I’d been building points in Arizona since I was 25, and since I was turning 50, I was planning on cashing in those points for a very special “Big 5-0” elk hunt. I’ve been pretty lucky over the years when it comes to hunting, so I was surprised when I didn’t draw the tag I was after. I shook it off and was hopeful that something else might pan out.
Utilizing information obtained through the Huntin’ Fool magazine along with data provided by the Colorado DPW, I knew that applying for unit G12, the Maroon Bells Wilderness, gave me the best odds of drawing a tag and killing a Mtn. goat in Co. Much to my surprise, with only eight points going into the drawing, I was successful in drawing the tag!
A self-guided hunt was going to require a support team, and my good friends, Darrin Klein and Brian Foss, were the first to volunteer. Aron Sakelaris, the 15-year-old son of my longtime hunting buddy and fellow Huntin’ Fool John Sakelaris, would join us on the hunt as well.
We concentrated our scouting efforts on the fringe of the unit, hoping to avoid the crowds. We saw a couple of billies on what seemed like an approachable peak on the border of the wilderness area. We made this peak our Plan A for the opener.
Opening day was a serious reality check. What seemed to be a manageable approach to a 13,250 foot peak was one of the most dangerous pieces of Colorado dirt our boots had ever crossed. Five hours into the approach and less than 100 vertical feet below the ridge, we called it off and headed down. This was possibly the best decision of the trip as attempting the planned descent after sunset would have been disastrous. Common sense and self-preservation told us it was time to switch to Plan B and hunt the core of the unit. We packed our backpacks and prepared for a five-day trip into the core of the Maroon Bells.
The third day of the hunt was the sixth day of the trip since we’d arrived early for scouting purposes. Foss had to leave to make it to his little brother’s wedding, so it was Darrin, Aron, and me left to execute Plan B. Our plan was to get on top of a ridge that had been identified through maps as a high density kill zone. After a four-mile trail ascent, we reached the fork where our trail headed north to the ridgetop. We filtered some water while eating lunch, and amazingly, Darrin spotted a billy lying on a bench about half a mile away. We busted out the big spotter, and although he wasn’t the biggest billy in the unit, he was approachable and retrievable.
After a gnarly ascent, we found a little saddle and dropped our packs for the final stalk. We set Darrin up behind the spotter, and Aron and I closed the gap. At about 250 yards and 45 degrees below the billy, I settled in behind my shooting sticks and took my time. I wasn’t about to let this ending slip away.
At the shot, the billy was clearly hit, but the shot was slightly high. He got up, wandered to the offside of the bench, and stood there for a moment. The next shot went high, as did the third. Altitude and angle were coming into play, and I was rattled. I aimed low, and the next shot hit him solidly before he took a dive. We heard some crashing through the trees before he went out of sight behind the hill, and then it was silent. We found him in the scree field below the cliff, not far from the little saddle where Darrin was set up. We did it!
A month and a few weeks later, I turned 50. It wasn’t as bad as I’d imagined it would be when I was younger, and it occurred to me that it’s not as much about the years as it is about how you live them. Coming home from this hunt, I felt like a kid again and was ready to take on the next phase of my life.
Thank you to Darrin Klein, Brian Foss, and Aron and John Sakelaris for taking this hunt as seriously as they would their own and for making my “Big 5-0” hunt one that I will never forget.
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