Anyone else excited?

Robert, I'm super way excited, I got a new bow for Christmas compliments to my spouse. So I will be bow hunting next month here in California. Rifle season opens up in-august and I will be shooting Barnes ttsx out of a Featherweight 270 Winchester.

That rifle I bought October of 2015 on my 6th year sobriety birthday. I got a ton of new gear this year, I'm stocked. Here's my list.

1. Matthews Halon 6, spot Hogg 7 pin, rage 2 blade, gold tip 340.

2. Tenzing 6000 (I boned out two bucks last year and carried them out)

3. Leupold 20x60 spotting scope.

4. Sitka ascent pants open county. (In the mail yet)

5. Nikon rangefinder

Items wanted but certainly not needed.

1. Havlon Jim shocky knife.

2. Set of binoculars under 200$

I'm super way excited to hunt. Love the feeling and the pressure.

 

I feel ya! Last weekend I bought lisences for deer and elk and applied for antelope tags. Speed-goat drawing is on August 1st, oh the anticipation. I used to look forward to summer but now I can't wait til fall!

 

Kid and myself drew either sex in first season up in Stagecoach area. As to gear needed...nada, old goat has plenty of stuff. Just need to do work outs and get in some better shape!!!
Dan


BTW, draws are posted on DOW site.

 

Good luck to all.

I am past my prime now and Rocky Mountain hunts are for younger people. There was a time that I was giddy this time of year. From past experience I learned that all the fine gear in the world won't help if you are out of shape. I had a close friend die of a heart attack in Colorado back in 79. The man was 59 years old.

For your own good, please start getting in shape now. You might think that you are in decent physical shape, but 8000 feet of elevation will kick your butt. Especially if you are a lowlander.

Go, have a good time and make some memories. Some day you will have to settle on local hunts and will have only memories of the mountains.

 

Captcurt,
No matter your age, every hunt is just a memory after it's over. The memories are what makes us go back. Remembering the mountains in all their glory, the sound of bulls bugling through the aspens, the smell of the clean air, the stories told around the fire, the friends we've lost and the memories made with them, and the ones we are lucky enough to still have in our lives, the animals harvested and the ones that got away. And there's so many more reasons. Everyday in the woods is a good day. A local hunt is still a hunt. Age may have taken away some abilities to endure a more physically demanding hunt. But I'll take a local hunt over a pine box any day.

Sorry about your luck Robert. Next year.

 

Got the 1st season rifle cow tag I wanted. And will hunt that unit OTC archery too.

It's that magic time of year when I roam the mountains and explore places the vast majority of others won't dare.

Andy

 

There are a lot of question marks for me, but I'm going to try to go this Fall. I'll buy an over the counter tag in one of the areas they are sold if I can make it work. I have a group of friends who go every year and at least one out of the group gets an elk most years doing it this way. Not trophies, but elk.

My mom is in a nursing home and it is rare to go more than 4-6 weeks without her being sent to the hospital for a few days. I can't commit to anything long term right now and going will be a last minute decision for me. It would be just my luck to drive 1400 miles, spend $600 for a tag and have to turn around and drive home without ever hunting.

I'm tempted to go in September and archery hunt. Lots more flexibility as to where and when I can hunt.

 

I live at about 6k, Do a mile walk a day and some weights....I'll pace myself and let the youngsters do the ridge hopping....will turn 74 this trip...do a lot of trail watching and glassing. If it be my time to go, I can't think of a better place to be....truly in God's country!
Dan

 

The Rockies are a beautiful place to be in the fall. I remember my first mulie that I shot lieing in his bed. Had to tie his rack to a bush so he wouldn't slide off of the mountain while I field dressed him. And the cow elk that I slipped within twenty yards of before throwing up my arms to scare her. She went off of a slide that would have killed a goat. Awesome animals.

Now I have permission to thin deer on a private farm that has a permit for nusiance animal control. I cull does and leave the bucks alone unless a dandy comes through. But I still miss the mountains and life in deer camp.

 

I'm 58 and sometimes wonder how much longer I've got before I'll not be able to do a hunt there, but I've been inspired by others in the past. We were on top of Pikes Peak several years ago when we met a man in his mid-70's asking for a ride down. He retired and moved to Colorado Springs several years earlier and he hiked up the mountain several times each week in good weather. I forget the exact number of times he had done so, but this trip was somewhere between 200-300.

Last Fall I met 3 brothers hunting in the Cohutta Wilderness Area here in GA. They were between 65-75 years old and had backpacked in 7-8 miles to hunt. This area is every bit as steep and rugged as anything below treeline in Colorado and at over 4000' is pretty high for GA. The oldest brother had gotten turned around and spent 2 days walking up and down the mountains before returning to camp.

He wasn't really lost, he knew that if he walked down hill he'd cross a river which would lead him to another trail and back to camp. It just took 2 days to get there. The 2 younger brothers weren't worried, they knew he would be OK. We met up at the trailhead and the old guy pulled out some photos. The 3 had just gotten back from a Colorado elk hunt and had done the same thing. The older brother had killed a nice elk. Said it took them 3 days to get all of it the 10 miles back to the road.

58 doesn't seem so old anymore. If these guys can still do it, so can I.

 

I'm in the drawing for a rifle tag and I'm not sure if it would be a blessing or curse. Im still setting up my new bow for elk in September and if I draw the rifle tag I'd have to add figuring out some 45-90 loads to take hunting in October to the list of things to do.

 

I got first choice rifle cow tag and 2nd choice rifle buck tag so that means Nov 5 thru 13th. Wife drew archery either sex deer tag, same unit as my cow tag & buck tag so we'll both get archery either sex elk tag.

I'm 74 and still get excited and nothing like being up above timberline at first light.

 

Heck, I'm still trying to get over last year. Taxidermy work to do on deer and turkeys from last year but I am shooting hogs every chance I get. I've had ticks, chiggers, mosquito and gnat bites and I'm just getting over poison ivy. Plum bushes to spray and brush to clear, and the wife wants to build a room on the house. Can't hardly find time to shoot my rifles. Looking forward to cold weather in the fall!

 

jmr40, 58 is not old at all and you have many years ahead of you to climb the mountains. I made 10 trips to Colorado chasing mule deer and elk and I learned a lot. If I had it to do over I would hunt the foothills and stay away from the high steep mountains with black timber. The hunting is just as good at a lower elevation in places where people don't think to hunt. I'm 72 years old and still strong but you have to watch out for that coming health problem that will sap your strength. I bow hunted elk here in Oklahoma last year and there are some really good bulls in my area. The season limit is 2 for the entire area so to be successful at the hunt is like winning the lottery. I'll do it again this year. I also put in for a bull elk tag in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife refuge but to draw is also like winning the lottery. I first applied for the permit in 1969 so this is my 46th attempt without drawing. Sorry to hear about your mother being in bad health. My wife lost her mother last year, a lovely woman that I will really miss. Good luck in planning something for this year.

 

Good hunting!
Dan

 

Best of luck to you Robert. I don't elk hunt being in Arkansas (though I do need to start applying for the tags). It is very difficult to draw one here.

I am looking forward to September 24th though when archery deer season opens up.

 

$600 for a tag? They got a word just for something like that, but I don't think it's allowed here.

 

First time I've ever applied for a deer tag, drew a mulie doe tag for unit 105. Now I've got to find a place to go.