Fall 20/21 Days Afield Thread

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

that's a sweet spot.

[hatchgreenchile]

6x7 down with the bow !
OTC , DIY, public land in CO - FKNA !
Now the real work begins


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[yeahman]

Dude!! Nice bull!

[2FUNKY]

Nice HGC! Devil point or is it on the g2?

[MakersTeleMark]

Bravo.

[wendigo]

Nice!

[zion zig zag]

Strong work, HGC!


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[The Reverend Floater]

Hell yeah, HGC!

[BCMtnHound]

That'll fill the freezer nicely. Beautiful bull!

[The Reverend Floater]

Not sure how it is in other places, but stock up on your waterfowl ammo now, really low stock everywhere I checked today


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Many MFGs aren't producing shotshell ammo to their demand forecasts due to unprecedented demand in 9mm and 5.56. Spoke to a buddy this week at a major ammo company and he said they can't begin to keep up with demand in 5.56, let alone 9mm.

I bought 30 cases of Black Cloud for our duck club and bought them out in a few different loads.

So yeah, get it while you can. It's not a high priority for the manufacturers.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

6x7 down with the bow !
OTC , DIY, public land in CO - FKNA !
Now the real work begins


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Story!

[Talisman]

Story!

+2 on wanting to read the story. Really nice work with the bow on public lands no less. Well done!

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Badass HGC!!!

Curious how many seasons it took some of you to arrow a bull? I think if I didn't mountain bike so much and actually did way more pre-season scouting I would up my odds greatly.

[Phall]

Stud bull


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[zion zig zag]

I was out scouting for goats today in my area. Saw elk, and lots of awesome terrain, but no mtn goats. Hopeful they show up before the end of October.

[hatchgreenchile]

+2 on wanting to read the story. Really nice work with the bow on public lands no less. Well done!

I've hunted this general area for 7 years, and spent some time there earlier this month with no luck. My usual haunts had no fresh sign, and my trail cams were largely barren. I figured that if I went back closer to the rut, some backups would be beneficial.

There was one area that caught my eye on Earth. It was near the FS road, but well protected by a steep and deadfall choked climb, and I had never seen trucks parked there. It offered a mix of meadows and dark timber, and with an additional 200' climb, you could watch over a large NW facing drainage as well. I figured if the elk were pressured from the east or west, this is a protected spot they could end up. My goal was to get up on that ridge, listen for calls, and drop into the bowl, or back to the meadows, and setup appropriately.

I tried to get in there Friday night, but there was a strong SE wind, and I knew that if I got on the ridge, any game in the bowl would smell me. I stayed closer to the meadows, and there was a considerable amount of fresh sign. On Saturday AM -> mid afternoon, I worked some of my usual spots to no luck, and then ventured to the top of the new ridge, overlooking both drainages, and setup in some brush along a well traveled game trail.

At around 5pm, I heard some branches cracking, and spotted a flash of tan about 75 yards to my right. I had not been using any calls, and he never bugled. Seconds later, I spotted the rack, and it immediately registered as "monster". The bull then waltzed down the trail, seemingly right to a perfect shot, but at 40 yards, he veered uphill and right towards me. He quickly spotted my silhouette in the brush, and I remained motionless. Thankfully, he ignored me, and retreated to the game trail. As he passed behind some brush, I remained seated, drew and held. As he got to my shooting lane, I gave a quick grunt, but he ignored it. Then, the arrow flew for 15 yards and struck him broadside.

The shot was good, double lung, just a touch forward of where I wanted it. He immediately took off, knocking down a tree, and went down into the NW facing draining. I waited ~30 minutes, then gave chase. The first 100 yards were nerve racking, as there were few blood drops to be found, and I was relying on footprints. I found myself second guessing the shot, wondering if I was in the shoulder more than I thought. The arrow was still in him, so I figured that would put him down faster. Then, at 101 yards, a switch flipped. The gore started (Kudopoint broadheads for the win!) , and within 50 yards, I found him down. The arrow had worked its way out of him somehow, through the front of his opposite shoulder. After screams of excitement, pictures, and figuring out exactly where I was on a map, I started to prep the bull for packin'.

Today sucked, like all elk packs do, but I got the meat and rack out in ~9 hours. Completely beat, but I'm looking forward to elk steak tomorrow!

