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EK640 Story
My 2010 Bargain Hunts
My 2010 hunting season started out with a black bear
hunt to New Brunswick with my brother-in-law Gary, our sons, son-in-laws and
a buddy! This adventure started with the young boys wanting an affordable
bear hunt. I contacted Bob Wodzisz of Hunting Consultants Unlimited to see
if he had any contacts on a mid-priced bear hunt. I have a lot of faith in
Bob since he had already sent me on 5 successful hunts, two elk, two mule
deer and a Canadian whitetail hunt that exceeded my expectations.
They connected me with a New Brunswick outfitter that
offered a $1,600 spring bear hunt. We talked a few times on the phone, and
after discussing it as a group, decided to book it. We enjoyed a nice drive
and arrived to the most beautiful camp you would ever want to see
overlooking a gorgeous lake.
The boys were really looking forward to their first
night of bear hunting. Two bears were taken the first evening by other
hunters in camp. Then the weather took a terrible turn for bear hunting,
cold and wet. My 84-year old dad who has killed 4 black bears has always
told me that the bears like it hot and that the worse the black flies are
the better the bear hunting. Turns out he was right. It was the 3rd day
before my nephew Jeremy killed a nice bear with a bow.
The nasty weather continued through the 4th night but
the last night was perfect. I thought we would kill some bears and we did.
My son Zach killed a dandy with a bow and son-in-law Zach killed a nice bear
with a gun. At last light, I had a boar come right up the trail toward me;
he seemed to be scent checking for sows. He stopped for just a second at 30
yards; I was able to make the shot. We ended up taking 4 bears that week,
not bad considering the terrible weather. We had a great outfitter and a
great camp. Hunting Consultants Unlimited was now 6 for 6 with me.
In August of this year I gave Bob another call to
discuss our 2011 plans. He just happened to be on his way out west to meet
up with some of their outfitters. As we were talking he told me to consider
this new outfitter they were checking out in Craig, Colorado who was
offering a great introductory priced elk hunt for only $3,000. The more Gary
and I talked about it the more we thought we had to go this year. Now the
only problem was explaining to our wives how we thought we should go on a
second hunt in the same year. Lucky for us they are sisters and pretty
understanding!
We called Bob and told him to book it! He said to give
him a couple days so he could spend some time on the ranch glassing for game
and get to know the outfitter on a more personal level. He called me several
days later, said he really liked the outfitter and the ranch. Wouldn’t you
know we were on our way to another adventure and an adventure it was!
We arrived in Colorado on the September 19th. The
beauty of the Colorado Ranching for Wildlife Program is that you can hunt
with a rifle during the rut for elk and your tags are guaranteed through the
outfitter. We couldn’t wait!
We met the outfitter in Craig, another great guy. We
got our licenses and after we got back to the beautiful ranch and a real
nice lodge he asked us if we wanted to hunt that night, and of course we
said yes. No luck the first evening but the next 2 days were a different
story.
I killed a nice 6 x 6 at 35 yards that my guide bugled
in 15 minutes into the first morning. What a rush and my best bull to boot!
Gary killed a nice 6 x 6 the second morning after 4 straight hours of
calling, bugling and finally stalking in on the herd after they hung up. We
had taken 2 six-point bulls in 2 days.
Now it was my turn again, since I also had a muley tag.
The first couple of days were a little slow on finding a good buck but on
the last morning of the hunt we spotted a nice 4 x 4 at 400 yards. We were
able to stalk within 175 yards and I got the shot off as I spotted the buck
on the skyline looking back at the guide as he was slipping through the oak
brush. I had killed my best ever mule deer. What a week!
As we sat there on a beautiful Colorado morning taking
pictures and soaking it all in, Gary and I talked about what a great week we
had and how we would have missed out on the hunt of a lifetime if it wasn’t
for Bob! All we had to do was say yes. 7 for 7 with HCU!
Thanks again Bob!
Chris Inverso
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