2011 Colorado Pheasant Weekend Opener

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Chris
The Hunters

Joe Jr., Joe, Kevin, and Matt

The long awaited Pheasant Season is finally here. Jaxon and I had the pleasure of hunting this Sunday with some friends from The Knights of Columbus. The hunting party from Arvada consisted of Joe Starcevich and his son Joe Jr., Matt Rock, and Kevin Vasina. We were fortunate enough to be invited by brothers Mike and Jeff Allers to hunt private land in Yuma so we were not worried about pressure from other hunters. We had my 5 year old yellow lab Jaxon and Joe’s 15 month old English Springer Spaniel Jasmine to help find and retrieve birds. We were very optimistic when after just starting to walk our first field a rooster flushed in front of me and I was able to drop him with one shot. Jaxon got right on him for the retrieve.

First Bird of the Season

This was the first day with my new Browning Citori 20 gauge over and under. I will have this gun for many years to come and will always have a fond memory knowing that I killed a pheasant with the first shot in the field.

We did not see an abundance of birds but it seemed that we saw more than I remember from previous Colorado hunts. We flushed quite a few hens and about 5 roosters total, but only 2 in gun range that we took. Joe Jr had a rooster flush 10 yards behind him and he spun for a quick one shot kill.

The dogs did very well and stayed in close as we worked the fields. I would like to get Jaxon quartering fields better so we are going to spend some time over the next two weeks with Dave Dahlberg of Rolida Retrievers. Jaxon has done more duck than pheasant hunting and needs to learn to use his nose a little more while working side to side. Knowing Dave, he will probably get Jaxon dialed in after one session and will spend the next 10 days getting me trained to repeat the process.

I think we all learned some valuable lessons about communication and strategy when working a field. I’m sure we will be more succesfull as we continue to hunt together. None of us are experts and the best way to learn is by getting out, doing it, and learning from our mistakes and successes. We had a great day, everyone got home safe and Jaxon is resting up for his next adventure. Thanks guys, what a great day. God bless.

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2011 Duck Season Under Way

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Chris

Quack, Quack

Keith, Jaxon, Aaron, and Eric

It is hard to believe that Duck season is in full swing. Keith Gardner and his nephews Aaron and Eric invited me and Jaxon to go duck hunting at Narrows Mallard club last week. We had a nice set up on the South Platte river with about 24 decoys and 2 spinners. We didn’t see many birds but managed to get 4 down. It seems I am the bad luck charm because they ALWAYS see more birds when I am not there, whatever. I will give Keith props because he nailed the first two birds we saw with his loaner benelli. (Hey Rob, I am confirming that Keith dropped the gun in the river. We did everything we could to retrieve it but the water was deep, cold and the currents were swift, sorry.) It was a little colder than expected since it was in the 80′s the previous day. We got 2 of the ducks on the river and the other in the slews. It seems that the woodies like hanging out in the slews. Keith volunteered to walk through and jump them while Aaron, Eric, Jaxon and I hung out on point where the birds usually exit. Keith kicked out about 5 birds and 3 came in range. I nailed the first one at about 25 yards. It was nice to see that I didn’t have blanks in my gun as first suspected. Eric made a nice crossing shot on the second bird that dropped into heavy cover.

Action Jaxon Gettin' It Done

Jaxon was going nuts hearing the guns. I steadied him up and released him into the heavy cover where Eric’s bird went down. He was back in about 5 seconds and delivered a woodie drake to my hand. I turned him and set him on a mark where my bird went down and he had that bird back to me in seconds. It was nice to see that his skills are as sharp as ever. Since my skills are not as sharp as my dogs I will be spending some time on the range before I go back out.

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The Legendary Green Drake Hatch

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Chris

The Green Drake Hatch is Coming…
Check out this blog post below from the Taylor Creek Fly Shop in Basalt. This is the first and best fly shops I have ever been in. This is where I bought my first sage rod. My friend Vinny bought one the same day and snapped it in half in a car door about 30 minutes later. They replaced it no questions asked. What a relief to finally be able to laugh about it. The guide service is excellent. I spent a half day with them two summers ago on the Frying Pan River and it was well worth it.
I lived in Basalt for a summer back in 1995 and fished the flying pan about 3 days a week. It is the fishing you always dream of provided you are not there on the weekend. It was my first year of fly fishing and I didn’t know the difference between a green drake and the green hornet. The Taylor Creek Fly Shop told me about the hatch and set me up with some flies. The next two evenings were legendary. We were fishing by moonlight and could barely see the water. We waited to hear the water break to set the hook. We had hits on every cast. It even made me feel like I knew how to fish. I can’t wait to get back. Go to Taylor Creek Fly shop to buy your flies. They tie the best local pattern.

Taylor Creek Fly Shop Blog Post
Believe it or not we’re only a little more than a week or so away from “The Big Show”. The world renowned Green Drake mayfly hatch will be upon us before you know it. We’re starting to book up for the prime slots of mid to late July up to mid August. We strongly encourage you to reserve your boat(s) and favorite guide(s) asap. Floating the Roaring Fork and Colorado Rivers are the ideal way to fish this legendary hatch in addition to wading the fabled waters of the Frying Pan River. If thirty plus years of history is any indication, we will fully book for this incredible hatch.
With abnormally high snowpack levels this past winter and spring we expect runoff to subside by mid July – a full month behind last year! Thankfully the Green Drakes are waiting for runoff to subside as the water temps begin to increase! Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to fish this tremendous hatch. This is the hatch of myths, legends and stories.

