huntjunkie Report post Posted September 12, 2012 Went to Colorado Sept. 1 with a couple of friends. It was a rough hunt, elk were very quiet. Temps were in the mid 80's in the day and low 40's at night. Moon was bright and no cloud cover. I was a little worried that I came to early. We put some miles on the boots trying to locate elk but weren't having much luck. By Tuesday we had only seen 6 elk and heard 2 bugles, not good. Especially considering we walked about 25(colorado) miles just trying to locate em. Wednesday morning my friends decided to head home. Their feet were blistered and could take it any more. I was going to leave also because I am helping a good friend on his Unit 10 archery elk hunt. Getting home early would score points with my wife. Right? Well Wednesday morning I woke up to rain sprinkling on the trailer. Oh boy! I LOVE HUNTING IN THE RAIN!! Good things usually happen. So I said, SEE YA!!!! To my friends a literally ran out the door. With in an hour I was on bugling bulls! Boo... Yaw...!! Played cat and mouse with them for 4 hrs. The wind was swirling and I wasn't going to force it. Eventually I lost them so I headed down the ridge cow calling ever so often. Well I bumped em and they ran off. Wasn't happy about that! So I moved down the ridge and...... bumped some cows! Crap! There was so much dead fall and it was so thick it took alot of attention just walking. Hence the double bump. Now I'm really ticked. I find a game trail and walk it. Its a little less congested with dead fall. I walk a little ways, look down and see a steaming pile of crap. I think to my self, "man they are really close!" I look up a see a bull looking right at me about 80 yards away. CRAP!! literally! He just turns and walks away real slow. I look to my left and a cow and calf are looking at me and they do the same. Cool, their not real scared. So I grab my calls a start sounding like a heard of elk.(for about 20-30 sec.) Then go silent for 30 sec. Then hit a real soft estress call and I get a real crappy bugle back. So I kick it up a notch and he fires right back with a little more aggression. Sweet! I give it 10 sec. and give him a real nice estress call and he fires back again. Ok, now I'm shaking! I look up and see antlers headed my way. I put the call in my pocket and found a shooting lane. As the bull approached my shooting lane, I drew as he walked behind a group of trees. He stopped behind a tree and began feeding. I was at full draw for nearly a min when he finally stepped in the lane. I touched the trigger and I heard, WHACK! The bull jumped, ran 10 yards and stood there looking around. After a few seconds he began to stager and then fell down. In less than a min it was all over! Wow!! I couldn't believe it! I had just take my first "solo" bull. He won't score much but definitely a trophy. I called in, shot, quartered, and packed it out myself. Can you say, sore back?! Oh, and I shot him at 11,600 ft. My last colorado bull was taken at 10,800 ft. What next? The next day when I returned I found a bear eating the gut pile. Which I filmed (thread "Colorado Bear"). It was a fun and exciting hunt! And the best part, a freezer full of meat! Good Luck to those who hold AZ archery tags!! Can't wait to see the pictures and hear the stories! Hope this gets ya fired up! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
reganranch Report post Posted September 12, 2012 Way to make it happen Stan!!! 11k man your in the sub-alpine conifer forest...thats crazy man. Congrats on the kill, good luck on your upcoming hunts! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted September 12, 2012 Outstanding! Way to get it done. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trophyhnter Report post Posted September 12, 2012 Huge congrats on your trophy! Way to get it done without the posse! Thanks for posting! You must be in good shape hiking that many miles and then pulling out the elk by yourself! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CRAZYBUCK Report post Posted September 12, 2012 Simply awesome great bull love the (diy ) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stanley Report post Posted September 12, 2012 VERY cool!!!!! Congrats and thanks for sharing with the site! S. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
palivs2hnt Report post Posted September 12, 2012 Awesome post Stan! Congrats on a solo hunt and sorry I could not make it happen this year. I think my feet are happy they could'nt go though! Good luck in 10 this weekend!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
luvdemcoues Report post Posted September 12, 2012 Atta boy Stan! What a great experience. Thanks for letting us share a little in the story. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loco4coues Report post Posted September 13, 2012 awesome! thanks for sharing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
200"mulie Report post Posted September 13, 2012 Good bull , thanks for sharing. Congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
