glad you could join us today today's show is on trophy elk hunting and we're
going to go into southern Colorado and actually hunt elk in the oak brush you
know over the last several decades the elk population and this particular type
of terrain has exploded and so we're going to go down there in the rut today
and try to find a trophy bull elk and it's a little different hunting than
what you're used to hunting elk in the alpine country so come along as we go
trophy elk hunting in Colorado you know years ago there weren't too many elk
in this type of terrain but over the last thirty forty years they've just
multiplied considerably it's kind of different than hunt in the high country
or even hunting the timber these elk will live right in this oak brush it's
very brushy there's hardly any conifer in this country so they're what they
call brush up or lay down in this oak brush you know this little scrub oak is
really good and nutritious you watch these elk eat at all the time and they
do very well on it you know down in this country some of the biggest bull elk
taking a Colorado have come from here as you can see here these elk are moving
down through here it's during the rut and I've come down to try to find a
trophy bull elk it's been two years since I've hunted
Colorado and this year is my year to come back to try to find a nice trophy
bull look at this bull right here he really
has only five on one side six on the other the boy does he have some cows
with him this is all I think around the 20th of September notice how white horn
this bull is if you watched my last elk video you notice that bull is really
black horned these Bulls are light horned
because they don't have that timber mic in this kind of country yeah
particularly as warm as it's been and the lack of timber that you notice in
here they stay brushed up pretty late a lot of days and so many times we're
looking into the the oak brush checking the little holes into the oak brush the
bases of them where they could be bedded up and get a little shade and sometimes
they're pretty hard to spot down here although we do get a lot of wide-open
spaces and we can cover a lot of distance with the binoculars in the
spotting scope and these elk we just as we were looking these cows just now got
up and started coming out of the oak brush Mike I found the bull he's up in
the heavy oak brush just to the left of the cows and higher looks like a real
good bull to solid six and really wide pretty heavy mass on him
do you think he sees us of course he sees us Mike he's looking
right straight at us but he's not real concerned he's gonna
go right over in that little gully there and tear up an oak brush this isn't
quite what we're looking for for a trophy bull you know we're down here
with Grant Atkinson and Grant has hunted down here for 30 40 years his family his
homestead of this country he likes to hunt in the Pagosa Springs area every
fall and he can really find his elk in the oak brush now like I said we're
looking for a little bigger bull than this if you notice here he come out of
that gully and it's just above these cows and we're able to get a better look
at him he's just a little short in the back probably he's got a 40 inch spread
his main beams are probably old 45 46 inches I'd say he's about a seven-year
old bull a real great bull well I'm kind of looking for a the next notch higher
next morning we come up on this old battler right here now look at this bull
when he turns here you see he's blown off a couple of these points this is an
old bull I'll bet see he's nine years old
he's got 20 cows here but I want you to watch this what happens is the cows and
the satellite bulls there's two satellite bulls see us up on this Ridge
and they turn and take off and leave this old bull behind so this kind of
watch this sequence this is pretty good and I want you to watch this bull he's
got something wrong with him he's back leg is broke
here they are they all take off and they actually leave that old bull by himself
now watch his satellite bull go through that oak brush just like a v-plow going
through snow crashing Crump thump-thump thump-thump
going through it like a tank now how do you hunt these elk in this type of
terrain well you don't want to try to stalk right up on it because you'll get
in there and you won't be able to find him
so what Grant likes to do is get across the canyon and set up with a spotting
scope of binoculars within 300 yards and find a bull and honey
here he comes hobbling along notice that leg of his is busted
probably did it last year and they've left him here he comes
notice his royals been blown off he's probably got a 46 inch outside spread
and like I said I'll bet he's nine years old how can you tell a good indication
is look at how heavy his body is he's got just a big heavy body and you're
gonna get more footage of the crippled bull when he gets up there in the Sun
just a minute okay where's the bull I got the cows easy below the cows he's
got right behind him right now just horn no he's ahead of him he's up above he's
crossing up I got him out I got him he need a spotter when they do this because
he can't work that there you go yeah I got it
both mad he said you yeah that crippled bull is only halfway up that mountain
trying to keep up with them well you know that side like bullet ick those
cows you know pocket around back there and eventually that old bull get up on
them and whip that little satellite bull and take the cows back over but for now
is he man if he could only get a hold of that side light bowl he'd show him
something look at him coming up that hill well he
looks good
Boyet for oh poor guy no old battler
well my theory is those cows kind of decided who they're gonna breed you know
he's a big ol bull he's yeah let him hobble up that hill he musta like I said
broke it last year and had healed kind of funny and he can't get along with it
- well you know in this country you don't have the snow we do in Jackson
Hole so a bull like this can has got a chance if he breaks a leg to heal up and
survive winter after winter he's just posing for you there Mike yeah
Grant once you get out and look at this bull I'll take you in him and once
sequence that's it get right out there and take a look at him
isn't this great folks being able to hunt in an area that produces this
quality out and they've really come back in southern Colorado particularly in
this old brush country
like I said most of these bulls are white horned they just don't have the
timber and the pitch to make their horns black like they do in the high country
that doesn't make him lesser of a trophy
boy I'd like to see the old bull and knock his royals off
