Photo by Matt Taylor

When opening day arrived, I covered my body with Scent Away and went to my hunting spot at first light to sit behind a log. I could see up the hill really clearly from where I was sitting, and I never saw anything cross the openings.

After about 35 minutes, a Abert’s squirrel started barking to my left. A few minutes later, this big hog stepped out of the scrub brush   just 17 yards in front of me. I reached for my gun and, in one smooth motion, I clicked the safety off  and  shot him with a .308 round. He turned away from me and started running through the scrub brush. After going about three seconds without seeing him, he stepped out again, running up the hill about 30 yards away. I put one more round into him and he went down.

I saw him kick and then he let out a loud growl. There was an eerie silence in the woods after he growled, it got totally quiet and I knew it was over. I could see him laying on his side on the hill. I stood up, amazed by what had just happened and amazed at how the woods were so quiet. The moment was unreal.

STATISTICS
Shot: East of Pagosa Springs on Oct. 22, 2011
Length (nose to tail): 70 inches
Chest girth: 57 inches
Weight (field dressed): 475 pounds
Green Skull Score: 21 1/4

Photo by Bruce Spalding

When my wife and I drove through Comanche National Grasslands, it was a different world. We live in the mountains near Durango, so the flat vastness of the grasslands was quite a contrast.

Back at home, I thought of the many pronghorn we had seen and picked up the Big Game brochure to learn more about hunting them in Colorado. With a little research and a few phone calls, my friend and I applied for the draw.

We had maps for the Grasslands and arrived with time to scout before opening day.  Driving around can lead to discovering antelope; and we also subscribe to the “feet on the ground” approach to hunting.

We spotted some bucks against the skyline at 400 yards, but only small ones.  Mid-afternoon we began our approach on a distant group of pronghorn.  They were walking toward our hidden position – why take a long shot if you don’t have to?  At less than 200 yards I couldn’t resist any longer and centered the crosshairs on the herd buck.  He folded.

The next morning we spotted a lone pronghorn about 1,000 yards to our south and coming our way. They have binocular vision, so if we moved it would surely see us. He must have thought we were an intruder buck in his territory, or an available doe because he began a suicide run towards us. At 135 yards, the buck stopped and  Bruce dropped him in his tracks. 

Colorado offers some fun and exciting pronghorn hunting opportunities. You should give it a try!

This bull was harvested in Unit 56, west of Salida. It was day 6 of the second season. I had hunted this area the entire week and had seen several bulls but was unable to ever get a shot.

On the fifth day, a storm moved through, dumping a foot of snow with high winds. I left the house early Thursday morning and the sky was clear. I arrived at my hunting area, where I knew the elk liked to be after a storm. I glassed the ridge and could see dark spots, I knew there were animals on the ridge.

I began hiking and immediately found several beds. As it began to get light, I verified that there were elk on the ridge at 500 yards. I moved to cover and the elk spotted me but just watched. I crawled on my hands and knees 150 yards in the snow to get to the last cover there was at the bottom of the ridge. I reached a tree that provided good cover and, from a prone position, I ranged the bull at 310 yards. Once the bull stepped away from the herd I shot with a .270, aiming high on the left shoulder. The bullet entered at the base of the ribs and hit both lungs. He took three strides and collapsed.

I have harvested other bulls on this ridge but was pleasantly surprised at the size of this one. This year was by far the best hunting experience of my life.

Photo by Kirk Schulz

My name is James Schulz and I’m 13 years old. I hunt whitetail deer where I live in Ohio but I was extra excited when my dad booked my first elk hunt. It was a September archery hunt with Tor Hayward of Hayward Ranch in western Colorado. I got elk, bear and mule deer tags.

On the second evening of the hunt my dad and I sat over a water hole in a blind made of brush and trees. Near last shooting light, a big 6x6 bull stepped out of the brush at 65 yards. He stopped and looked our direction then walked to the water. I ranged him at 45 yards and released an arrow from my 60-pound Hoyt bow. He went 52 yards and dropped. Tor saw this from the hilltop and raced down to help celebrate.

The next evening we spotted a black bear one mile away. We raced toward it to get a shot before dark. Using a .30-378 rifle, I hit the bear at 75 yards. He ran into a thicket and dropped. He weighed 250 pounds.

The next morning we went for an archery mule deer. We took a 4x4, saw a shooter buck, got into position and I made a 15 yard lung shot from my knees through an opening in the brush.

I’ll never forget the week that I got three animals in five days!

Photo by Shane Coble

I had the great fortune this year of taking this goat in Unit G13 south of Lake Creek. My guide, Shane Coble from Joe Boucher's Horn Fork Guides, and I were up early, climbing the mountain out of Lake Creek by the light of our head lamps. 

We got pinned down mid-morning around 10,500 feet by a screaming bull elk with a harem of cows up the basin. We had goats on both walls but couldn't see them well enough and needed to climb farther up. Around noon, the elk crossed to the other side and we were able to slip by and get higher where we could glass better. One goat ended up being a nanny and the other a smaller billy, so we kept looking.

Then Shane spotted this goat lying under some shade above us. It took a couple of hours to get into position to see that he was a big billy, and a good looking one at that – a beautiful slicked-back billy with lots of muscle, pronounced hump, evenly curved horns with good bases and a real nice beard. 

Two hours later we had worked uphill to a position where I ranged him at 281 yards (true ballistic range) uphill across a steep ravine. I was able to get into position over a rock outcropping and waited.

That goat did not want to get up! More than an hour later he stood up and I knew he was the goat I wanted. He stretched, then turned around almost broadside and I squeezed the trigger.

I hunted from 5:30 a.m. until noon on the opening day of elk rifle season 2011 near Meeker.  I felt really discouraged because I had missed my chance twice that morning when I found some cows in the heavy timber. I could not take a clean shot through the trees. 

Upset and feeling like I needed to get back out soon, I decided to head back out after a short lunch.  I figured I had a lot of time until the elk would be out and about later that evening, so I took my time hiking out to my spot. Hiking slowly and quietly was worthwhile because a great 5X5 bull came through the aspens toward me.

I used my bolt-action Winchester .338, a gun my father had used and passed down to me. I was so full of adrenaline after the shot that my hands were shaking. I could not believe I had just bagged this great animal with my dad’s rifle. I was very proud to show him later that evening.

Pages  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8
9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17