Bowhunter – September 2019

FALL OF 2018 set up to be a dream season. With luck in

the draws, I had tags in my pocket for mule deer in Arizona,

Colorado, Kansas, and New Mexico, a quality elk tag in Colo-

rado, and an over-the-counter Kansas pronghorn tag. The

year was already a success after shooting my best black bear

to date in the spring, yet my anticipation was high as the fall

seasons approached.

My first hunt was for mule deer on the famous Kaibab Pla-

teau in Arizona. Having hunted the Kaibab in 2017, I thought

I had devised a good plan of attack based on previous expe-

rience. Unfortunately, my well-laid plans didn’t pan out. Cir-

cumstances in my life delayed my hunt to the third week of

the season, and by then the hunting pressure had sent most of

the bucks into hiding. I met some fellow hunters who gener-

ously provided me with locations of water sources to sit, so I

hoped to get lucky late in the hunt. As you can guess, Mother

Nature had other ideas, and it rained nearly every day going

forward. I headed back to Kansas with my tail tucked for the

second year in a row. Having a great tag doesn’t always equate

to a slam-dunk hunt.

After a week home with my family, I headed west to hunt

elk in central Colorado with my good friend Ron Niziolek.

Ron was able to slip down to Colorado the first week of the

season, and he shot a nice five-point bull. I told him I could

84 BOWHUNTER ///SEPTEMBER 2019