launching Sat for Co 2nd rifle

[Billy Goat]

our camp of 5 will include:


one bull elk tag (my dad)
two guys with muley buck + bear tags (inc me)
one guy with a muley buck tag


hunting a draw only unit SW co, 2nd rifle.


we've been putting in for muley PP's FOREVER, so I'm glad we're finally cashing them in.


can't wait to be in camp.


hoping for redemption.  on the 2018 trip (same unit) we saw TONS of elk the week prior to opener, but hardly anything during the season.  I think the snow the week prior pushed them out of the high country (where we were focused). 


shane

 

[cohunter14]

Good luck and safe travels Shane! Anxious to hear how it goes  :upthumb:

 

[Army of Dad]

Good luck, looking forward to hearing about the hunt!


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[Billy Goat]

2019 Elk/Muley/Bear hunt summary

Our 2019 trip was definitely different from most of our trips.

After collecting preference points for a decade, I finally convinced two of my ?elk buddies? (Scott and Erik) to burn the PP?s on a 2nd rifle hunt in Colorado.  My dad (Lynn) didn?t have enough PP?s for a muley tag, but was lucky enough to draw a bull elk tag.  My uncle Jimmy didn?t draw a tag, but had a case of 40 Creek that is best consumed in the mountains.  So he came along to enjoy camp libations, lies, and good times.

Lynn, Jimmy and I went up a week early to setup camp, do some scouting, and generally enjoy not being in Texas. Camp was comprised of Jimmys very new/swanky camper, coupled with our Army Expandable Frame Tent.

The day we left, my daughter had made me a ?lucky charm? necklace from the claw of a Dungeness Crab we had caught in British Columbia this summer. This turned out to be a most-appropriate lucky charm.

Scott and Erik left for Co after work on Thursday, arriving in camp around 4am on Friday, just a day before the season opened.

Opening day was dry and clear.  I sat on a park with a great view, but didn?t see anything.  Lynn did the same.  Scott hunted on foot, scouting an area he liked on the map.  Erik had found a nice park where he had hunted in 2018.  He had two opportunities on nice muleys. He missed the first shot clean at about 150 yards (blames buck fever). He passed on the 2nd opportunity since it was a longer shot and he didn?t have a steady rest.

2nd day of the season was colder, with heavy overnight snow.  Scott and Erik returned to the area where Erik had his prior days encounter.  10 minutes after first light a very old muley appeared at 180 yards and Erik dropped it with a broadside shot. It was an OLD buck.  Huge head.  Looked like a chipmunk trying to swallow 5 peanuts.

For those of you who are fellow rifle/load loonies?.. 280AI, Kimber Montana, Zeiss Conquest, 150 gr Hornady ELDX.

Lynn and I hunted together that day, but had no deer or elk luck.  We did see several moose, but of course had no tags for one.

3rd day of the season (Monday) was colder yet with more snow.  This time I hunted with Scott in the same region that he and Erik had the day before.  A few smaller muleys passed through the area, and I got to watch a coyote eat a couple chipmunks, but at 10am a pair of really nice muleys came though and Scott shot a really wide 4x5. Tikka 300WM, 180gr factory softpoint. Scott doesn?t reload, but I like him anyhow.  He must LOVE recoil!

4th day of the season.  Erik went to ?guide? Lynn, which mostly means sit in the same spot, and provide a little verbal encouragement.  I hunted that same area where Erik and Scott had taken their bucks.  Once the sun came up, I couldn?t help but notice a TON of tracks in the area where their carcasses lay.  The coyotes had been feeding on the buck gutpiles.  This did not help the mule deer hunting, but at 9:10am?. A cinnamon colored boar black bear came out to feed as well.   Boom!  Savage LWH in 308, 165 gr Nosler Accubond. Erik, Jimmy and Scott helped me fillet the bear and pack him out.

Erik returned to ?guiding? Lynn. Upon getting back to Lynn a few miles away?.. Erik found that Lynn had shot a nice 5x5 (his first bull) at around noon!  308 Kimber, Factory 165 gr Federal TBT.  They worked together to get the bull mostly cut up, then Lynn headed back to camp to get the balance of the team for pack out. Erik finished filleting and bagging all the meat. On the way to camp, the transmission in my truck died, so Lynn hitchhiked to camp. We got the bull to the trucks around 9:30p, and dinner was enjoyed at around 10:30p with strong drink, many stories (a few of them true?), and tired legs.

Day 5 had us going to town for a shower, transmission fluid and to check the bear with CDOW (required by CDOW law). Once we got back to my truck with the ATF, it was determined that fluid alone wouldn?t do, cause the front seal was leaking about 2 quarts of ATF per mile.  No Bueno.

Day 6 was mostly spent calling tow companies without success. Finally, we found a local rancher that rented me his car/tractor hauler so we could haul my Ram 2500 to town.  <tear corner off Dodge-man card>.

Day 7 I (and ?guide? Erik) hunted for muleys, but didn?t see one.  Instead, we saw another moose, a ragged 5x5, plus a cow/calf combo.  We shut down camp that evening and packed everything up for an early launch home. 


Day 8 we left at 5:30am local, then stopped at the town where we?d left my pickup for tranny work.  Lynn and Jimmy being retired, volunteered to hang out til the truck was fixed, taking my Mastercard to fund expenses.  Superhero performance, though I?m confident it?ll cost my credit many top shelf margaritas.

I will try to add pictures separately.

 

[cohunter14]

Congrats on a great trip Shane (other than the tranny issue)! Anxious to see the pictures.

 

[Army of Dad]

Sounds like an eventful trip!


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[Billy Goat]

good luck charm from daughter....

 

[Billy Goat]

casa de Billy Goat + friends.

 

[Billy Goat]

eriks buck.


I'm no expert on muleys, but this looked like a very old buck to me. 


sunken forehead
huge melon
potbelly

 

[Billy Goat]

the best hunting buddy there ever was.


dad.

 

[Billy Goat]

next up was my friend scott, who shot this stud muley.


it was kinda chilly that day.


Scott is not in the witness protection program despite that first pic....


yes, that game cart is a reformed mountain bike.  brakes are an important feature!

 

[Billy Goat]

me with bear, including the douchebaggy "paw/claw" pic. 


swore to myself I'd never take a picture like that, but couldn't resist in the end.    I was more than a little bit excited.


we had slices of backstrap, and bear turned out to be pretty danged good (with as much garlic as Scott used in the prep, at least....). YMMV

 

[Billy Goat]

Lynns first bull.  stinks that we didnt get a picture of it with just him and the bull, but he was alone when he shot it and didnt take pics til it was in camp.


my daughter is going to do a euro mount (skull boil) for him.  pretty handy for a 14 year old kid. 

 

[Billy Goat]

and the live filming of a Ford commercial....


I curse you, Dodge 48RE transmission! 

 

[Army of Dad]

good luck charm from daughter....

This makes me smile!


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[cohunter14]

Outstanding story and pics Shane. Love the pics of the good luck charm, dad, and all of the harvests. LOVE that your daughter is doing the euro mount...that is awesome! But I have to say, I might be more impressed with that camp setup! That is one heck of a concoction you have going on there  :upthumb:

 

[Billy Goat]

Amanda spraying PawPaws elk head.

 

[cnelk]

Good stuff Shane.
Gotta love the 'mixed bag' of animals!