We had 11 archery hunters this fall. Joby Matthias and Zita Caltrider did the cooking and camp chores. Kevin Ancell, Dustin Schell, Chad Evans, and I did the guiding.

The first archery hunt was September 8-13. Jeff and Bill Baumgartner of MN were our guests for the week. This was Jeff’s third hunt with us.

We had a variety of weather during the week with no precipitation. The daytime high for the week was 80 degrees, with several nights dropping down into the 20’s.

The first morning a large bull walked within 10 yards of Jeff in Watertank, but offered no shot. The second morning Bill passed on a 5 point bull called to 15 steps on Elk Ridge. The third evening Jeff filled his elk tag with a beautiful, heavy horned 7 point bull. The bull was shot at 4 paces out of a tree stand in Indian Creek. Bill passed on a 6 point bull bugled into 10 yards in Long Park.

The fifth morning Bill had a large bull at 10 paces in Long Park but could not shoot. The sixth evening Bill missed an opportunity at a bull out of a tree stand in Calamity.

During the second archery hunt, September 15-20, Ron and Jason White of MI, and Doug and Janet Rehak of PA joined us for the week. Janet accompanied Doug as an observer throughout the week. This was Ron’s second hunt and Doug’s tenth hunt with us.

We started the week with warm, sunny weather and highs in the 90’s. We received some snow late in the week and temperatures dipped into the 30’s.

On Saturday morning Jason had a bull within two yards, but had no shot. The bull was 15 steps from Ron but did not present a shot. Early Sunday afternoon Doug collected a nice 6 point bull at 18 yards out of the Hole in the Wall tree stand. Monday morning Ron passed up a large one-horned bull at 5 paces in Long Park. That evening Ron passed up a 6 point bull at 7 yards that came to a decoy in Long Park. Jason shot at a 7x6 bull that came to a cow call in Long Park, but the arrow was deflected by limbs.

The elk were scattered throughout the ranches with some bulls still with the cows. Bucks were still in groups. We moved down to the Clear Range midday Tuesday.

During the second rifle hunt, October 28 through November 2, hunters were Steve Kaufmann of MI, and Bob Jeans, Tillman Riddle, Don Smith, Jay Carter, and Tom Wolfe from VA. This was Steve’s sixth, Bob’s fifth, Tillman’s fourth, and Don’s fourth hunt on the ranch.

The weather was very mild during this hunt with some windy days and no precipitation. Daytime highs reached 50 degrees with night time lows at 30 degrees.

On the first evening Tillman connected on a wide, long beamed 6 point bull in lower Long Park at 150 steps. Bob passed on some bulls in the same bunch of elk. The second evening Jay harvested an odd horned 6x5 bull on Freemon with a 70 yard shot. Don passed up a bull out of the same bunch of elk. Don was unable to fill his elk tag on a large bull in the Clear Range on the fourth morning.

That evening Don collected a cow elk at 100 paces in the Clear Range (no photo). After a long stalk Tom connected on a nice, long beamed 6 point bull at 180 steps in Beaver Creek. On the fifth morning Bob missed a difficult shot at a good 6 point bull in the Dry Range. On the last morning of the hunt Steve made an excellent 300 yard shot and filled his elk tag on a nice 5x4 bull west of Ashford Springs.

Tillman and Jay each missed opportunities on whitetail bucks in Camas Creek. That evening Jay harvested a beautiful, long tined 4 point whitetail in Camas Creek at 30 yards. Tillman connected on a heavy, dark horned 5x4 whitetail on the Low Bar at 200 steps.

The hunters saw a lot of elk and nice bulls during this hunt. The deer were also more visible this week. We moved to the Clear Range midweek.

Tom Kempken of AZ, Gregg Kempken of WI, Vic Chaney of OR, and Tom Fetzer and Jeff McMillen of CA were our guests for the third rifle hunt, November 4-9.

This week brought high winds but fairly mild weather and no moisture. Daytime highs reached 40 degrees and lows dropped into the teens.

On Monday morning Tom F. and Jeff each passed up shots on bulls in the Burn. Tuesday evening Gregg collected a wide, symmetrical 5 point bull at 180 yards in Lower Long Park.

Wednesday evening Tom K. harvested a 6x5 bull at 180 paces in Beaver Creek. During Thursday morning’s hunt, Vic made an excellent shot at 280 yards on a large, older 3x2 mulie buck in the Dry Range. That evening Gregg passed up a nice whitetail at the Fort Logan Ranch. Tom F. had an opportunity on a nice 6 point bull in Democrat but wasn’t able to connect. On Friday evening Gregg made an excellent shot on a beautiful 6x5 whitetail at 326 steps on the Fort Logan Ranch.

There were good bunches of elk and nice bulls on both ranches. We saw 2 groups of very large bulls. The first signs of the deer rut started with some of the larger bucks chasing does. We started hunting out of the Clear Range Camp midweek.

On the fourth hunt of the season, November 11-16, guests were Kraig and Keith Carver of WA, Carl Wells of AZ, David Schoenbeck of NJ, and Dan Oliver of MT. This was Kraig’s sixth and Keith’s fifth hunt on the ranch.

Temperatures reached 45 degrees during the day with nights dropping to 20 degrees. We had high winds and no precipitation during the hunt.

The first morning Kraig filled his deer tag with a long beamed 5x4 mule deer at 100 paces in Middle Creek. That afternoon Keith also connected on a good, symmetrical 5 point mulie in Middle Creek at 45 yards (no photo). The second afternoon Dan collected a nice, broken tined 6x5 bull at 250 yards in upper Indian Creek. David harvested a cow elk out of the same group of elk (no photo). Late that evening Kraig missed a difficult shot at a bull in lower Long Park.

On the third afternoon Kraig made a good shot at 140 steps on a nice 6x5 bull in upper Long Park. Keith missed an opportunity at a bull out of the same group of elk. The fifth evening Dan filled his deer tag with a nice, symmetrical 4 point whitetail at 206 paces at Soldiers Lake. On the last evening of the hunt David connected on a high horned 5 point mule deer out of a hay bale blind on the Fort Logan Ranch.

We had good elk hunting on both ranches during the week with quite a few nice bulls around. The deer rut was going strong for both mulies and whitetails. We moved to the Clear Range on Wednesday.