When to go-
Green Drakes on the Roaring Fork and Colorado Rivers are somewhat unique in the fact that the vast majority of these insects hatch just prior to dark. Often the best fishing takes place during the last two hours of light. Because of this, many anglers prefer to book a full day outing beginning at 1pm and ending at dark-thirty (generally 9pm). There are definitely times when good numbers of Drakes hatch during midday as well. This often happens during warm and overcast days. A typical full day guide trip begins at 8:30am and ends around 5pm. The fishing is often just as good as our evening trips and you can still be back for happy hour! Either way, this is our most special time of year and the fishing will always be good. We invite you to join our talented guide staff and make 2011 a year to always remember.

Taylor Creek Fly Shops
183 Basalt Center Circle
Basalt, Colorado 81621
970-927-4374
email – tcreek@ssv.net
web- www.taylorcreek.com
www.taylorcreekflyshop.blogspot.com

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Archery Elk Season is Here!!!

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Chris

It is hard to believe that the Elk and Deer archery season started on Saturday in Colorado. This is my favorite season as it gives me the opportunity to do what I love best, hunt elk. The archery season is great because it is full month and the weather is mild. The warm weather is not great for the elk but it is much easier on us humans. I hunt locally within 30 minutes of my home so I can do day trips. One good thing is the elk haven’t been shot at for a year so they are not that spooky yet. The bad thing is because it is so warm they want to stay at the higher elevations where it is cooler. This means that I have to go where the elk are. Climbing the mountains to find the elk takes conditioning and like a fool I did not train for the season and my first day out kicked my butt. I am also hunting in an area I have never hunted before. I did some scouting a few weeks ago and spotted 3 cows coming over a saddle, down a draw, and settling into some trees. I decided that this was the place to go opening day. I hiked into the area to get a waypoint on my GPS so I could find my way in the dark. My plan was to get at the parking area at 4:30 so that I could be at the top by 6:00 and let the elk come to me. The thing that I forgot was that I had about 3/4 of a mile of think vegetation to get through before I got to a clearing to start my ascent and I was now going to do this in the dark. Continue reading →

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Fishing With Dad

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Chris

Just a Big Kid

Went back to New York to visit my folks. My dad used to fish a lot but has lost interest in the last couple of years. I thought this would be a good opportunity for us to reconnect while doing something that we both enjoy. My friend Woody goes bass fishing every week and offered to take us to one of his favorite spots. The fish weren’t very active but we managed to catch two. Regardless, it was a beautiful and peaceful morning. There was mist on the water as the sun came up, we saw a heron coasting overhead and watched it land right in front of us. It was a great morning spent with my dad and a good friend that I will never forget. Hopefully I renewed my dads interest in fishing so next time I visit maybe he will take me to his favorite spot.

Dad Taking It All In


The Wood Man

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The Secret to Catching More Fish

Posted on August 12, 2010 by Chris

I had a major breakthrough today while fly fishing in Clear Creek. I discovered the secret to catching more fish. I hope you are sitting down for this because it is mind blowing.

GO FISHING MORE OFTEN

I have not fly fished much in the last couple of years and I have gotten rusty. I have recently rededicated myself and I have been getting out at least once each week. I haven’t been catching many fish lately. Most of the strikes that I have gotten have come by surprise and I didn’t set the hook fast enough and never got the fish to the net. I have been stopping by Charlie’s Fly Box to keep my flies stocked and I have been getting tips from the guys. Through practice I have been getting better at tying knots so my flies are now in the water more often and I am quicker to tie on something different until I find out what works. I think that I forgot how subtle the hits are and I was not focused enough. Today my plan was to keep things in close so that I could control my line better and feel the hits. I found a nice spot on Clear Creek that was flowing pretty quickly but had a lot of rocks and structure creating many places for fish to hang out. On my first cast I had a quick hit and because I was focused, was able to set the hook and I got a little brown to the net. I continued to keep thing close, stayed with my line and stared intently at my fly. I was finally getting it and was feeling every hit and landing fish. I was gaining more confidence and felt that every cast would bring a strike and more often than not it did. Nothing beats time on the water to gain confidence and catch more fish. I can’t wait to get out again and I just know that the more I fish, the better I will get. Who wants to join me?

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Big Turnout for Leftover Tag Day at Denver DOW

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Chris

Today was left over tag day for the Colorado Division of Wildlife. This was the first day for hunters to purchase licenses that were left over from the draw. My main mission was to see if I could trade my unit 29 archery deer tag for a unit 38 tag. I did not draw my usual unit 29 elk tag and instead had to settle for an unlimited either sex tag to use in unit 38. It didn’t make sense to hunt two different animals in two different units. When I got to the DOW at 8:00 I didn’t expect to be the only one there but I wasn’t ready for what I saw either. Cars were lined up on Broadway and when I got inside I found out that there were 500 people ahead of me. I was pleasantly surprised to see how orderly and organized the process was. Continue reading →

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Official Launch of Reluctant Sportsman

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Chris

Welcome to the official launch of Reluctant Sportsman.  My goal is to be a resource of information to help get the novice sportsman out in the field.  I come across a lot of people who want to fly fish or hunt but don’t know where to get started.  More times than not, all that is needed is to put people together and learn by doing.  I didn’t have much success learning how to fly fish from a magazine.  I was fortunate enough to have a good friend who was patient enough to show me the basics.  I have yet to reach his level of expertise but guess what, I am a fly fisherman.

Clear Creek Canyon near Blackhawk

Same goes for elk hunting.  If it weren’t for a good friend offering to take me elk hunting and showing me how to clean, quarter, and skin an elk, I would still be on the couch watching the hunting chanel.  Let’s all keep the sportsman tradition going by taking a buddy hunting or fishing.  You might just change their life.

My First Bull with a Bow

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