Hunt 2007, Part 1 of 3

Unlike last year, this year I wasn't going to miss opening day. Steve and I were the only hunters, Dave had a football game, Dalton went partying with his friends, and Ronnie couldn't leave Denver until Sat. morning.

We hunted the bowl in the morning, then heard shots above Dalton's rock. We decided to go higher. I seen 4 cows in the meadow below Dalton's rock, but didn't get a shot. Just then I heard shots on the back side of Dalton's rock. Steve tracked and shot a nice 5-pt bull. His first opening day bull ever.

Sunday with the whole crew, we decided to hunt radio towers again and then haul Steve's bull out. We woke to a blizzard. The ride on the atv's was a pelting of ice in the face. We decided to stay in Dave's truck and see if the storm let up. Finally in the afternoon the snow let up and we were hoping for some good hunting. Dalton headed up to his rock as we dressed out the elk. We didn't have any luck.

Monday Dalton wanted to go hunt his meadow. The road to his meadow starts at the powerline and heads diagonally across the desert. Dalton watched the meadow while I took a walk up the hill and then back to the peak toward Well's Gulch. No elk tracks in sight, but I did see some cat tracks at the top of the peak. This peak offers nice views in all directions.

Since I told Dalton I would be back at the ATV by noon, I headed down the ridge. As I approached the meadow at the end of the road I spotted a little buck. He wasn't a hundred yards from the ATV, so I decided to fill my tag. I considered taking the 300 yard shot, but decided to try to get closer. I sneaked to within 150 yards and crouched to take my shot. A clean drop with one shot.

The two does with him were hanging out waiting for him to join. They seen me but were not spooked. I watched them for a while and took some photos. The buck turned out to be a small 2pt. I lost my camera so I can't post the photos :-(