"A Great Spot to Rest"

The Holy Cross Wilderness has produced many trophy caliber mule deer over the years, and for Tim Molitor of Penrose, Colorado, it produced another in 1999. It was a combo hunt and Tim and his buddies were hunting both mule deer and elk. This particular unit was point restricted, meaning four point or better bulls and three point or better bucks only. Tim's hunt began on October 16 and the weather was horrible, for deer hunting that is. It was sunny, warm, and dry, the toughest conditions for hunting deer in mid-October. Tim was primarily hunting for elk, but the first four days produced nothing. Only smaller bulls, none that could legally be harvested. Since the deer hunt is for five days only, Tim decided to spend that fifth day in search of a buck to place his tag on.

Tim likes hunting the canyons, roadless areas that most hunters are too lazy to venture into. He had been hunting these canyons for over seven years, so he knew the country well. Because of the dry weather, walking through the leaves was like walking through potato chips, so you can imagine how tough it was to be quiet. Moving very slowly and constantly using his optics was the only way to go. At about 8:00am Tim heard a gun shot, it was his hunting partner Mark who downed a dandy 5 x 5. Because there was limited time, Tim continued on his hunt, sneaking quietly through trees. Eventually he came to spot that looked very good, it was a stand aspens surrounded by heavy timber, the perfect place to spot a big ole' muley on a midday stroll.

The plan was to sit down and wait a while, so he cleared an area of leaves and sticks, and sat down. It had been only 30 minutes when he spotted some movement out of the corner of his eye. It was a set antler's unlike any he had ever seen. He thought for sure he'd fallen asleep and was dreaming the whole thing, but not this time. It was incredible, there were five deer, three bucks and two does. The does were only ten yards away, and he could only see the head of the biggest buck. He knew that it wouldn't be long before the does would either smell or see him, so he decided he'd better take a shot. A head shot was the only choice, the crosshairs settled on the buck and Bang! The big buck instantly went down and Tim had one for the wall.

This was the third trophy buck that Tim had harvested in that canyon, but this one is by far the best. With a 31-inch spread and Boone and Crockett score of 187 3/4 points, the buck is truly something to see.

Written by Brian Latturner as told by Tim Molitor