2023 First Rifle Season Update
A quick update from our 1st Rifle season which just wrapped up here in Colorado. We had spectacular fall weather although it was almost too warm a couple days…but it was nice soaking in that high elevation sun and blue sky knowing that it’s going to be changing very soon.
We had another really great group of hunters. The majority of them were experiencing their first elk hunt and we always feel pretty blessed to get to share that first time in the elk woods with them.
We had several close calls, including a clean miss. But ultimately, ended up with only one notched tag in the group. The hunter that did tag out, killed his first bull elk from a beautiful perch overlooking a small meadow in the bottom of a creek drainage. Some aspens were still holding their golden leaves, and frost was on the meadow grass. A lone bull entered silently from the creek bottom into the upper corner of the meadow. He was legal and the hunter made good on his first shot hitting the bull square in the lungs for a quick, clean kill.
What made it truly memorable, outside of the spectacular vista and the fact that it was his first bull, was that when we got down to him, gave our thanks to the animal and had shared some congratulations, we noticed the sunlight on the leaves looked muted. But there were no clouds. Then there was a noticeable drop in the temperature. And the light got even more faded and filtered and then it hit us what was happening.
Harvesting your first bull in a gorgeous stand of aspen and dark timber during a full solar eclipse is about as awesome and inspiring a hunt experience as one could ask for. Something to be truly thankful for and made an already special experience even more so. Those kinds of moments, those kinds of experiences and raw engagements with nature are simply incomparable. I’m so glad we get to participate in them and get to see occasional glimmers of how exceptional an October morning on public lands can be.
Wishing all of you a safe and successful upcoming hunt.