Hunts

For two seasons Noel, Steve, and I had hunted GMU 12, a productive — and popular — unit in northwestern Colorado. We had some success, tagging a young bull in 2017 and having an almost successful timber sneak last year, but had made several realizations about the location: To reliably find elk, we had to…

Morapos Creek delivered last year, our first hunt in Colorado’s GMU 12. Steve and I saw elk or fresh elk tracks several times per day, encountered few other hunters, and shot a 4-point bull on Sunday afternoon. Hoping for a similar experience and results, we returned this year. For extra manpower, we added Noel, with whom I…

I hunt just a few days each year, and don’t invest significant time or thought during the long period in between. Among a few smaller things, here are some takeaways and learned lessons that I want to incorporate into our 2018 plans: Hunting The best advice we received on hunting strategy was from a Craig…

This was my fifth year of elk hunting, and finally I may be getting the hang of it. While I’m pleased that my chest freezer is full again (thanks to a four-point bull that mistakenly skylined himself at 2:30 in the afternoon, more details below), I’m perhaps happier with other things that went right. Specifically,…

Fall is arriving quickly in Colorado. Snowfall is sticking on high and northerly aspects. My last ultra marathon of the season is on Saturday. Of course, the days are shorter, the leaves have turned, and my raised beds are no longer producing. And, finally, I’m also dusting off my hunting equipment for the upcoming big…

Last Saturday I shot and killed, and then — with the help of my hunting partner, Noel — field dressed and packed out a cow elk from Colorado’s Indian Peaks Wilderness. It was my first-ever successful hunt, and the emotional and physical effort was about as significant as I expected. Next week I will share…

Two weeks from yesterday is the start of Colorado’s second rifle season, for which my hunting partner Noel and I both have cow elk and buck deer tags for GMU 29, which encompasses the southern Indian Peaks Wilderness and Boulder’s foothills. I recognize that hunting is not supported by some fraction of my readers, most of…

What lessons did I learn and relearn on my Colorado elk hunt last week? Here are the big three: 1. In order to shoot them, you must find them It’s called “hunting” for a reason — it’s not as simple as just shooting and processing. While many hunters have filled their tags on the first…

I returned to Boulder on Sunday evening, a mere 48 hours after leaving for my long-awaited and much talked about Colorado elk hunt, and still with 3 days left to go in the season. Ouch. I’m fine, just emotionally deflated. More on that later. Here, I’ll just recap the events. Pre-Season On Friday evening Noel…

Last month my friend Rob and I took a Hunter Education Course offered by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW). This course is a prerequisite to applying for or buying a hunting license, and it’s taught by volunteer instructors that are trained and certified by CPW. The twelve hours of instruction were split over a Saturday…