Photo by Deron Hultzapple

I was successful in drawing a Unit 28 buck tag for the 2011 second deer season. We found a rancher near my cabin that gave us permission to hunt his land. On opening morning it was windy so we decided to hunt through the thick stands of aspen and pine. We saw seven does that morning, but no bucks.

We then decided to hunt a patch of pine trees at the top of a mountain. We walked an old logging road when, all of a sudden, I spotted a fork horn in a stand of trees next to the trail. I leaned against a tree and BOOM! The fork horn took three steps and expired. It was so exciting! Overall it was a wonderful hunt!

Seth Holbrook's son Noah, 9, poses with his dad's archery bull. Noah videotaped his father's hunt near Rifle.

The 2011 archery elk season may have been the best for years to come. My son, Noah Hunter Holbrook, and I were hunting Unit 32, known as the “Bookcliffs” that overlook Rifle.
 
On Aug. 27 we headed into my favorite draw. We set up to make our first stand and nothing responded to my calls, so I decided to move to the head of the draw, another half a mile ahead. Once there, we sat up next to a wallow and I told my son to start the video camera. I started calling and within a couple of minutes we had three spikes run in on us. The spikes started calling and I was calling along with them, when two small (but legal) bulls came in at a dead run, crashing through the aspens.

While videotaping, my son got so excited that he would forget he had the camera on and would start filming the ground. As I took the shot, Noah was not on the bull. The bull jumped, the string hitting him high and forward. He ran, I called as I knocked another arrow, then he stopped at 50 yards. I took the second shot and hit him perfect. He went 60 yards and expired.

I have harvested some very nice bulls but this is, by far, the most memorable hunt and most exciting because it was with my 9-year-old son and, in my eyes, this is my biggest bull yet!

This was my wife’s first elk hunt and her first bull. She and I set out to fill her 2010 third-rifle-season tag in Unit 32, near the “Bookcliffs” area above Rifle.

We made the long hike across a deep canyon and were into elk right away. This bull was the first we saw at 286 yards. She took the shot with her new 30-06 rifle and hit the bull. He moved downhill out of view and bedded in some small but thick aspens.

On top of this being her first hunt, it also was her first time shooting a high-power rifle in the field. She didn't have much practice but she did great.

After getting into place where we could see him bedded, Kami set up for the finish shot. All we could see was his head and neck. She squeezed off a shot at 156 yards and hit him through the scent gland in the snout. The bull picked his head up and she made her third shot and hit him right under the ear, finishing the bull. She was so excited and I was as well. She couldn’t wait to take a look at him. It was a long pack out (roughly 2 miles) but very very rewarding! It was a very tasty young bull.

Thank you to all in Colorado Parks and Wildlife!

- Seth Holbrook

We’ve been hunting in southwest Colorado for five years and had yet to fill our elk tags! 

This season, my youngest son, Douglas, completed his hunter safety course and purchased a bull tag so he could hunt with us while we had cow and buck tags. We hunt to fill our freezer with meat and we’ve seen some massive animals, but we’ve not had an opportunity for a shot – until this year! 

Douglas was sitting on a high meadow when a herd of cow elk came out just before sunset. We went back the next afternoon hoping that J and I would have a shot. I stayed with Douglas and J went up higher. Just before sunset again, the cows came stampeding out of the forest and behind them was a massive bull. 

Douglas whistled, the bull stopped and he took the shot at about 25 yards. The bull ran a short distance and toppled over. He got back up and went about 50 yards into the trees where he gave two last gasps and was down for good. It took four men and a winch system to get him into a truck and back to camp after being gutted.

The processor said this was the biggest bull to come in and other hunters said they’d never seen this size bull come out of our area. Now we all have meat in the freezer and Douglas is getting a European mount of the antlers… he just has to find a place big enough to hang them. 

Submitted by: Connie Matthews Imig, Durango 

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