COLORADO HUNTING 2 FISHING

Hunting Fishing Tips & Tactics

2012-01-27T22:30:00.004-07:00

Great tips, tactics, and how too Ebooks, DVDs, Videos for hunting, fishing and more. Learn from the Masters and Old Timers on how to get the Big Ones. I am putting a list together for you to check out, so stop by often to see the new additions to the Fishing Tips Tactics List and Hunting Tips Tactics List on the left side of the page.

Dads Turkey Spring 2007

2009-11-22T10:38:00.010-07:00

This is the Last Turkey that I remember dad getting and I sent in an application to KDWP for a trophy gobbler award and it made it. Actually I knew it would because it scored higher than the minimum scoring requirements. We set up that afternoon between to roosting areas that were about a mile apart and about a hour before sundown we could hear gobblers to the north of us. After a while I could tell they were getting closer, so I occasionally called until they got about 200 yrds away. They were on the opposite side of the creek from us, but the turkey in the area usually crossed at a crossing just north of us so we decided to stay put. As usual the best laid plans don't work out when hunting. Instead of crossing the creek they kept on going south on the opposite side of the creek. My past experience has usually been when a tom gets past you he keeps on going and won't come back. So I was thinking we weren't going to get an opportunity for a shot. As a last ditch effort I started double calling with my mouth call and box call, that is starting one call then calling over the top of the other. I guess it sounded like two hot hens, because they turned and started wadding through the underbrush right towards us. In the mean time dad had gotten into an awkward position and had to turn and lean over to shoot around one tree and under a large tree that fallen over onto another tree. Bang the old Long Tom single shot shotgun, he has used since he was a kid, found its mark again. This Turkey measured in at 74.08 in., it had 2 beards 1 at 10 in. the other at 6 in., for a total of 16 in., and the spurs measured 1 1/4 in. each, and it weighed in at 19.8 lbs.

"Dream Stream" Oct 2009

2009-10-13T21:16:00.006-06:00

DOW News: Habitat Stamp

2009-10-06T13:14:00.007-06:00

For those of you who like to Hunt and Fish in Colorado, I have some news for you from the Division of Wildlife. I read on the DOW news and media page that the Wildlife Commission made the decision that individuals no longer has to purchase the Habitat Stamp, that is require to enter a Wildlife Refuge in the state of Colorado. At first I thought this was great news, but as I read further I discovered that those of us who like to Hunt and Fish in Colorado Will Still have to buy the stamp. That means that the wildlife enthusiasts do not have to pay to enjoy the wildlife, and that the Hunters and Fisherman get stuck with the bill again. I emailed the DOW and they directed me to this link wildlife.comm@state.co.us so I could email them directly. So please email the Commission and voice your concerns and ask why the Hunters and Fishermen have to pay the Bill. Sorry I can't get the email link to work right, so if you would like to email the Commission you can email me and I will forward the DOW response with the link.

Elk Hunt 2009 (Skunked)

2009-09-28T10:44:00.009-06:00

Hi All, Well the Colorado Archery 2009 Elk Season has come to an end. I have to say it was a disappointment. After the first weekend I thought it was going to be a good year, but it went down hill from there. It was warm the second week and there was no snow until the Monday-Thursday of the last week. We thought that might bring the Elk down in droves, but that did not happen. We were only seeing small herds of 1 Bull and 2 to 3 cows. There was no heavy bugling which made it hard to locate the elk. My brother Rick did get a shot at a Small Bull but he misjudged the distance and shot under the Bull. Rick also got another chance at another Bull at 15 yrds that same evening, but the Bull would not step out from behind a tree so he could get a clear shot. I don't know about you, but I think Rick has the worst Luck!!! After that and the snow Rick, Rob, Ray and I did not get any other opportunities. The Black Powder Hunters did not fair to well either, I did not hear of any of them filling their tags either. We may have got Skunked, but we sure had fun and enjoyed being in the mountains. Maybe next year we will get lucky. For those of you that are still Hunting have a Good and Safe Hunt. Don't forget to Check out Randys Hunting 2 Fishing Store and email my Store Home page to your Friends. There is a Slide Show of the Hunt on the left side of My Blog.

