The Buck Stops Here
A few photos from the field to get the blood pumping on the eve of the Wisconsin gun deer season.
Ellis cousins Don Dlobik and Dave Dlobik tagged 8-point bucks bowhunting in Waukesha County during the rut. Don’s buck weighed in at 183 pounds. To date, however, he has not shared any tenderloin with his writer cousin who can’t fill a tag himself. Jim Dlobik tagged his buck hunting family property in Wood County.
Other submitted photos come to us from lifelong Ellis family friends now hunting outside Wisconsin.
Emma Warren, 9, granddaughter of New Berlin, Wisconsin native Danny Duvall, took this fine buck with a bow in Ohio.
New Berlin, Wisconsin native Jeff Eckmann tagged this beautiful 10-pointer hunting with gun on his farm in Kentucky.
The following photos brought to you courtesy of my brothers, Steve and John chasing mule deer and elk this October from Wapiti Cross Ranch near Craig Colorado with our hosts, Scott and Robin Paul.
Scott and Robin Paul and Wapiti Cross Ranch near Craig Colorado provide the lodging, and turn the hunters loose on hundreds of thousands of public acreage to chase elk and mule deer.
Finding elk or muley sheds was an almost every day occurrence during the Colorado hunt. The Ellis brothers had ample opportunity to fill buck tags on public land if a monster buck wasn’t the standard. Monster bucks did also present shots.
John Ellis takes in the Colorado view several hundred yards from where he enjoyed a 20 minute standoff with a royal bull elk an hour before. John held only a cow tag.
It was a great trip. You will read the details in the January-February 2017 issue of On Wisconsin Outdoors. But for now, the Wapiti Cross Ranch offers the basics in lodging and turns you loose on endless acres of public land in northwest Colorado to pursue mule deer or elk, or antelope and other critters depending on your hunting passions and budget.
Steve Ellis was happy to run pain-free with new knees for half-mile in Colorado hill country in an effort to head off five monster mule deer spotted running together from river bottom toward the hunter’s position in hill country. He tagged this buck later.
The country is beautiful and diverse from mountains to sage brush and cactus plains. The deer and elk numbers are very good. And Scott and Robin were exceptional hosts and very helpful to rookie hunters like me who could use a tip or two. For your own planning purposes, Scott stands ready with truck and winch if one of his clients calls with a muley or elk down. And the ranch itself has all the butchering equipment necessary to take care of your own animal for the long drive home. Again, look for all details from travel to license costs coming soon.
John Ellis scores a muley on his first hunt to Colorado.
Connect with Scott and Robin Paul at 386-867-4886 or scott@wapiticrossranch.com.
Good luck hunting. Don’t forget to pick up all your gas and snack needs for the gun hunt at any of the hundreds of Kwik Trip stores across Wisconsin. While you’re there, don’t forget your November-December issue of On Wisconsin Outdoors
Thanks for connecting with On Wisconsin Outdoors. Shoot Straight.
Dick Ellis