Colorado

[Duckgtr]

Any one else gonna be out in Colorado for the 3rd rifle season? My family drew 4 tags this year for unit 30. Hopefully we'll pull out some bruisers.

[Bigshooter]

Not this year.  But good luck.  And post lots of pics.

[Duckgtr]

A friends buddy got a 27'' wide one last year and another buddy's dad should draw next year and is gonna hold out for a 30

[Duckgtr]

Got back Friday night. Working on getting pictures on the computer. We did go 4 bucks for 4 tags, with my mom getting the biggest.

[boneaddict]

I almost went there  to photograph this year.  I really wish I had.  Ive seen some photos from friends and they are unbelievable.  Looking forward to seeing more from your hunt

[Duckgtr]

@boneaddict Ill even include the toad I saw as I was flying down the freeway in Utah. I had to stop and get pics (phone thru binos)

[boneaddict]

SWEET!

[Miles]

My dad, a friend, and I just got back from our 3rd season hunt.  Overall it was a great trip for my first year hunting in Colorado.  Moved here in March and went into the draws with zero points.   We still notched some tags in a zone not known for very high success rates.

[jjhunter]

Sounds like a pretty successful 3rd season this year across the western slope!

30 3rd is a great hunt - looking forward to pics.

[Skyvalhunter]

Then you limited out and each went their own way?

[Duckgtr]

left the computer idle to long

[Duckgtr]

Thursday
This year was finally the year my family and I put in for Colorado Unit 30 3rd rifle season. I went in with 12 points, mom had 11 and my dad and brother both had 10, so they put in as a party so it wouldn't hurt my moms and I chances of getting drawn. Even if it was just my mom and I that had got drawn my dad would have came out. But we lucked out and all 4 of us drew. I had my leave put in for the hunt back in july and was counting down the days. I left work at noon on the 2nd to start my drive. I met up with my parents in Provo, Utah at a hotel to rest. They had got there earlier in the day and I rolled in just after midnight. They were driving from the north bay area in California and my brother was driving from just north of LA. Friday morning we continued our drive to camp which was highline late state park (very nice place). We had camp set up around noon so we went out to do a little scouting before the opener.

Friday
My parents went to check out the area my dad and I went too about 10 years ago where he got his buck and my brother and I went off to a spot that a buddy of ours hunted last year and pulled out a 27'' wide 4x4. Our hopes of seeing a monster were high as he said they saw 6 shooter bucks a day in the area and took his buck on the last day he could hunt after he saw him opening day. Needless to say we only saw a few does and there was a sage meadow I wanted to glass but was impractical to do so because the sun washed out my vision thru the binos. We all met back at camp and talked about the plan for the next morning. My brother and I were to head over to the area I wanted to glass and our parents were going to the area they were at.

Saturday
We got to our spot before shoot time and I made my hike up and out a finger so I could glass. I could see to much at shoot time so I decided to play a few games on my phone to pass the time and glassed every so often. We heard and saw a ton of other quads and side by sides driving out past us but they were elk hunters. Finally after 30 minutes I spot a deer and kept my eyes on him. At first all I could see was from ass to front shoulder and his head was in the brush. Then he lifted his head slighty and I saw antler, it was a long third tine and then he moved his head more and I guessed he was about a 22" wide 3x3. So I try to call my brother who was on the other side of the finger to come shoot him but he didn't answer. So I start getting ready to shoot. I figured why not at least hes over 20'' wide and we didn't see any bucks the day before.

I get ready and the wind is already blowing pretty good, I had a sage brush log to rest my rifle on and I got in the prone, took aim and just after a big gust stopped I fired, but after I shot almost immediately the wind picked up. I went down to where he was as a quad was quickly approaching and I didn't want it to bump him. I got there and told the elk hunters that I had just shot a buck and they said they'd keep an eye out as the drove up the road. I started to look and almost immediately found the spider web fat from around the stomach and my heart sunk as I found a little bit of green. I got a hold of my brother and we spent the rest of the morning looking for him, with not a track to be found we called it off. On our way out we stopped to glass the other side of the ridge to see if we could see him and a local asked if we'd seen anything and told him about my buck. He was also nice enough to tell us to check out another spot that he was seeing a bunch of deer and that there were nice bucks just not monsters. We met back at camp with our parents to see how their morning went and mom had shot at buck (1) and missed.

We headed out for the evening hunt in the area the local told us about and saw a spike. We passed our parents who came from the other side about half way thru. Not 10 minutes had passed after we went by our parents and we spot another buck. A nice enough 2x2 for my mom to shoot so we call them and tell them to turn around. Were weren't able to get her on the buck as he went up a dried creek bottom with his doe's. Mom cant hike as much as she used to be able to and after we got back to the rig it was time to call it a night, and figure out the plan for the next day.

