We are happy to announce that Casey Colletti, from Pueblo, CO, is the 4 Weeks 4 Tags week 3 winner. He has won the tag for Colorado Unit 52/521/411, 2nd rifle mule deer (Oct 18-26).
Catching up with Casey over the weekend to explain the details of his prize, we discovered that he is a bonafide rodeo star! That's right, Casey Colletti, one of the best bareback riders on the rodeo circuit today. We couldn't resist asking him some questions about his unique job, too.
GOHUNT: Have you ever hunted this area before, or similar?Casey Colletti: No, I have never hunted this area at all before. I'm excited to go to a new place and hopefully find a new area to hunt deer in the future.
GH: Are you planning on bringing anyone with you, or are you going solo?CC: I'm not 100% sure yet if I'm going solo or taking someone. I asked my dad to go but he needs to see about his work first. I try to not hunt alone for the simple reason of "what if." That may be a bad way to look at it but I say, better safe than sorry, for sure.
GH: In your line of work, how have you been able to fit in time & energy for hunting? Or does it complement the rodeo tour and lifestyle well?CC: It’s hard to hunt and rodeo especially early season tags because that is when there are so many rodeos and so much money to be won its hard to drag myself away from that. But I always try and get some sort of big game hunting at least once a season after I'm done going to rodeos in September.
GH: Did you have any other hunts planned for this season?CC: Yes, I have drawn a muzzleloader antelope tag this year, and now that I have won this tag, I'll go buy an OTC bull elk tag!
[Ed note: We read that Casey had suffered a spinal cord injury that put him out for the rest of the 2014 rodeo season, and wanted to ask about how this might affect his plans.]
GH: We’re so sorry to hear about your neck. Are there any limitations you'll be facing in the field because of it?CC: My neck is kinda a scary deal. I injured my spinal cord this season. So of course I have been out for the rest of the rodeo season. I actually haven't been limited as much as you would think with injury, but I'm still pretty cautious. My doctor basically said I can't do anything where my neck would be able to get whiplash. I would hope that this mule deer hunt there isn't any of that! I'm not totally sure if it will affect my hunting but I'm pretty sure it won’t — I live on a farm and ranch and I'm out working everyday doing something, and it seems to be good. The doctor said it's just gonna take time to heal and there isn't much I can do as far as therapy. So this will be a great way to sit back and relax and enjoy being in the mountains.
Wishing Casey all the best for a solid recovery and a great hunt.
Remember, there is still one tag left -- so register to win today! Registration is 100% FREE. This week we will be giving away a Colorado Unit 69/84 3rd season rifle mule deer tag.
Please visit this link (www.gohunt.com/promo/4-weeks-4-tags) for more information on the 4 weeks 4 tags giveaway.