Four Colorado Bulls Down
Elk
On 8/28/21 I flew to Colorado to help Forest and Kelly with the first two weeks of their Outfitting business and do a little hunting myself. Camps are set up in two Colorado units. One unit is over the counter and the other a draw unit (1 to 2 points).
After the first two weeks Forest and Kelly have had 13 Elk hunters between drop camps and guided hunts. 4 Bulls have been killed and one wounded, not retrieved. Two of the bulls were killed in each unit.
Many of the hunters are Bowsite guys so they may add to this post.
Yesterday Forest guided a hunter in the OTC unit to his first ever archery bull that I green scored at 333 7/8” gross and 321” net. (Pic attached)
Beautiful Colorado
Beautiful Colorado
Here is Keith the happy hunter carrying out the rack and cape.
Two of the bulls were 5x5, one a 4x4 and the big guy a 6x6
Brooke helps with meals and logistics around camp and also has a bear tag.
Kelly and Forest bringing in supplies before season. So many tasks needed to get a camp ready.
Some of the roads require special vehicles. Here is a lady retrieving her drive train. Not good.
5x5
5x5
During the first week Clay from Mississippi got his first archery bull doing a guided hunt in the OTC unit. A nice 5x5. Had the pleasure of helping cut up his bull with his buddy Jason.
Get ya some boys. Leave a couple of them elk for next year.
Awesome stuff right there.
Wow, congrats to the hunters. Leaving on Friday for my wife's elk tag in the same unit. How has the temperature been? How about moisture? Thanks for posting the pictures Charlie
First three days of season rain then blue bird days since then. Hunting at 10,700’. Temps were 75 degrees during the day and around 30 degrees at night. Aspens are changing color right now. Weather changes would help the hunting.
Dang..yal racked up didnt you. Congratulations
Still two more weeks hunts to go. 6 more archers heading in Friday
Oh man, this is incredible. I am flying out there to hunt with Forest in 9 days for my first time Elk hunting. Excited is a huge understatement. Congrats to everyone so far!
Another pic of the big boy. 50 and 51” main beams with 41” inside spread. A true giant for an OTC Colorado unit.
Great hunt! Congrats and thanks for sharing the pics!
My group had a great hunt with Forrest
Outstanding job Forrest and Crew!!!!
Sounds like fun! Congratulations to all the successful hunters! Great bull for an OTC unit for sure!
Great report, congrats to the lucky hunters and to Forrest and his crew. We leave Friday.
Congrats to all the hunters! Thanks for sharing, Charlie.
Nice!! Congratulations to all!
Love the beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing!
This hunt is on my radar for 2023 for sure.
Finding wallows is fun. OnX is my go to.
Well done! Thanks for sharing the photos too! Im just not sure how I would do at nearly 11k!
Awesome pics! Bummed I'm not chasing elk this year, but seeing others chasing big bulls helps ease the pain a little!
On the mountain with bad service. Will do a photo dump tomorrow when I come down....God is so good to me!
Purple Heart Recipient Crystal.
Purple Heart Recipient Crystal.
Many of you will remember Crystal from an elk we all did in 2018. She is an Iraq war vet, Purple Heart Recipient and darn good bow hunter. Forest and Kelly had her join us for the second hunt. God bless our Warriors….
I predict many years of sold out hunts for you Forest!
Aspens are changing colors right now.
This is Ryder one of Forests Wranglers. He and Dave are amazing with the horses and mules.
Picture of head Wrangler, Dave catching a quick nap before bringing in hunters. Can you believe he can nap on a rock?
Bowsiters Aaron on the left and billyD on the right. These two guys had deer tags and brought a tremendous upbeat spirit to the camp. The Forest and Kelly hunt package is way more than the hunt. We all try to have a great hunting/social experience with like minded folks.
They are talking about bringing their sons for a future hunt and if they do I hope I can be there too. Thx guys.
PS: They each had the bow back on nice bucks but no shot.
Dang! I may have to volunteer to help Forest set up camp just to go up and see some of that country! Would definitely take a fly rod…
Looks like a fun bunch and cool hunt!
well looks like i'm batting cleanup the last week..
thanks for all the great pics.. not sure what all to expect other than having a good time and meeting some new people
looking forward to getting there
Treeline: The fishing in the OTC unit is fantastic. Cutthroats, brook trout, rainbows. Catch fish until you’re bored.
