ddsflyfisher
Active Member
- Messages
- 164
On the last day of September, my oldest son (13yo) and I left home for a 5 hour drive to the northwest corner of Colorado- Unit 201- a place I had been researching for a couple of years and only seen from satellite images and maps. I had been holding onto elk preference points for 28 years and decided to cash them in this year. Knowing that I would almost surely never draw this tag again and wanted to maximize this opportunity, I contracted with Diamond Peak Outfitters out of the Raftopolous Ranch to guide me for five days.
Ranch House
Lime Stone Ridge to the east
This is the first time I have used a guide for big game hunting, and I was pretty uncertain of what to expect. I have done DIY hunts my whole life, but they require tons of time to scout, something that is in short supply for my family of 6 and practice. In the end, with the time and resources I had available, I would go guided again in a heartbeat- it was absolutely worth it. There is so much that occurred that I cannot go into it all. Staying at the ranch was awesome in so many ways. There were two other hunters for unit 201, and one for unit 2- friendly older hunters on the same journey. Angelo Raftopolous is a great guy, very friendly, and very accommodating. His lovely wife, Katie, cooked delicious food for everyone and kept everything going at the ranch house- just superb people. The guides all had several years experience guiding and hunting in the area- they were very professional and super helpful. Every day we saw large amounts of game- elk, deer, antelope, coyotes, sandhill cranes, moose, and even WOLVES.
My guide, Casey, was young, knowledgeable, and energetic- and he took loads of pictures (almost all of these were from him). He had my son and I onto herds of elk every morning and evening on public and private property. The bulls were chasing, bugling, and just raising hell. We would look over numerous mature bulls, weighing the bulls strengths and weaknesses- holding out for a giant.
Night before the season opened...
Opening day pics...
Second day...
Third day...
In the middle of the day we would go back to the ranch and rest, eat, and fish. The fishing was a highlight for my son- catching rainbows, brook trout, and even hybrid golden rainbows.
My son had to leave midday on the fourth day to make it to some school obligations, and to train at an invite only clinic to be coached by two former Olympic swimmers. This hunt was as much for him as it was for me, and I held out on shooting a bull (unless it was an absolute freak) so he could get into them as much as possible on this rare experience. We hunted the fourth morning seeing bulls like this one...
Once he left for home, I wasn't going to be picky- the first decent bull was going to get smoked. That evening Casey and I headed down to look over a new area next to Unit 2. As the evening set on, elk began to feed out and become more active. Casey had an inkling to take a peak at a different spot. At a 1000 yds we located another herd.
At less than 200 yards- Love the curvy main beams and inward tilt of the G4's and 5's.
The bull in the group was solid with some character 330-340 bull. The wind was howling from the west. So we circled in behind and downwind, closing the distance through some cedar pines to 140yds. At this point the herd was up and feeding. I was on the shooting sticks while Casey was on the Phoneskope taking video. As soon as the bull cleared some bushes and turned a bit toward us I placed one 300wm 180gr TTSX through the neck and spine, dropping him instantly. I saw him disappear through the scope, and wasn't sure if he ambled down into a draw. The cows bugged out quick, and we worked up to him. I placed one more through his opposite shoulder in the lungs as he struggled to get up, finishing him off quickly.
Casey called the other guides and they came over to cape and quarter the bull- kind of a tough process to watch as I have been the guy to do it for years for myself and family members. We took some pics, and enjoyed each others company working on this old bull- his ivories were plain worn down. As we caped him, we found a 1" fibrous mass forward above his right shoulder, below his spine, and just under the hide. After cleaning it out we discovered that it was a copper jacketed bullet. This bull had been shot years prior and the wound had healed over, sequestering the bullet in fibrous tissue- tough old bull. My taxidermist and Casey both thought the bull was about nine years old. The bull had busted up his right side 6th and 7th points, and chipped his left side 6th point; something I had the taxidermist remedy for the euro while we waited for the cape to be tanned.