Sunday
The next morning my brother went to a different canyon and I drove up higher in the mountains to see and my parents stayed on the local road. On my drive out I see a HUGE 4x4 at least 25" tall with deep forks and about 20'' wide. He was good enough for me so I pull off at a wide spot to file some paperwork and notice the no trespassing sign so I finished up and continued my drive, just to see a nice 2x3 a little ways up the road on private property. I got to the canyon I planned on hiking in just at shoot time and I started my trek. I started seeing fresh deer poop so I started to get excited hoping one was gone come out. Nothing ever did. I found a nice 5 point elk shed before I reached the ridge top only to find another dirt road I could've just drove to so I could glass the meadow that was up there. That hike was a beast, I ended up climbing an 8 foot rock face so I didn't have to continue fighting brush. and walked out thru another sage meadow back to the truck and I found a ton of old and some fairly fresh elk poop and could even start to smell the heard. if I would've been able to lay eyes on the elk and saw I bull I was gonna head to town and get the otc bull tag for the unit. I made it back to my truck after about 6 plus hours of hiking.

I headed back to camp a little after noon for lunch. No one else had seen much except for my brother saw 2 deer that disappeared quickly and he couldn't ID them. For the evening hunt he was going to go back to the same canyon I was going to come from the otherside of the local road and work my way over to him and be on the other ridge next to him to cover more of the bowl. that he was watching. My parents left a little bit after I did and were gonna hunt the local road. I made it all the thru the local road and started driving thru the road that goes thru private property to get to the ridge I planned on going except when I got to the road the way the land owner had their private property and private drive sign I got confused and headed back to meet up with my brother. Just as I passed the "ENTERING PUBLIC LANDS" sign I look to my left and theres 4 doe's and my buck. Not the monster I was looking for in Colorado . So, I stopped and got out and put the cross hairs on him thinking well he's the biggest ive seen on public property so good enough. After about 30 seconds of us staring at each other the doe in front of him moved. He was a 4x4 with both eye guards so I squeezed off the first round hitting him in the shoulder. he absorbed the whole impact of the 180 grain nosler and was still standing. He didn't run he walked down the hill a little bit so I let another one rip hitting him on the front end of his shoulder, again he takes the hit and walks down a little lower, no hes on an old road still looking at me. As he stands there he wobbled a bit but regained composure and kept looking at me so yet again I let the third round fly and he final drops. I kept shooting till he was on the ground mainly because if he would've got an adrenaline boost he could've easily been on private property in a matter of seconds. I back my truck up to the side of the hill and drag him in whole so I don't have a gut pile right on the road and drove to another road of the main way in to the public property. His heart was gone as well as his lungs were shot. As I finish I spot another buck, a good shooter for mom (2x2) and they try to get on him but don't make it in time and we head back to camp.

Monday
My dad and I discuss that my buck would've been a hard to pass up one due to the lack of bucks we were looking for. The next morning I ride out with my brother and dad goes with mom. We head out to the same spot my brother was at the evening before, this time he saw a ton more deer and says its because I have road hunting mojo. All we saw were does and some cattle all morning. We go back to camp and get lunch and mom was to ride with me and my brother and dad were to hike up the same finger again as he did in the morning. At this point my mom describes my dad's little hikes as death marches and she was getting burnt out. My mom and I stop at a little bowl and see 4 does near the top which was only 75 yards from us and I spot a buck. All I could see was a head and a tine that came off the main beam. After a few minutes of trying to be able to see the rest he disappears. Then we see my brother just cresting the bowl and I let him know. He saws he see's a "mom buck"  between us and the ridge line maybe 40 yards but we couldn't see him because he was on a flat spot. He continues on to go to the spot he wanted and mom and I take off and drive some more. We saw a couple other deer but couldn't get her on them. Mom and I head back to the bowl in hopes of the buck my brother saw was in the open. No sooner do we get there BOOM! and we were hoping it was Hunter (brother) or Dad. A few seconds go by and BOOM, BOOM, BOOM and I tell mom to get out of the truck and get ready for something coming over the ridge. Finally I get a text from my brother saying buck down. I'm trying to find out where so I can go help him and my mom is trying to get my attention, so I walk over 40 yards in front of her is another deer (2). I whisper to her its a spike (legal spike there is 5") and she asks if she should shoot it. I tell her dad told me to not say anything if I saw a spike, but since you saw it its your choice so she shoots  it walks a little deeper into the sage and looks like it goes down. So we waited a few minutes and walk to where it went down and the *censored* jumps up and tears ass off and is gone. So I make my way over and help my brother who's deer still isn't dead and proceed to tell him we're gonna cut his throat and if he starts to fight me I'm letting go and jumping back and he should do the same. No sooner do I finish I grab the rack and he's dead so I coach him through gutting it.

