Time for a Tall Tale

[Butts2]

I had sent in to a magazine about 16 months ago a condensed version of this story. They asked for photo's, which I sent in a little later. Not one word back to me since......SO. You men are going to get the LONG version. Hope you like it.

It is the second week of Colorado’s Mule Deer, Elk and Bear season and I have yet to hit the high country forest to hunt. Usually, I will hunt the first 2 weekends and then take a week off  from work and hopefully be hunting the rut in full swing  hearing Bull Elk sing. Due to my possession of a premium Antelope tag for northern Colorado, the Sage covered prairie had my full attention until the present time.

I had read on one of the popular bow hunting sites of a guy similar to me complaining about not getting good opportunities for Bear. After numerous responses from others, one individual asked him if he was hunting Deer and Elk and hoping a Bear would wander his way or was he really hunting for Bear. His answer was similar to mine, yes I am hunting for Mule Deer, but primarily for a Bull Elk, but I would sure like a Bear to come along!

This was a little scouting for Antelope. You can see two of them in the photo as well as the shadow of my radio antena    [/IMG]   [/IMG]

[Butts2]

[/IMG]

[Butts2]

[Butts2]

I had shot a Bull Elk 2 years ago in a narrow canyon in which I wrote a story concerning that hunt for Bow & Arrow Hunting Magazine titled “Bear Pond”. I knew there were Bear in that area, as I saw their claw marks covering many of the tree’s and on the ponds muddy edge during their nightly drink as they left innumerable tracks everywhere. With me marching in and out daily, sitting at the ponds edge throughout the day my odor was everywhere. I needed another plan to hunt Bear.

Through numerous PM’s on the Archery website (TG)to successful Bear hunters, I was instructed by almost all of them, the only way for this Colorado hunter to hide his scent in such a canyon as I described was to go up, meaning, tree stand time.
Numerous tree stand recommendations came down for me choosing a Gorilla for overall hours on end comfort. With quite a bit of hardware in my spine, sitting completely still for a long time can become, difficult. Never having been in a tree stand, I set it up every weekend on a tree near my house at only 3 foot high. I would use the entire safety system the linemens loops etc. and then take it down to familiarize myself. At the beginning of my learning experience the harness that came with the tree stand always resembled a mess of wet spaghetti until I learned how to fold it back into itself.

[Butts2]

During a summer scouting session with my spouse, we hiked the 2 miles back to the pond with camera, rope and a tape measure. I was going to get precise for the tree stand location. I located  the required tree with a 15” diameter that would put me at 19 yards from the very center of the pond which would be to my left and since I shoot right handed this setup looked great. The farthest pond distance would be 24 yards, I can shoot that distance and I will practice at that distance and further out, of course. I threw the rope over numerous dead limbs in the area and broke them off to clear my shooting lanes. There was also a tree within 2.5 feet of me which I would use for hanging the bow while changing cloths as the weather dictated and for holding my backpack with all its essentials. The tree’s in this area were all Aspen’s with minimal to no foliage. By having another tree close by I believed I could occasional move or stand without being caught by any unseen animals.

I planned on having my tree stand only at 12’-15’ as the need to put it higher I believed to be unnecessary. The pond was on a higher bench which made the stand location actually 25’ above the pond.  Being in western Colorado I have ‘hills” surrounding my home so I was able to set up a practice range out the backdoor of my home giving me numerous height or downhill challenges with my bow, similar to what I would hopefully encounter.

[Butts2]

You can see a dot close to the center which is my hat and the location of my "future" tree stand

[Butts2]

My friend and archery supplier Dick Railsback had one of his nephews from Nebraska, a Marine, coming out to hunt Elk for 4 days over the Labor Day weekend. My son Preston and I would be going back to northern Colorado for Antelope to hunt that weekend, so we offered up our 2 high country waterholes. During the work week we took Railsback up and showed him the country along with of course all the Bear tracks. Preston and I were going up for big game in about 10 days, so we carried in the tree stand and four 2.5 gallon water containers to stash at our intended campsite. The nearest creek/stream/seep that we have been able to locate was 1.5 miles away from where we planned on setting up our campsite. From the campsite we had ¾ to 1 mile more of distance to the area we wished to hunt.
They were unsuccessful over Labor Day weekend, but did have some excitement. The nephew saw and photographed 9Bear and had a 6x6 Bull come to within 12 feet of him from behind his stand. Railsback saw a large Bear with a backside that he thought approached 3 feet. Their hunt also was cut short as Railsback had to be rushed to the emergency room due to having a bleeding ulcer.


