11 Days Solo in the Colorado Wilderness High Country... and my Best Buck Ever

[SC Living Outdoors]

Day 3 - September 3rd

I decided on the third morning I'd head to a glassing point about 600 yards farther up the basin than the spot I glassed the first afternoon. As I neared the glassing location I looked up in front of me 100 yards or so and standing on the skyline was a lone doe. I took some pics and continued to move. About 10 seconds later a buck appeared. He was a tight racked 2x3. Nothing too impressive, but it was the first buck of the trip, so I took that as a good sign. 10 minutes later I settled into my glassing location to start to pick apart the head of the basin. Periodically I would hear a bugle out in front of me and after 30 minutes or so I began to see some elk all the way up in the head of the basin 1200 yards away. Soon after I found the bull and he was a great bull! This was the best bull I'd seen in CO in a while. I didn't have an elk tag, but if I had I know exactly what bull I'd be chasing. I watched this bull push his cows around and one in particular had his attention and he even attempted to mount her a couple times. I took alot of pics and videos. Eventually he bedded and I continued to glass the far side of the basin and picked up 3 deer. 2 bucks and a doe. One of the bucks was the one I jumped so I'm guessing the doe was the one I saw as well and there was just another buck that I never saw. They had dropped way down into the valley then back way up the other side. They were close to 13k feet in some gnarly stuff continuing to go up. I definitely thing I'd spooked them hard. Both bucks were about the same size and neither were real big so I wasn't overly concerned.

I headed back to camp for some food before heading out for the afternoon. That afternoon I hiked 2.5 miles up to 12,520' to glass another bowl. I heard bugling and cows in the woods below the closer I it got to dark. In the last hour or so they all started filing into this bowl. I think there were about 20 elk and 3-4 bulls. The biggest bull was a decent 5x5 that was definitely in charge. They were making all kinds of sounds. I knew there were some hunters down below in the valley and eventually one pushed up trying to sneak in on the heard. They knew he was coming. That biggest bull began to bugle and all the cows ran to him. They looked exactly the direction the hunter was coming from and all headed out. I could see him coming out of the trees from my perch. He was only 80-100yrds from the elk, but he never saw them. I'm guessing the wind burned him. It sucks for the hunter, but it was cool to see unfold and how the elk reacted. I'll store that memory and info away for the future (I have a couple elk tags this year). I didn't see any deer.

The deer that morning.


The bucks up high on the far side and the big bull.


I didn't even know there were ptarmigan in Colorado until I saw this one.



There was a wallow in this bowl and this smaller 5 point was enjoying it. The bigger 5 point above him was the current herd bull.



Dinner

 

[WNC2500]

@SC Living Outdoors Always great to watch things unfold from those distances away. Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[elkduds]

Really enjoying everything about this thread, especially the part where I get to sleep in my bed every night and read it while lying on my couch. Thanks for the free ride along on your sky high hunt. Seems like you had it all to yourself?

 

[vanish]

no dairy other than eggs

Are these, like, Cadbury eggs, then?

5.5 days of scouting ... damn sometimes I question my life choices.

 

[elkhuntinfool78]

Following along great so far as always

 

[SC Living Outdoors]

Day 4 & 5 - September 4th & 5th

Day 4 was the first day I really got up early. The alarm went off at 3am. I decided I was going to do a bigger hike into a high bowl 2.5 miles away. It was a nasty hike in. The final 300yds up to the saddle were almost vertical. I didn't see anything but Pikas that morning. I stayed until after lunch before working my way back down. On the way up I'd found a big rock out cropping in the trees that would allow me to glass a different face on the main valley I hiked in through. I decided I would give that area a try. Around 5pm I glassed up a group of cows. About 20 minutes late I found a small bull and not long after that I found a nice bull. The bigger bull was really unhappy with a small tree and decided he would let it know who was boss. I watched him thrash the heck out of that tree for close to 20 minutes. It was pretty cool to see. No deer.