Tuesday
The next morning mom rides with me and my dad was to go with my brother. But as we got out there my dad had a different plan and mom was to go with him on the finger down the road on the same finger my brother and I got ours because Hunter saw a nice wide 2x2.  So my brother and I drive around and try to spot some deer. We ended up seeing a nice 4x at least 3. They didn't see anything up there that morning and we tell dad that mom should've just came with me and she would've had some more oppourtunities. After lunch we head back out and this time mom is with me. We drive out the local road and I spot another "mom buck" (3) she gets out and shoots just high over its back. At this point I'm getting irritated and ask who sighted her gun in and when and all other questions, she says she did and it was shooting  inside a 2'' group at 100 yards. A few other bucks were seen but nothing mom could get too. We head back to camp a little early because she wanted to get a jump on dinner.

Wednesday
Mom and I sleep in until about 8 and got ready to go, dad and Hunter are already out there and we haven't heard anything from them. So mom and I go do the same loop we've been doing all week except were the local road met up with the main road we started to go further back up the canyon headed towards the area I was at Saturday. We hadn't been out for no more than 2 hours and she wants to go back to camp so I try to convince her we will turn around at where my brother and I parked Saturday. She says ok but 10 minutes later she says shes done and just wants to go back so I turn around early. We head back and I spot some turkeys so I started calling them just to try to pick her spirits up and see if she wants to hunt longer after a few minutes of that we continue back. It was a quiet ride until she grabs my arm and says "Forrest Deer, Its a buck(4)!" I saw well get out and shoot him. I get out of the truck and get glass on him and a scenario goes thru my head where she misses and I take her rifle and shoot him. As I watch him thru the glass hes a really exceptional "mom buck". Shes standing no rest and BOOM! the buck drops and rolls and gets stopped by a sage brush bush 50 yards away. He doesn't move and she all of a sudden comes to life with huge bursts of energy and starts to go to her deer. I trying to tell her to wait and watch so I can move the truck out of the way. So we make our way up to him and I see him and say "damn mom you just got the big buck of camp!" and then proceed to ask her what the hell happened with the other deer. I get a text from my dad and brother asking if we saw anything and I reply with a not anymore because I knew it would confuse them. They call and ask whats up so I tell them mom just shot a buck. Dad is thinking well at least she can sleep in and not have to come out anymore (which is what she wanted) they ask if we want help and I tell him he has to see the buck so they come over and my dad is shocked at what he sees lying there. My mom asks what would he have done if he was with her when she spotted it. He jokingly makes a shove motion and raises an invisible rifle. We all head back to camp and go eat an early breakfast as celebration for mom's second deer ever (first one was in the 80's, spike in Utah, before I was born). Dad and hunter go out and don't see anything the evening. After they get back him and dad say I have to go because I have all the road huntin luck.

Thursday
We get up early and head out to the usual loop. Saw a few bucks that were pushin 300 yards out and dad didn't want to shoot that far. So we continue on and head to the spot I was gonna take mom. At this point dad says the trip is complete with his boys getting deer and mom getting a nice one. But we tell him that it would've been complete if him and mom got deer if that was the only deer. So by now visions of the monsters we hoped of faded and it was the last day he was gonna be able to hunt before he headed back to Ca. So as we drive up were just getting up in the hills and I see a buck he gets out and thinks about it and I start rambling of size, points and the fact he had 2 eye guards. So dad decides to take him and were back at camp by 10 for a nice breakfast and we start to take camp down except the essentials to sleep that night before we departed Friday morning early.

[Skyvalhunter]

Good write up thanks for posting. Sounds like that area even with that high number points still gives out quite a few tags.

[Duckgtr]

Thanks. This is the first write up ive done. They give out 50 tags for the 3rd season. I'm having troubles upload the pics

[Skyvalhunter]

are you resizing them to 800x600 via Paint program?

[Duckgtr]

totally forgot thanks!

[Duckgtr]

more pics

[Rainier10]

Nice looking bucks. Sounds like quite the adventure.

[Duckgtr]

Disclaimer. I do road hunt but I also do get out and hike. I normally meat hunt and am not concerned about the rack. I just have good luck from the cab of my truck

[Duckgtr]

@boneaddict

Heres the Utah Muley I saw.

[boneaddict]

Thank you for the write up!

Biggest buck I saw last week was from the hiway going 65.   He ended up being tagged the next day. However you choose to hunt as long as it’s legal, is your business.   You don’t have to justify it to anyone.

[Rainier10]

 
Road hunting works, that's why people do it.

It works especially well in an area you don't know well.  You can cover a ton of ground and when you see a legal animal go after it.

Sounds like you guys tried different types of hunting and were successful at filling tags, no need for disclaimers about that or need to justify the way you hunt.

[teanawayslayer]

Looks like you had a great trip! Thanks for sharing!