Thanks to Blane Gilliland of Spur Outfitters, handi-buddy Al Montoya, enjoyed what he calls his "moose hunt of a lifetime". Blane donated a guided cow moose hunt to Outdoor Buddies and Al was the lucky recipient of the hunt.

Blane manages Spur Outfitters, LLC based in Encampment, Wyoming, which offers hunts in Wyoming and Colorado for elk, mule deer, white tail deer, and pronghorn antelope. In Colorado, Spur Outfitters is guaranteed licenses for moose, elk, mule deer, and pronghorn antelope through the Colorado Division of Wildlife's Ranching for Wildlife program.

Ranching for Wildlife is a program initiated in 1985 by the Colorado Wildlife Commission. It provides incentives to large landowners to encourage them to manage their lands for wildlife benefits. This program has opened up over a million acres of prime private wildlife habitat to limited public hunting. Landowners must have 12,000 contiguous acres that contains significant number of the species that they wish to hunt.

There are currently 26 ranches in this program. Species hunted and available to hunters by limited license drawing include: Elk, Deer, Antelope, Bear, Turkey, Moose, and Bighorn Sheep The limited licenses for these ranches are available to the public through the DOW's drawing process. The hunts are very popular with public hunters and it requires a number of preference points to draw the male licenses.

Licenses issued for these ranches can only be used on the specified ranch. Hunters obtaining a license to hunt on these private ranches are given access to private property that would otherwise be closed

The Colorado Silver Spur Ranches are located due north of Walden, Colorado bordered on the west by the Zirkel Wilderness Area and on the east by the Colorado State Forest. This 64,382-acre ranch includes the Canadian, Michigan, North Fork and North Platte Rivers. Habitats consist of willow covered river bottoms, native hay fields, rolling sagebrush hills, hogbacks and deep draws with open aspen pockets and dark timber. The most unique aspect of the Walden Ranches is that hunting elevations range from 8,100 feet to 9,000 feet.

Spur Outfitters' experienced guides, certified in CPR and First Aid, are eager to show their clients an exciting and complete hunting trip, not based solely on the kill but on the total outdoor experience.

Al's moose hunt began at about 9:00 AM on September 28th when he, accompanied by able-buddies Wally Hunt and Dwaine Robey, loaded his gear into Wally's Jeep and headed out for Spur Outfitters' lodge at Silver Spur Ranch's Big Horn Unit located about two miles west of Cowdry, Colorado.

We arrived there that afternoon around 2:00 PM, where Blane and Marlan Hanson, who was to be Al's guide for the hunt, met us. Blane introduced us to the rest of the staff and showed us around the lodge. Then we moved our things into our rooms and took care of the necessary paper work.

We thought Al's hunt would start the next morning, but since there were still a few hours of daylight left, Blane suggested that Marlan take us out to look for some moose yet that evening.

It took about twenty minutes to drive to where Marlan wanted to start looking for moose. And, sure enough, we found some. We saw several cows and calves and a few nice bulls, all too far away for Al to get a shot. Then Marlan spotted a cow with a large bull in an area where we may be able to get close to them. We thought Al might be able to get a shot at the cow.

We were able to get plenty close enough, but then discovered that the cow had a calf with her so Al would not be able to take the cow. Instead, we all enjoyed watching the moose for a while. The bull seemed undisturbed by our presence and simply ignored us as we watched and took a few pictures. It had been a successful scouting adventure, but it was getting late, so we headed back to the lodge.

That evening we enjoyed a delicious dinner, prepared by Candi, and had a chance to visit with Blane and Marlan and two other guides, Clay, Candi's husband and ranch manager, and BJ. All the folks with Spur Outfitters were a joy to be around and made Al's moose hunting adventure a very enjoyable experience for all of us. Clay and Cindi's daughters, Caleen and Cati were delightful and Cati really enjoyed playing a game called "I Spy".

We arose early the next morning to find Candi had already prepared breakfast and Marlan was ready to take us out to find a moose for Al. We headed out a little before 6:00 AM so that we would be in the area where Marlan wanted to hunt before daylight.

Marlan had picked the right place! We spotted two moose, a bull and cow, shortly after daybreak. The moose were in a marshy area covered with thick willow shrubs. We watched for a few minutes and had a clear view of the bull, but the cow stayed pretty well hidden in the willows. After several minutes of "jockeying back and forth" Al finally got a clear shot at the cow. He did not miss! The first shot was a perfect hit, but the cow did not go down. Al fired two more shots to finish the job.

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..... The bull simply ignored us. .............................. Dick, in his mobile processing trailer.

After nearly getting the truck stuck in the marsh, Marlan attached a chain to the cow and pulled it with the truck to dry ground. Marlan made quick work of field dressing the moose, and then we all struggled to get it loaded onto the truck. It is a good thing there were four of us because it was all we could do to get it loaded. We were headed back to the lodge with Al's moose before 9:00 AM.

Back at the lodge, the moose was turned over to Dick Rocque. Dick is a master processor of wild game animals. He personally designed his custom built mobile processing center and is onsite at Silver Spur Ranch for the duration of hunting season. This provides a great convenience and service for the clients of Spur Outfitters. Dick and his grandson, Owen, skinned and processed the moose that day and placed the wrapped meat in the walk-in freezer at the lodge. The next morning, we loaded the frozen processed moose meat into ice chests and returned home.

To all the folks at Spur Outfitters, we say Thank you! You were all so gracious, kind, and generous. God bless you all.