Hunting has always been a way of life for my family. Each year, my brother and I travel to Colorado to hunt with our cousin who lives in Breckenridge. This is a tradition that has been going on for more than 20 years.

This year, during the third rifle season, on the first Sunday of the season, I harvested a 330+ class bull. After all the work of quartering an packing out my bull, we all looked at each other and thanked Colorado and the Lord for filling our freezer just in time for another long winter.

Thanks, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, for another great hunt. 

Photo by Lindsay Gartner

It was the second to last day of the first rifle season. My friend, Lindsay Gartner, and I had been hunting hard since Saturday morning but we couldn't seem to find the elk. The year before they seemed as plentiful as the aspen leaves. 

We were headed back to a north-facing conifer forest at about 9,000 feet to see if we might run into the two bulls we heard bugling the night before. I had spooked one of them less than a quarter-mile from the truck.  I thought I should follow his tracks to see which side of the ridge he’d taken. I hoped I’d run into more animals along the way. 

Lindsay and I parted ways to hunt different sides of the drainage. As I walked away, I joked about firing a couple of shots just so I could use my gun because I didn’t think I’d be getting anything. I found the bull’s tracks easily and followed them uphill in the soft grass. Not 15 minutes into hiking I came upon the bull, standing broadside about 100 yards uphill from me in the trees. I couldn’t believe it. He was in the same place as the night before. 

I feel lucky to have harvested a bull the past couple of years. Every year I learn more about elk behavior and every year I realize I have so much more to learn.    

Ever since a child, I dreamed of hunting in Colorado, “Land of the Monster Bucks.”

After purchasing my tag, I informed my two nephews (Darian and Pat) along with my buddy (Rourke). All were stoked to go on this adventure with me. What seemed like forever was three months of preparation. With all the proper gear purchased and my .30-06 sighted up to 400 yards, we were ready.

With a total of 8 miles hiked in Unit 371 on the first day, we had only encountered five does. We focused on Unit 37 on the second day. With only one deer sighted, we decided to break up camp and head further north on the third day, which turned out to be the best decision.

On the third afternoon, my buddy Rourke spotted a small forked horn which I was unable to spot as it disappeared in a thicket. I found a spot across the thicket with my nephew Darian and we waited for about 15 minutes when Darian spotted this buck slowly walking at the bottom of the canyon, about 160 yards away. I waited for the buck to give me a broadside shot. When it did, my one shot put the buck down right in its tracks.

This is a hunt I will never forget. I look forward to hunting in Colorado again.

What a great year! I’ve been hunting South Park for 25 years and never have I seen so many mule deer. Kudos to the wildlife managers and biologists who work tirelessly to manage this exceptional habitat and bring it back to what it once was.

This wily rascal was a challenge. My son Caleb and I saw him at first light 200 yards across a small draw. He saw us too. However, he turned and defiantly faced us, shook his antlers, snorted and slowly walked off.

We watched him disappear over a ridge. My son reminded me of a lesson from Mark Lamb a few years ago. Mark said wherever you can find good patches of mountain mahogany you are bound to find good browsing deer. We cut this buck’s trail and realized he had doubled back and went right back into the mahogany. We, in turn, doubled back and traversed the same ridge just below the top.

We came to the mahogany and the buck was less than 50 yards away, standing belly-deep in mahogany, hiding his antlers in the aspen. He was staring straight at us, slightly quartering away.  I raised the rifle ever so slowly. I couldn’t believe he didn’t bolt. It seemed like an eternity before I got the sights on him.

Thanks, CPW, for all you do to ensure the well-being of our state’s big game and habitats. We are generally subsistence hunters because we eat deer and elk most of the year. But this fine muley was the icing on the cake for us!

Skip and Caleb Wilson

This bull elk was killed in unit 82 by Sam Gates of Pennsylvania. It was taken during third rifle season. His party was hunting out of Poncha Springs.

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