Here is my buddy Railsback and my son Preston, at what we call the upper pond. About 1/2 mile past the pond I planned on puttin the tree stand

 

[Butts2]

Railsback turned out okay after much rest, thankfully.

Coming into the area with all of our gear days later for just a weekend hunt, the excitement level was of course over the top. It was early morning just daylight and we could see our breath, though the temperature in the lower valleys was still approaching 80F daily. Attempting to go slowly with packs at approximately 50 pounds the sweat still came easily. At our pre-selected campsite  100 yards off the “Bovine Trail”, we set up the camp, wiped our bodies with wet naps, changed into hunting gear went over to our stashed water source to not deplete my Camelback and “!@#$%. All 4 containers empty and punctured with teeth marks. Whatever animal did this had a mouth that was about 3 inches wide. The new word in our vocabulary was going to have to be water conservation.

I arrived at Bear Pond and told Preston I would see him this evening as he trudged on another ½ mile to another water source. I was there about 40 minutes and the shivering started due to the dampness under my camo. Though the sun was waking, up the narrow canyon would not get sunlight and warmth until much later. After some time I had to add an Under Armour sweatshirt to get the shakes to stop. I put the bow on the small hook that came with the tree stand and reached for my backpack and bumped my bow, sending my 160 grain Stos broadhead deep into mother earth 15 foot below. Crude, that will not happen again, I will take it off the string and put it in the quiver when I need to go digging into my backpack.

[Butts2]

I climb down to retrieve the arrow and put it into my attached quiver. Back up top I reach for the backpack and try to figure out if I can get the sweatshirt to work over the harness or do I need to remove the harness and then put it over the sweatshirt. Never practiced this at home. I slowly try the sweatshirt over the harness first and its not working. I am quietly grunting and getting upset quickly. A quick glimpse over my shoulder and there is a Bear at the pond watching me. He is only about 150 pounds but yahoo I am excited to say the least. I slowly sit and he starts to drink. Lap lap lap, he sounds just like my Labrador Retriever after a long hike. He drinks for at least 30 seconds and then ambles over in my direction. He stops about 12 feet from the base of the tree and slowly lifts his head to look at me for 15 seconds and then just wanders off  northwest to look for another bumbler in the forest.

[Butts2]

Photobucket kept telling me this picture no longer existed. So I could not get it resized. This is the view from the tree stand to the pond

 

[Butts2]

9 hours go by and all I have seen is Sparrows, this mid day tree stand hunting is not at all easy. 1 hour of daylight left and I see 13 Turkey coming to the water to entertain me for 30 minutes with their coming and going. Note to self “ Investigate fall turkey tags instead of just in the spring”. The Turkey are just out of  site for 10 minutes and I hear a branch break loudly to my right. A turn of my head and at 60 yards out coming quickly from the west is a 5x5 Bull Elk. Unseasonably warm weather and a pond on my left, I position my 58 inch bow to my left on the opposite side of the tree where hangs my backpack because he is coming real fast now. Heart rate starts cranking which usually does not happen. I get excited of course like most hunters but not to the extent where I hear my heart beating uncontrollably. I look to the pond and do not look back to the Elk. Calm down! Seconds, minutes later he has not arrived. I slowly look back to my right and he is in line with my backpack at 6 yards apparently looking at the pond with only his rack visible. Rookie in the tree stand, there is nothing I can do except watch as minutes later he trots away with his rear end the only thing visible out to 50 yards where he feeds south into the approaching darkness. How do they aline themselves as they exit a hunters location all the time?
Nightfall coming with 30 minutes of daylight left, Preston should be coming soon. He always arrives before total darkness even though that is when the best of most species do their moving. It has only been 5 minutes and I hear slurppp, slurppp. Holy smokes a Bear at the pond, different one than this morning and this one came in unannounced like the previous one. He is bronze colored like a year old penny with a thirst that must be incredible. He has ears that look small, but if his head is huge they should look small. I estimate his weight to be 150 pounds similar to this mornings Bear. After his drink he ambles within 15 feet of my stand, walks the length of a 20 inch diameter log and heads west into the forest.

