After not drawing in the Colorado unit we have drawn for the prior three years we decided to look into landowner vouchers for a different unit.  The local Fish and Game biologist told us the area was good and if we could find a place with good habitat and away from the road a ways we'd have a good hunt.  The third season in CO is a rut hunt most years the snow flies early and this year was no exception.  Using service management maps and google earth we felt we had found an area described by the biologist.  We only had Friday night before the Saturday opener to hunt so we found ourselves studying our maps and google earth very intently and often.  When the sun rose opening morning we discovered this deer in thick scrub oak and were not able to get a good opportunity on him.  For lunch we sat in area observing a big draw with a few deer and just before we were ready to leave we noticed a hunter working through the oak in the draw so we decided to watch and see what might come out.  I happened to spot a real nice buck and our buddy Carl made and incredible 538 yard shot right through the deers vitals.  We green scored him at just under 170--a nice buck by anybody's standards--Chad and I were totally jealous, but we still had the hope of finding the mornings buck another day.
 
When Monday rolled around we went right back to the same place we had seen him Saturday and there he was.  We got ourselves in the best possible position and when it came time to shoot we were so stinking overwhelmed with buck fever that were definitely not the marksman we normally are, but when you have a chance at deer like this it's tough control yourself.  After hitting the deer and giving him some time to lay down we took up the blood trail.  We trailed the deer for several hundred yards before jumping him but wasn't able to get another round in him.  We ended up following his trail through some of the thickest country you can ever imagine.  At times we even found ourselves crawling on our hands and knees looking for any sign of him.

 

We have prided ourselves on being good at tracking but this deer put all our skills to the test.  After trailing the deer for 5 hours and several encounters, the deer finally trailed onto a sage brush mesa about a half mile square.  We tracked him into the mesa a couple hundred yards and as we approached a 20 ft diameter scrub oak patch, Chad and I readied our guns like a dog on point on a pheasant and almost right on que the deer jumped out of the oak patch like a rooster going as hard as he could and Chad put a .300 win mag right through the deer neck bringing and end to our long pursuit of "one of those bucks".  Since we both shot at him earlier in the morning and were not sure who hit him and because we both rely on each other for nearly every quality moment of hunting we have ever had we've decided he's a shared buck.  The deer measures 31 inches outside spread and has been scored at 191 & 2/8s.    
 
Thanks for improving our guns,

 

Brandon P. Olson