A Good Hunt

Another two weeks have flown by for me. At least in some ways they have flown by. In other ways they just seemed to drag on. If you follow my blog then you know that I was on an elk hunt in the Colorado wilderness with two of my friends the past two weeks. When we were hunting, time would fly by. Often we would go to bed at dark and get up around 4:30 AM or so. That meant that we were in bed for about nine hours. I'm not used to sleeping for nine hours, and that along with a two hour time change had me waking up really early and that's when the hours would drag by. I would start thinking about Jenelle and each of the kids, wondering what all they were up to. Other than an In-Reach, communication was pretty much out of the picture for me, and so I would just lay there and wonder. Then morning would finally come and I would fire up my little stove and enjoy my coffee just outside of my tent with my sleeping bag wrapped around my shoulders, a couple of short quips from the good book and the day would be rolling again.

Good things were happening. We heard lots and lots of bulls bugling all night. We spotted elk when we glassed. And then several days in, I got my elk. Nate was calling and just like magic, a bull came trotting in. I drew back and waited for him to pass by broadside. He stopped for a moment at a forward angle towards me and so I couldn't shoot. I held my bow at full draw and when he did start moving again and got broadside I let the arrow fly. At nine yards it should have been an easy shot but either because I was tired from holding back the bow or because the elk was trotting, my arrow hit back a little bit too far. It was a liver hit which left me on an emotional rollercoaster ride. I was lucky to have Nate and Brian there with their woodsmanship and tracking skills. It took patience and perseverance but the roller coaster ended with a dead elk and an overwhelming heart of gratitude! For me it was a dream come true.

The next day was almost even more exciting. Since I had tagged a bull I was the designated caller and Nate and Brian were out in front with their bows. I had practiced a lot this summer and felt good with my bugle tube but wasn't very confident in my cow call abilities when using a mouth call. Nate let me use his call made by Will Primos. It's called the Hoochie Mama. You just squeeze it and it does what it does. Nate and I called back and forth a couple of times and a five by five came trotting in. I was standing against a big dead spruce about twenty five yards down the mountain. The bull stopped six yards in front of Nate. I got to see the whole thing. At the shot the bull took off straight towards me. Whether it was love, lust or adrenaline, he was wound up and I don't think that he knew he was shot. He had one big hook for a brow tine on one side and two brow tines on the other. It was then that I remembered that I was the one squeezing the Hoochie Mama call. The idea of being smashed between those horns and the tree didn't sit well with me so I jumped sideways behind a couple of other trees. The elk must have seen me move and thought, “that's a funny looking cow,” because at seven steps from me he made a sharp turn in the other direction. He stopped and looked at me. I could see he was hit hard, but I don't think that he realized anything was wrong. He trotted off and  ran down the hill. 

We heard another bull bugling and so we kept calling, trying to bring it into range for Brian. He didn't  present a decent shot but got pretty close, screaming and thrashing trees. At some point he figured out that we weren't elk and took off back up the mountain. We tracked down Nate's bull and started working it up.

The next day we had snow. Brian shot a grouse with his recurve while we were all watching. That made the day extra special. That night we roasted elk heart and grouse over the fire. It was so delicious!

The rest of the week was filled with more rugged hikes, looking for elk or at least some sign of them, along with fishing for lake trout and brook trout. We had snow on several mornings. One day we were close to a high mountain and so we climbed up and we had cell service. From 12,400 feet above sea level we called our wives. And then while we were sitting there we spotted four snow white mountain goats lying in the sun. They were amazingly white and fun to watch. 

Although the odds of us all three getting an elk were really slim, we were really hoping that Brian would get one and so Saturday we decided to move camp. We hiked out to the truck and moved down about 2000 feet. From there we were hunting in the same wilderness area but a couple miles further north. We lucked into finding more elk, or maybe they were the same elk that had just relocated. They were mostly at the top of this two mile canyon. We chased after them for a couple days but we couldn't dupe the elk into coming close enough. Our tags were good for either a bull or cow. Brian said he would be happy with either one, so we tried to be more aggressive and move in closer on the herd. Thursday was the day. We heard a bull up high and waited for evening to come. The dropping temperature would carry our scent down the hill and let us sneak in close. When the time was right we made our move. It wasn't as simple as it sounds as we were climbing some really vertical rocks and maneuvering around fallen timber and trying to follow the elk. We heard cows meowing and bulls bugling. Brian was up front with his bow. And suddenly he was in with a bunch of them. A shot at a cow that presented itself and he made quick execution of the opportunity. Nate and I couldn't see what was going on but we were wondering why the bull kept bugling and why Brian wasn't shooting. Apparently after Brian shot the cow a six by six walked within four steps of him. 

It was a very late night but I will always remember how bright the stars were up there.

The next day we slept in and then packed the rest of the elk out. 

This trip was probably a once in a lifetime trip. It seemed to have been overflowing with neat little things. On top of that, getting an elk was awesome. Packing them several miles in the thin air wasn't exactly a walk in the park but a good memory just the same. So that was the trip. There's a lot more that could be said, but for now that's it.

It was a good trip.

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