Elk Hunt 2009 Wk 1

2009-09-14T10:35:00.008-06:00

Hi all, just got back from my first week of the Elk Hunt. My cousin Ray, my brother Rick and I didn't get an elk yet, but it wasn't because of lack of trying. We didn't see or hear any until Wednesday night when we were driving back to camp, an elk crossed the road in front us. When we got to camp there were four different Bulls bugling in the meadow where we camp. We sat and listen to them for about an hour. We could tell that two of them were getting closer to each other and suddenly the antlers clashed together and the pushing and shoving started. This went on for ten minutes, to bad it was dark!!!! We were so excited we could hardly sleep that night. After getting up the next morning and getting ready to go we listened to see if they were still in the area. As luck would have it they were. Ray and I headed back into the meadow and Rick stayed along the road. Rick got down into the trees and waited for daylight. When Ray and I got back to the meadow I saw a bull, I told Ray to sneak along a row of trees, so he could get a little closer and I would try to call the Bull into him. Well that did not turn out very well, because by the time Ray got to the end of the trees the Bull was gone. The Bull must not have been too interested in my calling yet. When I met back up with Ray he said that he heard another Bull bugling to the North of us, so we went to the top of the hill and sure enough we saw a Cow and another Bull. We didn't have a chance on them because they were already headed into the timber. We headed back to the road and met up with Rick and he told us that he was calling a small Bull in from across the meadow. The Bull was coming in on the run, but when the Bull got about half way across the meadow a vehicle drove by and the Bull stopped and turned around. Rick stared calling again and the Bull started coming back. Once again the Bull got about half way and another vehicle drove by. Boy my brother sure has tuff luck!!!! My cousin went back to work on Thursday. Rick and I hunted till Sunday without much luck. I will be going back up this Wednesday and my other Rob will be joining Rick and I on Sunday and Ray will be coming up that next Tues. so, hopefully one of us will get Lucky. Till next time Good Luck Hunting.

Elk Scounting 2009

2009-09-01T14:14:00.008-06:00

Hi all sorry I haven't been around lately, been real busy. The Colorado 2009 Elk season is now under way Wahoo!!!!!!! I got to go elk hunting last weekend, the first weekend, well it was more of a scouting trip where I could carry my bow just in case. It was a pretty successful weekend. My wife Kathy and I went to the ole hunting spot Thursday evening and set up camp. On Friday morning I went scouting for those elusive elk, to my surprise I heard two bulls bugling back and forth. I also saw from my pickup, 7 cows and a bull grazing above the treeline. I decided to pull up the road a little further and check out another spot and to my surprise just down the road I saw a nice 5x5 bull watching me drive by, (just my luck the Day before the season opens). My cousin Ray joined us later Friday afternoon and we went back out scouting that evening. We saw the same cows and bull in the same spot above the treeline, so we could hardly wait until Saturday morning. Finally Saturday morning rolled around and Ray and I were getting ready to go up the valley we heard a bull bugling above the road. We proceeded to go about a mile up the valley to our favorite spot to scout from. We got there just about sun up and watched the valley for about 30 minutes. we then decided to cross the valley so we could see above the treeline on the side that we were on. We just stepped out from behind some trees to cross I spotted a cow and a calf in the meadow on the other side. So we snuck around some trees and made our way to the other side. I peeked out from behide a tree to see if the cow and calf was still there, about that time Ray saw that there was a real nice 5x5 bull there to. After watching them for awhile I decided we would circle around and try to get above them in a saddle. We finally got set up and waited. By now it was about 9:00 am when I saw some movement in the trees just a 35 yrds away, it was the cow, there was a couple of problems with that, she was down wind and the timber was to thick to get a shot off. After getting directly downwind from me she stopped in her tracks and turned around and walked off. I was hoping the cow would have walked by so Ray could get a chance, but that didn't work either. After that we went back to camp. We went back to the same spot Saturday eve and Sunday morn, but didn't see anything. We had to go back to work on Monday so we headed out Sunday and we will go back up after Labor Day. Sorry No Pics yet. See ya later in the month. Don't forget to check out my Hunting 2 Fishing Store, Just click on the Logo on the left side of this page. If you like what you see in my store I would appreciate it if you would link my store to your blog. To keep the prices low I only addvertise by word of mouth. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!!

