cohofishing

Sent you a pm about a couple Brent

I wish this was a story about me shooting "stud" but instead it is about me shooting one of his buddies This hunt started out pretty normal for me. Work all night; try to take a nap; pack up everything; kiss your wife good-bye; and hit the road at midnight. Slight differences, my hand was jacked up from a cactus thorn in my knuckle and I had a crowned tooth that hurt like heck. Oh ya, my wife thought I was nuts for leaving. Drive went great, seventeen hours and I was standing in the rain at the trailhead. Not light rain "oh nice" but "turn your wipers on high" rain. Not having room in the car to sleep, I changed my clothes; put on my pack; grabbed my bow; and hit the trail. Hour later, I had enough. I had three hours of sleep in the last day and a half and I was spent. I found a dryish spot and threw up my tent. I ate my favorite mountain house and crawled into my sleeping bag. The next morning found me at 12500' at the edge of my unit. I had a problem. My well thought out plan of hiking in another four miles was being challenged by what I was seeing in my glass. Believe it or not, I sat behind my tripod and within five minutes glassed up the big four point I called "stud" and his buddies. Do I stick with my plan and keep hiking in or set up camp four miles from the car? Bird in hand, right? I found a great spot for a camp and filtered out twelve liters of water. I was home. Later that evening, I glassed another four bucks in the same bowl. I was ready for the first day. Alarm went off at 400 am. A quick cup of coffee and a bag of oatmeal, and I put the head lamp on. I needed to get some elevation before sun up. At 13200', I put up my tripod. I was above the same bowl that "stud" called home. As it lighten, I started glassing. Holy crap. Not "I am glassing five miles with my 15's", but within 200 yards below me where 13 mule deer bucks and 5 bull elk. I watched for a hour waiting for "stud" to bed. I heard a noise behind me. Another hunter? No, a band of 9 rocky mountain sheep ewes. They crossed above me at fifty yards and that when heck broke loose. They hit my scent and took off. As one, the whole bowl full of horns went up. Not knowing why, they watched the sheep run towards them. Within minutes, there was nothing left to look at. They were all in the dark timber and I was by myself. I spent the rest of the day climbing, glassing and taking pictures. Spent the night under the full moon. My evening had been a bust. Nothing had really got out of their beds. A few does and small bucks. Had I cleared off the mountain all ready? Up again at 400 am and back on the same spot. Totally different day. 4 bucks and a few does. I slipped within a 100 yards of a big three and watched as he fed down the hill into the pines. Today I was going to be more aggressive. I waited a bit and slipped into the pines myself. Deer trails and elk rubs is what I found. What I didn't find was the big three. By noon, I was on another hill top. Keeping me company in the wind was this little guy. I was going to be eating my forth dinner and with only two more to go, I needed a plan. I really didn't want to give up on the spot and head deeper in with only a couple of days of food. I decided to try one more morning and see what showed up in the bowl. I was convinced that I hadn't chased everything off the bowl. I start slipping back towards camp. Sitting down for the evening, I glassed up "stud". I was right above him, a mile or so from where I seen him last. He was feeding with his buddies, the "knobby" four point and the tall two point. I slipped within 80 yards. I didn't shoot. With the wind, it was too far for me. I just am not that guy. I watched as they into my scent and then they were gone. Putting my boots back on, I found their tracks on a trail towards home. A couple hundred yards and I eased over a ridge and saw a buck watching me. At 24 yards, I could see his horns in the pines with my naked eyes. I didn't think twice. I drew and shot for thirty. He dropped. The tall two point. I wasn't disappointed a bit. He was a perfect deer for me. I had hit high so I followed up with a shot to his neck. A quick couple of pictures because I had to bone him out before dark. With my hand being weak, I couldn't pull out the arrow from his neck. Sorry. I filled up my pack and climbed up the 1000' to the pass. Hung the meat in the trees and hit the stack happy. Another Colorado tag filled with out ever seeing the unit I was going to hunt in. Awesome. I know some of you a scratching your heads. In some ways I was too. I had ten days to hunt and I was seeing better deer. But for those of you who have seen my "walls of mediocracy" know me better. When I set out for a solo hunt, I like to complete the whole process. Horns don't really matter. I like to fill my tags. It is part of the process. Someday I will get a "stud". Like I told the guy who gave me a beer at the trailhead the next morning, "I had fun"

Thanks guys. Hopefully, I will someday get to do it again. The two Colorado mule deer that I have shot tasted great. They were both the fattest deer I have shot in a long time. Even their filets are marbled. Brent

I wore lowa Tibets on my Colorado alpine hunt. Love them. Got them on shoebuy for$288 with a free pair of smart wool socks. They are pretty stiff but with 100+ lbs on my back they where great Brent

