Elk Hunting Is… - Big Game Hunting – Elk, Moose, Caribou - Big Game Hunting – Elk, Moose, Caribou

Pretty much summed up in one word…phenomenal! Our family had talked about a trip like this for years so last year we started really putting it together to make it a reality. We chose Fawn Gulch Outfitters in Pagosa Springs, CO as our outfitter. We have a close friend that has hunted with them many times with a high level of success and that was good enough for us. We packed the truck on Tues night and hit the road to Denver wed morning to pick up our close family friend and get to the mountain. We arrived at the grocery store that opened at 6:00am at 5:50 and by 6:30 this store was jam packed full of hunters getting ready to pack in for a week. The entire experience of a pack in trip was new to us and full of fun and surprises. The scenery alone on our 6 mile ride to camp would make the trip worthwhile but we had 5 days of hunting yet to enjoy. The first 3 days were warm and slow with our group only seeing two cows and a calf and numerous mule deer around the mountain. Weather moved in on Tues night and on my way out from a secluded meadow close to sunset I saw my first elk! Not sure what it was, I backed up to have a ridge in-between us and started the stalk to get closer. I was able to close the distance from around 400 yards to just under 200 when I ran out of cover and was running out of light. I could tell he was a bull but had no idea how big? There is a minimum antler restriction of 4 points on one side and all I could count were 3 points on both, plus from my deep instilled beliefs in qdm, I didn’t want to shoot a young bull on accident. I was looking down on this bull feeding in some dark grassy brush and his dark horns were blending right in so as light faded I quietly crept back out the way I came and started the 2 mile hike back to camp. Traveling around these mountains definitely humbled me and I will get in better shape before the next trip. A bigger storm was moving in and we had a mix of snow and rain throughout the night that left over an inch of fresh powder on the ground. I spent the day following fresh elk tracks around the area trying to learn a little bit about them and hoping to creep up on one at any point. It was an awesome but miserable day, my feet and gloves were soaked, the precipitation continued and it was time to find a place to sit. I found a huge pine tree close to where the elk had been feeding the night before and settled in. The wind switches up there every time you take a breath so I spent the evening doing circles around the tree trying to keep my hands and my binocs dry with limited success. About 20 min before dark I look over my shoulder and there is a giant brown beast feeding in the field less than 100 yards away. I was turned wrong and not sure if it was a shooter so tried to sneak my glass up with one hand to get a better look but the shaking from excitement and cold only let me see that it had horns! He knew something wasn’t right and kept looking in my direction but soon went back to feeding and working head on towards me. I turned my body and got my second hand up to steady my vision and once again all I could count was three points! He made his way closer yet and I must have asked him to turn his head 100 times and the second he did I counted to 5 and knew he was legal and good (not to mention the biggest set of horns I had ever seen in the woods)! At this point I quit looking at his headgear, slid down to the ground, grabbed my weapon and pulled up on him just as he turned broadside. You know the rest and I am still in awe that this really happened. It is not a beast of a bull but a huge trophy to me and my family that will have a home above the fireplace in our cabin to remember this trip by for years to come. It would have been a great trip with or without a bull but we were all very happy to put one down. Can’t wait until the next time but we will do a couple things differently, including working out and knowing more about elk behavior and habitat but when it boils down to it …I would rather be lucky than good!