We had a great hunt in Colorado during the Second Rifle Season this year, 4 of us set out Thursday morning (Oct 18th) with a pile of tags and loads of anticipation. Dustin was very excited about the trip, he’d never gotten a mulie and for his 14th birthday present (Oct 20th, opening day) all he wanted was a chance to bag a nice buck.

I decided to help guide Dustin on the opener. I knew it would be a thrill to see him get a buck and there was plenty of time for me to search for a trophy afterwards. I teamed up with one of the seasoned guides, Shaun, and we had one thing on our minds that first morning, we wanted to put Dustin on a nice buck for his birthday present. Once light, we eased onto the ranch and began glassing the huge pastures at the lower elevations. The deer were moving well that first morning as we spotted several small herds in the distance. After a bit we spotted a nice buck in the distance. The buck traveled over a hill top and we decided to go over to a look out above and get a closer look. When we neared the crest of the look out, the guide motioned that there were deer in the gulch below so I eased up to the crest with Dustin and we began to glass. There were 3 nice bucks below us(all 4x4s) and after glassing them for a bit I noticed some movement behind the 3 bucks, two more bucks were lagging behind and as soon as I saw the forth buck step out of the brush I told Dustin he’s a shooter. I told Dustin to chamber a round and placed my pack of the edge of the cliff for a rest. As Dustin lay down behind the pack one of the lead bucks spotted us and began to blow. Shaun said “you better shoot, there about to spook†Dustin took aim and I told him not to shoot unless he was darn sure he was on him for a solid hit. He squeezed of a round from his Ruger 6mm and the Buck crumbled to the dirt. I patted Dustin on the back and told him he made a great shot. Just as the words came out of my mouth the buck began to move and I told him to hit him again. The buck staggered to his feet, Dustin sent another round without a hit, and the buck disappeared into the thick brush. The guide and I began our descent down into the gulch and told Dustin to hang out above as it was very steep and dangerous terrain. Once we neared the area of the first shot we could hear the buck thrashing in the brush below, the only problem was each time he moved, further down the mountain he went. Shaun wanted to get another round in him to keep him from going too far down into the gulch; it was already going to be one heck of a pack out of the hole this big buck was in. I eased around the steep terrain trying to get a clear shot and put and end to this chase, but the oak brush was thick and blocking any chance for a shot. I was able to find a small opening with nothing but a “Texas Heart shot†available, so I hit him hard and down he went only to get back up requiring one through the neck. Finally, Dustin’s buck was on the ground and the real fun was about to begin. Dustin shot the buck at around 7:30 am and we finally got him in a truck at 3:30 that evening. Dustin was as thrilled as he could be, his buck turned out to be a nice one, a 5x6 with a 25†spread (157-3/4 BC). With the wonderful drag uphill I didn’t manage to get as many photos as I’d have liked but here’s a few of his buck:

Some of the guides on the fun drag up the mountain:

A picture of the cliff he shot from:

And one from camp of him holding his buck:


That first morning Ronnie had a bit of luck as well as his guide put him on a herd of 9 bucks after first light. They got within 200 yards and Ronnie smacked one of the larger bucks in the herd with his 7mm Weatherby Mag and a 140 NPT. Turned out to be a nice 4x4 with a 23†spread and score of 151 BC:



That evening my guide Shaun’s 75 year old father came in. He had a buck tag and hadn’t taken a deer in 40 years so Shaun asked me if I minded us taking his dad out in the little bit of time we had left that evening. I was all for it and hoped we could find him a buck. It wasn’t long and his dad connected on a nice 5x5. He was so tickled; he hadn’t ever taken a nice buck and was quite pleased with his trophy:



On day two we had snow and limited visibility. I saw several bucks, but nothing worth shooting with several days left to hunt.

Day three was beautiful weather, a thin layer of snow on the ground and blue bird skies. We glassed for a while with nothing promising in sight. Before heading in for breakfast Shaun decided to go to the lookout where Dustin got his opening morning buck. As we made it to the cliff Shaun spotted a buck on the rim in the distance. I eased up to a dead stump and laid down in the snow with a good two point prop. Shaun glassed the buck and said he was tall but not wide. I zoomed in with my conquest on 14X and examined his rack. He wasn’t wide, about to his ears, but he had giant forks and good mass. We talked it over for a bit and I decided I better take the shot as this was the best buck we’d seen yet including the two Dustin and Ronnie had taken the first day. Shaun hit him with the LRF and told me he was 312. I wanted to put him down on the spot (he had his head turned toward us for an ever so slight quarter). He crumbled at the shot and was down for the count. The 140 NAB entered the base of his neck and traveled through the spine before coming to rest in the off side shoulder. He turned out to be a nice buck. He was only about 21 wide but he had 16†2s and 11†and 10†3s with bases over 5†(162-1/4 BC). Here are a couple pics:





I was very glad I took this buck as I got very sick and had to stay in bed the rest of the hunt with vomiting, diarrhea, and a high temp.

John took a nice 3x4 on the 4th day that was 22-1/2†wide. He had been fighting and broke several points, but still a nice heavy buck. I didn’t get any pictures of that last deer as I wasn’t feeling well. Back to normal now and looking forward to some whitetails here at home and a Shotgun hunt in Iowa come December.

Ya’ll have a Good One and Good Luck on all of your hunts.

Reloader

excellent story and pictures, reloader. it looks like a trophy to be proud of!

Awesome bucks! Thanks for sharing the details and photos from your hunt.

X

Sweeet!

Congratulations all of you. Nice job

Nice bucks indeed!! I saw a monster that had a drop tine that I would estimate at about 8 inches off his left antler. I would have gladly exchanged my elk tag for that muley!! Sad part of it was that he wasn't the best one I saw either.

Congrats! You guys put a lot of bone on the ground!!!

Congrats on a great hunt.......especially to Dustin!!!

Too bad about the "bug" at the end......

Bob