Fly Fishing for Carp

2009-07-01T20:15:00.010-06:00

Its been a while since my last blog, so here it goes... Ive been fishing just about every week on the Big Thompson and it has been great. Now that run off has started it has been a little tougher but still can be fun. Any way, the guys at the fly shop have been raving about fly fishing for carp, so the other day I thought I would give it a try, besides they said it was awesome!!!
Well the first time out I fished for 3 hours and all I got was a bunch of mosquito bites. I saw a lot of carp, but they are like hunting elk, once they get a glimpse of you they are gone. That was my fist experience.
A couple of days later I tried it again, and I was lucky and hooked into 2 carp. Well to be honest I don't know what all the hype is about, but it was a pretty boring experience. Catching carp is about like pulling in a snagged log, yes they might go on a couple of big runs that will take you into your backing but that is about it. I did catch the biggest(24" @ 10lbs) fish I have ever caught on a fly rod. All in all I'd rather take my chances at getting swept away in 1400 cfs river any day and catch a nice rainbow than go carp fishing.
Don't forget to stop by the Bugler Store at the left side of this page. Thanks

2009 Application Deadline

2009-03-26T20:04:00.005-06:00

Hi all just a quick reminder for all of you that are thinking about coming to Colorado to hunt big game: Deer, Elk, Pronghorn, Bear or Moose, that the application deadline is April 7th 2009. I would also like you to check out my hunting 2 fishing store by clicking on the link under Bugler Store. I am constantly searching for companies that will give me the best prices so I can pass a good price onto you. Bear with me this is an ongoing process and takes time, so you will have to check often to see the new updates. I would also like any constructive comments from all of you on how to make my store Better for all of you. Thanks. Turkey season is coming so I would like everyone to have a safe and successful hunt.

Thanks for the comments

2009-02-08T11:20:00.003-07:00

Thanks for the congratulations guys and gals. I just got him back from the taxidermist and he looks great ! Its very rewarding when you have put in many hours locating an animal such as this and it pays off with a quick clean kill and success. Here is another picture with my wife Kay.

Be safe and shoot straight. Rick

Deer hunt 2007

2009-01-18T18:08:00.004-07:00

My other brother, Rick, who lives in Kansas has finally posted a blog so here is his story, enjoy.

I was hunting another area in 2007 but the land owner moved in some cattle. So hunting in that area didn't work out. I started glassing another area that I haven't hunted in a few years. After about a week of glassing that area when I had time in the morning and evenings, one morning I saw this nice buck in a small wheat field surrounded by a creek. So I went into the creek and set up a tree stand in that area. There was snow on the ground and a heavily used trail where I saw this buck. So three days later I went to the stand in the afternoon. It was very cold that day, about 20 degrees. At about 4:30p.m. some does started coming down the trail heading for the field. A few minutes later small bucks started to come out into the field. Then a 6x4 came into sight, 2 points were broken off. Then at about 5 pm I caught a glimpse of a larger buck coming up the trail, and I knew it was the one I wanted. I was nervous about the other smaller bucks that were still around my stand, so I was watching them and listening for the big one to come down the trail. Finally at the last minute of daylight the buck moved his way into shooting range. So I took the shot and I saw the arrow hit its mark. I saw him go down at about 60 yards away. This deer measured 160 and will make the Pope & Young record book.

Estes Park 2008

2008-12-14T19:12:00.002-07:00

My wife and I went to Estes Park the day after Thanksgiving for their Christmas Parade. The parade starts at 5:30 pm and runs down through downtown Estes Park. We arrived at our motel at 5:00 pm, so we had to hurry to get where we wanted to sit for the parade. The motel that we stayed was just up the street from where the parade starts, so we made it in plenty off time. On the way we ran across some elk grazing along the street (the first pic in the slide show) it kinda of startled us because we were walking down the sidewalk and around a large rock, as we went around the rock there he was. The weather was good, with a tiny bit of snow during the parade and the parade was great as usual. Sorry no pics of the parade(spaced that off). After spending the night we drove around town and through some of Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park to look for elk. See slide show. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and has a good Christmas and a happy and safe New Year.

Coyote Hunting 2008

2008-11-11T15:57:00.002-07:00

I went out calling for coyotes for the first time this fall and had good day. My first set was in a wheat stubble field on the north side of a creek. I like to call with the wind because the coyotes will come in into the wind anyway, that way I don't have to worry about them coming in from behind me. After setting up on a little rise in the field so I could see at least 300 to 400 yrds out in front of me I started to call. I called for about 15 seconds and 2 coyotes started to run towards me from about 300 yrds away. I got my gun up and ready for the shot, they continued on in and at about 100 yrds they both stopped, so I put my scope on one and took the shot. That one went down and the other one took off running so I tried to shot it on the run, but I am not to good at hitting a coyote on the run, so that one got away. I tried a couple more sets but did not have any luck, that's OK I don't want to get them all in one day anyway ha ha. Till next time, have a great day.