Wow that is a monster for an OTC tag!!
Great stuff Charlie & thanks again for your personal contributions to the many fond memories made. Just an awesome hunting experience all around - blessed to have crossed paths with you/Forest/Kelly/Colton/Crystal/Triston/Brooke as well as some fine members of our Bowsite community. Congrats to Keith on a harvesting a dandy, mature bull - Forest is indeed every bit the terrific guide/hunter as he is an individual. Physically, back in-the-office now, yet mentally very much still in the backcountry with you all. Take good care and best of luck to the upcoming hunters.
The friends made and general camp interaction is the intangible for any Mtn hunt. We sure have some amazing Bowsite guys.
Was wet the first 3 days in spike camp! Had Jeremy form Indiana first week and had a blast. What a great guy! Making new hunting friends is the best part of it all.
The girls laughing at Keith's pain. No one felt sorry for him.
Ryder
Ryder
Catching up to the pack train
Catching up to the pack train
Elk loin and taters in the drop camp
Looks like great times with some elk involved too !! Great job by all Looks like a solid operation with great hands and lots of critters
Looks like a great time. Congrats on the critters, so far!
Charlie….any truth to the rumor that Sitka is coming out with camo cowboy hat??
Looks like a great first week in camp. Congrats to the hunters!
Congratulations on a great first half of September!
Looks like a blast! Thanks Charlie for posting!
Headed over there in the morning. New group goes up tomorrow.
Fifth archery bull down by Bowsiter and P&Y Member, Jeff Pals.
This is a pic of hunters and guides having fun in the Colorado Mountains. Everyone is smiling.
WOW, your hunt sounds like a blast. Congratulations to the successful hunters!
Smilin hunter
Smilin hunter
Two more bulls down yesterday and looking for a third giant hit last night this am.
These results demonstrate not only Forests and Kelly’s preparation, the guides results but most importantly excellent shooting by the hunters. Most of these 7 (hopefully) 8 bulls are first time results for the hunters.
5x5
5x5
That is some ROUGH country. You better be ready for it. Horses are probably a game changer. We foot soldiered all around that place when i went in 2013.
8 th bull down and it’s another public land “big boy”. Pics soon.
18 archery elk hunters so far, 8 bulls killed and one, hit not retrieved. Most other hunters have had close encounters. Fantastic results for public land Colorado units. Congrats to the hunters/guides, Forest and Kelly.
Number 8
Number 8
Here is a pic of the latest big bull. Quite a trophy. Pack mules are gonna be pretty busy bringing down 3 bulls today.
Wow! Some really nice bulls, to boot! Congrats to everyone!
Knocking down great bulls up there! Congratulations to the hunters and the entire crew!
Looks like a great time and great looking country to elk hunt in. I am sure in the next 9 days we will see a bull or two hit the ground as this IS the peek of the rut. Good luck. Paul
Clearly I shoulda booked with Forest......... I am thrilled to see these reports on his camp and hunters! WTG Dude!
I would actually enjoy being camp help for a weekend......but taking the family for one last outing up in Estes Park. I can't sufficiently express how impressed I am by your operation this year!
Amazing! Forest is a great dude!
What a fun thread C-man.
Thanks for sharing,
Robb
Week 3 was in unit 33. We shot 5 bulls and found 4. All 6 hunters had shot opportunities. What a awesome week. God is so good to me.
Just got down from hunting with Forrest. Absolutely awesome week. Top knotch operation. Colten was a great guide and a blast to be around in camp. David was great with the stock and Kelly and Brooke were great with all the day to day logistics. I was fortunate enough to kill my first bull which was icing on the cake. I fully plan on returning in the future.
I enjoy the write up but hyping up this OTC and 1 point unit is probably not to wise. There are 1000's of people viewing this post and it with a little homework wont be to hard to find out were these camps are.
Day one bull
Day one bull
Here is a picture of Jeff Pals with his day 1 bull.
I've hunted these units. Beautiful, obviously hold elk but success rates aren't really different than other OTC or low point units.
Long story short...it's a lot more than the area that results in success. Way to go on seeing the fruits of hard work, experience and skill.
Having hunted and hiked all over those units myself, I can tell you that the success shown here is due to a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears on the part of Forest and his team.
