The unsettled weather continued with snow, rain, wind, and cold temperatures. Daytime high’s reached 45 degrees with nights dipping into the 30’s. We did have some sunshine and a couple of mild afternoons during this hunt.

On Friday evening, Buzz passed up a 5 point bull out of a tree stand in the Hole in the Wall. On Sunday morning Buzz connected on a magnificent heavy horned 7x6 bull bugled up to 10 paces in upper Indian Creek.

It was a very exciting archery season. With the cool, wet weather, the tree stand hunting was not as effective. We did a lot of calling and hunted more country than usual. The rut was later, and we saw a lot of great bulls.

Shane Andes, Matt Caltrider and I guided on the antelope hunts.

Later in the afternoon, Ed collected a heart shaped, dark faced 14 ½” antelope buck at 160 steps south of Ayers Creek.

Kraig and Keith Carver of WA joined us for the second antelope hunt starting October 12. This was Kraig’s third and Keith’s second hunt on the ranch.

We had a beautiful, sunny day with temper-atures in the 70’s. Keith missed a difficult shot at an antelope in the bottom of Ayers Creek in the morning.

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

The first rifle hunt was October 23-28. Guests for the week were Randall Fox, Chuck Burnette, and Charlie and Chuck Kirby, all from GA, and Bill Barney and Gary Brinsfield from OH. Chuck K. accompanied Charlie as an observer. This was Randall’s ninth hunt, Chuck’s second, and Bill and Gary’s sixth hunt with us.

Wednesday morning Charlie made an excellent shot on a one horned 6 point bull at 128 steps in the Ramsey. That evening Randall harvested a wide, long beamed 6 point bull above the Upper Manuel. Thursday morning Gary connected on a nice 4 point bull called into 62 paces in Long Park.

During the second rifle hunt, October 30-November 4, hunters were Norm Hill of CA, Steve Kaufmann of MI, and Mark Panciera and Brad Hoffman of PA. This was Norm and Steve’s fifth hunt with us.

We had cloudy, windy days with rain and snow showers during this hunt. Daytime high’s reached the mid 40’s, with nighttime lows in the 20’s.

On the first morning Norm made an excellent shot on a long tined 6x5 bull called into 161 yards in the Ramsey. Norm also passed on a large mule deer that morning. That evening Norm passed on a 5x4 whitetail on Camas Creek. Steve connected on a pretty, dark maned 5x4 bull at 200 steps in Horn Hollow. After an exciting second evening Mark collected a large, long beamed 6 point bull on Freemon. The third morning Mark’s good luck continued on a long tined 6x5 whitetail on Camas Creek. The fourth morning Brad harvested a nice, symmetrical 5 point bull at 236 paces in Long Park. That evening Norm stalked a large 5x5 whitetail on Elk Creek. After making a 200 yard shot at dusk, he found that he had mistakenly shot a 4x4 buck (not pictured) that was traveling with the large buck. The fifth morning Brad filled his deer tag with a beautiful, high horned 5x5 whitetail on Camas Creek. That evening Steve finished his hunt with a large, heavy horned 5 point whitetail at 300 steps on the Low Bar.

Chris Stiltner, Charlie Scott, Larry Thompson, and Marlin Hewitt, all from VA, were our guests for the third rifle hunt, November 6-11.

Temperatures ranged from the mid 50’s during the day to nighttime lows in the teens. We had 6” of new snow on the ground, and high winds throughout the week.

On Sunday, Charlie stalked a large 6 point bull in upper Indian Creek. The bull was at 100 yards and 300 yards, but never presented a clean shot. On Monday morning Marlin missed a nice 6 point bull on Freemon. After an all day stalk, Chris collected a long tined 6 point bull at 200 steps in the Ramsey. Wednesday morning Charlie missed a large mule deer at Fort Logan. Chris made an excellent shot on a long tined 4 point whitetail at 300 paces on the High Bar. That afternoon Marlin’s bad luck continued on a 6 point bull in the Ramsey. Thursday morning Larry harvested a broken beamed 6x4 bull at 108 yards in lower Long Park. That evening Larry filled his tags with a beautiful 4 point whitetail at 260 steps in the horse pasture on Rock Creek. The last evening Charlie connected on a high tined 5 point whitetail at the Annex. Marlin collected a hard earned 5 point whitetail south of Keep Cool Creek.

On the fourth rifle hunt of the season, November 13-18, guests were Rob and Tom Vollers of NJ, and Kraig and Keith Carver of WA. This was Kraig’s fourth and Keith’s third hunt with us.

The ranch received 18” of new snow at the beginning of this hunt. The week was cloudy with scattered snow showers. Daytime highs were in the 40’s, nights dipped to 20 degrees. Visibility was poor on several days of the hunt.

On the first evening Tom harvested a nice 5x4 bull in Calamity at 237 yards. After an exciting third day, Keith collected a large, heavy horned 6 point bull above the Rock Wall. Kraig also made an excellent shot on a wide 6x5 bull at 350 steps above the Rock Wall.

The fourth morning Tom filled his tags with a high horned 5x4 mulie buck at 114 paces in the Ramsey. Rob took a shot at a nice bull in lower Long Park, but was unable to connect. That evening Rob made a great shot on a nice, symmetrical 5 point bull at 200 yards in Long Park. The next day Rob finished his hunt with a good 5 point mule deer in the Ramsey.