I slowly dropped down about 2000ft to the valley floor, contouring along as I went. The area looked very positive with plenty of sign. I hunted hard all day without luck then faced the long 2000ft climb back out to the ATV. The climb out was a killer with the altitude really taking its toll. Taking my time I made it back to the ATV just after dark. The ride back down in the dark was a real blast. It was hard to believe that I was riding a 700cc ATV down a really cool rocky track in the dark up in the middle of the Rockie Mountains. It doesn’t get much better than that. Back at camp Tim and Daryl from Minnesota, Rob from Alaska and another Steve from the US had all arrived. It was a good night meeting and getting to know all these guys. They were all die hard bowhunters that just loved to be out in the mountains. Scotty, Will and Grant arrived back in camp with reports of multiple encounters with good mule deer. Scotty managed to arrow a real nice buck which was recovered very quickly. I might also mention that Scottie had only picked up a bow (compound) three weeks ago. Outstanding effort.
Day six, Steve (Minnesota) and I spent the morning scouting other areas for an afternoon hunt. We headed around the back of Redcliff then through and up the Tigwon rd to the trail head for the walk up to the Mt of the Holy Cross. We saw about 6 grouse on the way up. On the way down we saw a young Mule deer in the Aspens as well as a hen turkey.
For the afternoon we again headed over to Mt Resolution and hunted the North side down to the valley floor. Not a lot of action with only one mule
September / October 2010 2010 Page 18