Over The Counter Elk - Colorado style

All in all may be frustrating but in the end I know I feel good about every discussion I make and if that means throwing the camera off the Mountain then so be it Randy. I would not blame you one bit. A good tracking follow up , especially if it comes down to the last day.
 
Get em!

Randy,

Sounds like a lot of places around here but thats where they are hiding as you have found. We went last season near Grand Jct and had great success and made some great sausage and steaks from it. If you get a chance on the way through let me know and I will get you some to take home. I have lived in Western CO most my life and love the opportunities we have here. Have a great hunt!!
 
As long as I hear the excitement of you putting a whole through 2 elk lungs I'm not sure I need to see it. It's time!
 
Just one guys opinion, but the importance of the kill shot is really odd for me. The least favorite part of the hunt for me is watching the animal die, and why that needs to be recorded and viewed by everyone is beyond me.

I think that the amount of opportunity not having a killshot takes away, far outweighs the split second of watching an animal take a bullet. I think you're compromising the realism of the show by not hunting the way the average Joe hunter would.

Just my two cents...

Edit to add- Obviously I'm in the minority here though, as I'm sure the production company wouldn't stress the importance of it as much as they do, if they didn't have the numbers to back it up.
 
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:eek::eek::eek:

I just watched a convoy of trailers come down from the mountain! One truck was towing a gooseneck flatbed- looked like it had 2 platforms- with at least 7 atv's on it. Behind him were 3 trailers. However, they had one nice buck, a 6x5 (I think) bull, and a cow. These guys were below Fin- maybe the elk were moving today. Everything seems to be anticipating this storm coming in... tonight might have been a good one.
 
Just one guys opinion, but the importance of the kill shot is really odd for me. The least favorite part of the hunt for me is watching the animal die, and why that needs to be recorded and viewed by everyone is beyond me. .

Randy - I also find it peculiar that there is so much emphasis on the kill. I think that evolved from some of the early outdoor TV programming and there are some segments of the hunting TV viewership that wants to see lot of stuff die. Even if that means shooting them in a pen.

We are working on ideas of how we might be able to do a lot of other things with the show beyond focusing on the kill. I am hoping they will come together and be part of the show for next season. Will know in about three months. if so, it will make our show even more distinctive from the others.

Back from the hills. Nothing spotted this evening. Do think the spot I am in is the best possible location for the elk that are moving lower for food and above/beyond where the ATV hunters are hanging out. Wish I had a big report.

Spent a lot of time today thinking about the Veterans I know. Lots of them. Some with us, and some not. Feel indebted to everyone of them. Spending a day hunting the public land, something very special in America, makes me thankful for those who serve/have served.
 
Honestly the best part of the show is the expressions, and excitment on Randy's face after a harvest!!! The kill shot is a little overated,except in the case where there may be a marginal shot, or what route an animal may have taken to aid in trailing!!!!! But not to worry you will have one just pose for you in the morning, and that will please everyone!!! Get em' Fin!!!!!
 
also, I did indeed meet my own "Charlie" this year. He had drawn a moose tag for the area I hunt deer in, and had never set foot there in his life. If I remember right he was 76 years old. He was bowhunting and had found a few moose. I would tell him where we saw the moose and he would tell me where he was seeing deer. Of course, me and my cousin were seeing bull moose and he was seeing good buck deer. Figures. He was originally from Texas but had planned to spend a month and a half up there if he needed. He would make me laugh every time I had a chat with him. I almost made the long trip just to see if he filled his tag!

Good luck tomorrow Randy!
 
Very well put Redfish,
You hit the nail on the head. I am not young any more and to me it is the hunt not so much as the shot. Me/us against an animal and the elements in which they survive. Just the way it is. Sometimes they win, some time we do.



Honestly the best part of the show is the expressions, and excitment on Randy's face after a harvest!!! The kill shot is a little overated,except in the case where there may be a marginal shot, or what route an animal may have taken to aid in trailing!!!!! But not to worry you will have one just pose for you in the morning, and that will please everyone!!! Get em' Fin!!!!!
 
We are working on ideas of how we might be able to do a lot of other things with the show beyond focusing on the kill. I am hoping they will come together and be part of the show for next season. Will know in about three months. if so, it will make our show even more distinctive from the others.

I think they're coming together quite well Randy. Stuck trucks and camps, snow, unbearable wind, other hunters, low filming light, etc.? Kind of hard to focus on a kill with all of that $h!t going on. I haven't seen another show where they don't harvest anything. That's different alright. :D
 
Gotta agree with Randy11, don't need to see the animal die. Last night here in MO was last bowhunt before firearms season started this morning. I took a doe at close range with the bow and she piled up in plain view of me maybe 20 yards away...I opted not to watch her take her last breaths. While a certain portion expects that I suppose, I personally choose not to see it.

Video of you taking the shot, maybe audio of the impact, happy hunter high fives, would be great. Good luck Fin!
 
Hope you guys are in the thick of them this morning! And with light.

While it sucks big time for Randy it sucks just as much for Dirk....nothing worse than telling Randy "no light" when there is a legal bull in front of him, and nothing sucks worse for Randy than dealing with the camera iris which can't operate/function under the same light conditions as our eyes can. It's part of the gig and if the network's would grant everyone permission to cover the hunt without worrying about the kill shot camera operators would be the first to throw a celebratory party.

Best of luck to both of you.....Dirk is one of the best operators I know so if it can be done he will do it. 30db gain at 1/4 second....tell Dirk to change his setting to that and you will have tons of extra light...in fact he can film all night! But in post production it will look like a blair witch project.....blurry horror movie. Seriously though good luck!
 
No elk this morning, but a very cool encounter. An encounter with a family.

This morning I watched four hunters weaving in and out of the oak brush. Looked like a father and family. They would appear and then disappear. Finally they reappeared just below me and the leader waved as if to ask if he could come through. I waved him on up.

It was the father, his two sons ages 8 and11, and the mother. Mom had the deer tag. The family was out looking for a buck. Mom said she was not picky. They wanted to have a good day with the kids.

The kids were good troops to slog through that jungle for the couple miles that I watched them. I told the kids how to get to my stash of Snickers when they got to the trailhead. Between that and the possibility of being on TV, the kids seemed to be having a good time.

I so much enjoy seeing a family out hunting like that. They were hunting hard. Crawling through oak brush is tough sledding. The kids are learning what it takes to hunt on foot. And, they are not in front of the TV our playing video games. They are out in the hills. Hope many other families are doing the same today.
 
Randy sometime you just have to turn the TV off on them and tell them to get in the truck LOL I did it many times with my boys. Once in the woods they were enjoying the experiences. There are a lot more things to hunting then just kill'n. Sounds like you had a good time.
 
The best expression that I have seen on Randy's show was when Uncle Larry's nose got busted open shooting at his bull elk. That's the kind of stuff that makes hunting fun...the lasting memories.
 
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