I lowered enough to stay out of sight and nocked an arrow. I drew my Hoyt and found my anchors. My heart was pounding, but I consciously took a slow breath as I settled my 60-yard pin.

Brown bear hunting is something else. I highly recommend if it’s on your bucket list that you MAKE IT HAPPEN! You won’t regret it.

Now at less than 15 yards, I let out a soft cow call to stop him for a shot. The bull was so close that you can see my perfectly-placed arrow.

During application season in 2020, I knew I wanted to chase velvet mule deer above the timberline. I decided to go all-in for an archery tag in Colorado.

Am I really seeing this? It just seems too good to be true. A group of good bulls on public ground in the middle of rifle elk season, leisurely feeding on an open plateau. I started to formulate a game plan, but it wouldn’t be for that day or even that season.

It’s difficult to understand how a dream materializes, but for Storie Ratcliff his came in the form of a monster buck 7 years in the making.

There was no wind; my pin was steady. I pulled through the release and snow exploded as the buck lunged forward and disappeared into the trees. I sank to my knees, drew in a deep, ragged breath, and waited for my nerves to unwind. The shot looked perfect, but time would tell...

After 19 years applying, Randy Morrison found himself with a WY Moose tag in his pocket and a tough decision to make.

“NO WAY!” I thought as I read the results from Colorado’s drawing results webpage. I had drawn this same tag the year before, and with zero points, I didn’t expect to draw again. As luck would have it, I was one of a couple hunters that drew with no points.

My hopes were high, but the part I was most excited about was the chance to hunt big velvet bulls with a rifle. I think it may be every western hunter’s dream to shoot a bull in full velvet. With only a week of hunting until the bulls would be rubbing their velvet, we knew we had to get it done fast.

Two friends Nick & Tad head into the mountains in search of mature mule deer and succeed in their goal with two monster bucks.

We covered more than one hundred and sixteen miles total, and seeing the two float planes land on the smooth river surface made it all worthwhile.