Nick87
Well-known member
Congrats! Looking forward to the pics
Chama Bound Tomorrow A.M.!
- Thread starter dcopas78
- Start date
Laelkhunter
Well-known member
Congrats ! I'm sure you will be back to Chama as soon as you can. It certainly is an addicting place. Try a breakfast burrito (smothered in green chile) at Fina's in Chama. You will forever thank me for it.
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JohnCushman
Well-known member
Congrats!
dcopas78
Well-known member
We just pulled back in to home late yesterday evening. By the time I got all my meat in the freezer and everything else out of the rental, I was pretty much dead on my feet. It was an awesome trip. One that I don't think any one of us will forget anytime soon. My son, mother, and wife all had a blast. We were able to spend quite a bit of time together and got to go see a few things. I think one of the highlights of the trip for us was visiting Mesa Verde National Park and seeing the cliff dwellings. My boy loved the "Indian house." I think he is as addicted to the area as much as I am. The trip from Chama to Pogosa Springs was always full of wildlife. We ended up doing this trip a few times over the course of the week just to see all of the mule deer and elk.
While hunting, dad and I both saw huge numbers of elk. The big bulls just weren't there in the numbers they usually are according to the guides. In our camp, there were only three 6 pt. bulls killed among 9 hunters. One of these was a very small six. The other two were really nice. One was about 270, the other 305. Both hunters were long range hunters and shot their bulls at over 700 yards. They happened to spot them midday, bedded and took the shots with both falling 10 yards from each other.
I screwed up on my chance at a decent 6-pt. I missed at 405 yards
I mis-dialed my scope in the excitement and shot high by about an inch. But at least it was a clean miss. I still don't know why I didn't just use my BDC instead of trying to dial to hold dead on. The second hash was good at 419 yards. Oh well. You live,you learn. The second bull I had a shot at didn't fair so well. I dropped him at 342 and couldn't have been happier! I've got a nice, full freezer 
and what will be a nice euro mount.
As I mentioned previously, the elk weren't cooperating too well. The moon was really bright, and coming up early so the elk were coming late to the fields and leaving early. We literally had just minutes each day to catch them in the open and get a shot at a bull. We saw several, but cows usually got in the way. It i like the bulls had a walking shield in front of them. The warm temps and lack of snow pack didn't help. The outfitter told that there is normally 2 feet of snow by the lodge. Heck, there wasn't even snow at 9000+ feet. I killed my bull at 9200' and my guide said last year, snow was up over the hood of the truck at this time of year. At any rate, it was a great, great trip and we both got our bulls. I'm extremely excited to have spent this time with my dad and family. I can't wait until our hunt next year, where ever it may be.
I hope you enjoy the pictures.
Dad's Bull
My Bull
Cullen
Nymph fishing with a Spiderman pole
Cullen holding his fish
Early training for elk hunting
Momma and her boy
Dad at Mesa Verde
While hunting, dad and I both saw huge numbers of elk. The big bulls just weren't there in the numbers they usually are according to the guides. In our camp, there were only three 6 pt. bulls killed among 9 hunters. One of these was a very small six. The other two were really nice. One was about 270, the other 305. Both hunters were long range hunters and shot their bulls at over 700 yards. They happened to spot them midday, bedded and took the shots with both falling 10 yards from each other.
I screwed up on my chance at a decent 6-pt. I missed at 405 yards
I mis-dialed my scope in the excitement and shot high by about an inch. But at least it was a clean miss. I still don't know why I didn't just use my BDC instead of trying to dial to hold dead on. The second hash was good at 419 yards. Oh well. You live,you learn. The second bull I had a shot at didn't fair so well. I dropped him at 342 and couldn't have been happier! I've got a nice, full freezer and what will be a nice euro mount.As I mentioned previously, the elk weren't cooperating too well. The moon was really bright, and coming up early so the elk were coming late to the fields and leaving early. We literally had just minutes each day to catch them in the open and get a shot at a bull. We saw several, but cows usually got in the way. It i like the bulls had a walking shield in front of them. The warm temps and lack of snow pack didn't help. The outfitter told that there is normally 2 feet of snow by the lodge. Heck, there wasn't even snow at 9000+ feet. I killed my bull at 9200' and my guide said last year, snow was up over the hood of the truck at this time of year. At any rate, it was a great, great trip and we both got our bulls. I'm extremely excited to have spent this time with my dad and family. I can't wait until our hunt next year, where ever it may be.
I hope you enjoy the pictures.
Dad's Bull
My Bull
Cullen
Nymph fishing with a Spiderman pole
Cullen holding his fish
Early training for elk hunting
Momma and her boy
Dad at Mesa Verde
Laelkhunter
Well-known member
Great pics. Were you fishing in the river behind the Elkhorn Lodge?
Laelkhunter
Well-known member
What did you think of Milligan Brand? Would you hunt with them again, or find another outfitter?
dcopas78
Well-known member
Yes. My wife wants to vacation down in the area during the summer sometime. I'll probably branch out and fish some of the other waters around there, especially the native streams. These were all stocked fish, I believe.
dcopas78
Well-known member
I liked them. They are good at what they do. If I was going to spend the money to go outfitted, I'd spend it there. That being said, I probably won't go outfitted again. It being donated money made it pretty nice to just go do, but that amount of money buys me like 5 years of DIY hunting
7mm08mo
Well-known member
Looks like a great trip, congrats on the bulls and family time.
claybreaker
Member
Congrats, looks like a great Fam trip and many memories built.
Mississippihunter
New member
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2017
- Messages
- 9
Sounds like a great trip! Congratulations
mdhunter61
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2010
- Messages
- 452
Congrats to your whole family, glad you all had a great time! Those elk look like great trophies to me - my culinary skills aren't the greatest, have never been able to find a way to cook antlers and make them taste good.
dcopas78
Well-known member
Congrats to your whole family, glad you all had a great time! Those elk look like great trophies to me - my culinary skills aren't the greatest, have never been able to find a way to cook antlers and make them taste good.
Very true! It was an awesome trip. And the meat is superb. Already grilled a few of the steaks.
BlakeA
Well-known member
Congrats!