Elk Hunt 2008

2008-09-28T19:22:00.010-06:00

This year I decided to hike back into the mountains & set up a tent camp, because I was going to be hunting by myself for a week before my brother Rick came up & I have always wanted to do this. Little did I know that I should have done this when I was a little younger, because with just the bare necessities I needed for the three days I wanted to stay back in the mountains was sure tough on this old man. After setting up the camper on Sunday the 7th of Sept, I grabbed my stuff & started my hike in. When I started I hoped to make it 2 miles from the road up a meadow that ended near the treeline, well old age & the thin air at 10,400 ft told me that I better stop when I reached that first mile. I set up my tent about 40 yrds back in the trees so I wouldn't disturb anything that would come out into the meadow & I was done in time to hunt that evening. The only thing that I saw that evening was a small bull moose. On Monday the 8th after a restless night of sleep & waking up a little late I rolled out of the tent for my morning hunt, the good thing is I didn't have far to walk. When I reached the edge of the trees the sun was just starting to peek over the mountain peaks, what a beautiful sight that is. I was sitting on a dirt point on the right side of the meadow. At about 6:30 am a cow & calf moose walked out of trees on the right side about 300 yrds up the meadow. Not long after that I saw my first bull elk come into the meadow in the same place as the moose, so I set up & cow called as the bull reached the trees on the left side he stopped looked my way then just kept on walking into the trees. At about 7:00 am another bull elk walked out into the meadow just about another 100 yrds up the meadow from where the last elk did, so I cow called & just before the bull reached the other side he turned & angled into the trees on the other side of the meadow. Thinking that the bull was interested in my cow calling I hurried to the left side of the meadow to another mound of dirt with some trees on it for cover. I got behind a tree on the west end of the mound, which was about 200 yrds from where the bull went into the trees, & continued to cow call. After about ten minutes the bull appeared out of the trees & headed in my direction so I nocked an arrow & waited for him to get closer. The bull finally came to within 20 yrds of me on the other side of the tree then started to angle to my left. I drew my bow & as he walked into the open, at 18 yrds, I was able to get a shot off, it was a good hit & I found the bull about 100 yrds from where I shot him. I guess it was OK that I only made that 1 mile hike. I called & told everybody that I got my elk, except my brother Rick, I wanted to surprise him. My wife came up the evening of the 12th to stay the weekend of the 13th & 14th & Rick got there that same evening & boy was he surprised!! My wife & I went back home on the the 14th & I went back up for the last week of hunting & to join my other brother Rob & Rick on the 20th to help them get their elk. Rob wasn't feeling well & didn't hunt much & finally had to go home on the 24th. Rick & I saw elk the last four days we were there & I was able to get a nice 6x6 bull close to Rick twice, but not close enough. Although one of those times the bull was about 40 yrds from Rick, but Rick got caught out in the open & was unable to get a shot, bummer. All in all it was a great elk hunt and we had fun. Check out more pics on the elk hunt 2008 slideshow, also become one of my followers so you can keep up on my blogs. Just click on the follow this blog link to the left.

Camping 2008

2008-08-14T17:30:00.013-06:00

My wife and I went on our second camping trip this last weekend. We took off late last Thursday afternoon, so we could get a good camping spot. We didn't really know where we wanted to go for sure until we got to the turn off to the Poudre canyon, so we headed up the Poudre to the area that I hunt elk. The funny part of this trip was that about half away up the canyon we discovered we had a stow away. A mouse that was hiding under the hood of the pickup would come out by the windshield wiper's and run around on the hood. I would try to stop suddenly to make him slide off and my wife was leaning out the window with her shoe tyring to knock it off. The mouse hung in there even after we turned off the highway and drove 9 miles up a gravel road and then I finally brushed him off with my hand. The weather that weekend was cloudy,rainy, and the temperature stayed in the 50s. I was able to do some elk scouting while we were there. I spotted a heard of 15 elk above the tree line on Friday morning and Saturday morning there were elk tracks at the end of the road where we were camped. I spotted the elk again on the same mountain later Saturday morning while my wife and I were taking a hike. We also saw several bull moose and a couple of cow and calf moose. It was a great weekend and I can't wait to get back up there to hunt elk in 3 weeks. The Pic on the left is out our camper door.