Although, obviously Charlie needs to learn how to count!
I tell my guys that we need to beat the public. Beat them in the morning beat them at noon and beat them in the evening...... the ones that are not lazy will be discouraged when we beat them. I have grew up hunting public land elk in Colorado and I'm going to beat you period. Look at this rub....dude was mad at the world
This is awesome, nice work you guys!!
Wait till you guys here Dirty Mike's story....cluch when I needed him
It is beautiful country! Forest and his team love to bowhunt as much or more than the clients. I had a great time and will go back soon.
What a view at the end of a successful hunt.
I just got home.
Need to hug my family and unpack.
I'll start by saying Forest's operation is phenomenal. Forest is so good he put me in a position to kill a bull of a life time.
can't start without my lucky Bowsite hat.
On the second night, After being there to see Eric kill his first elk with his dad and Colton, Forest and I moved on.
A few hundred yards away I saw my first elk of the hunt. Three bulls right at dark. None within range.
A fourth bull was bugling but out of sight.
Fast forward to the next evening and Forest and I are headed back to same area above camp.
Need to find me a hat like that!!
We went over the top into the blow down section and Forest began to call.
There isn't anything responding to the calling and Forest and I work our way across the blow down section.
As we were walking forest froze and pulled up his binos and checked the area where we had just come from. Forest later said he saw something black / brown on the mountain side and wanted to double check it wasn't a burnt out log.
That's when I saw him at 250 yards..
He looked giant even at distance. I immediately stopped looking at his antlers.
Forest sprang into action and got us into position and started calling.
The bull still had not made a sound as he circled to our left closing the distance to us.
Forest's amazing calling ability drew the bull into range.
The bull cleared a spruce and Forest whispered "60."
I came to full draw and my view of his vitals was slightly obstructed. I told Forest and he told me to "shoot that bull."
I adjust and shot.
The realization hit me that I had just shot way high and had center punched his back straps .
I felt like I was going to puke.
The bull started circling back the way he came.
My heart sank.
Forest looked at me and said we can kill this bull, but "you have to stay solid."
The bull started bugling as it moved away and Forest worked his magic calling back to the bull.
We moved from cover to cover to try and keep up with the bull.
Forest's calling started to work as the bull turned back toward our direction.
But, there was a problem.
The bull had circled all the way around us and was coming from the opposite direction I took my first shot.
We got caught in the blowdowns with no cover.
I knelt down and tried to melt into the mountain side as The Bull close the distance coming into Forest's calling.
I remember Forest saying, "don't move."
Can not wait. Me and my son are booked with forest next September !!! This hunt is my sons senior trip .hopefully this is the first of many elk hunts .
Blood at the shot.
Blood at the shot.
The bull came in above us on a slight ridge. He was right on top of us. He was so big.
I tried not to look or make eye contact as the bull scanned for the elk forest was mimicking.
That's when forest whispered " draw your bow."
I came to full draw and saw the bull was slightly quartering to me.
I started to lock in my sight picture when I heard forest say, "30."
The arrow was gone and the hit looked great.
I saw a big red spot on his opposite side as he ran away.
The emotions hit me after the shot.
We didn't see the bull go down after he ran off and decided to wait overnight and not push the bull .
I floated down the mountain to camp and kept up with forest .
It will be a sleepless night in camp.
Great stuff all around. Thanks for sharing
Forest said that night there might be some ground shrinkage.
I didn't care, as I would be happy with any elk.
Jeff, another bowsiter in camp, joined forest and I on the recovery.
Added bonus Jeff is an accomplished photographer who brought his DSLR camera.
Jeff and I started working the blood trail at the shot site.
Forest worked ahead where we saw the bull go.
After a few minutes I heard forest whistling to get our attention.
As we approached Forest he stated, "I think it might have grown."
I am humbled, blessed and totally unworthy of this bull.
I can't say enough good thins about Forest and his calling and the operation he has set up. Truly world class.
Congratulations!! DirtyMike and Forrest!! I wanted to wait until your story was complete before adding my input and not step on your excitement.
I was in that camp opening day and had four encounters with that bull. He had satellite bulls and cows then. First encounter he wouldn't come closer than 80 yds. So I tried to shoot a cow or smaller bull that I had at 18 yards. But Was too patient and didn’t draw in the narrow windows provided. I was in that herd for 3 hours. Then finally had this bull at 40 yards, 47, and just over 50 for quite some time. Milling around with his cows In the clear I would calf call and he would come over. but 40 yards was out of my longbow range.
