Ready for Colorado

[ICMDEER]

I have my load worked up and I am ready to head to Colorado. I'll shoot my muzz another time or two, but I am excited. I went scouting in July and saw quite a few bucks, but there were so many ATVs and people that I am concerend about the crowd I'll see during the season. Hopefully a little hiking will get me in to some uncrowded areas. I did not have to go far during the scouting trip to get away from the people.

I hope to be sliding a powerbelt between the ribs of a big old buck on September 12! Good luck to all.

[BOHNTR]

Good luck amigo.......hope you let the air out of a good one!

I'll be heading up to the high country next week (archery hunt).......preparing myself (mentally) for the back pack in with 55 pounds........will be grueling, but worth it once I get to my alpine camp spot several miles in. Hopefully I'll be rewarded with a heavy "pack-out" of meat and antlers sometime within my 10 day hunt.

[killerbee]

55 lbs on the way in sucks--- 155 lbs on the way out is a piece of cake:)!

good luck to you BOHNTR

and good luck later to you ICMDEER!

[MuleyMadness]

Hope you both put the smack down on great bucks. Will be fun for sure either way.

[TheGreatwhitehunter]

Jim good luck to you on your Muzzle Loader hunt come Sept 12th.

And Roy I hope on your bowhunt you come out with some nice antlers and a pack full of meat.

[ICMDEER]

Good luck to you, Roy. My only hope is that you are not in the same area I'll be hunting becuase I know with your abilities, you'll kill the biggest stud on the mountain. Try to leave a decent buck for me if I have to hunt behind you!

[Ready]

How did you guys end up doing this last year?

Got any pics of your hunts?

[ICMDEER]

I had a really fun hunt. Never saw a BIG buck, so I never pulled the trigger. The best buck I saw in my hunt area was a 24-25" 4 point that was a real nice 3 year old. I snuck up on him and even pointed my muzz at him, but decided not to take the shot.

I only saw a few other hunters. Seemed like most people were hunting deer/elk at lower elevations than where I was. I was up as high as I could go, up to near 14,000 feet part of the time. The day before the season opened, about 75% of the bucks still had velvet. By the time I left 5 days later, I would guess only 20-25% still had velvet. As soon as those bigger bucks shed their velvet, they moved into taller willows or spent more time in the timber and were tougher to see.

Weather was also a bit of a factor. It snowed, rained or hailed every day. One day, I hiked about 2.5 hours from the road/ATV trail after I spotted some bucks that way. After I snuck in on the bucks it started hailing. Hailed on me for 1.5 hours straight and the tallest protection was some short willows. Now I know how deer and cattle feel.

The whole hunt made me appreciate Colorado and the good job they do of managing wildlife. It was an uncrowded experience in magnificent country and I would sure do it again.

[Ready]

Good to hear you had a good hunt.

I took my son on a high country muzzy hunt in CO this last fall too. I know what you are talking about with the weather. We got caught in a couple of hail storms. One was really bad with lightning and even got me a little worried. My boy almost got a shot at a nice buck when the hail stopped. We had a great hunt also. My son did miss one nice buck and he was pretty upset, but it was a great hunt.

thanks for replying!

[muleytex]

My brother and myself are headed to Colorado unit 67 muzzleloader. Took five points I believe. We usually head into a unit that we get drawn every year. Pulled a few bucks in the high 170's out. Have definetly seen and actually popped a cap on larger bucks. Good luck.