Day 5 was poor weather. I got up even though it was rainy and I was fogged in and made the 35 minute climb up to the close saddle to glass. It continued to rain and fog moved in and out. I didn't see anything. I dozed in the rain and finally went back to camp because I was wasting my time. I spent the day hanging out in camp. Finally, in the afternoon everything cleared up and I decided I'd go hit a bowl I hadn't been into yet. It was 1.9 miles from camp. It was a really cool bowl with a lake. Looked like high country muley heaven. Guess what I saw? Just guess?..... A billy. A darn nice one too. I began to think to myself "I have got to draw a goat tag in here one day." I'd now seen more billies than bucks. No deer seen on day 5. I went back to camp to eat.

At this point the moon was very close to full and holy moly was it bright. I didn't know how this was affecting the animals, but obviously they were able to see, so I was assuming it was affecting their evening strolls around the mountain.

 

[Hammsolo]

Wonderful story

 

[Rack Daniels]

Dang man. I’ve always wanted to try and elk/deer hunt somewhere else… Buddy keeps sayin WYO but I’m about sold on Colo looks awesome out there I imagine it was a refreshing hunt! Cant wait to read the rest of the story

 

[SC Living Outdoors]

Day 6 - September 6 - Opening day

There was a spot I'd been saving for opening morning if I hadn't found a buck I wanted to kill. The spot would require me to drop down 500' verticle to the valley floor then climb up over 1500' that was fairly steep to a saddle to hunt on the backside. I'm not going to lie, I was getting pretty concerned with the lack of deer/bucks I wasn't finding, but you don't kill them laying in the tent. I was doing my best to stay positive. My alarm went off at 3 and I was up getting ready for the day. I was hiking at 3:45. It took me 2.5hrs to get over that saddle. I sat down on the backside and it looked awesome. I knew I was going to find my buck today! I started glassing. I kept glassing. I heard a gnarly bugle down below me. I kept glassing. I moved west a bit for a different view. Movement! Guess what it was? Guess?... Another billy. This one was young. He was moving over a ridge a couple hundred yards away. He disappeared, but 15 minutes later I found him laid out taking a snooze on shelf of rocks to my right. I really do like seeing goats. They are one of the coolest animals that God put on this earth, but dang it. I was ready to see some bucks and preferably a big one... or two. I was now up to 4 goats, all billies and 5 deer (2 bucks). I stayed up there glassing until noon. I didn't see any other animals. I decided I'd go back to camp and for a little bit then I'd go up to glass the area where I'd seen the 2 bucks 3 days earlier. That evening I didn't see one animal. It was a bit of a disappointing opening day. I hiked back to camp that evening racking my brain for a plan for the next day.

 

[npaden]

I'll have to PM you on what goat unit this was! Several very good billies!

I have 13 deer points I've been saving up for a high country velvet rifle hunt, getting close to the unit that opens a week earlier than this one.

Only complaint with the story so far is that it is taking too long! LOL.

 

[WNC2500]

@SC Living Outdoors You have for sure found where you will go if you ever draw CO Goat!!

 

[Mallardsx2]

Yikes...

6 days of scouting the high country and still no shooter buck found.

That should be highly concerning to everyone reading this story.

 

[bigsky2]

Yikes...

6 days of scouting the high country and still no shooter buck found.

That should be highly concerning to everyone reading this story.

From what I’ve heard, the high country hunting in CO has changed a lot in the last 10 years.

 

[SC Living Outdoors]

Day 7-9 - September 7th & 8th

Day #7 - I decided on another big day. The alarm went off again at 3. I was up and eating breakfast, but I was getting low on food. Only a couple days left and I'd have to hike to the truck for more. I decided I would hike about 2 miles down valley then begin climbing to hunt a smaller high bowl that I hadn't checked out yet. Total distance was 3.2 miles from camp. I climbed up through the trees finally arriving at my glassing spot a bit after first light. The 7th was a Sunday and I could see a long ways down a main valley that was below the bowl I was hunting. I saw hikers and hunters on this trail, but no one was climbing up into the bowls where I was. I did see a couple on a horizon 1500 yards away just living their best life (eat your heart out Mike Lee), but everyone else was 2000'+ feet below. I didn't see a thing until a little after 10:30 when I was scanning a wide open ridge across from me and out of no where there was a buck. I mean it was wide wide open. He must've been bedded somewhere up in the rocks. I'd already decided due to the lack of bucks I was seeing I was no longer holding out for a giant buck. I wanted to punch my tag on a velvet buck. This one fit the bill. I watched him go into a group of trees and disappear. I didn't see him for 2.5hrs. I figured he'd bedded. Finally around 1:15pm I caught some movement. "There he is"! I practice shooting a good bit. I do it well. I'm really able to control myself and go through all my steps to make a good shot. This was a longer shot, but I checked everything. I was prone, I checked and rechecked the distance, I checked the wind on my side and his side, I check my level, I waited for the perfect broadside shot. I lightly pressed the trigger. The gun kicked and the bullet fired. I missed. I didn't hold for enough wind. It was very very close. I got it all on video. I replayed it 50 times watching the bullet track towards the deer. I don't feel like I could have done anything better or worse than I did. I was disappointed. I'd been working hard and to put in all that work for 7 straight days to get an opportunity and to miss was disappointing. I sat there for 90 minutes and replayed everything in my head and thinking about the last week and the tough week before I left.

