I'll share a little more here about how my hunt went down. I was sitting and reading on a ridge at just over 10,000' elevation. I had seen some sign in the area and had spooked two different groups of elk that morning in the area so I thought that my morning hunt was over. I was trying to warm up so I was out in the sun with my back to a tree. I heard what sounded like a cow call but there were some Clark's Nutcracker (Camp Robbers) birds flying around in the area and they can sometimes sound like an elk. I reached down and squeezed my bulb call just in case and went back to reading. I heard it again so I called again and continued reading. About a minute later, I looked up and there was a cow coming straight at me from about 50 yds. I was just able to get to my knees and grab my bow before she was at about 20 yds. I wanted to scoot back into the shadows and stand up but there was no time. She first looked like she would come around a blowdown to my left but then turned and came in to my right. I was able to get my body turned to the right and when her head went behind a tree, I drew. She stepped out and was 12 yds away. I picked a spot, and I think I hit that spot. I called like crazy as she ran away but I don't think she even heard me. She was crashing through trees and running blind. When I shot, she was quartering slightly toward me so I just got one lung. She ran over a quarter mile before dying on her feet and sliding under a blowdown. It took 3 1/2 hours on my knees following the blood trail to find her because the undergrowth is turning colors and it was very difficult to see blood. Even though I like to hunt alone, it was great to get into camp and share my success with the other guys there. Even though there were bulls in the area, I had decided that I would not be picky on this hunt and take the first legal elk. My shoulder has been bothering me so I had to drop my bow weight down into the low 40s. I was very pleased with the penetration though (20") from my 630 gr. arrow and this cow represents an awesome trophy for me. She is my 6th. elk taken with a traditional bow but my first traditional elk on public land. It took until after midnight to get the meat to camp (2 REALLY heavy packs).
Topic: Colorado Tradgang Elk Hunt Story (Read 2932 times)