[hawkgt]

well done hatch, fkna

[Patarero]

Awesome HGC! Stud bull.

Exo 3500, solid pack. I put 2 cow front quarters in it once. It was unpleasant, but pack held. Mine is first gen. Picked up a kifaru reckoning for longer trips.

Had a bull come in to 10yrds, turn broadside, stand there....no bull tag in my pocket. Found more bulls than cows. Whacked a few grouses. Evening glassing before air quality went to shit.

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[highangle]

I've hunted this general area for 7 years, and spent some time there earlier this month with no luck. My usual haunts had no fresh sign, and my trail cams were largely barren. I figured that if I went back closer to the rut, some backups would be beneficial.

There was one area that caught my eye on Earth. It was near the FS road, but well protected by a steep and deadfall choked climb, and I had never seen trucks parked there. It offered a mix of meadows and dark timber, and with an additional 200' climb, you could watch over a large NW facing drainage as well. I figured if the elk were pressured from the east or west, this is a protected spot they could end up. My goal was to get up on that ridge, listen for calls, and drop into the bowl, or back to the meadows, and setup appropriately.

I tried to get in there Friday night, but there was a strong SE wind, and I knew that if I got on the ridge, any game in the bowl would smell me. I stayed closer to the meadows, and there was a considerable amount of fresh sign. On Saturday AM -> mid afternoon, I worked some of my usual spots to no luck, and then ventured to the top of the new ridge, overlooking both drainages, and setup in some brush along a well traveled game trail.

At around 5pm, I heard some branches cracking, and spotted a flash of tan about 75 yards to my right. I had not been using any calls, and he never bugled. Seconds later, I spotted the rack, and it immediately registered as "monster". The bull then waltzed down the trail, seemingly right to a perfect shot, but at 40 yards, he veered uphill and right towards me. He quickly spotted my silhouette in the brush, and I remained motionless. Thankfully, he ignored me, and retreated to the game trail. As he passed behind some brush, I remained seated, drew and held. As he got to my shooting lane, I gave a quick grunt, but he ignored it. Then, the arrow flew for 15 yards and struck him broadside.

The shot was good, double lung, just a touch forward of where I wanted it. He immediately took off, knocking down a tree, and went down into the NW facing draining. I waited ~30 minutes, then gave chase. The first 100 yards were nerve racking, as there were few blood drops to be found, and I was relying on footprints. I found myself second guessing the shot, wondering if I was in the shoulder more than I thought. The arrow was still in him, so I figured that would put him down faster. Then, at 101 yards, a switch flipped. The gore started (Kudopoint broadheads for the win!) , and within 50 yards, I found him down. The arrow had worked its way out of him somehow, through the front of his opposite shoulder. After screams of excitement, pictures, and figuring out exactly where I was on a map, I started to prep the bull for packin'.

Today sucked, like all elk packs do, but I got the meat and rack out in ~9 hours. Completely beat, but I'm looking forward to elk steak tomorrow!

Sounds like the arrow was plugging the hole until he broke it off?

FKNA Colorado OTC tags..
Glad today sucked like it did. Holy shit!

[Talisman]

I've hunted this general area for 7 years, and spent some time there earlier this month with no luck. My usual haunts had no fresh sign, and my trail cams were largely barren. I figured that if I went back closer to the rut, some backups would be beneficial.

Great story of persistence and thinking of where pressured animals might be for the pay off. Thanks for sharing.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Wow again well done Hatch!!!

Buddy was on two bulls last night, but couldn't get closer than 60yds. Hopefully they will still be there tomorrow morning.

[ncskier]

Not a stud elk, but my youngest who is a small 14 year old, shot this doe with a compound bow at 25 yds.
I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get him close enough since he only shoots 35lbs or so and just picked up a bow again after not wanting to hunt the past 2-3 years, but he got it done on a quartering towards shot . I was in a double tree stand with him and the look on his face was all time. He was pumped.


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[Phall]

Hell man to some that's a more rewarding experience. Gotta keep the youths in it!

[hatchgreenchile]

Congrats NC - those are great memories!

[MakersTeleMark]

Lots of FKNA in this thread. Keep it up all.