2020 Hunting Success Thread

[Irving]

Anyone putting animals down this year?

As usual, I see plenty of bucks in my usual muzzle loader area, until I actually have a buck tag.

This year wasn't great, but I did get a little buck down. I actually passed on this buck a few days before hoping to find something bigger. I did find bigger bucks, but botched the opportunity because they showed up while I was sleeping. Taking a shot with a muzzle loader within five seconds of being asleep isn't a recipe for success. Anyway, two days later, I actually found this little guy again, and since it was my last night hunting, didn't hesitate in taking him.

The first couple of animals I ever took were extremely lucky circumstances and gave me a level of confidence about hunting that I didn't really deserve; and a few years of tag soup have really been bringing me down to where I belong. It's been painful. So even though I got myself a small buck this year, it wasn't ideal. I took a shot at about 30-35 yards and completely missed. I started tracking him, only to find him only about 20 yards away. I got him with the second shot. He was quartering toward me and it ended up being a gut shot. The gut shot turned out to be not that bad, but my lack of my usual preparation for this season left me a little less than prepared and I kind of fumbled (in my opinion) the field dressing job. There are a few cuts of meat that I'll be wary of because of my struggles in the field. To top it all off, his brother hung around within 20 yards the entire hour and a half it took me to quarter him up. It was like being haunted by a ghost the whole time in the dimming light. Not in a scary way, in a sad way. I did get exactly what I wanted though. To take a big game animal in the woods, all by myself, use my fancy pack, and get it packed out alone. At least this year was a bit of a learning experience. In the end, I'm glad he was as small as he was.

Here are the underwhelming photos. Two days before, he was velvet. He had scraped that all away since I'd seen him last.



Got to use my fancy Mystery Ranch Pop Up 28 I bought myself last year. Got everything in one trip and I was only maybe half a mile from the truck. I'm glad he was small for my first real pack out.


Got him home and have started working on processing him. I was going to start a kind of how-to thread for breaking down an animal, but since this is only my second time doing the processing, I figured I'd leave that people with more experience.


There is an excellent MeatEater podcast with a meat scientist that talks about everything from which plastic wrap to use (Saran wrap), to bone-in vs bone out, to aging meat, animal stress, etc, if people are interested here: https://www.themeateater.com/listen/...227-red-cutter

Post up your successful (or not) hunting stuff in here. I've got a few more hunts this year coming up. I'm not counting on landing more animals, but if I do I'll be sure to post them up in here.

[JTP80]

That's a nice forkie to get meat in the freezer. I went up to my property in Park County the week of Labor Day and found a dead cow right on my border to Pike Nat'l Forest, which apparently drove away the pronghorn I usually see. But, it drew in the bears from the forest so I got a nice coal black colored one that was a bit small at 217 lbs, but bigger than the other two I saw all week. The snow didn't help much either I'm guessing. Plus, I needed to go yell at a rancher again after seeing not only that cow, but cow patties of varying ages on my property in areas I had cleaned up back in June.

[Irving]

Yeah I get kind of tired of hunting among cows every year, especially when it's the same cows that are coming off of no public access state trust land that is leased for them right next door. Not a big deal, just kind of annoying. Congrats on the bear, I will haven't seen one in the wild yet. My hunting party saw one the same day I took that buck.

[Little Dutch]

I usually draw cow elk tags, and I've been known to take the smallest one in the herd. The small ones are a lot easier for me to manage and taste better. I don't go out until the middle of November, so nothing to report. Congrats on filling your tag.

[CS1983]

So far the 2020 Hiking season is going well.

I saw 2 the Sunday before Labor Day and was unable to get a shot, but haven't seen or heard an elk since. Have not seen a single deer.

[TRnCO]

congrats Irving. We all started as beginners at some point in our lives. It's those learning moments that will make you remember the hunt. You only get better with practice. It's all a learning process.

I only have one big game tag this season. Cow elk second rifle. So I still have some time to wait.

[whitewalrus]

Congrats on getting the deer. I was just out with a friend for muzzleloader season and the woods were more packed than I have ever seen them. Most were hunting, but still a decent amount of campers. I assume those hunting units with OTC tags will see more out that normal years.


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[Irving]

No luck during first rifle. Didn't even seen an elk, just moose and deer. It snowed for about three hours though and the next day we were able to get onto fresh tracks and confirm we were looking in the right spot. I did get a chance to hunt small game for the first time though and that is really fun.



Dusky Grouse


Tasted great!

[def90]

Nice! I got skunked during archery elk but still have a mule deer tag for south east colorado, should be able to get down there in November. I might try to get out and go for some grouse this weekend.

[Irving]

My add on bear tag is apparently still good through all the other rifles seasons since I didn't fill it. I don't know much about hunting bears though, but might get out for a weekend.