Leaving the ranch was bittersweet. I had come to really appreciate this area of Colorado as well as the friends I had made. I cannot express my gratitude enough. I hope to make it back there sometime to take my other sons and I hope my oldest son cherishes the memories for years to come.
Second son with the euro...
Ranch House
Lime Stone Ridge to the east
This is the first time I have used a guide for big game hunting, and I was pretty uncertain of what to expect. I have done DIY hunts my whole life, but they require tons of time to scout, something that is in short supply for my family of 6 and practice. In the end, with the time and resources I had available, I would go guided again in a heartbeat- it was absolutely worth it. There is so much that occurred that I cannot go into it all. Staying at the ranch was awesome in so many ways. There were two other hunters for unit 201, and one for unit 2- friendly older hunters on the same journey. Angelo Raftopolous is a great guy, very friendly, and very accommodating. His lovely wife, Katie, cooked delicious food for everyone and kept everything going at the ranch house- just superb people. The guides all had several years experience guiding and hunting in the area- they were very professional and super helpful. Every day we saw large amounts of game- elk, deer, antelope, coyotes, sandhill cranes, moose, and even WOLVES.
My guide, Casey, was young, knowledgeable, and energetic- and he took loads of pictures (almost all of these were from him). He had my son and I onto herds of elk every morning and evening on public and private property. The bulls were chasing, bugling, and just raising hell. We would look over numerous mature bulls, weighing the bulls strengths and weaknesses- holding out for a giant.
Night before the season opened...
Opening day pics...
Second day...
Third day...
In the middle of the day we would go back to the ranch and rest, eat, and fish. The fishing was a highlight for my son- catching rainbows, brook trout, and even hybrid golden rainbows.
My son had to leave midday on the fourth day to make it to some school obligations, and to train at an invite only clinic to be coached by two former Olympic swimmers. This hunt was as much for him as it was for me, and I held out on shooting a bull (unless it was an absolute freak) so he could get into them as much as possible on this rare experience. We hunted the fourth morning seeing bulls like this one...
Once he left for home, I wasn't going to be picky- the first decent bull was going to get smoked. That evening Casey and I headed down to look over a new area next to Unit 2. As the evening set on, elk began to feed out and become more active. Casey had an inkling to take a peak at a different spot. At a 1000 yds we located another herd.
At less than 200 yards- Love the curvy main beams and inward tilt of the G4's and 5's.
The bull in the group was solid with some character 330-340 bull. The wind was howling from the west. So we circled in behind and downwind, closing the distance through some cedar pines to 140yds. At this point the herd was up and feeding. I was on the shooting sticks while Casey was on the Phoneskope taking video. As soon as the bull cleared some bushes and turned a bit toward us I placed one 300wm 180gr TTSX through the neck and spine, dropping him instantly. I saw him disappear through the scope, and wasn't sure if he ambled down into a draw. The cows bugged out quick, and we worked up to him. I placed one more through his opposite shoulder in the lungs as he struggled to get up, finishing him off quickly.
Casey called the other guides and they came over to cape and quarter the bull- kind of a tough process to watch as I have been the guy to do it for years for myself and family members. We took some pics, and enjoyed each others company working on this old bull- his ivories were plain worn down. As we caped him, we found a 1" fibrous mass forward above his right shoulder, below his spine, and just under the hide. After cleaning it out we discovered that it was a copper jacketed bullet. This bull had been shot years prior and the wound had healed over, sequestering the bullet in fibrous tissue- tough old bull. My taxidermist and Casey both thought the bull was about nine years old. The bull had busted up his right side 6th and 7th points, and chipped his left side 6th point; something I had the taxidermist remedy for the euro while we waited for the cape to be tanned.
Leaving the ranch was bittersweet. I had come to really appreciate this area of Colorado as well as the friends I had made. I cannot express my gratitude enough. I hope to make it back there sometime to take my other sons and I hope my oldest son cherishes the memories for years to come.
Second son with the euro...
