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"Colorado Plains Trophy"
Written by Ronald Bersin

Colorado Plains Trophy
Here I was again on the eastern plains of Colorado, hunting with Donny Carr and Goldeneagle Outfitters. This was my third hunt with Donny. The previous two had exceeded my expectations and I looked forward to another week in camp with Donny and the boys.

The weather on the eastern plains was not cooperating. A warm front had moved in pushing temperatures into the 70's. This was the first week of November and we were experiencing high temperatures. Of course, they also prevented the rut from beginning. Each day, the other hunters in camp, myself and the guides would hope for lower temperatures which would encourage the does to go into heat. Unfortunately, the temperatures were staying high.

Even with the high temperatures, bucks were spotted. On the second day of my hunt, a south wind was blowing creating an opportunity to sit in a tree stand in the creek bottom. Being a boy from Oregon, and not very comfortable with heights, sitting in a tree stand was not very appealing to me. But with the high temperatures, the deer were moving into the creek bottom early and bedding down. This made it extremely difficult to spot the bucks from long distance. I decided to go into the stand.
At daylight, I looked to my right and spotted a lone deer at the edge of the creek bottom. I could tell it was a buck, but I needed more light to age the deer. Finally, I could see the buck. He had four points per side with a 24-inch spread. The problem was, the light also revealed the buck was young, probably 2-1/2 years old.

Over the next hour and a half, the buck continued to chase does through the creek bottom. Then, he decided to bed 40 yards from my stand. Once the buck bedded, he became very difficult to spot even at the short distance. It always amazes me how a buck can simply disappear by bedding down.

The remainder of the week was much of the same, young great looking bucks were spotted and passed on. The older mature deer simply were not moving in the high temperatures and the absence of a doe in heat. Finally, on the last evenings hunt, Phil, my guide, Mark, my hunting partner, and I were glassing into the creek bottom when I spotted two does feeding. Looking to the left of the does, I spotted a mature buck moving towards them. Phil attempted to get a better look at the buck through his spotting scope, but was unable to size up the buck. We decided to stalk from the west getting the wind in our favor. The stalk would be difficult due to the dryness of the grass and the leaves that were scattered throughout the ground. Phil and I thought the buck was on the other side of a bank approximately 250 yards away. Being very careful to avoid the dry leaves, Phil and I peeked over the bank. The two does were visible immediately, but the buck was no where in sight.
Suddenly, I looked to the left and there of the other side of the tree was the buck. Phil and I looked and were disappointed to see a 26-inch wide, young two point. Both of us agreed this was not the deer we had seen earlier. Suddenly, looking back at the does, a small two point emerged from the trees followed by a mature buck. Phil looked at the buck and gave the OK to take this animal. I settled my Remington 300 Ultra-Mag behind the front shoulder and squeezed. The buck was down.

Walking up to the buck, Phil and I were amazed at the age and mass on this buck. I could not reach completely around his bases. The buck is a 4x3 (western count) with double eye guards on the right side and a near 20 inch G-2 on the left side, making him very unique. The difficultly of the conditions and the uniqueness of this buck made this hunt very special. The buck will not score well, but he will always be a great trophy in my mind. Whenever you can match wits with a buck of this age and come out on top, you've done well.



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