Have you heard of the Colorado Big Nine? It’s a big deal. You earn it by taking the top big game species in Colorado: elk, mule deer, whitetail, antelope, black bear, mountain lion, moose, mountain goat, and bighorn sheep, with a bow. It’s a quest that takes you from the plains to way above the snow line, stalking to get within bow-and-arrow range of animals with keen eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell.
Most hunters will never do it with a rifle. It took him 30 years but Randy Kendrick did it, in many cases, with a longbow.
Bear Farm Outdoors learned about Randy’s feat via a social media post. We reached out for more information, and Randy shared some pictures of the animals he took to make the Big Nine. As you can see from the photos, it took Randy decades and hundreds of hours of scouting and hunting to complete the task.
When he pulled the coveted moose tag, his scouting preparation began in July to find the bull worthy of harvest. He put the grueling high-mountain legwork to scout until he locked in on an area with his best chance of success.
On the sixth day of his hunt, after an hour of calling, he coaxed the Shiras bull moose within 9 yards for a single shot kill. Twenty-seven feet. It was a feat that could have gone way wrong if the moose had decided to charge him. But he placed the shot right, and the rest is history.
According to Colorado Fish and Game, Shiras moose can weigh up to 1,200 lbs. Randy estimated the weight of his bull at 1,000 lbs. with a measured 50″ rack, which is unusually large for a Shiras.
Randy put together a video of his moose hunt. You can find it here:
Hunting is Randy’s inner bear. It took him 22 years alone to draw the archery moose tag, with countless hours of scouting to find the right places to pursue his quarry. All but two of the kills made the Pope and Young Club.
Close range, big game bow hunting is a pursuit that takes patience, skill, and stamina. If your inner bear is calling you to an archery range, get to practicing. There are sites you see and things you experience when bow hunting that you would not get with a different hunting method.
Congratulations on the Big Nine, Randy; you earned it!