There was another high bowl about 400 yards away that I could get to by skirting around the mountain. I packed up all my gear and decided I would head over there to look at a different area for the evening. I packed up my gear and headed over. I sat down around 4pm and began to glass. This was a bowl I'd looked at previously, but I looked at it from the other side. I didn't see anything for 90 minutes or so then as I worked my binoculars from left to right I froze. 2 deer! 2 bucks! 2 big bucks! Way way bigger than the buck I'd just missed. They were in a great spot. Was I really going to get redemption in a big way just 5hrs after missing a buck! I just knew I was going to kill one of these bucks. Like a story from a hunting magazine it was all coming together. I could drop down the back side of the ridge and come around for a 200-300 yard shot. This was a done deal!!! I began my stalk. I did everything perfectly. I came back into view and... the bucks were gone. I got into position anyway thinking they'd bedded down. A squall blew in and I laid in the rain waiting. They left. I still don't know what happened or where they went. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I'm a pretty positive guy, but at that moment I upset. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be successful and when my plans don't work it bothers me. When you spend a lot of time by yourself on the mountain bad thoughts can creep in if you aren't careful. I know some of y'all know this from reading my post a few weeks ago, but I put down my dog 4 days before I left for this trip. I'd had her for 14 years. She'd been there for me through the hardest days of my life and every day when I come home she'd be so happy to see me. Its hard knowing you'll never see that face again, really hard. I'd been watching her really go downhill for a year and it broke my heart. Putting her down was one of the hardest things I'd ever done but I didn't have a choice. Well, up there on the mountain over the past week I'd been thinking about her a lot and then I had a day like day #7. I was not in a good place. I was disappointed and sad and tired and hungry. I'd just missed a buck and had 2 big bucks disappear when I didn't feel like I'd made a mistake with either.

I hiked back to camp in the moonlight thinking about my pup.

Day #8 - I hunted those 2 bowls again hoping the bucks were still around. I was up early and back to camp late. I did make friends with a pine martin and see a beautiful bear at 200 yards, but I had decided not to buy a bear tag because I wanted all my efforts to go to trying to kill a big buck.

Day #9 - I was out of food after I ate breakfast. I decided I was ready for a change of scenery. There was a creek with some good looking country not too far away and I was going to go explore it. I packed up all my gear and headed to the truck. I stopped on my way out to glass a bit early that morning a bumped into a guy and his son down on the trail. The son also had a deer tag, but they hadn't seen any deer. I glassed and talked to them for a bit before wishing them luck and heading to the truck. A couple hours later I finally made it to the truck. I ate some food and headed down the road. On the way out I stopped at my friend from Arkansas' camp that I'd met on the way in. He and I talked for a while and I told him my plan to move camp. Because he was camped by a "main" road he'd talked to a lot of hunters. I told him my plan and where I was thinking of going and he informed me that there were a few groups of guys over there. We talked a big longer and he encouraged me to go back to my area I'd been hunting and try to track down one of those bucks. He'd talked to some other hunters with deer tags in different areas that hadn't seen much. I guess all I needed was a bit of encouragement because I turned my truck around and drove right back to the trail head. I loaded all my gear right back up along with 4 more days of food and hit the trail. I got back to my camping location and it was too late to really go glass so I decided to just take some time setting up camp. Soon afterwards a hail storm rolled in. I laid in my tent making a game plan for day #10 before setting my alarm and drifting off.


