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NAME: Guy & Travis Thompson
WHERE FROM: Kingsland, Texas
HARVESTED: Public land in the Needle Mountains of southwest Colorado
TYPE OF FIREARM OR BOW USED: Ruger All-Weather Model 77 in 30.06 caliber, using Federal Premium Vital-Shok 165-gr. bullets.
SPECIES TYPE: Rocky Mountain elk
SIZE AND WEIGHT:6x6 bull, 750 lbs.
DESCRIPTION: They say the third time is the charm, and October 2004, was my third attempt to harvest a trophy elk in the high mountains of Colorado. It was also my 54th birthday and I knew I may not be able to meet the physical demands of back-packing an elk out of the mountains many more times. My son Travis and I boarded the narrow-gauge train in Durango on October 15th and headed deep into the Weminuche wilderness. Getting off at Needleton, we started the long climb in thin air headed for Chicago basin. Two other groups of hunters got off the train, starting ahead of us and were headed to the Ruby lake area. Fresh snow had peppered the highest peaks, including the mountains that surrounded Chicago basin, some six miles further up the trail.
We had only gone two miles when we noticed a very fresh and heavily traveled game trail crossing from one drainage to another. The trail was plowed up with elk tracks, coming off the ridge above us and dropping down into a large, clear rock slide area about two hundred yards below us. The hunters ahead of us had crossed the same spot, but continued on, higher into the mountains. We went back down the trail about half a mile and set up camp, then returned to the elk crossing and set up a hasty ground blind using a camo poncho and pine branches. The next day, right before dark, a group of cows came off the ridge and fed just below us, but no bull showed that evening. A snowstorm and high wind kept the elk from moving the next day. Finally, on the third evening, with light fading, we heard a bull bugling on the ridge above us. I started using my cow call and the bull answered, getting closer and closer. With only a few minutes of legal shooting time left, six cows came off the trail into the opening below us, followed by a magnificent bull. I told Travis to take him. His 30.06 barked twice and the big bull went down. We were as excited as kids, and high fives and wild whoops echoed down the canyon. The best part was sharing the moment with my son. It took us all night to quarter and pack the meat and cape back to camp.
After an hour of rest, we broke camp and started down the trail to the railhead. Exhausted but happy, we boarded the train and headed back to Durango with a beautiful trophy and memories that will last us both a lifetime.
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