We had 10 archery hunters this fall. Zita did the cooking and camp chores. Shane Andes and I did all of the guiding. It was a great bow season with a lot of opportunities and excitement.

The first archery hunt was September 8-13. Mike Meadows and Chip Sloan of GA were our guests for the week. This was Mike’s fifth hunt with us and Chip’s second hunt. We had warm, sunny weather early in the week. Daytime highs reached 80 degrees, with nights cooling off to 40 degrees. Cloudy weather and rain showers brought temperatures down later in the week.

The 1st evening Mike collected a beautiful, long tined 6x6 bull at 30 yards out of the lower tree stand in Calamity. Chip had an exciting 2nd afternoon and evening on Freemon with three different bulls coming in to the call, but was unable to connect.

The weather was warm the first half of the week with highs in the 70’s. The last half of the week cooled off with rain and snow. Highs were in the 50’s, with lows down into the 20’s.

On Wednesday morning Kirby had a large 6 point bull at 6 steps but could not draw. Later that day Kirby also passed up a small bull in lower Long Park. That evening Cory had a tremendous bull at 3 paces but could not draw. On Thursday evening Kirby passed up a bull out of the Hole in the Wall tree stand. On Friday evening Kirby passed on a bull called in on Calamity. Cory harvested a large, symmetrical 6x6 bull at 22 yards out of the Hole in the Wall tree stand. On Sunday afternoon Kirby was unsuccessful on a bull called up in Calamity. Cory hunted whitetails on Camas Creek and saw quite a lot of bucks. With cooler weather some of the larger bucks starting showing up.

Rick and Travis Plecker from VA, Jeff Baumgartner from MN, and Keith Ogden of ND were our guests for the third hunt, September 22-27. Travis and Keith accompanied as observers. This was Rick’s fourth hunt with us.

The first few days of the hunt were cool and windy. Daytime temperatures reached the 50’s, with nights dropping to the 20’s. By mid week temperatures were in the 70’s during midday.

The first 2 days we were within range of several good bulls, but had no shot opportunity. After an exciting 3rd morning Rick filled his elk tag with a majestic, drop beamed 6x6 bull. The bull was called in to 11 yards in upper Long Park. The 4th morning Jeff missed an opportunity at a bull bugled in on Indian Creek. Later in the day Jeff was unsuccessful on a bull bugled up in Long Park.

Guides for the rifle season were Shane Andes, John Reardon and myself.
Sandy Grigsby covered the cooking and camp duties.

The first rifle hunt was October 24-29. Guests for the week were Bob Jeans, Tillman Riddle, Donnie Smith, and Richard Burger from VA. This was Bob’s 4th hunt, Tillman’s 3rd hunt, and Richard’s 2nd hunt with us.

The weather was beautiful the entire hunt with warm, sunny days. Highs were in the 50 degree range, with lows in the teens. There was no snow cover on the ranch, and we received no precipitation during the week.

On Monday morning, Donnie missed a bull in Long Park due to limbs. That afternoon Bob collected a very large, long tined 7x6 bull in upper Long Park at 269 yards. It was a tremendous bull and grossed 377 BC points. Tuesday morning Tillman made an excellent shot on a beautiful 5x5 mule deer at 202 paces in Middle Creek. That evening Richard harvested a nice, symmetrical 5x5 bull with a 212 yard shot in Water Tank. On Wednesday afternoon Tillman missed an antelope in the top of Calamity.

Thursday morning Tillman filled his elk tag on a nice 5x5 bull at 190 steps in Long Park. There was plenty of excitement Thursday evening, starting with Bob connecting on a 15 1/2” antelope at 312 yards on the Fort Logan Ranch. Richard missed a shot at a whitetail buck on Camas Creek. Donnie filled his elk tag with a good 5x4 bull at 100 paces in Spring Basin. On Friday afternoon, Tillman used his last tag on a 12 1/2” antelope taken on the Fort Logan Ranch at 153 steps. Bob finished his hunt with a nice, symmetrical 4x4 whitetail buck shot at 190 yards on Elk Creek.

During the second rifle hunt, October 31 through November 5, hunters were Norm Hill of CA, Steve Kaufmann of MI, Kevin Netterville and Richard Fox of LA. This was both Norm’s and Steve’s 4th hunt with us.

The weather for the first half of the week was cool and windy with some snow squalls. Daytime highs were in the 40’s, with nights dropping to the teens. Temperatures reached the 50’s later in the week.

The first evening Norm connected on a good, dark horned 6x6 bull at 244 yards in Spring Basin. The second day Norm passed up several antelope bucks and a good whitetail buck at Camas Creek. The third morning Norm missed an antelope buck on Ayers Creek. That evening he harvested a beautiful 6x5 whitetail at 245 paces on the High Bar. On the fifth evening Steve made an excellent shot on a nice 5x4 bull in Long Park at 160 steps.

On the final morning of the hunt Norm collected a nice 13” antelope in Buffalo Canyon at 193 yards. That evening Rick filled his deer tag with a good 5x4 whitetail at 150 paces on Elk Creek.

Wind conditions were poor during this hunt, and we made quite a few unsuccessful stalks on bulls. A large bunch of elk left the ranch at the beginning of this hunt, but there were still quite a few bulls to work with.

Roger Hamm of PA, John Fann and Tom Gumprecht of WA and John Doro of WI were our guests for the third hunt, November 7-12. This was John Fann’s 3rd hunt with us.

We had bluebird weather the entire week, with highs in the 60’s and lows reaching 20 degrees. There was no snow cover on the ranch.

The elk hunting picked up during this hunt. There were more elk on the ranch with quite a few more bulls. The deer rut started and there were a lot of bucks traveling around.