During the fall rut, ranch broker Pat Lancaster is busy guiding clients with his other business, Lancaster Outfitters. Here’s a recount of one of his outings this year on Cielo Vista Ranch, a legacy ranch for sale in southern Colorado:
I spent the early morning hours of September 3rd scouting for elk in the spectacular timberline basins of the Cielo Vista Ranch. Later that day, I would be joined by longtime friend and bowhunting partner, Terry Betteridge. Our plan was to spend the next few days bowhunting for the big bulls on the ranch. Not only did I see several nice bull elk that morning, but also a group of mule deer bucks and bighorn sheep rams.
Later that afternoon, a light rain was falling as Terry and I began still hunting through a stand of timber towards a large meadow where I had seen bulls earlier that morning. We could hear several bulls bugling in the distance around us. Terry and I chose to pursue the most aggressive sounding bull, hoping he would be the dominant bull in the area. The bull answered our cow calls, but continued to head towards the meadow below. We continued to occasionally call and move in the bulls direction. Once we reached the meadows edge, we set up and made some cow calls. The bull immediately answered from a thick stand of timber across the meadow. Now knowing exactly where the bull was, Terry quickly moved in his direction and set up near a large fir tree on the meadows edge. I stayed back and began a series of soft cow calls. The bull began bugling continuously, and judging by the sound he had turned around and was rapidly headed in our direction! Still having not seen the bull, it was an amazing sight to see him enter the meadow walking straight toward me. Terry had situated himself perfectly between the oncoming bull and myself. As the unsuspecting bull walked past Terry, he was able to draw his bow and make a great shot on the elk. After an easy tracking job, we quickly found the giant bull.
Still with some daylight remaining, we were able to enjoy the moment, field dress and cape the animal before beginning our long walk back to the vehicle. The next day was spent packing the bull out. We later determined that the magnificent 6 x 8 bull was 10 years old and had a gross Pope and Young score of 358″.
We were able to spend the next few days enjoying the spectacular scenery on the ranch!