A hunt that changed almost as soon as it started
The clearest answer to what happens in this video is simple: Bluegabe goes to Colorado for an elk hunt, and before the trip has even settled into its rhythm, he ends up with the biggest bull elk he has ever taken with a bow. But that quick result is only the surface of the story. The video is really about a family trip under pressure, where a sick baby, a hunting partner, a helping grandmother, and a long season of waiting all sit in the background of one unusually fast success.
That is what makes this elk hunt in Colorado feel different from a standard trophy clip. The bull matters, of course. But so does the fact that the hunt begins with uncertainty at home, on the road, and in the woods all at once.
Why the first evening mattered so much
By the time Bluegabe and Crystal finally get into the field, they have already had a long travel day. The trip runs through Denver, then Steamboat, then Hayden, and finally out to the ranch in Yampa. They have groceries to unload, gear to sort, and a 13-month-old son, Bo, who has come down with a fever almost immediately after arrival.
That alone sets the tone. Crystal’s mom is there to help, and the hunt only becomes possible because she watches Bo while the couple slips out for a short evening window. There is no sense of a big, carefully staged first outing. Instead, the hunt feels squeezed into the only opening available.
Bluegabe also explains that elk hunting is not his easiest lane. He has hunted elk for years, but he usually does it from a tree stand, not by calling and moving through open ground the way this evening demands. So when they park, walk a short distance, and begin working a meadow, the setup is less about a polished plan and more about reading the animals and staying ready.
The shot, the follow-up, and the size of the bull
The action itself is fast enough to feel almost unbelievable to the people in the truck and later in the field. A bull starts bugling at a distance, then another answers much closer. Crystal is set up first, but when the bull crosses into the pocket of woods and meadow movement, Bluegabe gets into position behind her. He uses the moment to get his camera where he can, then shifts back toward his bow.
What follows is a very short hunt and a very long memory. He makes the shot, and the reaction is immediate: the bull is clearly hit, the animal moves off, and both Bluegabe and Crystal know they are looking at a dead bull walking. They hear him crash and then move into the thick cover trying to locate him.
The emotional part of the sequence is not just the kill. It is the disbelief around how quickly it happened. They had barely gotten out there before the bull appeared, and now they are standing over what Bluegabe calls the biggest bull he has ever killed. The video keeps returning to the same idea: Crystal was supposed to be up first, the week was supposed to be about her hunt, and instead the first evening becomes his moment.
That creates a strange kind of joy. He is excited, shaken, and clearly aware that the bull is much bigger than he expected when it first disappeared into the woods. The footage shows the pair taking in the size of the animal, joking through the nerves, and pausing long enough to let the moment land before the work begins.
What it takes to get a bull elk home
A big bull in the field is only the middle of the story. Once the animal is down, the practical side of the trip takes over. Reinforcements arrive, the crew works through the field care, and the conversation turns to caping, mounting, and how to make the horns and meat travel home without damage.
Bluegabe is open about the logistics: the horns are wrapped and padded for travel, the cape is handled separately, and the family has to figure out how to get the meat and antlers back to Florida. He even describes improvising with bubble wrap and tape to protect the rack in transit.
That part of the video matters because it keeps the hunt grounded. A giant elk sounds glamorous until you start talking about airport restrictions, packing meat, hauling capes, and keeping points and ivory tips intact. The piece of the story that often gets skipped in hunting videos is the one here that fills the most time: the work.
Why the week still mattered after the first bull
Even with the immediate success, the video does not turn into a victory lap. In fact, Bluegabe makes a point of saying the family still hunted hard for the rest of the week. Crystal had been on a four-year run without taking an elk, and the rest of the trip becomes a story about effort rather than a second clean payoff.
That matters because it changes the meaning of the first bull. It is not presented as the end of the adventure. It is one big moment inside a longer trip that included steep country, thick cover, missed opportunities, and a lot of moving around mountains. He says there were bulls passing through, chances that never opened up, and moments where the woods simply did not give them a clean shot.
The hunt, then, becomes a better example of what a family hunting trip can look like when the conditions are messy. One person gets the early win. Another keeps grinding. Grandparents help. A baby gets sick. The hunt goes on anyway.
The meal at the end
By the time the video reaches the cooking portion, the bull has become food and the trip has become memory. Bluegabe and Crystal cook elk backstrap, and they share it with Bo, who tries elk for the first time. The meal is simple and direct, which fits the whole tone of the piece. No dramatic plating, no forced performance, just meat that came from the hunt and ended up on the plate.
That ending also closes the loop on the creator’s broader style. He likes to move between hunting, fishing, and cooking without treating them as separate worlds. Here, the elk is not just a trophy. It is dinner, family conversation, a travel burden, and a story about time spent together.
Bluegabe also spends time talking through the actual cost and effort of the hunt, from tags and flights to processing, caping, and transport. The point is not to turn the experience into a ledger. It is to show that a hunt like this carries a lot of invisible work beyond the shot itself.
If you came looking for a straight answer to what happened, it’s this: a Colorado elk hunt turned into a massive first-evening bull for Bluegabe, but the video is really about everything orbiting that moment — a sick child, a supportive family setup, a hard-earned shot, and the kind of meal that makes the whole trip feel complete.
Watch the original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjWRRb_p7c8
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