Colin Rouaud: Co-owner and instructor
Growing up as a first generation American in the Vail Valley, my parents exposed me to the outdoors early on in life. Their love for it fueled my passions, I can’t remember a time without the opportunity to be outside enjoying just about everything my backyard offered. Today, the outdoors is what I call home, living life to the fullest in the wilderness. This valley is full of opportunity to recreate in countless ways.
As an avid hunter, I was always keen on and pushed by my dad to be certain that the shots I would take would make for the cleanest kills possible. “One shot is all you need, aim for the vitals and do not allow that animal to suffer.” I had a .177 pellet gun and shot prairie dogs, rabbits, and some birds with it when I was a kid, which essentially was how I trained proper shot execution leading into big game hunting.
I grew up elk hunting the late rifle seasons, and did not eat any tags until my first archery season back from college. Rifle hunting was a massive part of my life, and until recently only one elk taken went through a series of poor shot placement. The biggest thing to taking an animals life with a single shot, really is shot placement. One bullet placed in the vitals, lungs or heart, will ensure the animal in your sights dies quickly. That’s our goal every time.
That is what brings me here. Since the fall of 2021 I’ve worked with Tim and guided big game hunts. As it would happen, between my own hunts and those I’ve guided there have been times where a shot was missed, or the impact was inaccurate, and a track job needed. Those are all things I wish to avoid and aim to help others avoid. As hunters it is our job to make sure our tags are filled with clean kills without any suffering for the animal. Especially with modern technology that allows us to take shots at ranges much further than even just a decade ago.
My hope with these lessons is to teach the best methods of shooting in certain situations at certain ranges. My goal is to do this in such a way that any one of you is 100% confident and comfortable in shooting at a target at 1000 yards. Therefore making shots in the field at 500 or 600 yards a simple task, and a successful one at that. Even with archery today, practicing out to 100+ yards, makes a 50 or 60 yard shot one that you would no longer second guess. All in all the purpose of this business, is to ensure your success in the field due simply to the confidence in your own abilities. To make a clean shot, there is a process; in the moment, but also throughout the year. Those of you that were athletes, you cannot consistently be successful and play your best if you do not show up to practice and if you do not put in 100% effort in bettering yourself throughout the season, even with talent. It is the same concept with shooting, whether that is with rifles, shotguns, or bows; take the time and practice with your weapon to see success when the time comes in the field.
I’m here to help you and teach you. Through that, I too will learn and hope together we can push each other to the ultimate success year after year.
