As most know, this was the last year for Over The Counter non-resident archery elk permits in Colorado. I havent made up my mind yet whether I'm for or against it. Both sides have valid points. Something about buying preferences points to hunt (or drawing a pill--(MO duck hunting)) is not very appealing to me so this may have been my last go at it. Either way, I went out with a bang! Incredible hunt, incredible camp friends, and an incredible trophy to bring home!...at least for this midwest whitetailer'.

This was my 5th year hunting OTC on national forest ground, all DIY style hunting. I've harvested three 5x5 and this year a 6x8. Needless to say Ive been lucky and blessed.






Also want to congratulate my good friend alan shadow on another successful hunt. He has went two for two and filled his tag on the last day this year..



Lastly, a special thanks to my wonderful wife and two daughters who spent the first week of the trip at 10,600' helping me get camp setup. They later flew home and then i picked up my 75 year old dad at the airport so he could hang out with me at camp for the duration. It was his first time camping in the mountains, and sadly, probably his last. This trip will be a memory that last my lifetime!!







Ol dad

Very nice. I'd love to hear the details of the hunt.

excellent

That is just great on several different levels.

wow what a great bull, looks like a great family also, thanks for sharing

Very nice! It’s going to be interesting in the future what happens getting tags now

Great hunt, happy for you and your dad to spend time together. An awesome elk also!

You’re Blessed in many ways. Congrats on the hunt and being able to share it with family and friends.

Oh heck yeah. That is a very special hunt even without the trophy

Wow!
Congrats, great pics

Lucky? Four out of five years on bulls in OTC units. I'd say you put in the work and know what you're doing. Congrats on a great bull!

Nice bull, congrats

Heckuva trip!

Nice bull

Looks like a great time with family and friends and a bonus elk to me

Awesome!

That looks like an amazing trip. What an experience.

Super bull WTG the abundance of grass seems to be putting out some good elk and even the whitetails have better racks than in past years.

thumbs up!

That's a great bunch of hunts.....especially this year's!

It's cool that you included your family.

I'd love to do that with the family like you just did.

Super memories! Congrats!

Congrats. Great bull.

Great Bull!
Great pictures and yes you are blessed with more than just having great hunts.

Congrats on a beautiful bull. Looks like some amazing country to explore!

Looks like a blast

wws

That awesome!! Congrats on the Bull and a great trip!!

Absolutely perfect .....congrats

Congrats!

What part of the state you in?
Are you north of Craig by any chance?

Nice. Very impressive.

Thanks everyone! It truly was an awesome trip! My girls have an absolute blast being out there. I suspect we'll continue to make the Colorado mountains an annual vacation even if I forego chasing elk. It's lots of hard work and requires quite a bit of luck to shake hands with one of these. I had this one in my face at 35 yards just absolutely screaming at me. It was like no other experience. If you like hearing spring gobblers, multiply it times 1,000!! Even better, the pack out was just over half mile. One of the easiest yet.

Northwest wrangler, I will say I was in the southwest part of the state. I don't even tell my best friends what unit I hunt. LOL

Now for some more bragging pictures... (if you look closely at the last picture you will see a grouse in the Aspen that my 3-year-old was putting a stalk on).








Ol dad

Awesome Elk! Good job! Great pics!

Came here to say just that ! Well done !

Looks like a great trip for everyone. Congratulations

Nice job, thanks for sharing

Awesome Bull and hunt, there will be more mountains.

Superb family pics.
Great bull. Congratulations.

Congrats.Nice bull elk.

Nice trip, congratulations!

Awesome all the way around! Great way to incorporate the family in the trip.

My buddy also punched is muzzleloader tagged out there as well. A decent bull that will put a lot of meat in the freezer.

Awesome Amazing hunt

The winter of 2022-2023 pretty much killed off about 90% of the elk and deer in Northwest Colorado and Southwest Wyoming. You have to go south of interstate 70 where the winter kill was not nearly as bad.