A 20 Year Long Hunt - Colorado Moose Hunt

Just about six weeks ago I made a major jump in my life. I decided to move 1,000 miles away from home to Colorado. I have always been into the outdoors and a Rocky Mountain hunt has always been top of my mind as I hunted the Whitetails of the MidWest. In my first week I got a Leftover Rifle Elk Tag, Rifle Bear Tag, and Small Game License's. The only "hunting" experience I have out here, before the day this story took place, was a scouting trip to the unit of my Elk and Bear tags.

The day this story takes place I had gone up to Northern Colorado to do some small game hunting with a buddy of mine, the opening day of muzzleloader season. The first morning we were after Marmot and Grouse. Across a small stream from our camp was a rocky ridge that looked like a prime location for both types of our prey. After about two hours we made our way up to the top of the ridge. In a few moments I caught movement in a meadow below that lay a few hundred yards away, maybe 7-900 yards. In the field were two cow moose strolling along. Quite a cool sight to see but no significance to my buddy or I since we were after a different adversary.

A little while later, and after an unsuccessful hunt we made our way back to camp. Throwing lunch on the fire and doing some Brook Trout fishing in the stream was how we passed the time. As we were fishing my buddy's wife who had tagged along came walking briskly into camp.

"There's an enormous Bull Moose in the stream" She said.

For me this was going to be the first time seeing a Bull Moose up close, so I was pumped and ran up the road to where she was fishing to try and locate it. As I get up the road there was a truck that had stopped, I'm sure they saw the moose as well. Inside the truck were a couple of older men in their blaze orange. Unfortunately for me the moose had walked off and unfortunately for them they ended up only having a cow moose tag.

I took it upon myself to go back and around the marsh to try and locate the moose that ended up being wildly unsuccessful until I was walking back to camp an hour and a half later. There he was, 20 yards from my tent in the stream. While I was out looking for the moose, my buddy had decided to take the two men up the road a few miles to try and assist them in their hunt. Me, being nervous of a moose so close to me, decided to take my own little hunting trip.

After 30 minutes I noticed that I had stumbled into those two cow moose and I could see orange coming at me down the road. Hoping to myself it was the men with the cow tag I hustled that way and told them. I could see the eyes of the men burst with life as I told them the news. I ran back to where I saw the moose to try and determine their location. I found the two and by the time the two men and my buddy arrived I had a good idea of the direction they were heading.

The men and my buddy walked about 200 yards deeper into the brush than me as I moved horizontally so I could locate the moose again. After a few moments I could see the moose and the hunters. Unfortunately, the hunters could see me and not the moose. Therefore, I had the best seats in the house to watch the hunt go down from my location on my knees in the field.

After about an hour to an hour and a half of stalking I saw them getting awfully close with just a bush separating the hunters and the moose. Fortunately for the hunters the moose decided to get out of the thick brush and ended up presenting a beautiful 40-yard broadside shot.

The plume of smoke off the tip of the muzzleloader was something I had never seen before and if it interfered with my vision of the moose, I am sure it affected theirs as well. The hunters looked at me almost to say, "Is it down?" and all I could do was raise my arms and shrug my shoulders. As the hunter reloaded and approached the location, they waved me over. She was down.

This is the first time I had ever been a part of a big game hunt besides Whitetail deer. Lucky for me and my buddy the two men recognized our assistance and allowed us a photo with the animal after we shed all our layers. It was truly an honor and a blessing to watch it and assist two men who have waited 20 years or so for the opportunity. Of course, I did end up sacrificing my own success of the small game hunt I was on but it more than made up for that experience I can get any other time.

The hunter tagged it an opted to head back to their hunting camp for more hands to pack the animal out while my buddy and I and the other hunter stayed back to butcher it. She ended up being, a rough estimate, of 900 pounds or so and by the time the man came back with the family we had it all skinned and butchered except for the back straps and ribs.

Special shout out to the one kid that carried all quarters out on his own, in 4 trips of course hahaha. truly one of the most enjoyable experiences I have ever had, and I hope to share that experience with my dad as he joins me out in Colorado for my Elk and Bear hunt later this year.

(All blaze orange laws were followed during the hunt and all times required. The photograph was taken after running back to camp to change out of clothes and grab gear for butchering)