Leave it to Clay Newcomb to plan a DIY Colorado elk hunt with mules on public land. Here's how things worked out for Clay and his son on that hunt.
We all know that the owner of Bear Hunting Magazine has quite a passion for pursuing bear. Though he's done his share of deer and turkey hunting as well, Clay had never gone elk hunting until this fall. On a whim, he decided to buy some over the counter elk tags and head out west with his son Bear for a DIY Colorado elk hunt with mules.
Just like he did with his recent Montana black bear hunt, Clay planned on using those mules to access some really difficult to reach backcountry areas. As you'll see, those mules also gave them enough mobility that they were able to cover some serious ground in search of elk.
In fact, the mules enabled them to reach some country that would have been extremely difficult to access on foot.
Watch the video below to see how things turned out on their elk hunt.
Even though they didn't end up tagging an elk, Clay came really, really close. After several days of hard hunting, Clay had the opportunity to shoot a raghorn, but he passed because he wasn't 100% sure at the time that it was a legal bull.
He later realized that was indeed a legal bull. Though I'm sure that missing out really stung at the time, he made the right decision.
Especially considering the fact that they had never hunted elk before, were on a do it yourself hunt on public land, and hunting in an over the counter unit, that's pretty impressive performance for a father/son hunt.
Great work Clay! Better luck next time. Who knows, maybe you'll tag that bull along with one of the bears that tore up your truck next year!
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NEXT: HUNTER SHOOTS ELK FROM 875 YARDS WITH A 308
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