Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game CO 3rd Season, Elk, Mule deer and the Kimber Hunter

Hope I can stay logged in here and at PB long enough to post this. It may take a couple days. My friend Brad and I spent the third season in Colorado at the Y Lazy S Ranch. We both had elk and deer tags but the weather was warm and no snow so expectations on elk moving off Black Mountain were low. This was also the first time I had taken my Kimber Hunter in 6.5 Creedmoor on a hunt so this is both a hunt report and rifle review. I topped the Kimber with a Leupold VX 3i 3-10 and had verified my 300 and 400 yard crosshairs at Brad's farm shooting Hornaday 143 ELDx. I have never shot an animal over 290 yards but wanted to be ready. Here we go with a day to day account.

We arrived at the ranch the afternoon before the season opened and moved into one of the nice guest cabins. We met two hunters that had been there before, Rich and Larry and they took us to the section of ranch we would be hunting to show us around.

This section of the ranch was 1800 acres of rolling sage brush and hay fields split East and West by a dirt county road. Rich and Larry would be hunting the East and Brad and I the West. There were five 8'x8' shooting houses set on high points to glass from and get out of the weather if it turns bad. It also became clear that the houses were next to elk migration draws. Nice set up with room to hike and roam also. We saw dozens of deer that evening. Can't wait to get started in the morning.
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We arrived at the shooting house on opening morning about an hour before sunrise and watched the Eastern sky brighten. It was bout 30 degrees and I was outside the house glassing West and first animal I see was an elk, about 1500 yards away and headed to us. I get Brad and as it gets closer we determine it is a spike, not legal. It drops into a little draw and out of sight until it pops up below us about 250 yards away. We watched it move on over the ridge but our hopes for elk were elevated. Here is a the view I had when I first saw it.

Thirty minutes later I see a nice 5x5 step into this hay field headed toward Rich and Larry. Rich saw him but could not get a good shot as the bull was trotting through at near 300 yards. Wow, two elk sighted right off the bat. Note that this is an afternoon picture with the super moon rising over the field. The super moon put on a good show as the week progressed.

Deer started popping out in the sage hills and draws. Mostly does and fawns at this point. Good news for the deer herd, most does had two fawns.

After lunch Brad and I decide to take a hike to this other shooting house and glass some new country. As we crest the ridge I see a doe feeding in the sage draw below the house. A little more glassing turns up a bedded Buck and three more does and fawns. At over 400 yards I cannot make out detail of the buck's rack in the sage, so I start a stalk to close the distance. I cannot get completely out of sight and the doe spots me and moves away to the next ridge taking the Buck with her. Now I can see he is a nice 3x4. Not sure he was good enough for the first day. I had shots between 320 and 370 but did not have a good rest or clearance over the sage and wanted to look at more deer. I let him walk. He ended up being the second best Buck we saw. Test your eyes on this picture from later in the week. Doe feeding and buck bedded in this picture, 520 yards from me.

In the evening the deer poured into the hay fields. We saw 23 in one little corner of a field the first evening including a small buck. There were always a few antelope around to intertain us too. A few in this picture and more pictures to follow. We would see 40 to 60 deer a day, 4 or 5 bucks with rut activities picking up latter in the week.

Day two and three were more of the same except no elk. Glass some deer, make a few stalks, glass some more, try to determine what the buck potential was. We did investigate this odd bush on one hike. It was a bushy tree about five feet high with a raptor nest in it.

Brad and I split up on the evening of day three and morning of day four and covered ground from two shooting houses. We did see some new animals, coyotes, red fox, and this sheep that got left behind after summer grazing.
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The fencing in the area was hard on sheep and antelope. We saw dozens of dead sheep tangled in fencing, and three antelope legs caught in the top strand. Antelope do not like to jump fences but this was woven wire topped with one or two strands of barb wire. A bad jump and they would tangle a leg. We watched several antelope run the fence not wanting to jump then fight their way between the woven and barb wire.

Day four, Election Day. I had said I was going to kill something on Election Day as a symbol of ending the political crap we all put up with this year. Adding to the urgency to punch some tags, Brad had received a call that his a Dad was back in the hospital with a continuing health issue, and I received the same news about my brother in law. We may need to head home early.
Saw a buck with a doe and fawn on the ridge that morning. Looked good but not a monster. We had not seen anything close to monster rating.
Doe and fawn headed down the hill and across the hay meadow toward me and passed out of sight at 270 yards. The buck did not follow. Later that afternoon as I headed back to the same area I spot a lone buck feeding into the low corner of the hay field. I am on top of the hill 330 yards away. I take off my backpack and move a little closer. Drop my pack for a rest and get prone. Rock solid set up I range him one more time, 312 yards. I let him step into the 300 yard crosshair and touch it off. He dropped straight down and never flinched. Entrance above the elbow, exit low in front of the last rib. Nice 3x3, and fell 10 yards from the field road. Easy recovery.
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Needless to say I was happy with the rifle, scope, cartridge performance.
View from the deer to the top of the field where I took the shot.

