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Over the last couple years I have killed a couple cow elk from the northeast Raton NM area on private property and to say the least those were easy hunts. During last year’s elk hunt my wife and I shared a meal in Colorado Springs with two AR members and their wife’s after hunting in Raton. We laughed and talked of family friends and our past and shut the establishment down and parted ways. Weeks later I was invited to hunt and camp in Colorado with their group and I was floored with excitement. Months passed by and Snell helped me through the Colorado application process and I then waited for June to arrive. The first day of June arrives and I get a text from Snell to check on my tag and sure enough I had drawn a 3rd season cow tag and the training then began! I trained for 5 months knowing the hunt would be tough and my time short (I could only hunt 5 days) as the Colorado 3rd season overlapped with my Missouri rifle deer season. I trained 5 days a week and was in better shape than most when time ran out and it was time to pack and leave.  Seven hours driving through the Missouri hills moved quickly but then the flat ass Kansas and the eastern third of Colorado made the 16 hour drive move like a heard of turtles but I arrived at Snell’s house glad to be there and then had dinner with his family. I felt at home and to say Snell’s family is awesome is an understatement! Great people! The Friday before season everything is packed and I follow Snell to camp. Here I meet up with the other 5 hunters and drop off my gear and see some of this huge country. Antelope just east of Col Springs  COLD NIGHTS!!! WOW!!! Cold……I haven’t mentioned this yet but in southern Missouri it doesn’t get very cold but these next 6 nights are about to test me…….damn Cold!! Our tents are heated and I’m thankful for that but I’m not a camper but I got by and not only enjoyed it but would do it again for sure! I will have a better sleeping bag next time though. Getting up in the middle of the night and takkin a piss is tough below zero in high winds with a flashlight! Mountain Climbing is not something I have ever done but the next five days I would go up and down more than a couple (big hills) and shredding my knees in the process. Living with my eyes glued to my binoculars and getting lessons from Snell’s brother Rick on how to find “green trees, dead trees, rocks” the elk lesson is coming soon I hope. Day one ends with no elk seen by me but Rick (Snell’s brother) killed a cow down a steep draw and I was able to help pack her out. Day two Rick has spotted a heard of elk feeding on a mountain just east of camp and Cody, Chad and myself grab rifles and try to cut them off! We drop down off our camp site mountain into creek drainage and cross a creek that looked like something off a Hollywood movie set Beautiful!!!! Then climbed up this large mountain to get above these elk…..this was a two stopper/rest mountain for those who understand what I mean. Before we reach the top we hear shots from the other side of the mountain and our stalk has now turned into a chase as road hunters are pounding lead at the heard from their truck. We reach the top of the mountain and the road hunter’s motion to us that the elk had moved north and off we went to catch up with them. We spot them on the next ridge west of us single file moving northwest…..man they move fast! I get my second wind and lead the chase for a while to the next ridge when Cody spots the heard yet again on a mountainside over 400 yards away with no cover for us to move in and a cross wind of 20+ MPH all we could do is watch them feed up the rocky mountainside and hope the next day we could catch them in a better place. I passed on a shot with no confidence of being able to hit my mark. Monday proves to be a deer day as I see mule deer all day but no elk. I did see one of the long eared black squirrels…..cool looking critter. We get some snow before dark and file into camp for supper. Seems everyone is seeing deer but today is a no elk day. Tomorrow will be different. Tuesday morning our deer hunting crew Rick and Cody have found the elk again and rounded up the elk hunting crew. We all made a plan and put ourselves in place to get a good ambush/vantage on these elk but they just never moved from the timber like we thought they should and after an evening on the south end and more deer my time is getting short for sure. Wednesday rolls in and I set up on a ridgeline rock ledge and watch another hillside for just over half the day then back to camp to round up all my gear and go into town for a full tank of gas to leave super early Thursday morning. 2:00 am and I roll out of my cot stoke the fire and tell everyone goodbye and thanks…..with Colorado in my rear view mirror its 16 hours to Queen City Missouri and the farm I lease to deer hunt on. Missouri deer killin is what I do best and there really isn’t much of a story to hanging two tree stands on an 80 acre farm. One on the south end and one on the North end a hunting the wind. 3 slickheads, a smallish 8 pointer later and I'm done killin and ready for skinnin and cuttin.....lots of it! I want to thank Dave, Aric, Rick, Paul, Chad and Cody for taking me into camp like family and treating me like a friend. I won't ever forget this time as long as I live. My home for the next 6 nights    Is that a pink blankie  Cody, Paul, Aric, Chad  Rick and Dave  Just lots of mountains.......WOW         Ricks cow   Dave looking down the mountain before the elk pack out  my first ever quarter up and out!   The elk heard at just over 400 yards....all we could do was watch them feed away  Black critter.....cool!  Rick and Aric  Aric and Dave  Big rub!!    My Missouri 8 pnter......no mounter but I am pleased    ________________________________________________ Maker of The Frankenstud Sling Keeper Proudly made in the USA Acepting all forms of payment | ||
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Well done young lad Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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Ted Thanks for the kind words and my apologies that we didn't get you in the middle of those elk. You are welcome at any hunting camp we have anywhere! | |||
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Now, that's my definition of hunting. Good friends, good views and being able to help someone else out. Makes for lifelong friendships. Larry "Peace is that brief glorious moment in history, when everybody stands around reloading" -- Thomas Jefferson | |||
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Sounds like a good time was had by all. By the way, the squirell is an Abert's, and they are delicious. | |||
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You guys are way too tough for me! That camping stuff looks cold and uncomfortable, wow. Good for you guys, and glad you had a great time. | |||
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To say Ted was in shape is an understament! He was tackeling the hills better than most residents from Colorado. It is hell on the legs all that climbing over downed timber and sidehills of pulverized granite. He never quit hunting, and I hope I see him in camp again. Thanks for posting, and sharing the camp! | |||
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Great pictures of some beautiful country! Sounds like a real fun hunt for all parties! What tent were you guys using & how did you like them? Best Regards, Dave | |||
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Ted, I'm sitting in a tree stand in Oklahoma as I type this. Nothing so far but squirrels, but prime time is just around the corner! I just wanted to say thanks for all the laughs in camp! I had a great time too. Had I known what was ahead of us the rest of the week, we would have went after those elk up in the boulder field. Looking forward to sharing camp with you again soon!!! Graybird "Make no mistake, it's not revenge he's after ... it's the reckoning." | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting American Big Game Hunting 2600 miles.....Colorado 3rd season dee/elk......Missouri rifle......caution pic heavy
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