Hunt results are now in for the 2011 western big game seasons. Many of the outfitters I reported on last year were affected by the severe and unseasonably long, cold winter of 2010/11 that much of North America experienced, yet still produced for their clients. Here are some of the more interesting results from last season.
Mike Bondurant, owner of
La Garita Outfitters, had a successful mule deer season on his premier Colorado lease - the 87,000-acre Chico Basin ranch near Colorado Springs. One of his two rifle hunters shot a buck scoring 195 points. The other hunter killed one-by mistake!-scoring only 175. Bondurant's lone archery hunter,
Hunting Report subscriber
Noah Hiscox, killed a
buck scoring 182, but saw two others estimated to be over 200! "I have never before seen such exceptional trophy size," Hiscox tells us. He gives Bondurant an all-excellent rating. Archers should take note: this late season hunt during the rut is an inexpensive option ($3,700 for seven days) with the potential for a giant buck. This is also an excellent ranch for a combo muzzleloader hunt for mule deer and a rifle hunt for a representative antelope.
Things didn't go so well on Bondurant's new Kansas lease. Weather was part of the problem, but worse was a car accident that left Bondurant with a broken neck just prior to the hunt. Still, the hunts took place on schedule with the help of a last-minute guide. Although Bondurant had seen several record-class bucks on the property over the last two years, his clients were unsuccessful. It was certainly no consolation that one of the rifle hunters missed a 160-class buck, or that others passed on decent bucks.....