Congratulations again. What do you think he scores ?
I have video from my phone. Send me a PM and I'll send it to you.
Probably 100-200 yards from where you describe the hunt taking place.
I taped him out at 354. The guy who did the euro had him taped at 348 split g5s and a split main beam on 1 side 12" bases
Great stuff all around. Thanks for sharing
So happy for all involved!!!!
Definitely a Hunt of a Lifetime and Bull of many Lifetimes! Excellent work Forest and the team and excellent job Dirty Mike staying in the game to close the deal on such a magnificent animal!
Wow man.. just wow.. congrats to all..
Great stuff all around. Thanks for sharing
Great success story (ies)
Congrats Forest!
Im stoked to be a part of this thread and had a fantastic week with Forest, his crew, Dirty Mike, Jeff and all the others that aren't on bow site. I was able to shoot a dream bull and then got to assist Mike in recovering his bull of a lifetime. What a great time and fantastic operation Forest and Kelly run. I had the experience I came for before I even shot my bull. I will be going back!
It never ceases to amaze me the community that Pat has put together here on the Bowsite.
Quality people all around.
Awesome bulls guys! Super jealous! I WILL be elk hunting in the VERY near future!
I have been eyeing this and talked to forest several times on PM. I have some things in 2022 that an hoping won't get in the way of this for 2023. Now I am worried I waited long and it will be booked lol.
Too bad I missed out on your guys' success after leaving camp to take care of my meat. It was a great camp with great attitudes all the way around. I got to see both bulls when I picked my antlers up. All I can say is - Wow! Great job to the guides and to the hunters. We may have to try to book a reunion hunt and get Charlie in camp as well.
Dirty Mike - let's connect after 60 days and measure your bull for Pope & Young. The mass is world class.
-Jeff
Jeff,
That sounds great! Wish we would have got more time in camp together.
Congrats guys! Great stories and great experiences! Thanks for sharing.
Nicely done by all. My first thought was you killed that bull in the Rocky Mt Nt Park per his size and age. I guess not. WOW. In my 30 years of hunting elk in Colorado, I have never seen one that size in OTC or limited draw units.
Jeff, It was good hunting with you as well! Im game for a reunion hunt as well!
Wow this is great! Thanks for the updates, pics and stories!
The hillbilly crew will be there in less than a month on a rifle hunt. We’re tag strong and ready for some action. Forest’s horses are gonna hate us after they pack all the meat off the mountain. Can’t wait to get there!
My legs are not working any more! 28 of the last 30 on the mountain..... I'm alittle sad it's over but man did my bed feel good last night. What a awesome season with some awesome guys. It's unreal the blessings of God on my life.
Forest, Congratulations on a great season.
Congratulations to the successful hunters.
Also congratulations to Forest for running what sounds like an operation that meets or exceeds his client’s expectations.
Bowsite seems to attract some really great outfitters, and is a great resource for people looking for those types of hunts.
Strong work Men!! Well done on all accounts!! Hunt
Can’t imagine any outfitter in Colorado doing any better on elk than this crew. High success and over the top quality! Excellent work all the way around!
God is very good to us.....I promise
This is great! Charlie messaged me the other night and said to check this thread out. Congrats to all involved. I had the privilege to share a hunt with Charlie and Forest, and they are some elk hunting machines.
Bowsite at its best! Congrats all. Forest, will you roll right into rifle season? If so good luck.
What a great trip. I need to do a hunt like this someday.
We are in Kansas now setting up cameras and trimming lanes. Will head back to Colorado mid week. I'll guide 1st rifle and then head back to Kansas. The guys will finish up 2nd rifle season and tear down camps.
I’m betting that as long as Forest continues to give God the glory, his operation will reflect results that are inline with this.
You can’t out give God. It’s a guaranteed fact. Glorifying him leads to blessing you can’t even imagine.
I take this thread as another piece of proof to verify the word. I absolutely love it.
Forest I will be booking! You guys got an awesome set up going here! Can’t wait!
Some hard work with obvious good results
TTT - kicking up another elk read
For those looking for a drop camp. Read this thread. Awesome job Forrest
