Colorado Bull Elk

John and his Colorado bull elk

After a year of scouting the lay of the land, John skillfully dropped his first ever Colorado bull elk on the second day of muzzleloader season. While in the process of calling a different bull he'd spotted up ahead, John turned around just in time to eye his prize elk 50 yards down into a canyon.

"He went about 30 yards and dropped," John said of his elk. John and his hunting buddy took the rest of the day packing the elk to hike three miles out of the canyon.

John elected to start the season with a Knight Shadow .50 cal muzzleloader, with 80 grains and 777 behind a 50 cal No Excuses 460gr conical. "The Shadow's compact size and light weight made it perfect for this hunt because we were hunting public land that had no off-road access¬ - only foot or bicycle travel. I needed to pack light."