Bike Trip 2008

2008-07-30T16:45:00.012-06:00

My wife and I took off for the Black Hills in South Dakota on Friday morning July
18th. We got to Mt. Rushmore that same afternoon. We then went on into Rapid City and stayed the next 3 nights there. The first day we went to Deadwood, first we went to the cemetery where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane were buried, then we went to Saloon #10 where Wild Bill was shot and killed. They did a reenactment of the shooting and I got to be the bartender during the show. After that I hit the slot machines (I came out ahead if you came believe that). On the second day we went to Keystone, where we road a chair lift to the top of a hill that over looked the town. Later in the day we road a 1880s steam engine train from Keystone to Hill City and back. On the way back to Keystone they had a mock train robbery, which was pretty cool. The 3rd day we headed for the Devils Tower (which is in NE Wyoming), first we stopped in Sturgis SD, where they have the big bike rally. We got to the Devils Tower around 10:00 am. We did not go clear up to the tower, it looked great from the gate. We then started for home, all in all it was a great trip.

Fly Fishing after run off!!!

2008-07-20T11:57:00.003-06:00

If you fly fish on rivers in Colorado you know that the last couple of months was really tough due to high flows. Well the good news is that the rivers finally started to slow, so I went up to my new favorite river, the Blue. I got up there what I thought was late, around 10 am. I had heard several different stories of what the fish were taking but had no idea on how exciting it would be. The flow was still higher then the times I've been there in the past, 360 cfs compared to 150 cfs. So anyway, I did my usual with a three fly set up, Mysis shrimp, San Juan worm, and a Copper John. This did not work at all even though that was supposed to be the hot flies. Then I noticed some fish rising and taking bugs off the top of the water, so I changed to an Elk Hair Caddis dry fly and went to town on the fish. The very first cast a rainbow in the 24 inch range hit the top of the water in a big explosion. I was so dumb founded by that I didn't even get a chance to set the hook, and just to tell you how smart these fish are in the Blue, I couldn't get that fish to look at that fly again. But the rest of the day was a great spectacle of fish almost going clear out of the water to take that fly. That day is one of the best days I have spent on the river in a long time. I caught about 20 fish all in the range of 15-20 inches. Sorry I don't have any pictures I forgot my camera.

Elk Hunt 2003

2008-07-15T19:33:00.004-06:00

After a couple of years fine tuning our hunting in archery season I finally scored my first bull elk with my bow. We were like a couple of fish out of water. We figured out the importance of the cow call. Sure we could bugle and get the bulls to answer, which by the way was fun, but the bulls respond better to the cow call. So we pretty much put the bugle tube away and used the cow call to bring the bulls in close. During the last week of the season we spotted a bull with a couple of cows in a clearing, so I set my brother Rick up to see if I could call this bull to him. While I was calling a rag bull came in off to my right, but I didn't see him because I was watching the other bull and cows. I didn't get the bull to come to Rick, so I went to get my brother and he was not where I left him. I asked him why he had moved and he said I thought I might be able to get a shot at the other bull and I said what other bull, he said the one that came to my right (real alert of me huh). After a couple of close encounters and on my last day of hunting we were walking up a logging road when we heard a bull bugling off to the left and clear at the end of the 2 mile road that we were on. We took of running up the road and when we reached the area that the bull was bugling Rick went up the hill to get in behind the bull and I stayed down on the road to call. I set up at the bottom of a logged area behind a 5ft tall pine tree and started to call. I saw some movement at the top of the logged area and continued my calling. The bull that Rick was after bugled every time I would call, so just maybe my brother was going to get lucky, but that's not how it worked out. Hiding behind that small tree and almost exposed a bull stepped into the clearing about 40 yrds in front of me, it was the one I saw at the top of the clearing. That bull came right up to the tree that I was behind, I could have poked him in the nose with my arrow. He spooked a little and I was so nervous that I could barley get another cow call out. I did get out a weak call and he turned and walked at an angle to my left. He stopped at 2o yrds and looked up the hill in the direction of the other bull that was still bugling, that's when I made my shot, he went down about 15 yrds from where I hit him. I told the story to my brother and that we needed to start tracking the bull that I shot, although he was lying about 30 yrds away. After a couple of steps Rick looked up and saw the bull lying there and the look on his face was priceless.

