Colorado Cow hunt.

We arrived at the cabin around 10:30am Saturday 9-13-08, the cabin sets around 9600’ in Colorado in the Sangre De Cristo Range unit 86. It was Hot, too hot for Elk hunting, we Muzzleloader hunted for 5 days, and saw Elk almost everyday, we had Cow tags so the bulls were safe to say. We chose not to shoot any cows, let me explain, the weather was way too hot and the cows we saw we could kill was way too high, around 11,000’ so I would not take the chance in a animal to spoil, and it most likely would given the time it would take us to bone it and get it out. The other thing was there was billions of Yellow Jackets up there, all around, the trees hummed with there buzzing, in all the years I have hunted in Colorado I have never seen yellow jackets like that. Eating lunch was a choir as the bees would try and take your sandwich away from you while you were eating it, I threw a piece of lunchmeat on the ground and there was no less then 50 yellow jackets tearing it apart, just imagine boning out a elk with them around. So it was Hot, High and swarming with hungry yellow jackets.
We hunted lower trying to get kill a Cow close to Rainbow trail so we could get it out quick, while we seen cows it was very thick and trying to get a shot was really difficult at best. All in all a great hunt, it has been 11 years since I have been hunting Elk in Colorado with my great buddy at his cabin, It was much too long, I had a lot of remorseful feelings for taking so much time to get back, it will not happen again!
I seen a total of 3 bulls during the week and one was a perfect broad side shot at 45/50yards, heres the pic:





That is some of the worst country I have hunted in Colorado, very steep and very long to get high, but I loved it! I used my J.P. Beck 50cal Flinter 42” swamped barrel, it carried great and was a pure joy to hunt with, heres the pic of the flinter:



My buddy got into Muzzleloader hunting after I left Colorado in 1997, So the person who took him under his wing and taught him what he knew about the sport and the weapons was somewhat mis-guided about the whole thing. My buddy fired his gun and cleaned it every evening, because he swore that it would not go off the next day. It was a Cabelas Percussion 54cal Hawken. Me being me I had a great time with jacking my bud about the whole thing, so as normal I left my Flinter loaded the whole week and they were heckling me about how it WOULD NOT GO OFF when I seen a Cow, So on the last day Friday I let my bud shoot it (I got it on Video) and like clockwork KaBoom. It was very funny because he was under the normal impression that a flinter was a Ka”¦”¦.”¦Boom type delay action, now he knows the truth, very little if any delay in a tuned flinter. We did go through and evaluate his cleaning and loading practice and next year I bet he will be a normal muzzleloading hunter and keep his smokepole loaded the whole time. In the Video you can tell by the look on his face that he really liked the flinter, knowing my bud, there most likely be one in his future. http://s100.photobucket.com/albums/m38/starrbow/?action=view&current=340cabbd.pbr

I tell you I needed that get away, It felt great working my lungs and legs again in the high country and just being back in Colorado with a muzzleloader listening to the bulls bugling everyday was pure mountain music, I was gone way too long!!!

Nice Fullstock, that flinter is as fast as a percussion! :thumbsup:

We hunt west of you in the San Juan Nat'l Forest and have experienced the same warm temps, hornets and thick cover. Have shot a few elk in 70+ degree temps and never had the meat spoil. Immediately get the hide off, quarter and cut up for the carry out packs, double wrap in cheese cloth bags and get it to camp and hang in a breezy spot in the shade. Because of the double wrap of cheese cloth, never had blow fly maggots. Quartering lets a lot of the heat dissapate and the cooler night temps at 10,000 ft preserve the meat just fine. We hunt at 11,000 feet and a couple of days prior to the hunt we stach the butcher pack and carry out packs so we don't have to return to camp and delay the skinning and quartering. All the guys pitch in to get the meat to camp as soon as possible. Glad you had a nice time...nothing like it!....Fred

Careful, Elk hunting can become an addiciton! :grin: I have a late season (December) cow hunt that I plan on using my Flinter on. The wait is killing me!!!