Colorado Pronghorn 2011 -- A Bust, but Fun!

I've never hunted before this year. Been a pretty avid fisherman off-and-on, and love fly fishing for trout in the Colorado Rockies, but not hunting. But, I like shooting and I figured this year I'd start out learning. However, I figured this out in... August. So, that limited my choices on what to attempt this year. Fortunately, the Colorado Division of Wildlife does give some choices to those of us who fail to plan well. Over the counter bull Elk is one of the most well known, but they are also pretty good at posting what unused tags are out there. After some research, I chose to try pronghorn (also known as antelope) and chose to stay close to home and hunt a unit near Hugo Colorado. I optimisitically picked up tags for two does.  I scouted my unit in late September and posted the story under Camping in Hugo Colorado.

I did all sorts of preparation and research. Worked on my rifle skills, as I'm sure you all have read by now. After packing up, my strategy was simple. As I didn't know what I'm doing (still don't), I decided to let the first two days go and start on Monday morning. I had been studying maps and Google Earth for days and had several areas well scoped out, and I had done what I could on my scouting trip to see those.

I left very early Monday morning and was on the trail just before sunrise. On the way down, I saw several pronghorn next to the highway on ridges back lit by the lighening dawn sky. That got my hopes up.  It was cool in the morning, around 40F, but as the day wore on, it got up to 90F. I walked probably five or six miles that first day -- and didn't see a single pronghorn. I did have an encounter with a rattle snake, but that's about it. I left in mid-afternoon to go set up camp in Hugo again.

It was a beautiful evening and I was able to set up camp in a beautiful location. I hunted around doves without luck at dusk and called it a early evening. 

Next day, I was on the trail very early. Still no luck. There were a couple of big game access areas that I hadn't checked, so as the tempteratures broke 85F, I drove around checking those out. Around 2pm, I realised that the wind had really picked up and I needed to race back to check on my camp. Good thing, too. Driving through the State Wildife Area, I found my dining fly a full mile from camp hung up in a barbed-wire fence. Having retreived that (mostly still in usable condition, which is amazing), I arrived to camp to find my dome tent bowed in from sustained wind. I tried to bolster the tent and parked the 4Runner as a wind break. I hoped the wind would die down as I took a short nap. I didn't, but I did successfully hunt for Chukar. After I bagged a bird, though, the wind was picking up more and I realised I needed to move. I packed up and moved camp to a more sheltered, but still very windy area. I cooked dinner using the truck as a wind break and slept in the 4Runner.

Wednesday found my in another area of the game unit. And, it was a good day. I had two stalking oppotunities on small groups of pronghorn. These didn't end successfully, but I did learn a lot and had a great time. The first group I spotted from about a mile away in sage brush on a ridge. I navigated behind hills on what was still a very windy day. I got to about 400 yards to where they eventually bedded down and realized I needed to get around them. Planned my route out but, when I came out above where they had been, they'd taken off. I think some of the cows I had to pass through must of gotten skitish enough that they spooked the pronghorns. I found their tracks and they were at a full run when they left. 

Second group was a surprise. I was walking along a dry riverbed. I picked up my binoculars to look through the brush and cottonwoods and literally saw a buck's head filling the glass as I brought them to my eyes. He was only about 100 yards away looking at me. He spooked of course and he, another buck, and a doe ran several 100 yards into open ground. I knew I couldn't get close enough to them -- absolutely flat ground and almost no sage brush. But, I gave it a try. And, it worked, sort of. I got to about 350 yards. But, the highway was behind them up an incline probably half-a-mile. I had kept trying to change the angle, but they didn't cooperate. I could have taken the shot, but just wasn't comfortable -- I could see cars and trucks going by in the scope and that seemed like a really bad idea. In my manuevers to get to a better spot, they finally spooked and were gone. And so was I. I was out of time and needed to work the next day.

I may hunt the same area next year. If I do, I'll stay longer into Thursday and Friday. I'm sure I would have gotten a doe then. Or, perhaps I'll see if a farmer or rancher will let me hunt the areas next to the ranches I was on -- that's where most the pronghorn went after opening day. Never-the-less, I had a great adventure and can't wait to do it again!