I broke the ice, now it was Brad's turn. In WY last year he killed his first antelope the morning after I punched my tag and he told me he was going to do the same on his first mule deer.
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We watched some election returns over supper, got updates on our family health issues and went to bed early. I got up about 3:00 to take a leak and Brad said "Trump beat the witch". He had woke up at 2:00 and checked the news on his phone. It truly was going to be a new day.
First light Brad is set up below the shooting house watching a sage hillside and washed out draw. From the shooting house I see a buck on the ridge dogging a doe. Brad moves into the washout to get out of sight and takes 200 yards off the distance. I am watching the buck the whole time then hear the shot. The buck jumps and runs to the ravine. The second bound into the ravine he didn't look too healthy. I never saw him leave the ravine and watched as Brad walked up and found him. A heavy horned forky with eye guards, 260 yard shot with a Ruger American 30-06. I got in the truck and drove down the edge of the ravine to help him with the recovery.

Perfect shot placement. We field dressed him and pulled him out of the ravine and took some pictures in the sunshine. We took both deer in to the processor in Craig and had lunch in town. We heard a rumor that 700 elk had crossed the highway moving toward us and away from hunting pressure on Black Mountain. This day was full of good news. Brad's Dad was home from the hospital.
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Back to the ranch. I told Brad now that we had tagged out on deer we would see bigger bucks. Sure enough that evening we see a wide, heavy 3x3, forked fronts and tall backs about 25 inches wide. 140 yards from us and not a care in the world. We would see him twice more in the next three days.
Next morning at first light I am outside glassing East in the low light and see an elk crest the ridge, 800 yards away, right next to the two track we came in on, and coming to us. I run into the shooting house, grab my rifle and shooting sticks and whisper to Brad "elk coming".

Brad and I both glassed him, I said "bull" Brad said "he is legal". The bull turned right, crossed the two track and dropped in a valley out of sight behind a hill. I head to the hill to cut him off if he is leaving our ranch and motion for Brad to move below the shooting house in case he gets by me. I am circling the top of the hill looking for antlers when I hear Brad shoot and the WHAPP of a bullet hitting elk. I look that direction and see the bull running directly away from me. He tops a small rise and stops to look back. Brad cannot see him but he is broadside to me. I am on my sticks and can see him favoring his left hind leg through my scope. I do not hesitate to get an anchoring shot in him. I do not take time to range it but guess at least 400 yards. I put the 400 yard crosshair high shoulder and touch off the shot. The recoil of the 6.5 CM is so mild that at that distance I do not lose the elk in my scope. I see his hind end drop, then front end followed by the sound of the bullet impact. When he dropped he was out of our view so Brad and I both head in that direction. I almost had the fate of the sheep and got tangled in the fence. Once free I hear Brad shoot. When I get there Brad said he was alive but couldn't get up and Brad put in the finishing shot. 5x5

Need a break to charge the iPad and go to the deer stand. More to come later.

It all happened fast, less than 5 minutes from seeing him to last shot. Brad asked if I had hit him. I said yes, you could see the exit hole where I had broke his back. I told Brad it was his elk because he drew first blood, I was only trying to shorten the tracking job. He was OK with that. His first elk hunt and harvest. I ranged back to the hill I was on and my range guess was good. It was 390 to the face of the hill and I was about 15 yards further. Again I was impressed with the rifle and cartridge performance.

For the remainder of the season we watched deer, antelope, hares, red fox and saw two more elk that were not legal. This antelope was one of three that came by us and it would not jump the fence so came to the gate and passed within 20 yards of us.

I was able to take several other good antelope pictures during the week.

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Great write up and pics!

We left for home at noon on the last day of the season and ran into these herders moving a flock down the road. An interesting sight for us Indiana boys.

So as the sun sets on another hunting adventure I'll close with a few thoughts.
The Kimber Hunter is a winner.
The Hornaday ELDX loads were accurate and had amazing results on the game.
Everyone in camp with deer tags filled them but Brad was the only one to fill an elk tag. Not bad results for us flat lander boys from Indiana.

Nice going.

How did the other hunters do?

Nicely done

Looks like a good time!

Great write up and pics!
What reticle on your Leupold?

AMRA, the Boone and Crockett reticle.

cool trip. thanks for taking us along. :P

Congrats! Great reporting!

Thanks for sharing your adventure . The pictures added to the enjoyment of reading the posts.

Very nice write-up, pics, and critters. Pretty cool hunt!

Really neat write up. Thanks.

Sounds like a great trip!

Flatlanders from IN can occasionally get things done... 😀

Great story....glad it went so well.

Lots of binocular time in that country. Nice write-up.

Congratulations, man. Looks like it was a lot of fun, and a great hunt!

Congrats, nice job. Thanks for taking the time to post the photos and tell about your trip.

Be Safe,

Looks like an awesome trip,and a successful one at that.
thanks for sharing.

Well done!

Enjoyed the story and congratulations

Nice write-up and pics. Congrats!

Enjoyed your hunt story and great pics. Thanks for sharing.