The buck I missed.


This is the bullet missing just over his neck. Between his antlers and body.


Full moon on the way back to camp.


The bowl where I found the big bucks.


My new friend.


Big bear at 200yds.



This guy warning everyone I was around.


Hail.




Some pics of my pup. She was a good girl.

 

[WNC2500]

Day 7-9 - September 7th & 8th

Day #7 - I decided on another big day. The alarm went off again at 3. I was up and eating breakfast, but I was getting low on food. Only a couple days left and I'd have to hike to the truck for more. I decided I would hike about 2 miles down valley then begin climbing to hunt a smaller high bowl that I hadn't checked out yet. Total distance was 3.2 miles from camp. I climbed up through the trees finally arriving at my glassing spot a bit after first light. The 7th was a Sunday and I could see a long ways down a main valley that was below the bowl I was hunting. I saw hikers and hunters on this trail, but no one was climbing up into the bowls where I was. I did see a couple on a horizon 1500 yards away just living their best life (eat your heart out Mike Lee), but everyone else was 2000'+ feet below. I didn't see a thing until a little after 10:30 when I was scanning a wide open ridge across from me and out of no where there was a buck. I mean it was wide wide open. He must've been bedded somewhere up in the rocks. I'd already decided due to the lack of bucks I was seeing I was no longer holding out for a giant buck. I wanted to punch my tag on a velvet buck. This one fit the bill. I watched him go into a group of trees and disappear. I didn't see him for 2.5hrs. I figured he'd bedded. Finally around 1:15pm I caught some movement. "There he is"! I practice shooting a good bit. I do it well. I'm really able to control myself and go through all my steps to make a good shot. This was a longer shot, but I checked everything. I was prone, I checked and rechecked the distance, I checked the wind on my side and his side, I check my level, I waited for the perfect broadside shot. I lightly pressed the trigger. The gun kicked and the bullet fired. I missed. I didn't hold for enough wind. It was very very close. I got it all on video. I replayed it 50 times watching the bullet track towards the deer. I don't feel like I could have done anything better or worse than I did. I was disappointed. I'd been working hard and to put in all that work for 7 straight days to get an opportunity and to miss was disappointing. I sat there for 90 minutes and replayed everything in my head and thinking about the last week and the tough week before I left.

There was another high bowl about 400 yards away that I could get to by skirting around the mountain. I packed up all my gear and decided I would head over there to look at a different area for the evening. I packed up my gear and headed over. I sat down around 4pm and began to glass. This was a bowl I'd looked at previously, but I looked at it from the other side. I didn't see anything for 90 minutes or so then as I worked my binoculars from left to right I froze. 2 deer! 2 bucks! 2 big bucks! Way way bigger than the buck I'd just missed. They were in a great spot. Was I really going to get redemption in a big way just 5hrs after missing a buck! I just knew I was going to kill one of these bucks. Like a story from a hunting magazine it was all coming together. I could drop down the back side of the ridge and come around for a 200-300 yard shot. This was a done deal!!! I began my stalk. I did everything perfectly. I came back into view and... the bucks were gone. I got into position anyway thinking they'd bedded down. A squall blew in and I laid in the rain waiting. They left. I still don't know what happened or where they went. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I'm a pretty positive guy, but at that moment I upset. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be successful and when my plans don't work it bothers me. When you spend a lot of time by yourself on the mountain bad thoughts can creep in if you aren't careful. I know some of y'all know this from reading my post a few weeks ago, but I put down my dog 4 days before I left for this trip. I'd had her for 14 years. She'd been there for me through the hardest days of my life and every day when I come home she'd be so happy to see me. Its hard knowing you'll never see that face again, really hard. I'd been watching her really go downhill for a year and it broke my heart. Putting her down was one of the hardest things I'd ever done but I didn't have a choice. Well, up there on the mountain over the past week I'd been thinking about her a lot and then I had a day like day #7. I was not in a good place. I was disappointed and sad and tired and hungry. I'd just missed a buck and had 2 big bucks disappear when I didn't feel like I'd made a mistake with either.

I hiked back to camp in the moonlight thinking about my pup.

