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Youth Cow Elk Hunt

Youth Cow Elk Hunt

This Story begins in Unit 61 in North Western Colorado. I, Luke Teague, was along as a volunteer cow elk guide,( and pack mule ), for three young hunters. Tell Hohman, Sackett Hohman, and Austin Heabner were fortunate enough to have privileged cow elk tags burning a hole in their pockets. This hunt would be Sackett ( age 12 ) and Austin ( age13 ) first hunt for North American big game. Having completed a successful cow elk hunt in 2005, Tell Hohman ( age 15 ) couldn’t wait to enter the woods with a rifle slung over his shoulder.

The daylight of day five found us once again straining for the sound of elk in the stillness. The silence finally broke as we heard a faint bugle echoing down the canyon. As quietly as we could we made our way around the drainage hoping to get in front of the advancing herd. Using each bugle as a guide we finally positioned ourselves across and ahead of the elk. No sooner had we sat down when Austin spotted a cow on the hillside. Jason ( Austin’s Dad ) ranged the cow at 350 yards as Austin slid his 7mm – 08 between his shooting sticks. Austin, steady on his rest, gently squeezed the trigger and the stillness broke with the report of the rifle. Watching through field glasses I saw the red patch appear on the side of the elk indicating a perfectly placed shot. We watched as the cow disappeared into the heavy spruce. Meanwhile, bursting with excitement, Tell took the shooting sticks and steadied himself. We waited as spikes and bulls moved through a shooting lane at 300 yards across the drainage. Finally a cow appeared and the 270 jumped in Tell’s arms. The cow walked a few feet and pitched over behind a tree. We weren’t certain where Austins cow had gone so we decided to wait a few minutes for the herd to move through the area.. Ten minutes later we heard breaking branches and watched as a spruce tree waived its signal that a cow elk had crashed into it. After hand shakes and back slapping the rest of the party arrived and we completed the task of packing the cows out.

The morning of the last day found Shane (Sacketts Dad ) , Sackett, and I back in the woods for Sacketts last chance for closing on a cow elk. After scouting for several hours unsuccessfully it was time to leave and start back to Texas. Every time a hunt is over, successful or not, sadness creeps in with the realization that its over until next year. However, the overall success of watching those boys experience their hunt had been a very memorable experience and thats what hunting is all about.