haha he is really mad isn't he grant alright
there he is trying to make it up the hill
look at that boy he is posing
he's gonna give us one last look he knows we're there he's looking Anna says
he's going up the hill he's gonna go over into that pocket and find those
cows and run that little satellite bowl off good luck old boy we're gonna go
find that the bull that knocked your royals off that's the one we're looking
for her
well maybe I'll see you on the winter range fella if you make it through the
fall I'd say it'll be easy to find you you're the only one out of the gimped
leg Oh
a day later one morning we come up on this bull you notice you're like I said
grant likes to look down in the canyons or across that's the only way you're
gonna hunt this oak brush if you get in there with those elk they're gonna just
take off and leave you you can't see further than 10 15 feet away so looking
down there like this we come up on this bull and this is just a 300 class bull
and you notice these royals are broke off on that one side you're gonna ask me
how come all these bulls got broken off antlers points the reason is because a
lot of times there's a lot of bulls per cow in this particular area and these
bulls are fighting with each other continually
here's another bull we push that all canyon
you know us here he's he only got five on a side six on the other he's got a
dozen cows with him about a six year old bull give him a couple years and he'll
be a really trophy class bull elk
look at him go up through that oak brush they use those antlers to park that oak
brush as they go through it look at that just like a v-plow in snow oh look at
that go through that stuff you and I try that we'd get all wrapped up and hung up
for an hour here he goes he says you guys don't sound like it an elk I'm
leaving adios
you know down here for we hunted here for about four or five days probably saw
three or four bulls in the 300 to 320 class and that's pretty good I mean some
hunters will go a whole fall and not even see one bull like this let alone
several I feel real fortunate that we hit it just right and we're in a good
area that produces bulls like this and a lot of times what you have to do folks
is find these draw areas in a Colorado particularly in Utah they have
preference points you know I come up on this bull this is the only look he gave
me a big old smart bull notice there how many points he has on that one side I
didn't know that until I took it to my studio and counted he has nine on that
one side nine point bull now let me count them for you I'll stop frame it
here and let's count he has to brow hangs he's got a brush point so that's
three that's four that point off he's royals five that next one six that next
one is seven a little one makes eight and then his back tang makes nine I've
never seen a bull with nine on one side six on the other and that's the only
look that bull gave me you know we looked at a quite a few good quality
bulls but we're looking for one that's pushing 350 and over the years of
hunting elk I've come to the conclusion that bulls have sometimes a little route
they'll take in other words they'll have a circle they'll go and this circle
might encumber several creek drainanges and it might take him two or three and
sometimes as much as five days to make this circle well Grant had seen a bull
several weeks earlier and he just disappeared and we haven't seen him for
at least five days so really what we're gonna do here is just kind of bide our
time hoping this bull come back around and come to then into this pocket that
we had seen him two weeks earlier so let's go back to hunting elk in the oak
brush and see if this tactic will work
you know grant and I have been waiting here for five days for this bull grant
had spotted him ten days earlier and he disappeared on him but you know grant
and I both knew that if we'd be patient his will come back and he did here he is
right here if you look at him he's got seven on one side six on the other what
a bull I know his main beans are over fifty
inches now one of the things you got to realize is I told grant I said grant I'm
not gonna shoot at this bull he's over 300 yards here the win is blonde and a
crosswind that bullet traveling that far will go a long ways to the left the bull
doesn't know we're there the Sun is starting to go down and I know that if
we just be patient that bull doesn't know we're there as soon as the Sun dips
behind that hill behind us then the wind will calm down and were able to get a
good quality shot at him he doesn't even know we're there
so I ease my way along the ridge I'm a cross from him and I get set up with a
bipod
he doesn't even know we're here this is the only way to shoot 300 yards is with
a dead steady rest and I get one right here I'm shooting a seven millimeter
magnum 160 grain Barnes bullets they don't even know we're here
look how far away this is this is 330 yards right here
it's a poke folks but like I said as soon as that sun went down below the
hill there the wind quit and it's dead silent right now I wouldn't have tried
to shot like this with that wind blowing I know better take it easy man take a
deep breath get right on him wait to all the cows get away you don't want to
shoot one of those cows around him you might hit one of them you don't want
that to happen just take your time
take your time okay wait until that cow gets away
okay he's clear I hit him right in the shoulder notice him dragging that
shoulder what I hate I don't know we didn't know at that time but he's here
he's almost down I take another one I hit him right in the heart
another one right in the shoulder and I did it he was dead the first shot him
what was a big bull like that you want to make sure how do we know it's 330
yards Grant's got a rangefinder you know last night I took this great bull he's
seven on one side and six on the other and he's over fifty three inches on his
main beams sometimes these old bulls will disappear for two or three days
with the cows and holed up in a pocket somewhere and you just got to be patient
and just keep waiting and waiting and eventually he's gonna show up again and
that's what happened isn't it yeah he's just a great bull like I said he's over
53 inches on his main beans it was about a 320 yard shot yeah 3:30 at 3:30 and I
used a seven millimeter magnum and I was using barns bullets 160 grain barns X
and really did perform quite well I'm really proud of this
and thanks grant for helping me get this terrific bull I want to let you know all
the sequences and hunts were done a fair chase remember fair chase is the only
way to hunt and take trophy big game