Day #8 - I hunted those 2 bowls again hoping the bucks were still around. I was up early and back to camp late. I did make friends with a pine martin and see a beautiful bear at 200 yards, but I had decided not to buy a bear tag because I wanted all my efforts to go to trying to kill a big buck.

Day #9 - I was out of food after I ate breakfast. I decided I was ready for a change of scenery. There was a creek with some good looking country not too far away and I was going to go explore it. I packed up all my gear and headed to the truck. I stopped on my way out to glass a bit early that morning a bumped into a guy and his son down on the trail. The son also had a deer tag, but they hadn't seen any deer. I glassed and talked to them for a bit before wishing them luck and heading to the truck. A couple hours later I finally made it to the truck. I ate some food and headed down the road. On the way out I stopped at my friend from Arkansas' camp that I'd met on the way in. He and I talked for a while and I told him my plan to move camp. Because he was camped by a "main" road he'd talked to a lot of hunters. I told him my plan and where I was thinking of going and he informed me that there were a few groups of guys over there. We talked a big longer and he encouraged me to go back to my area I'd been hunting and try to track down one of those bucks. He'd talked to some other hunters with deer tags in different areas that hadn't seen much. I guess all I needed was a bit of encouragement because I turned my truck around and drove right back to the trail head. I loaded all my gear right back up along with 4 more days of food and hit the trail. I got back to my camping location and it was too late to really go glass so I decided to just take some time setting up camp. Soon afterwards a hail storm rolled in. I laid in my tent making a game plan for day #10 before setting my alarm and drifting off.


The buck I missed.
View attachment 386075View attachment 386076

This is the bullet missing just over his neck. Between his antlers and body.
View attachment 386077

Full moon on the way back to camp.
View attachment 386078

The bowl where I found the big bucks.
View attachment 386079

My new friend.
View attachment 386080

Big bear at 200yds.

View attachment 386081

This guy warning everyone I was around.
View attachment 386082

Hail.

View attachment 386083

Wow, we are right here along with you encouraging you and wondering why you didn't get a bear tag (great pic of the bear). That would have been nice to drive back to SC with him, and a soon to be named buck......

 

[JVon13]

My work productivity is pretty low right now, I keep refreshing this thread hoping for updates!

 

[SC Living Outdoors]

@SC Living Outdoors You have for sure found where you will go if you ever draw CO Goat!!

I'm hopeful. Unfortunately, I only have 7 points so it might be a while before I get a tag. If I ever do.

 

[noharleyyet]

 

[npaden]

No doubt about it, you put in the work both physically and mentally on this one.

 

[SC Living Outdoors]

Day 10 & 11- September 10th & 11th

I had a plan. I was going back up the big ridge. The same ridge where I went opening day. I was going to glass it first thing then slowly work my way down the back side still hunting my way through until I found a deer. I was motivated again. I only had 3.5 days left I could hunt. I needed to leave at the absolute latest on Saturday morning and I needed to find a buck. This was a tag I'd been dreaming of and hunt I'd been playing in my mind for years. I was going to give it heck. My alarm went off at 3am and I was up getting ready for my big climb. I set off from camp down to the valley floor then up the other side. About 1/4 of the way up the other side I stopped to remove my puffy and go to the bathroom. I dropped my pack and stripped off my puffy. I tied my puffy on my pack and got ready to put it back on looking around for my binos to put on before the pack. Oh no! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! I forgot my binos at camp. "You have got to be kidding me!" Some people might be able to hunt without binos, I can't. Theres a moment in every hunt that shapes the outcome. I didn't know it at the time, but this was that moment for this hunt. I don't know how this hunt would have ended if I hadn't forgotten my binos, but I do know it would have been different than the way it did. Back to camp I went. Luckly, I'd left early enough where I could get back to camp in the dark and go to a different place. Over the big ridge would wait until tomorrow. I gave myself 30 seconds to shake my head then I said "adapt and overcome". I began to think about my options on the hike back. There were really only 2. The spot I'd seen the big bull and 2 bucks on the morning of day #3 or the spot I'd seen the 2 goats on the afternoon of day #2. I began to pray and ask God to guide me. I don't like praying and asking God to help me kill a big animal or praying for a special tag, I don't know why, but that seems off to me, but I do often pray that I'll make smart choices, I won't overlook things and I'll execute during the hunt if given an opportunity. I began weighing the pros and cons. The more I thought and prayed about it the more the spot from day 2 made sense. I hadn't been there in 8 days. No one else had been in there for sure because it was heck to get in there. I would be glassing west and when I came over the saddle into the bowl the sun would be behind me helping shield me from view. On top of that it just felt like where I needed to go. Lastly, it really wasn't that far from where I saw the 2 big bucks a couple days prior. Maybe they'd slipped by me on my stalk in and headed to that high bowl?

