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Last year I told my husband I wanted to hunt bear. He was surprised but supportive. This year I drew a tag and started researching. I felt I was ready when September came. 

In all of the years I've hunted, this was one of the most difficult. My husband acted as my guide and cameraman. We hiked approximately 70 miles in September. I would have moments of excitement and exhaustion. There were a lot of moments of frustration.  

We decided to go out one last time, the season ended the following day. After 7 miles of hiking, I was getting tired so we sat down for a break. Across the valley was a beautiful, tan bear. It was a long shot, but I had been practicing for months. With my husband beside me cheering me on, I took it.  We sat for 30 minutes and went down to find her lying in tall grass. I was so excited I started shaking. I couldn't believe after all the hard work I finally had my bear. To protect her fur, we carried her out on a tree; that was way harder than the hiking.

My excitement carried me through several sleepless nights, adrenaline flows when I think of that day. I can't thank everyone enough who supported me. This was a dream. I am having her turned into a rug so I can show her off.

That morning when I went out, I prayed to my grandfather to give me the strength to go one more day and bless the hunt. I guess he was listening.

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Photo (left to right): Kianna, dog Jada, Holly, Cheyanne.
Taken by Eric Miller.

I grew up in Colorado, hunting with my family outside of Gypsum. Often I was the only girl in hunting camp, but that never bothered me. Occasionally my mom joined us. 

My parents bought me a 270 Winchester for my high school graduation gift... a pretty unusual gift for a 17-year-old girl, but I was thrilled.

I never hunted with a bow until about five years ago, when my husband bought me a bow for my birthday. I was so excited to get back into a sport I have always loved. My very patient husband taught me to shoot it and we set out to hunt. I have had a few opportunities in the last four years to harvest deer, but hunting with a bow is very different than hunting with a rifle, it takes a different set of skills and a lot more patience!  Estimating distance has never been my strong suit, but I am getting better at it.

This year, I was finally successful.  I got a doe with a 46-yard shot, one arrow, that went all the way through. We found the arrow later, stuck in a pine cone.

It was fun to share this moment with my husband and two daughters (ages 11 and 13), I hope that our girls will continue to be interested in hunting as they grow up - it is a wonderful sport to share with family and friends.

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Photo of Paul Lawver by Mike Herrera, Colorado Parks and Wildlife

When my brother-in-law informed me early in 2010 he would be getting married Sept. 25 in Telluride, the light came on in my mind: I needed to arrange an elk hunt the week before the wedding.

Luckily, I had met my brother-in-law’s friend, Chris Herrera, in 2009 and he offered to go elk hunting with me when I wanted. I took him up on his offer. After months of planning and physical training, the day had come. 

Chris introduced me to his two cousins in camp, Mike and Leonard Herrera. The next day, Mike and I were teamed up. We walked more than 5 miles without any sign of elk. It was hot and Mike and I decided the next day we needed to hunt at a higher elevation, on a north-facing mountain. 

Well, it paid off. At 10:30 a.m., and at 11,000 feet, we started bugling to a bull deep in the timber of unit 181.  As if we had written a script, the bull worked his way from the bottom of the mountain to our high position. Mike changed from bugling to cow calling and that sealed the deal. This bull bugled his way up the mountain, stopped 20 yards behind a pine tree, bugled again and took three steps into a clearing — setting up a perfect broadside shot at 20 yards.  A perfect double lung shot and, 150 yards later, the 5x5 bull laid to rest.

Thank you, Mike Herrera, for calling this bull in…  And thank you, Colorado, for having a generous over-the-counter elk tag program. 

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I got it done! Finally, after several close encounters, countless blown setups and many miles up and down the mountain, I pulled off a perfect, double lung 30-yard shot.

I watched him go down not 30 steps from the shot. The G5 Striker-tipped FMJ did its job nicely, this bull never knew what hit him.

On the eighth day of the 10-day hunt, I went back to where I had seen a 5x6 bull days before, after legal hunting hours.

A rainstorm was just letting up about 5:45 p.m. when I heard a distant bugle. I responded with some lost mews, a weak bugle and some chuckling and then aggravated mews/whines. I spotted movement about 300 yards up the ridge, on the edge of the thicket. This bull stopped, spotted the decoy and sprinted down the ridge, barely giving me enough time to pull on a face mask and get into position for a shot.

He was a young 3x4 bull, but this was my first archery elk and I was going to fill my tag.

I needed him to walk behind a certain tree so I could come to full draw. Which he did - and then stood behind it for what seemed like 10 minutes. As soon as I let down, he walked to a clearing at 20 yards. Then he went behind a boulder and I came to full draw again, thinking he would step out the other side. WRONG. He turned around and headed back the way he came... I came to full draw and, at 30 yards, I mewed and he looked back at the decoy, giving me a perfect broadside angle.

So many lessons learned... So many more seasons to look forward to!

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I have hunted for elk in Colorado nine different times with a rifle. Prior to this hunt, I had only taken one cow. I killed this bull near Electric Mountain with a bow on the third day of the season.

I was in a tree stand over a water hole and watched three cows come out of woods to the water. I was getting ready to shoot one and, suddenly, the bull appeared. He ran to the water hole - 42 yards away - and I shot him with an arrow. He stood up and walked about 15 yards up the hill and stood broadside – I shot him again at 60 yards. He walked about 10 feet, laid down and died within a couple of minutes.

It was an amazing experience. I was hunting with my older brother and 80-year-old dad (who killed a 6x7 bull last year).

Love all the public land in Colorado that gives us Texans a chance to hunt the big game.

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While muzzleloader elk hunting in Unit 551, my hunting partner Rick Cerney and I spotted a cow elk at the bottom of a long grass patch, entering the trees.

We made our way to the bottom by jumping from little tree patch to little tree patch until we got within 250 yards of the area she went into. I took stand at one tree and my partner took stand at another. He began to call for the elk.

Within a few minutes, at 220 yards, I had a 100-pound mountain lion watching me. It watched for a few minutes then laid down, I thought. A few minutes later, at 106 yards, I had a 10-minute stare down with him. He laid down again and I never saw him after that.

That was the first mountain lion that I have seen in the wild, and it will leave me with a great memory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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