Our 2008 Colorado Muley buck hunt
Hiker
10/31/08 3:11pm
We are back from our 2008 Colorado muley buck hunt. 5 of us applied together for buck tags and were blessed to draw out. We went up 2nd season and had a great hunt. All 5 of us got our bucks, 4 pointers or better to boot. We covered a ton of ground and saw over 1,000 deer, including some good bucks. Mine buck was the largest I have ever had the opportunity to kill. He was 1/8" shy of 29" wide, with deep tines and good mass. I was overwhelmed and humbled with God's goodness to me. Here's some photos of Cort's, Mark's, Mike's, Rick's and my buck. I hope you all enjoy the photos. Colorado Willie treated us all like kings by having breakfast and dinner for us each day.
We passed on 10-15 decent 4 pointers, ones that I would have whacked in a heartbeat in any other area. Cort passed on over 7-8 good bucks, that were a lot larger than the one he ended up killing. We were on a really good 5x5, maybe 6x6 with brow tines. He got set up to take the shot, the sun was in his eyes, he mistaked a smaller 4 point for the larger one and killed it. That was a wonderful buck that escaped. I didn't realize he only thought there was only one buck and didn't see the smaller one, until afterwards.
My buck came out just before dark and I wasn't sure he was a shooter until we got a good side view of him, he was 3-4" beyond each ear. I got set up on my backpack and shot, he ran 150 yards and piled up. When I got down there, I went over to where the buck was standing and I had Mike range me with my rangefinder. The first one was 396 and the second one was 402 yards, so I figure he was around 400 yards. We were watching for a legal bull that I had seen from the night before down there. I didn't have a bull elk tag but Mike did, so I had him go with me, maybe he'd be back and Mike could get him. We were watching this burn area at sunset, deer started to appear all over, including some bucks, but nothing worthy of a bullet, until this buck climbed up from the bottom. I am very thankful he was at a 25% downhill angle as I didn't hold very high but the 180 hornady innerbond out of my .300 Win. Mag blew right through his heart. 4 inches lower and I would have shot under him. God blest me so much with this buck, I was overwhelmed.
We passed on 10-15 decent 4 pointers, ones that I would have whacked in a heartbeat in any other area. Cort passed on over 7-8 good bucks, that were a lot larger than the one he ended up killing. We were on a really good 5x5, maybe 6x6 with brow tines. He got set up to take the shot, the sun was in his eyes, he mistaked a smaller 4 point for the larger one and killed it. That was a wonderful buck that escaped. I didn't realize he only thought there was only one buck and didn't see the smaller one, until afterwards.
My buck came out just before dark and I wasn't sure he was a shooter until we got a good side view of him, he was 3-4" beyond each ear. I got set up on my backpack and shot, he ran 150 yards and piled up. When I got down there, I went over to where the buck was standing and I had Mike range me with my rangefinder. The first one was 396 and the second one was 402 yards, so I figure he was around 400 yards. We were watching for a legal bull that I had seen from the night before down there. I didn't have a bull elk tag but Mike did, so I had him go with me, maybe he'd be back and Mike could get him. We were watching this burn area at sunset, deer started to appear all over, including some bucks, but nothing worthy of a bullet, until this buck climbed up from the bottom. I am very thankful he was at a 25% downhill angle as I didn't hold very high but the 180 hornady innerbond out of my .300 Win. Mag blew right through his heart. 4 inches lower and I would have shot under him. God blest me so much with this buck, I was overwhelmed.
17,820
Got your email earlier this afternoon. MAN, those bucks are great...and your's is VERY impressive
Again...CONGRATS my friend!
Congrats on the Monster buck and great shooting.
What a PRETTY buck, a true beauty! Congrats to all of you, what a season. 10sign: 10sign:
Way to go to all of you guys bucks. But that one of yours is a Brusier. Width and Mass, what a buck. 10sign:
Mark
Colorado finally got our act together in 1999 when we went with a 100% draw on deer and cut the number of tags way back to around 50,000. Now we give out close to 90,000 tags and still have a really high success rate, plus our bucks are doing great. It cut Colorado's revenue for a few years but we love it now. I personally would rather hunt deer every couple of years and have a good hunt than to hunt every year and have a poor hunt.
Nate
Congrats to you and your buddys on an great hunt. Your buck is awesome. Did you have to wait a long time to hunt this unit?
Thanks for posting your success
oakbrush
Very cool. I have built up a few points in Colorado and I am going to cash them in on a high country muzz hunt next year. I have thought about waiting for a good rifle hunt, but I just want to hunt so bad I can't wait anymore. I know the big ones are up there, it will just be a little tougher to get one tipped over is all.
Thanks again,
oakbrush
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