I arrived at camp and grabbed my binos on the way through. I stopped long enough to take off my pack put on my binos and head back out. I began to climb up to the 12,400' saddle. About 2/3 of the way up it was light enough to see and I began to glass around without any luck. I slipped through the saddle and made my way down the other side to sit on some rocks as I began to glass. I started at the high end of the bowl and began glassing my way down slowly picking my way through the vegetation. I noticed the mountain goats were gone as I kept glassing from my left to right. A deer! Another deer! Another deer! A group of deer were feeding on the sidehill 850 yards across from me. 2 bucks and a doe. One of the bucks was a good one, really good. I tried to keep myself calm. After what had happened a few days previously I wasn't going to allow myself to get excited just to get let down if something happened. The bigger buck was a dandy deer and I was beginning to make a plan to move down into range, but I could tell something wasn't right. The smaller buck and the doe kept looking down the bowl to the right. I began thinking to myself, "what is down there?" A person, a wolf, a cat, something to mess up my hunt?!?! Instead of moving down the side to get in position for a shot I decided to scan to the deer's right where they were looking. I found what they were looking at. It wasn't a person or a wolf or a cat. It was another deer. A buck. Oh my, what a buck! Not real wide, but heavy and tall and an extra tine and perfect full velvet. This was the deer that I had come to Colorado for. This was the buck I'd been dreaming about killing for years. This was the buck I'd been saving points for, shaving grams off of my gear for, working out so hard for, climbing all these dang mountains for. That was him! I'd found him. I locked in. I had to make this happen. I'd never had an opportunity on a buck like this with a tag in my pocket. I began to work my way down the ridge. 10 yards down the scree, stop, glass, they don't see me, range, 10 yards down the scree, stop, glass, they don't see me, range, 10 yards down the scree, stop, glass, they don't see me, range. Finally, I got to a flat grassy spot to the right of the slope I was working my way down. I was in range. I laid down and checked the wind, checked my range, checked my level and rechecked all of it. The buck was perfectly broad side. I pressed the trigger and the gun recoiled. The buck bolted up the side of the hill and stopped after 80 yards slowly walking into a group of trees. I ranged the trees in case he came out. I waited and waited. I figured he was done, but I waited. After 15 minutes he stepped out from those trees and I fired. His ears went back. He was hurt. I fired again and down he went running through the rocks with his head down low. He tumbled through rocks and came to rest in an opening where I could see him laying there. Finally, on day 10 I'd completed my goal.

I hiked over to him. He was everything I thought he was. A beautiful buck, unfortunately he'd beat up his velvet going through the rocks, but I can get that fixed. It doesn't always come together, but this time it did. I took a ton of pictures and sent a lot of messages. I broke him down and began the adventure of packing him down to the bottom where I grabbed the trail to head to the truck. I made it out before dark 5.3 miles with all the meat. I drove him up to my new friends camp and he was thrilled for me and cooked me dinner. Tater tots and chicken fingers. It was a cheat meal and I'd earned it. I slept in my mini camper on a real mattress and it was glorious.

Day #11 - I packed back in for all my gear. 10 more miles and I was done. I'd seen moose tracks on the trail the day before, but I hadn't seen the moose. On the way to get my gear I saw them. A great bull and a cow. Love was in the air and it was cool to see and hear from 15 yards away.

I have 6 more hunts this fall that I think will be great, but this one will be hard to top.

I drove 3700+ miles. I hiked 70+ miles. I climbed 18,000'+. I killed a buck I'll never forget.


The 2 bucks looking down at the other buck.



The bigger of the 2 bucks stood around after I shot.


Got him.


Pack out.



Back to get the gear.