Hunt of a Lifetime

Hunt of a lifetime?  Memories of a lifetime!

 

My Colorado mule deer hunt started eleven years ago when I began playing the preference point game in Colorado.  I had drawn a good elk tag over this period in Colorado and did not connect but I really wanted a good mule deer hunt.

I am 65 and realized that if I do not put in soon, I may never be able to do this hunt.  My son Dan is by far the best hunter I know and kept bugging me with “Dad, don’t you want to just go hunting, why are you waiting”. The odds were also getting worse every year with more applications with high points and I was told by the Colorado Parks and Game, it would take another five points to get drawn for the units I wanted. Five more years, forget it.

We studied the stats and came up with a unit that I could draw with my points and success history was good so we put in.  Yes, one of my hunting buddies, Bob and I got drawn and were ready for the late mid November rut hunt.  Dan agreed to guide us.

We arrive in Colorado the day before the opener, went scouting to see the lay of the land and access points.  A lot of camps and hunters doing the same since this area is also during an over the counter elk season so hunting pressure was going to be a factor.  We found a mesa we could get to and planned opening morning. 

We woke up to snow falling but the roads were passable to get on top of the mesa.  We got to the turnoff to park and there were two hunter unloading ATVs. After talking to them, they were from the area and going to go in  deeper with their ATVs so we would not be pushing them. We headed out to the end of a finger ridge, sat down with snow falling and waited for shoot time.  What a beautiful site.

We soon saw deer movement, bucks chasing does and the rut activity was starting to heat up.  The bucks were nice 4x4s and under but nothing for opening day shooting.  The snow continued so at 1:00 we headed back to the trucks.  Bob was already there putting on chains and the two ATV hunters were there chaining up also. Dan had big mud tires so we felt we could get down the mountain with no trouble. We all did but what a muddy mess, slipping and sliding.  Spent the rest of the day driving other roads and glassing, seeing a lot of deer but no shooters. The majority of the hunters were in there camps since the roads were pretty tough to navigate.

Day 2, we decided to go back on top since the roads would be frozen and passable since the storm blew through and it was around 17 degrees, freezing the mud and snow. Day 2 found us on the same ridge point looking over a snow covered burn. Deer movement was constant and ongoing. I even had my sights on a 160 class 5x4 at 125 yards. Really tempting but I had harvested a 160 class deer in  Kaibab, Arizona and what they say is “if you want a big one, you cannot shoot the smaller ones.”, so we watched and enjoyed the experience. 

I began realizing that the real hunt experience was being in a beautiful area, seeing game, but experiencing being with my 25 year old son doing what we both enjoy doing.  We sat together, glassed together, talk about life and how fun this experience was.  This beats harvesting any animal anyday, really!

Day 3 was the same, seeing lots of deer but not the one I wanted.  We even got stuck in the mud and worked putting rocks and branches under those snow tires to get up the hill.  Those mud tires really were an asset and  Dan also knew his tires limitations, it was fun.  Dan would just say we are not stuck, just delayed a bit.

On Day 4, my buddy Bob decided to head home and call it a hunt.  Dan and I decided we would go back on top and see what materializes. Blue sky, roads dried up so getting up there was no problem. 

 

Again, we saw bucks and I was tempted on another 5x4 pushing does.  We decided to drive the road further on the mesa and see what deer activity was farther down the road.  We were coming back across the mesa when we saw deer on the side of a hill. A big bruiser was pushing eight does up the hill. I jumped out, put the cross hairs on the buck and waited for Dan to give me a distance reading. Dan said 325 yds and shoot!  I put the reticle on his shoulder and pulled the trigger, missed. Could not believe it. We jumped back in the truck and drove down the hill, the buck was slowly pushing the does and really did not care what just happened, the rut was on.

I got out again and steadied on the hood of the truck, the buck skylined at the top of the hill at 225 yds . I put the crosshairs in the shoulder crease and pulled again. I heard the wack and the buck started moving down the hill towards us, obviously hit. Dan and I started walking toward him up the hill.  He bedded down behind a big rock and as we moved up to him, he rose and I was able to finish him off with a follow up shot.

I could not believe how great a deer he was as I walked up to him. While going up the hill, I pulled my back out so I was pretty useless when we got to the deer. Dan propped me and the deer up for pics and then he dragged him down the hill to the truck. I slowly worked my way down in pain but made it. 

 

We, no Dan, boned and caped him out as I layed on my back to try and stop the spasms.  I really was not a lot of help to my guide.

We headed back down the mountain and called my buddy Bob who was half way home to L.A.  Needless to say, you have to spend the time in the field to give yourself the best chance of harvesting an animal you desire.

 
While this is the biggest deer I have harvested, 180 SCI score, 31’ spread and probably will be my biggest ever, the real satisfaction is being with my son on this experience.  You cannot measure our experience, deer or no deer, my memories of being with him in the wild is what I will cherish.  Dads, go hunting with your kids every chance you can, the harvest is secondary.  Want to see more photos, follow me on facebook, @calvinryan. Enjoy, Cal Ryan