4th of July 2008

2008-07-09T17:51:00.007-06:00

My wife and I finally got to go camping over the 4th. With all thats going on and the gas prices its getting harder to get away. We went to a little town of Red Feather Lakes Village in north central Colorado. The town has several lakes in and around it and it is a beautiful place to camp. The lake that I like to fish in is called Parvin Lake, I have a picture of Parvin Lake for my header picture. I like this lake because not to many people like to go there because you have to hike a little ways to get there and you have to have a Habitat Stamp to go into the area. I caught 3 nice rainbow trout there, but I didn't keep them because I like them a little bigger. Red Feather has a fireworks display that they shoot off over one of the lakes in town. It has always been a great display with the reflections off the lake and the explosions that echo through the mountains around town. All in all we had a great time and I hope that all of you did the same.

Elk Hunt 2000

2008-06-24T09:55:00.025-06:00

I hope I am not boring everyone with all my old elk hunts, but I am trying to catch
you up with my hunting stories. As you can see I jumped a couple of years from
1997. The years 1998 and 1999 were unenventful and I wanted to tell about 2000 because my brothers and I had to get back to our roots of archery hunting. We had no idea of what we were getting into but we had to give it a try. Although we were unsuccessful in filling our tags we had a great time and saw alot of elk. There is no better feeling than hearing those big bulls bugling. As you can see from the pictures you have to be prepared for anything this time of the year in Colorado. We started our hunt at about 10,000 ft and we had a couple of days with nice weather and then we got snow (pic top right) so we moved down to about 9000 ft where it was nice for about a week then rain and snow hit (pics center & left). That snow lasted through the end of the season and we didn't see another elk. Well till next time enjoy.

From the CDW

2008-06-23T17:14:00.007-06:00

General over-the-counter big game licenses will be available for purchase by internet, telephone, license agents, and Division of Wildlife offices on July 7th at 9:00 am. The phone number for purchasing by phone is on Colorado Division of Wildlife website.

From the CDW

2008-06-11T20:22:00.002-06:00

The Deer draw results have been posted, click on the Colorado Division of Wildlife
link on the left side of the page and go to the results page to see if you drew a deer tag.

Deer 2007 Update

2008-06-11T12:41:00.002-06:00

Well its a good thing I went and got a picture and took my wife to see the
white deer when I did, everyone was saying that they had not seen it for
a couple of weeks now. I just heard this morning that a farmer had found it
lying in the ditch by his house, it had been hit by a vehicle. He also said
that it had started to grow its first set of antlers, so I guess we will never
know just how big he was going to get.

From the CDW

2008-06-10T13:34:00.004-06:00

Draw results are in for the 2008 Elk Season. If you haven't already received your elk tag in the mail you can click on the Colorado Division of Wildlife link on the left side of the page and go to the draw results page to see if you were successful in your elk draw.

Elk Hunt 1997

2008-06-04T09:27:00.004-06:00

After several days of warm dry weather we finally got some snow. We started at sun up looking for tracks in the fresh snow and finally we came across some fresh tracks in an aspen grove that led up to some dark timber. As we got closer to the dark timber we were finding fresh droppings too, so our anticipation was high. About 100 yrds into the dark timber my brother tapped me on the shoulder and all of the sudden the timber started to crash as the elk got up and started to run. I saw a cow that was starting to get up out of her bed so I put the sights on her and fired. After all the commotion died down we went to where she had got up and started to track her and about 50 yrds from where she got up we found her. In all the commotion we were unable to see if there were any bulls for my brother, I kept telling him he should be getting a cow tag, but wants that bug bull.

From the CDW

2008-05-13T20:05:00.002-06:00

The Colorado Division of Wildlife has more draw results
posted, so go to the link on the left and see if you were
successful with you draw. Mountain Goat May 1st,
Desert Bighorn Sheep May 6th, and Bear May 8th.

Deer 2007

2008-05-13T19:18:00.006-06:00

I heard rumors about this deer, so I set out to get a picture for
myself. I set out on Fri. May 9th to do just that. I drove to the area
where people were seeing the deer and at first all I saw were the usual
mule deer. I waited around for about a half hour and sure enough here
it came out of the trees, I couldn't believe it. I wanted to get some good
pictures to show all of you so I went back the next morning to get them
after sun up. This deer was born in the spring of 2007 and now it is a
yearling and it is a little early to tell if it is going to be a buck, I
will keep you posted.

