Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting NW Colorado Muzzleloader Bull

I took this 6x5 bull last week south of Craig with my T/C Omega hunting with Ivory Tip Outfitters.

The first day my guide Patrick and I set-up overlooking a pond which was the only water in the area. At daybreak we had several bulls bugling near us and saw a 4x4 and a spike with several cows across from us. What sounded like a larger bull started bugling in a draw to the north of us but we couldn’t make a stalk on him due to the wind.



We came back that afternoon with another guide and his hunter thinking we would set-up on either side of the pond hoping to get a look at the bull we had heard in the morning. We set-up downwind of the draw we heard the bull in earlier and the other guide was across the pond near our morning location.



We heard a cow several times in the aspens above us but couldn’t see her. About 7PM we were about to make a move when the other guide texted us that there was a bull and some cows to our north. We had to cover about 500 yards to get near them to have a chance at a shot so we hustled along as fast as we could for about 10 minutes and heard a bugle as we stopped for a breather. That got us going again and we got to the top of a ridge a few minutes later in time to see some cows about 400 yards away. Patrick cow called a few times and they started heading in our direction as we continued to sneak down the ridge. Several more cows appeared and the bull showed up trailing the cows. Patrick continued to cow call and the cows kept coming but the bull was hanging back. I ranged him several times at 180 – 200 yards but I didn’t want to risk a shot that far in fading light. Patrick changed up something in his calls and several of the cows started running towards us and the bull followed them in to around 130 yards. At that point the other guide bugled which turned the bull broadside. I held about 2/3 of the way up his chest behind the shoulder and squeezed off the shot. The bull just stood there for about 30 seconds then he put his head down and started coughing as he slowly walked away. I got reloaded but by the time I had a primer in the gun he went down. We thought he was done but his cows came back to him and he struggled to his feet and walked up the opposite ridge with them out of sight. By then it was past legal shooting time and getting dark fast so we made our way down to where he was standing when I took the shot. There was a good amount of blood leading up into the sage but it got spotty after he got up from his bed. The other guide and hunter showed up and the four of us searched the sidehill and ended up jumping him out of his bed. We could hear him moving off and we figured we better back out and come back in the morning.

After a restless night we came back the next morning and found him about 300 yards from where we jumped him the night before. It was a huge relief but by then it was 60 degrees and getting warmer fast so we hustled to get him gutted and loaded in the Ranger for a ride to the butcher. I had hit him low and a little further back than I wanted but the shot caught the back of one lung and went through the liver hanging up under the hide on the offside. When the bull bedded some tissue partially plugged the wound which explained the spotty blood trail.





I was shooting 350 gr Federal BOR Locks over 110 gr of BH209 which was extremely accurate in my gun but I was kind of disappointed in the penetration. I may have been pushing it too fast and the bullet hit a rib on impact but I didn’t expect this much expansion. I’m glad I didn’t take a quartering to shot through the shoulder. I ended up losing about 15% of the meat but still ended up with over 200 lbs.



Snow in the mountains coming out of Denver



Heading north towards Steamboat Springs



Smoke from the fire north of Steamboat



Smoke from the fire in the valley south of Craig mid-week



The lodge



View from the deck

[img]https://i.imgur.com/0Z8T5In.jpg[/img]

It was a great week and I feel really fortunate that I was able to find that bull and salvage most of the meat!

Bill__N : Happy for your success Bill ! Great write-up of your guided hunt, nice photos, and a freezer full of meat. What not to like ? Congratulations ! HH

Great Bull!

That’s awesome. Congratulations. Nice bull

lots of elk up in those parts. Used to live in Hayden and Steamboat Springs.

How did you like the outfitter? I didn't see prices listed.....

Tony has 2 lodges. One on private land and one on public land. I’ve hunted both. They’re great! Prices are reasonable IMO. I booked through Huntnation but you can book direct.

That's a good bull---Conglads.

Congrats! Like the pics. Thanks for sharing.

Great job on your bull!

Nice young bull, congratulations on your hunt. Why is it that none of our elk, ever come out of the woods in a vehicle???

Congrats on a successful hunt

That's interesting the way they worked in tandem on the calls. Thanks for sharing your story.

Congratulations on a nice bull! Thanks for sharing the pictures and story. That's as close as I will get to an elk hunt this year, but I hope to fix that soon...

Awesome!!!!

Congratulations.