G5 T3 Expandables Entry Hole

One of the most commen questions we get in the shop is, "What broad head do you use?" For the last 2 season both myself and Josh have been using the T3 expandable by G5. The main reason is the huge amount of damage that this broadhead does and how accurately it is down range.

My favorite example of this is my 2012 Colorado Mule Deer. I took this deer at 60yards which is a range I am a lot more comfortable with when using expandables but also the size of the entry and exit holes on this deer are amazing but very typical with the results I have seen on other animal with these broadheads.

 Entry wound

Close up.

Jay Anthony Elk 2012 Video

Our Buddy Jay Anthony was able to but together a video from his 2012 Public land over the counter elk hunt. Jay and crew was able to connect with a great Colorado bull.

Thanks for everything Jay Anthony, Brian Trainor and Adam Trainor you guys are great!

The Guys were using
Sitka Gear Clothing
Badlands Packs 
Bowtech Invasion
Bowtech Assassion 
Diamond Outlaw 

Pheasant Hunting

Pheasant hunting 10% Strategy 90% wandering around. That's where Inov-8's lightweight hunting boots come in handy.

A Good Year for Deer at Gannett Ridge

After a long, difficult and unsuccessful September Elk season the entire crew at Gannett Ridge was ready for a fun October of chasing deer in both Colorado and Wyoming.

 

 Josh Soholt 2012 Wyoming Deer 

Josh was able to start the month off with bang bringing down a big Wyoming buck 45 Min into the season with his rifle.

Tyler Matthews CO Mule Deer 

 There isn't much of a story behind my buck. I only made 2 stocks for the season and hunted a total of around 1 hour for the entire season. We were hunting during with second rifle season tags and the first stock I made that morning was with my rifle but wasn't able to find a clear shooting lane. Later that day around 3 in the after noon we found this buck and 2 other young  bucks out browsing. After a short stock I was able to make a 60 yard shot with my Bowtech Invasion the buck only made it around 60 yards and piled up.

Sam Soholt 2012 Colorado Mule Deer

 Opening morning Sam and I flipped a quarter for how got to shoot first and Sam won. Only about 30 min into opening morning we spotted 2 bucks out feeding on an open hillside. Using our Hunting GPS mapping program on our GPS we were able to determine that they were right on the edge of a BLM track. By the time Sam was in position he was only able to take this great 4x4 with one shot from a custom 300 win mag that Matt at Sawtooth rifles was nice enough to let us borrow for this hunt.

Gear we used during our hunts

Minox Optics

Gear we used during these hunts 

Inov8 Boots

Sitka Gear 

Bowtech Invasion

Brian Avila Custom Gannett Ridge Knife

Atkinson Expeditions Live Hunt Highlights

For those that missed the live Eastern Colorado Antelope hunt with Atkinson Expeditions, why what were you doing that could have been more important?

But just in case here are the highlights from the hunt.

Last day of 2012 Colorado Elk Season

Well today marks the end of our 2012 Colorado archery elk season.

 It has been a very long time since Josh and I didn't have at least one of us fill an elk tag and honestly we have been spoiled over the years. At the same time I can't remember a year where we have worked as hard. We were lucky enough to spend time in some of the most beautiful and rugged country North America has to offer. We had countless close opportunities and even passed a few opportunities to fill our tags early in the season holding out for a trophy. Overall I have never had such a run of just poor luck from fog and rain to swirling winds and bad timing with other hunters as this year but at the same time that is western public land hunting. The good the bad and the ugly of it.

Throughout the entire season Sam was there dragging along a camera heavy pack doing his best to capture the journey. And even though we never ended up with the Trophy photos/video we were working so hard for Sam was able to capture the journey in an amazing way. Throughout never complaining and always staying positive and for that I can’t thank Sam enough.

But rest assured our 2012 season is far from over with Wyoming and Colorado deer hunts plus some journeys back flatlands of South Dakota and Kansas to relax and just sit in a tree or two and wait for a deer to make a mistake. There are many more tags to fill and days left in the field this year.

With the end of elk season we come to a bitter sweet ending of our true high country hunts for the season. Sweet because physically everything just got easier for the rest of the year by 10x it’s all a walk in the park from now on! Bitter because there is no more rewarding and chalanging place to hunt.

There is something that keeps you going back to the backcountry there is a truth and a prospective that hunting the backcountry brings. There are few better places to find yourself, test your limits, resolve and determination. Hunting the backcountry is not for the easily dissuaded, there are no short cuts and nothing is given that is not earned. To love the backcountry is to love the challenge and to embrace some of the most unforgiving and unchanged land there is. As people we forget how truly easy our lives have become, we have a habit of making luxuries into necessities.  Sometimes is takes the brutal unforgiving beauty of the mountains to bring back prospective.

Until next year! Bring on the easy hunts!