Deer hunt 2006

2008-04-26T18:52:00.004-06:00

It was a cool day in November when Randy and I sat on top of a bluff in NE Colorado. The sun was just peeking over the horizon. Our mission of the day was to tag a mule deer buck. This was the first time I drew a deer tag in Colorado so I was pretty excited. We sat there for about an hour overlooking a draw that ran south from us. Not much had happened so far, except for a coyote that wandered by us. Then all of a sudden deer started to come out of a thicket about 1 mile south of us. We drove around the bluff until we were with-in stalking rage. We started hiking to the edge of the bluff where we thought we could get a shot and to see if there was a buck in the group. When we got to the edge we had gone a little too far south, we were about a 1/2 mile south of the deer. I asked Randy how were we going to get with in range if a buck showed up. While we were scratching our heads on the problem at hand, we noticed a large deer standing at the edge of the thicket. We got our binoculars out and looked to see what it was, and to my surprise it was a nice 5x6 mule deer buck. We decided to circle around to the north so we could get close enough for a shot. When we reached the edge of the bluff the buck was still about 450 yrds away. Then the fun started(hahaha), our only option was to belly crawl for about 150 yrds in plain sight of the deer. The good news was it was rut and the deer were preoccupied. So after belly crawling over and around rocks and through all kinds of cactus we were in position. I steadied the rifle and put the cross hairs just at the top of the bucks back and fired. The buck rared up on its hind legs and fell over. Then the buck got up and disappeared over a ridge. So we sat for what seemed eternity, then started the search. About a half hour later I found the buck lying in a thicket. I was a very happy camper except for the fact that when I fired the rifle the scope struck me on the eye brow and caused a big cut on it. Oh well it was worth it.

From The CDW: New For 2008

2008-04-25T14:52:00.002-06:00

Electronic or battery-powered devices cannot be incorporated into or attached to muzzleloader during muzzleloading seasons. See full story by clicking on the Colorado Division of Wildlife link to the left and scroll down to Attention Muzzleloaders.

Elk Hunt 1996

2008-04-23T20:16:00.032-06:00

I stared applying for cow tags in 1996, because we were seeing more cows than bulls. My brother Rick wanted to stay with bull tags. On Wednesday we hiked 5 miles back into the mountains, because we weren't seeing any elk within 1 or 2 miles of camp. On Thursday morning after hiking 5 miles in and 5 miles back to camp and not seeing any elk we decided to sleep in a little. We finally rolled out of bed and made breakfast just after sun up. My brother was outside getting his gear ready for the day and I was cleaning up after breakfast, when Rick came to the door and told me to get my gun, because there was a heard of elk out in the meadow. Of course I said noway, and he said hurry up and get out here. So I grabbed my gun and sure enough there they were. We both shot at the same time and my cow went down right away. I looked at the heard and saw a spike and the rest of the heard running away. I thought my brother had missed, so I told him to shot he is getting away. He said no my bull is down too, he had shot a bull that was up the hill and I didn't see him. After hiking all day the day before then getting up late, we end up with 2 elk just 280 yrds from our camper. If you look closely at the picture on the right there is a white spot over my brothers right shoulder, that is our camper. Ricks bull was a nice 5x5 and I got a nice big heavy cow.

Elk Hunt 1995

2008-04-23T16:59:00.007-06:00

When I moved to Colorado in 1992 I wanted to start elk hunting. My cousin Steve invited me to go along, so I went along to see how it was done, although I didn't hunt it was a great experience. In 1993 I went on my first rifle elk hunting trip with Steve, it was a different experience to hunt with a rifle, because I have archery hunted for most of my life. I want to tell about all my hunting experiences, but I don't want to bore you so for now I will talk about the success. My brothers Rick and Rob and my cousin Ray decided to join the fun in 1995. I became the scout, I picked a unit closer to where I lived and started the scouting process. When the season finally rolled around we headed for the mountains. I had decided that we would sit on a large rocky side hill that overlooked some aspen groves, we sat there from sun-up until we could not take it any longer, because the wind was blowing about 40 mph. We crawled down off the rocks into an aspen grove and headed down the slope, when we got to the bottom we got on a trail that would take us the 2 miles back to camp. I was leading the pack when I came up over a small rise, I looked to my right and a spike bull was running towards us. When the spike crossed the trail in front of me I was able to get a shot off. He went down 50 yrds away and that started our first experience of packing an elk out. My brothers and cousin weren't too happy because we were 2 miles from camp, they also gave me a hard time about getting an elk, I just told them that it is only right that the scout gets the first elk. I'm sorry I started out a little ahead of myself with the the 2006 post but I was a little anxious to tell about that hunt. More success stories to come. Thanks for reading.