My J34 going in weighed 54lbs with 2 liters of water. I pack out it one trip. Pack weighed 104 lbs. The best thing I bought this years were the extension straps for the J34. Helpful. I saved the best bit of the story for last. I stopped at Deming around 10pm for a quick nap and a hot shower. About 3am, pounding on the door woke me to a hotel that was on fire. I spent the rest on the night standing across the street with the other quests. Nobody was hurt except my poor car. Somehow, someone backed into it during the madness. I didn't see it till the next time I stopped to get gas. Oh well

My daughter Court is having a awesome year and we are really proud of her. I have been wanting to get her 264 win mag worked on and I decided to give it a little of her personality. Being a Browning A-bolt, there are not to many choices for a stock. I ended up getting a laminate from Richards Microfit. It is a dual grip thumbhole in their psychedelic laminate. Fits Courtney's personality to a tee. Curtis was nice enough to offer to help fit it to her gun. He did a lot of work and it came out a piece of art. Almost too pretty to hunt with. Courtney loves it. Craig's Custom Rifles of Tucson is going to re barrel it and put a new break on it after Court's hunt. We can't wait to shoot the finished gun. Thanks again Curtis for the great work. It came out awesome and I would have never been able to do it myself. Brent

Anyone else driving to Colorado this weekend for the archery season? I will be leaving early Thursday morning for a twelve day solo backpacking hunt. Can't wait. Good luck to anyone else driving up there with a tag. Brent

Awesome. My best hunts where with my kids. They grow up quick. Congrats to you and your son, Brent

Where are you located?

Sounds like you had fun. I grew up in Hoonah, Alaska and spent many a summer selling salmon to the cold storages in Sitka. One of my favorite places. Hope you caught some fish. Brent

Just got two pending charges from Arizona fish and game. It is starting! Pending Expand transaction for Transaction date: PendingAZ GAME & FISH DEPT Type Temporary Transactions $45.00 $288.55 Pending Expand transaction for Transaction date: PendingAZ GAME & FISH DEPT Type Temporary Transactions $45.00 $243.55 Brent

I tried to show the proof but it didn't work

I bought my first sightron FFP. I like the science of how the mil dot values are equal on all the powers but what I didn't know (I am no expert) is when you increase the power, the thickness of you scope lines get thicker. So at 600 yards, when you turn your scope up to 24 power, it blocks out your target, if that makes sense. Not that dramatic, but you get the point. Not that crazy about that feature

sent you a pm Brent

I tried caching food with my water (things like granola bars, etc) and the pack rats had a hay day with the food and the water jugs. A six and half mile pack in to find your water destroyed is no fun. Back then, I did not trust my system and still carried enough water with me for a "rationed" couple of days. The other thing I would like to point out. If you use regular gallon water jugs and if the temp drops below freezing, they will crack. Another mistake learned the hard way. I use a "tougher" jug now with no problems. Brent

I hunted the same wilderness last year but I think a different trailhead, early muzzleloader. Get the mules! My total trip was 47 miles and I packed my deer out with my camp in one trip. 109 lbs without water for sixteen miles. Took me two days. Great hunt. Saw some good bucks. That hunt is a week or so later than the archery hunt. It was a blast and everything I wanted it to be. I am doing the early archery hunt this year in a different unit. More wilderness but hopefully a shorter little shorter pack out. I looked into having someone pack me in on horses. Don't quote me on this but I think it was $1200 per person, minimum of two people per trip. I guess I will be doing it on foot again. Brent

I have used the platypus gravity filter for years. I like it. The thing I like is that they make a hose attachment that you use on the clean bag of the filter eliminating the need for another drinking bladder. Their storage bags attach to the filter also if there is a need for that. Here in Arizona, I pack in water. To many of my water sources dry up between early fall scouting trips and late November hunts. Been doing solo coues bivy hunts for eight years. The only way to go for me

Sent you a pm. Brent

I killed two mule deer with Thor bullets last year. Worked great. Deadly accurate. Great people to work with. Brent

I agree to 308nut's post. I haven't been following the other conversations.

I have to agree. I used 110 grains of blackhorn 209 pushing a thor 250 bullet for my Colorado mule deer hunt. Their website tells you the conversion. I bought a bunch of those plastic quick loaders with the screw on tops. I like those better than the ones with the press on tops because when you take the top off the power flies out if you are not careful. I measured out the powder loads on my scale at home and took them to the range in the tubes. Way more controlled and easier than trying to use a powder measure on the range. Less waste and more accurate. I took the same plastic quick loaders into the mountain. I do not put the bullet in with my powder. I rather carry them in another container. Brent

Just found out I drew my first choice in Colorado. Looks like I will be hitting the high country with my bow this year. Can't wait. Anyone else going to Colorado for the early hunt? Brent

Was able to hunt in Colorado last year, early season muzzleloader, different unit. Brent

I have used it to 8 degrees. I had to use a silk liner and some clothes but it was warm enough. If I think it is going to get close to freezing, I plan to sleep in some layers. I carried a kuiu down jacket on my Colorado trip and wore that while sleeping. I left the liner at home. It got done to 14 degrees. I was fine Brent