After 13 years of applying for a bighorn sheep license, I drew a tag in unit S41 in 2011. I spent most of my free time after work and on weekends scouting for sheep.

On opening day I had a good plan to hike up a steep snow chute to get above where I saw 15 rams the day before. After a four-hour hike and one and a half hours of laying under my poncho waiting for the rain to stop, I crawled over the rocks to take a look. There were 11 rams right below me. I ranged them at 280 to 350 yards.

I watched them for the next hour and waited for the closest big ram to stand up. I took my shot with my .30-06 Savage rifle that I bought when I was 14 years old – it’s 40 years old this year.  The ram went about 10 feet and dropped.

I made my way to him and spent some time taking photos with my camera and tripod. I called my buddy, he made it up there about three hours later and we started packing the ram down the mountain.

Thank you, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Society, for the opportunity to hunt bighorn sheep in the great state of Colorado.

As two local butchers, my friend and I ended up doing our everyday job on our hunt, but this time it wasn’t with beef.

After a long day at the shop, my co-worker Patrick Navares and I were deciding where to go hunting the next morning. We loaded the ATVs and got the gear ready for an early morning third-season rifle hunt in unit 81.

There was a good amount of snow in the area, which helped because nobody had been driving around in trucks and probably didn't want to freeze on an ATV. We stopped on top of a hill and glassed the hillside where I spotted this bull. He was about 900 yards out. The wind was in our favor and so we started our 500-yard stalk.

I didn’t want the bull to spook, so I took a 400 yard shot. After the shot, I watched it through the scope, waiting to see what would happen. Nothing. Patrick said I missed and to shoot again. No sooner did he say that than the bull starts rolling downhill. Success!

We tagged it and dragged it with the ATV all the way back to the truck. As you all know, that’s the point where the real work begins. Luckily, we do it for a living. 

The bull’s official score was 323.

Luke Paige, 12 years old, harvested this 72-inch class buck antelope on opening day, Oct. 1, 2011, in eastern Colorado. He harvested it with one shot from his Savage .243 at 170 yards. He was accompanied by his father Mike, grandfather Bob and brother Mitch, who also took a great buck. Luke is a fifth-generation hunter who enjoys the outdoors, fly fishing and pheasant hunting.

Photo by Bruce Campbell

I shot this bull elk opening morning of third season near Summit County.  This was the first bull elk I’ve harvested. I have been hunting the same area for elk and mule deer since I was 12 and have never shot a bull in that area. I have always seen them but have never have gotten close enough to get a shot.

I shot this bull after my dad and I spotted three bulls across the draw. They were spooked from down below us and I could never get a shot at them until they finally disappeared in the trees on the other side of the draw.  Five minutes later, as I was looking across the draw where the bulls went up, my dad hits me and standing above us at 250 yards was this bull. I swung my gun, got him in my scope, took one shot and he walked about 20 yards and dropped.

My dad and I knew this bull elk was legal but had no idea he was at least a 330-class bull.  This year was one of the best hunting years I have taken part in with friends and family.

This was a very successful weekend for all of us. This was my son Nick’s  first buck (he’s 12), and my niece Darla’s first doe (she’s 13). All four deer were harvested during third rifle season.

From left to right is my brother-in-law Eddie, my son Nick, me, and my niece Darla. This was a very successful year of hunting for us, with these four deer and two additional buck antelopes.   

I've hunted in Colorado since 1980 and have only missed three out of 32 years. It’s kinda in my blood, I guess you would say.

I was watching a deer last season when this big boy came upon me. It was opening morning of the first rifle hunt. I had just said to myself that I had never taken one on opening morning.

I had my scope cranked up to 9 power watching the deer and I noticed the deer was looking at something to its right. I came off the scope and leaned back so I could see around the stump I was sitting by and all I could see were antlers coming. He walked within 20 yards of me, broadside. I still had my scope on 9 power, but I did not want to move. Like to have never found him in the scope. My first shot took him down, the second put him down for good. 

That makes four bulls we have harvested while sitting by the same stump. Guess you could say it is a honey hole, and all on public land in Unit 70.

I finally got the big boy, and the locals were very helpful getting it back to camp.

Score: 287 4/8.

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