Okie Whitetail Hunter
Well-Known Member
Since 2016 I have been hunting with a couple of buddies from Texas. They are brothers and are some great guys. This years trip for 3rd season was insane, we traveled through 7 states due to that winter storm that hit CO at the beginning of 3rd season. Scariest drive was from Denver to Marble, you talk about having some anxiety. I thank the lord we made it safe.
Well the first day we got a late start due to the fact we knew the drive back to where we hunt would be a adventure due to so much snow. Sure enough it was, one side by side ended up with the front end in a creek. We had to use the winches and snatch block pulley to get it out.
After this small setback we got to the area we call the ice slide. Well it didn't disappoint, with both side by sides running chains we only made it about a quarter of the way up. We ended up using mule rope (pull rope) and tying it to trees so we could winch up the slide.
Once we made it to the top we were able to spot some cows right off the bat. It was about 1pm and they obviously seen us and stepped back into the dark timber. About 230 PM they decided maybe they were hungry and feed out toward the west. This was were they messed up, my buddy made a great shot at about 350 yards with his 28 Nosler and dropped her in her tracks. This is where the work began, we headed over and field dressed her and then pulled her down the mountain to a creek just below the road. Due to it being dark by this time we didn't realize she was sitting in the creek with about a 50 yard steep hill/bluff between her and the road. We decided to call it a night. Headed back out the next morning and the mule tape and snatch block came out and we ended up winching her up the side of the hill to the road. Buddy stayed and quartered and deboned her while his brother and I headed up to the glassing spot.
We got setup and about 330 we seen 11 cows feeding across a bowl at the top of the mountain. They were feeding toward us so we just watched them. As they passed from bowl to bowl the number of cows grew to 17 and then 19. I told my buddy I was trying to make one grow antlers, I swung my binoculars to glass the next elk and boom there he was a old 4x4 that had busted his top two points on each side. We glassed him for quite a while before deciding he was legal and decided I would take a shot. At this point they were at the next to last bowl on the mountain. By buddy says to me if they feed to this next bowl that would be perfect, he then said but if you want to shoot him there you can. I decided to go ahead and give it a try. I setup my 6.8 Western on my Death grip tripod and made sure everything was level and ranged the bull multiple times to verify distance. It ended up being 850 yards. I prepared to shot and my buddy says ok I'm on him and watching. The moment of truth was now as I pulled the trigger I felt no recoil and heard nothing, I just seen the bull buckle and drop, as he hit the ground he slid about 50 yards down the mountain. I looked over after watching him for a second and said did that just happen? Buddy says yes sir it sure did. We tried to get on a cow for my buddy to shoot but they all spooked and ran off even though I was shooting suppressed. As the last cow ran down the mountain I swung my rifle back to the bull and realized he had tried to get up and he went tumbling down the mountain head over butt about 100 yards. We watched the creek area for quite a long while making sure he didn't come out. By this time it was dark so we left and came back in the AM. As we starting hiking up I was leading the pack ready to verify my bull was there. As I get to the creek I see him laying there upside down in the creek and just waiting on us to quarter and debone him. I am a meat hunter and am extremely happy with this guy as he is the second bull I have ever killed. Took us 5.5 hours to get him off the mtn.
As the week continued we seen no more elk back in our area, due to snow and difficulty of getting to our spot we were the only ones back there. We decided to hit BLM land and buddy ended up shooting a cow at 610 yards with is 300 RUM. With 5 of us it took us 1.5 hours to quarter and get back to the side by sides.
We then started the long drive back to Oklahoma and Texas. Was a great hunt with lots of memories made. God Bless and thanks for reading.
Well the first day we got a late start due to the fact we knew the drive back to where we hunt would be a adventure due to so much snow. Sure enough it was, one side by side ended up with the front end in a creek. We had to use the winches and snatch block pulley to get it out.
After this small setback we got to the area we call the ice slide. Well it didn't disappoint, with both side by sides running chains we only made it about a quarter of the way up. We ended up using mule rope (pull rope) and tying it to trees so we could winch up the slide.
Once we made it to the top we were able to spot some cows right off the bat. It was about 1pm and they obviously seen us and stepped back into the dark timber. About 230 PM they decided maybe they were hungry and feed out toward the west. This was were they messed up, my buddy made a great shot at about 350 yards with his 28 Nosler and dropped her in her tracks. This is where the work began, we headed over and field dressed her and then pulled her down the mountain to a creek just below the road. Due to it being dark by this time we didn't realize she was sitting in the creek with about a 50 yard steep hill/bluff between her and the road. We decided to call it a night. Headed back out the next morning and the mule tape and snatch block came out and we ended up winching her up the side of the hill to the road. Buddy stayed and quartered and deboned her while his brother and I headed up to the glassing spot.
We got setup and about 330 we seen 11 cows feeding across a bowl at the top of the mountain. They were feeding toward us so we just watched them. As they passed from bowl to bowl the number of cows grew to 17 and then 19. I told my buddy I was trying to make one grow antlers, I swung my binoculars to glass the next elk and boom there he was a old 4x4 that had busted his top two points on each side. We glassed him for quite a while before deciding he was legal and decided I would take a shot. At this point they were at the next to last bowl on the mountain. By buddy says to me if they feed to this next bowl that would be perfect, he then said but if you want to shoot him there you can. I decided to go ahead and give it a try. I setup my 6.8 Western on my Death grip tripod and made sure everything was level and ranged the bull multiple times to verify distance. It ended up being 850 yards. I prepared to shot and my buddy says ok I'm on him and watching. The moment of truth was now as I pulled the trigger I felt no recoil and heard nothing, I just seen the bull buckle and drop, as he hit the ground he slid about 50 yards down the mountain. I looked over after watching him for a second and said did that just happen? Buddy says yes sir it sure did. We tried to get on a cow for my buddy to shoot but they all spooked and ran off even though I was shooting suppressed. As the last cow ran down the mountain I swung my rifle back to the bull and realized he had tried to get up and he went tumbling down the mountain head over butt about 100 yards. We watched the creek area for quite a long while making sure he didn't come out. By this time it was dark so we left and came back in the AM. As we starting hiking up I was leading the pack ready to verify my bull was there. As I get to the creek I see him laying there upside down in the creek and just waiting on us to quarter and debone him. I am a meat hunter and am extremely happy with this guy as he is the second bull I have ever killed. Took us 5.5 hours to get him off the mtn.
As the week continued we seen no more elk back in our area, due to snow and difficulty of getting to our spot we were the only ones back there. We decided to hit BLM land and buddy ended up shooting a cow at 610 yards with is 300 RUM. With 5 of us it took us 1.5 hours to quarter and get back to the side by sides.
We then started the long drive back to Oklahoma and Texas. Was a great hunt with lots of memories made. God Bless and thanks for reading.
memtb
