Its mid-October and Micah Sirek, who works in Hornady’s marketing department, has received a last-minute invitation to hunt elk in Colorado with friends from the UK, Selena and Simon K Barr. Hear how he fared on this truly authentic, wilderness adventure in Las Animas county.

For me, this was an iconic western big game hunt, the kind I had always dreamed about as a young kid in my early years of deer hunting with my dad. It was a very special trip and just being there to soak it up was incredible.

It was my second time elk hunting, as two years prior I had gone on a 10-day, do-it-yourself kind of bow hunt. I should’ve had a bear tag because I ran into four bears on that trip, and the last bear I saw was actually pretty big. After that encounter I made sure to make my way back to camp and move my food higher into the trees! The experience was great even though I didn’t harvest an elk. I learned a lot about wilderness hunting , found a few elk and I couldn’t wait for my next opportunity.

Last October we were hunting over-the-counter, second rifle season in Colorado, with Full Draw Outfitters who are very good friends of Hornady, husband and wife team Fred and Michele Eichler. They have leased ground and guiding licenses on public land, so are able to guide and hunt over some one million acres, in southern Colorado.

Southern Colorado’s San Isabel National Forest was breathtaking, the rugged Rocky mountain tops were capped with a light covering of snow and surrounded below by mixed forestation which had started changing color for fall. The views were striking and being able to hunt on public ground really made this a special hunt.

Each evening we stayed up on the mountain at our base camp in a wall tent and every morning and afternoon we would go out to our glassing spots to look for elk. Sharing a tent, you get pretty cozy with who you are bunking with, but we had a great time!

Each day we got up really early before the sun rose to get our gear sorted and to have breakfast. Our guides spoiled us with breakfast and coffee each morning. They had a huge tent, big stoves, propane burners and giant coolers so we really weren’t roughing it, it was quite luxurious for a camp out in the wilderness.

We split up each morning, Simon and Selena would go up the mountain one direction with their guide Jeb Crummer, while my guide Zach Workman and I hiked the other way. Our base camp was already at 8,000 feet and after that we trekked for about a mile to our glassing point. The first morning our guides hadn’t been out, so we didn’t know what to expect.

As the newbie, I was trying to learn from Zach. We had further to go than the other group so we would hike most of the way in the dark to the glassing point and then wait for it to get light. Since I grew up hunting flat lands and rolling plains, I didn’t have much experience with changing winds and thermal shifts hunting in the mountains, so Zach explained the thermals to me as we hiked.

On the first morning, the last climb to our glassing point was a 400-foot endurance test. When we got there, it was light enough to start glassing. Zach was glassing one direction while I watched the other way. There were a lot of shadows in the draw below us and in the timber on the ridge across, but as the sun got up, I caught a flicker of the sun’s rays shining on an elk feeding.

In that moment I got Zach’s attention and motioned for him to come over and look at the elk. The bull was moving through a burned area, so it was difficult to see through the burnt timber. After a few moments, Zach spotted him and confirmed it was a legal bull so we should try to make a plan on him.

We had been hiking for half an hour and within 15 minutes of legal shooting light we had already spotted a bull on the very first day of the hunt. It was all happening so quickly.

The bull was about 250 yards from our position, but by now he was looking back our way. We got down on our knees and backed out from the glassing point, which was rather exposed but thankfully he never spotted us. We did a 50-yard half circle to come back behind some thick cover and around a knob which gave us a direct line of sight to the elk and brought us closer.

Where we crouched, there was a little brush in the way, so I used a tripod to set-up for the shot. The bull was now 175 yards away and feeding up out of the bottom, on the side of a ridge. Zach cow-called to stop him, but when he did, the bull took an extra step behind a dead tree. There was a lot of standing dead timber, branches and stumps so it was difficult to find a clear shooting lane. The area had been hit by a wildfire five years ago, leaving behind big areas of standing dead timber, but also places of new growth abundant in elk forage.

From Zach’s view he saw enough of the vitals to whisper, “Go ahead and take the shot.” I was worried about the angle of the animal and the tree branch covering him, so I was taking my time as I didn’t want to wound the animal. Meanwhile, Zach was calmly repeating, “You’re good, you’re good, take the shot.” In the time that was expiring, the bull shifted his weight a little and settled back so I was able to tuck the first bullet just between the edge of the tree and into his vitals.

I was shooting Hornady’s new cartridge the 300 PRC, with a 212-gr ELD-X bullet through a GA Precison rifle, topped with a Leupold scope. I was amazed at how tough the bull was. He soaked up the first shot and looked up the mountain to try and see what had hit him, but by that time, I had put another round through his lungs. I chambered a third round and had settled my crosshairs again as Zach told me to shoot. With the final shot, the bull went down and so came an end to my pursuit.

After that, we hiked down to where the elk lay and took our photographs. I took some time to take it all in and then we field dressed him before going back to camp to meet up with everyone else.

Once we reached camp, we got the horses set up and then took everybody, including the horses, back to the elk. We quartered him out, packed up and loaded everything onto the horses. The terrain was quite difficult. Once we got out of the burned area, the undergrowth was very thick, rough going and steep. The horses had quite a difficult time trying to navigate through very tight spaces. With no trails, they almost didn’t make it. One guide had to go back and convince one of the horses to come because he’d had enough.

It was all a little bitter sweet because it had happened so fast, but I felt so blessed to accomplish this long-term goal of mine in this beautiful country, with such great company. We had arrived at base camp late the night before, got up early and hiked under the cover of darkness to the glassing point and within 30 minutes of the first morning’s hunt, it was all over for me.

After my bull, it was tough hunting for everyone else. The elk were only moving really early and really late, so it was difficult to try and find them in legal shooting light. We hadn’t had any other sightings of bulls on the mountain after I shot mine. In the meadow that Selena and Simon were hunting there was zero activity, but a lot of signs. Finally, on our last day on the mountain, Selena almost got it done but just like me she didn’t have a clear shot and the bull slipped away. Once we came down off the mountain, everyone came back to the main camp on the ranch and Selena went out with a different guide, in new country and was very happy when she brought back a bull on the last evening of the hunt.

We were shooting an over the counter bull tag that in our area had a four point restriction. This means a bull must have four points on one side or a brow tine at least five inches long to be a legal bull to harvest. The bull I shot was a five by five, he wasn’t a giant and wouldn’t score well but he was big-bodied and a very mature animal. One I’ll never forget. My wife thinks I’m a little crazy since I’m already planning my next elk hunt for September–October 2019. I’m trying to decide whether I will try again with a bow and arrow or rifle.

After my hunt, I was thankful to take my elk into town and have the butcher do a cut-and-wrap and then flash freeze it, so I could put it in the coolers and take the meat home. I’ve done this with deer before, but this bull was about 600–700lb, so it would have been a big chore for me. Now I’ve got plenty of elk meat to fill my freezer. I had an incredible hunt and got to enjoy it all with some wonderful people.