Preston arrives and I whisper “Lets be quiet and talk about what we saw today down the mountain and over the ridge”. 30 minutes later I tell him of my sightings and he states “I can top that and I only saw one animal at 2:30 this afternoon .” “What!?”

[David Yukon]

Real cool, keep it coming!
Thank you for taking the time!

[Butts2]

I know it pretty much tradition on Tradgang to let you hang.....so its 10:35pm here in Colorado. See you tomorrow  

[Butts2]

Last one for David Yukon

Sitting at his water he heard a Woof! from the hillside behind his ground blind. Then observes a Bear he said was much bigger than his 6’2” 220 pounds run down the hill to the waters edge and less than 20 yards from him. The Bear puts one paw in the water to “test” it and then dives in, totally submerging itself for at least 3 seconds. The Bear dived under the water 3 times over the next 20 minutes, came to shore and appeared to be washing its eyes. Preston had no tag for Bear so he was only able to watch and enjoy. We discussed this at length and believe the Woof was the Bear announcing to other animals that he was coming and the face washing was probably attempting to get the sediment from the water that he stirred up out of his eyes and not just good Bear hygiene.
During the following week my buddy Steve Boswell from Maryland that I met through one of the web based archery sites showed up at my home with his wife Deana and we made plans for our meeting this coming Saturday morning. They are pulling a camping rig and will set up a roadside camp 40 some miles into the forest, driving over rutted dirt roads. Steve will hunt for 2 or 3 days prior to the weekend when hunting activity increases.

[Butts2]

My buddy Steve from Maryland far left (Longgggg drive), my son Preston and yours truly. Steve brought his spouse and a camper, so he came out each evening.

 

[Over&Under]

I am loving this!
Looking forward to the next installment...

[wooddamon1]

Me too!

[Ragin Bull]

 I am loving this also.
Something to look forward to tomorrow.  

[cacciatore]

Nice story Rick.I wait for the rest.

[Butts2]

Preston arrives at 8 a.m. Saturday packed and ready. We meet up with Steve and he has had numerous encounters in the past 2 days but the Elk have not held up their end of the hunting agreement giving him a shot. Preston and I will head in to our water sources and Steve will hunt the Oak brush slopes until mid morning and then hike in and hunt a lower pond that  Railsback discovered which is 300 yards below Bear pond.
Minimal activity at the pond a few sparrows and that’s it. A slight breeze and the tree puts me to sleep momentarily. It can not be over emphasized you must wear the safety gear, I don’t even feel tired yet wow this tree stand stuff can lull you into too much swaying comfort. Each time I believe it is only momentarily as I would bolt awake believing I was falling when only my head would crash into my chest.

On the east side and part of the north side within 15 foot of Bear Pond there are literally hundreds of small Aspen tree’s 2 inches in diameter anywhere from 6 foot to 15 foot in height. Sometime later looking towards the pond I hear branches break and I see a brow tine above the saplings. Holy smokes, this is a monster Bull Elk coming in to the water if I can see a tine over the trees higher foliage. A few minutes go by and out steps a freaking Bull Moose! I was seeing one of his tines above the tree’s. (A little side note - D.O.W. reported after all hunting seasons here in Colorado, 10 Moose were “mistakenly” shot as Elk….sad, some have no right to be in the forest) Moose were introduced in Colorado some time ago. Approximately 17 of them were transplanted from Utah about 90 miles west of here on what is called the Grand Mesa near the city of Grand Junction.