Had a great time hunting deer in the high country of Colorado.
Deer densities are much lower than the last time I did this hunt and hunter densities were up. Surprising how many hunters are willing to backpack in now. Guess it shows a certain amount of respect for the animals and the sport.
I went in about 3 miles on the opening morning. I saw a dozen or so hunters and one small buck. Some archery hunters had placed their camp right in the pass where I had hoped to hunt. Plan B was to check out some other remote pockets. I hiked for about 2 hours to get to a small canyon that I hoped wouldn't have any pressure, but when I got there a hunter had set up camp right next to the primary glossing spot. Plan C was to hike to a really remote, hanging basin. Took much longer than I expected to get there. It was undisturbed but had a 800 yard, steeeeepppp rock slide leading down to it. Was more risky than I was willing to try since I was alone.
Didn't have a Plan D but noticed that the hunters were already moving out so I decided to hang tight and watch for a day or two.
Next morning I found 3 bucks feeding right where a hunter had his tent the day before. One was a small 4x4 that seemed good enough for the area. But, I missed at 500 yards. There was a strong wind channel down the middle of the canyon that didn't seem bad on the edge where I was but was strong enough in the middle to drift the shot about 2 feet.
Next day I hiked to the jeep to shot my rifle and make sure it hadn't been bumped, it was spot on. Took a ride that afternoon up the road glossing avalanche chutes. In the third chute stood a nice 4x4. I parked behind some pines and moved in to about 300 yards. Nice, big bodied buck with symmetrical antlers. Meat will be great on this deer.
Deer densities are much lower than the last time I did this hunt and hunter densities were up. Surprising how many hunters are willing to backpack in now. Guess it shows a certain amount of respect for the animals and the sport.
I went in about 3 miles on the opening morning. I saw a dozen or so hunters and one small buck. Some archery hunters had placed their camp right in the pass where I had hoped to hunt. Plan B was to check out some other remote pockets. I hiked for about 2 hours to get to a small canyon that I hoped wouldn't have any pressure, but when I got there a hunter had set up camp right next to the primary glossing spot. Plan C was to hike to a really remote, hanging basin. Took much longer than I expected to get there. It was undisturbed but had a 800 yard, steeeeepppp rock slide leading down to it. Was more risky than I was willing to try since I was alone.
Didn't have a Plan D but noticed that the hunters were already moving out so I decided to hang tight and watch for a day or two.
Next morning I found 3 bucks feeding right where a hunter had his tent the day before. One was a small 4x4 that seemed good enough for the area. But, I missed at 500 yards. There was a strong wind channel down the middle of the canyon that didn't seem bad on the edge where I was but was strong enough in the middle to drift the shot about 2 feet.
Next day I hiked to the jeep to shot my rifle and make sure it hadn't been bumped, it was spot on. Took a ride that afternoon up the road glossing avalanche chutes. In the third chute stood a nice 4x4. I parked behind some pines and moved in to about 300 yards. Nice, big bodied buck with symmetrical antlers. Meat will be great on this deer.
