Back From Colorado High Country

[BOHNTR]

Well boys, I’m back……what an adventure. I can’t remember being on such an emotional roller-coaster ride like this hunt. Talk about highs and lows.

Getting things organized for the hunt:



This hunt began with a little bit of research and help from a CO buddy on an area that required some hiking to get to. The camp wasn’t overly rough to hike into, but some of the bowls I wanted to hunt were over the next ridge……which required me to ascend 1000’ feet every morning in about 4/10’s of a mile to glass the next basin. Since we were camped at 11,400’ the hike to over 12,400’ every day made for some terrific leg workouts!





The bottom of the basin we camped in and the ridge I hiked up to daily:



We arrived a few days early to do some scouting and see what type of buck I was willing to arrow. I had set my standards really high for this trip, as I wanted a 180” class buck (or better) or I would go home empty handed. Camp was fairly nice......for a high-country trip:





Wally and Fred made the hike twice to the next bowl and decided to hunt the bowl we were camped instead of making the brutal hike every morning. With Fred suffering from a torn ligament in his foot (taking cortisone shots before the trip) and Wally being 60 years old, I can’t say I blamed them. Now the hike wasn’t too bad……I could make it in about 50 minutes. The problem was to kill a buck in the next drainage required me to descend almost 1000’ down once they bedded. Here's the drainage I was hunting:



The first morning I made it up to the top just minutes after day-break…….set up the spotting scope and let my eyes do the walking. I spotted several P&Y class bucks in the mid 160” range with a few in the 170’s. Nice bucks, but not what I was willing to pack all the way out of there. The day before season, I finally found two bucks I would dedicate the hunt towards. Both were pushing 30” wide and would score in the mid-180’s and mid-190’s respectively. Here’s a photo (somewhat blurry through my spotting scope) of one of the bucks I wanted (top buck).



On opening morning, we were greeted with a heck of a storm that would last three days. The low clouds gave a “foggy” appearance and visibility was about 100 yards. During this time-frame, we experienced rain, hail and finally about 4” of snow……..it was miserable, but I headed out anyway. I dove into the basin and headed for the willow patch I had seen the bucks feeding in. About three hours later, I found myself 35 yards from a 27” crabbed 4x4 that had great mass and huge backs and G1’s. I estimated him to score in the 160’s even with the crab fronts. I decided to pass and wait for the bigger buck……..he never appeared in the fog. Here’s a photo of the buck I passed (left buck)....the photo was taken pre-season....when it was clear....some other bucks I located through-out the hunt as well.......just not quite there:







After the three-day storm was over, conditions were a bit better for glassing. Things were looking better for a change. My problem was, without a spotter to give me some hand signals; it was difficult to re-locate the bedded bucks in the tall willow patches down in the bowl. Several times I was well within arrow range only to have the wind switch and they would sneak off undetected by this ol’ bowhunter. Such is life of hunting mule deer with a bow and arrow. Here's the starting of the hail storm:



After the three-day storm, I was having trouble relocating the two big bucks…..they simply disappeared. I would see the other bucks, just not the ones I was hunting. There was an elk hunter who walked through the bowl one morning who may have blown them out…….or they could have left on their own accord……..not sure. Either way, I never saw them again. Talk about another low.

After nine days straight of making the hike up the ridge, I decided to hunt the bowl with Fred and Wally for the last two days of the hunt. There were two bucks in the group of 12 that would go right around 180”. Wally and Fred both had opportunities at P&Y bucks, but they had also set their standards fairly high. Big or go home was their motto this year.

