw prior to the shot was his royals and i knew he was a decent bull, then i just watched my knock disappear in his body. He just kinda wondered off and we heard the crash and last few kicks. After letting him go for a while we started out after him and found him not more then 40 yds from where i took the shot, piled up in a bunch of blow down. Here are some pics of the area and my best archery bull to date. Enjoy! Here he is not more then 40yds from where i shot him all tangled up in a mess of blow down! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GWBowhunter1 Report post Posted September 29, 2010 man that is awesome great job. that is some beautiful country. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted September 29, 2010 Wow! Beautiful bull and thanks for all the pics and story! Sounds like a fun hunt! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mcelkhunter Report post Posted September 29, 2010 Awesome country. Great job, congrats!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jwhunter Report post Posted September 29, 2010 Great looking bull! Like the pictures of the changing aspen leaves Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ggpwr Report post Posted September 29, 2010 Nice bull. As much as I love AZ hunting, nothing compares to the high rockies in the fall. I hunt in Southern Colorado every year during rifle season. Hopefully I'll knock one down in 2 weeks when I'm up in unit 66. What unit were you in? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Elkaddict Report post Posted September 29, 2010 Beautiful place to hunt, very nice bull!! Congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mje1 Report post Posted September 29, 2010 Great Bull and beautiful country. Im ready to start going there every year just goota take the plunge and go. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues Sniper Report post Posted September 30, 2010 Great bull, in some awesome country. I like the big Devils' point on his left. Congrats Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mtngoat Report post Posted September 30, 2010 Nice bull. As much as I love AZ hunting, nothing compares to the high rockies in the fall. I hunt in Southern Colorado every year during rifle season. Hopefully I'll knock one down in 2 weeks when I'm up in unit 66. What unit were you in? Good luck to you up there, i've never hunted that unit so i don't know much about it. I was hunting in unit 83 in the Sangre de Cristo mtns. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mtngoat Report post Posted September 30, 2010 Great bull, in some awesome country. I like the big Devils' point on his left. Congrats I think it adds a little bit of character to him, he has a really small on on the other side and he almost split in the back. He was almost a 6x7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ggpwr Report post Posted September 30, 2010 I've hunted around the Sangre De Cristos before. Beautiful area! We will be up near the Umcompahgre wilderness around Slumgullion Pass. Remote area, tough country, but nothing like it. When you get to the top of the peaks above timberline, you can see for 100 miles on a clear day. Here's some pics a few years back in the same area: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mtngoat Report post Posted September 30, 2010 ok, now i know where your talking about. Some big bulls in that country. I would like to hunt it sometime, possibly next year. I have a buddy that's from that area and knows it really well. Good luck, and let me know how it goes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Report post Posted September 30, 2010 Congrats and great pics. I've enjoyed hunting South Western Colorado a few times for elk. Mainly the Missionary Ridge area just North of Durango. Great country to hunt in. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jgabler Report post Posted September 30, 2010 Congrats on a nice bull. It's been a long time since I've hunted Colorado. Am thinking about it for next year if the draw fails me here again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
