We were fortunate to be drawn for the first rifle hunt for the 2006 deer season. Our plan was to hike for 2 days up into the Eagles Nest Wilderness Area which harbors some great country and good genetics for mulies. This area is due north of Vail, Colorado in Eagle County which holds the largest number of Colorado record book entries for muleys to this day. I thought our planning was excellent and our strategy laid out with most variables addressed, all except for the weather.
The Wilderness Area doesn't allow any mechanized vehicles, which was what we were trying to avoid. Much of Colorado, at least public land, is being run over by quads. It frankly is out of hand and not much is being done about it. We couldn't find anyone to rent us horses for the week and as a DIY'er (do-it-yourselfer) the thought of paying an outfitter to get us to a drop camp wasn't part of our agenda. Only one party was camped higher than us and that was some guys from ND who were after elk and went in a day earlier and had horses and a mule.
We set up our tents at base camp at 9,431 feet elevation and hunted higher. It was extremely tough going as many of you may have read about all the snow Colorado has gotten the past 3 weeks. We saw more moose than we did elk, more sheep than we did moose and more deer than sheep. I never saw a shooter. Plenty of does and some dink bucks but nothing what I was after which was at or near the 30 inch mark. The big brutes were still way up in the quakies and the migration hadn't started for the move to winter range. The rut is still weeks off. It was a tough nasty week. The thin air takes it toll. Snowshoes wouldn't have made a difference. I've got a combination cow elk/deer tag for Montana and am leaving Friday for a week. Maybe the muley gods will be shining on me closer to the rut up there and have some bigger bucks moving about. America is a beautiful place with plenty of great country to hunt. The trick is to just do it, to make it happen, to work hard and some day, some time, that 30 incher will be close enough. Maybe next week in Montana.
If anyone would like my packing list/food/water purification/sleeping bags/tent/bino information I would be happy to share it. Just email to the address found at www.chippewapartners.com.
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