On the last morning, we decided to hunt until about 9:00 am and then head back and break camp and pack out……..we were about out of food and 11 days in the back-country was beginning to play tricks on us……we dreamed of a real meal that didn’t require hot water to eat. On my way back to camp, I was sneaking down into the timber just above camp. As I peeked over a bench straight down-hill, I saw a gorgeous 180” 4x4 standing broadside below me. As I knocked and arrow and confirmed the range, I drew, held, and released what I thought was a good arrow. As the buck ran off, I could tell the hit was high……probably due to the steep incline. After checking the arrow and spotty blood trail, we decided to give him some time. I was sick…..knowing there was a good chance the arrow was too high and completely missed vitals. From an all-time high to a low in a matter of seconds. But, with blood drawn, the animal deserved ALL of our attention to make a recovery. Our pack-out was going to have to wait.

We tracked the buck for over a mile……..he never stopped or bedded. To make matters worse, there was no more blood and we only had tracks to follow. We spent an extra day looking for him…..living off nothing but Pro Bars. I was and still am sick…….I haven’t lost a deer in a long time…….and have forgotten how it feels. But it’s what happened and I’m not going to sugar coat it. The buck is probably fine……..but that little part inside me says “what if he’s not” that eats away at me. It will be a long season this year boys! I'll retire this arrow to remind me how important arrow placement is:



A humbled BOHNTR

[halibutaddict]

That sux to loose a good deer,some bear will enjoy the feast before dening up.Some nice bucks in those pics!

[killerbee]

well, if there is one person who i would think gave 110% in putting the effort into a recovery- it would be you.
it does happen, and it does make a guy sick. i was having the same feeling on my bull this weekend.( luck swang my way after a while- but i wont lie, there was an hr or so there that i thought i was going to lose him)

but heck, once again - it is an awsome thread to read when you get doen with you colorado hunt. someday i will do it. in the end it's still a throphy based on the memories in the field - right?

thanks for the good read- it made my night

[sneekeepete]

I am sorry to hear of the low part of your adventure. It is unfortunate when shots like this happen but it is just a fact that they do. It seems there is nothing one can do to stop the gnawing feeling it drives deep inside. I feel the same as killer though and know you gave everything you could to finish the Buck. Great adventure's don't always end in triumph! Thanks for sharing.

[a_bow_nut]

Great story and sorry for the loss. It is never a good feeling when that happens. I hope that he got got better also.

Can't wait to hear about your next adventure.

[BIG R]

Sorry to hear that Roy,it's not a pleasant feeling for sure.Theres allways next year

[MuleyMadness]

It's happened to me before and is definitely a sick/depressing feeling you'll get over it in 5-10 years no big deal.

All kidding aside Roy, you did everything you could. I also believe your a guy that would exhaust all efforts in retrieval also. Don't beat your self up to bad about it.

That was definitely quite the adventure and a GREAT recap of your hunt, thanks for taking us along the ride/way. I enjoyed the story/photos. I assume your buddies didn't tag out either?

[Envious of the West]

OH MAN!! All I can say is i feel your pain, that is the most miserable state to be in. The worst part is, all the reassuring in the world from your hunting buddies doesn't change a thing!! It sounds like you did everything in your power to locate your buck, sometimes things just dont work out, and isn't it heartwrenching!? I guess all the failed hunts teach us is what we did wrong, and to truly appreciate and live in the moment of our sucessfull hunts. Congratulations of a great story-and your pictures are awesome. Thanks for sharing....hope you feel better!!

[ridgetop]

Great recap and sorry to hear about your loss!

[182BC...4Now!]

Great post BOHNTR!! That's some beautiful country you were looking over. It does suck that you lost your buck, but at least you had the chance to go out there, spend some time in the mountains, and hunt some big mulies! Unfortunately, losing an animal while bowhunting is something that happens to almost everyone.

My first buck with a bow ran about a mile and half after being double-lunged. How, I don't know. Tried tracking him, but the grass was about 2' tall and he wasn't bleeding much. Only reason we ended up finding him is because I put my dog on the trail and she ended up finding him for us. Obviously that's not really an option in the CO backcountry, but as others have said, I believe that you put everything you could into trying to recover that buck.

Thanks for posting and hopefully you'll come home with a big'un next year!