From The CDW

2008-04-21T12:31:00.003-06:00

The Colorado Division of Wildlife has the planned post dates for big game draw results and preference points up on their website. If you want to check out the dates for your draw results just click on the Colorado Division of Wildlife link to the left under Bugler Links. The CDW home page will come up then on the left click on the draw results link and you are there. Keep up on the dates so when they get the results posted you can put your CID number in to see if you were successful or if you get preference points. Fall turkey has been posted.

Fly Fishing

2008-04-19T01:15:00.011-06:00

I moved to Colorado in 93 from Kansas. I moved here because of the mountains and the hunting and fishing opportunities. Also, because by brother lives here. I have wanted to learn how to fly fish ever since I was a young boy and saw a tv show about fly fishing. So once I was settled into my apartment I went out and bought my first fly rod, it was nothing fancy just one of those kits you can by at Walmart, but it did the job. I met up with my brother Randy a few weeks later and we went fly fishing. Randy taught me the basics and off I went. I thought it was going to be easy, but I spent the whole first summer untangling my line from trees and anything that was in the vicinity of me. The first couple of years of fly fishing was rough, I didn't catch a single trout. The third year I was getting frustrated and decided to do some research, and that got me to the point of catching trout. A couple of years ago I had been pretty content with my fishing trips, because I was at least catching small trout, but I still was hearing about the enormous trout that have been caught in the rivers of Colorado, so I did some more research and now in the past year I have been catching larger trout. The best information I found is by a local guide, Landon Mayer. He has a book and a video that is worth the money. Check Buglers videos & books to see if they are listed. Until next time keep those lines tight.

Elk Hunt 2006

2008-04-13T07:15:00.008-06:00

Just wanted to tell about our elk hunt in 2006. On Monday evening I was sitting on a hill next to the road scoping the mountain side, when I looked down I saw a bull coming out of the trees not more than 150 yrds away. I was surprised to see the bull coming out at that time of the evening and that close to the road, but not as surprised as I was when I remembered I didn't have my bow with me, so all I could do was watch and hope other hunters didn't drive by and see him. Well that didn't happen, another pickup full of archery hunters drove by and saw the bull so they stopped and took off after him, fortunately for me they didn't get the bull. Tuesday afternoon my brother and I decided to go to a different area because there was no way that bull was going to come out there again after those hunters chased him around the night before. After my brother and I got back to camp that evening the hunter that I talked to the night before stopped by and told us that same bull came out in the same spot where I some him on Monday. On Wednesday my brother had to take his wife, Kay back down to my place so I decided to go back to where I saw the bull on Monday and find a trail to sit by. I found a trail that I thought he might be using and sat about 10 yrds down wind of it, thinking to myself this bull will never come through here 3 nights in a row. It was about 7:10 when I heard a noise on the ridge above me, when I looked up there the bull was coming down the trail that I was sitting by. When I shot he was walking by at 8 yrds, and he went down at about 50 yrds from where I shot and about 200 yrds from the road where I saw him on Monday evening. I guess it goes to show you that you never know what elk will do.

Coyote Hunting

2008-04-01T12:33:00.001-06:00

Coyote hunting this winter was great. I was calling them in 2 and 3 at a time on several different occasions. Out here on the plains its so fun because you can see them coming from a 1/2 mile or more away. Whatever you are trying to call in is a great experieance.

Elk Hunt 2007

2008-03-30T21:14:00.001-06:00

Once again my brothers, Rick, Rob, and my cousin Ray and I hit the mountains of Colorado this last fall for the archery elk season. We were not successful in filling our tags, but we sure had fun. I called in a couple of nice bulls to within 20 yrds of my brother Rick, but he did not get a shot. All in all we had a great time. See you soon.