It seems hard for me to believe, but this is the last day of the elk hunt 2016.  Back in May (or whenever) when I first knew I had drawn a cow elk tag, it seemed like a “given” to tag out.  I had all of the archery hunt to do it (over a month).  I had the 13 days of the “tag dates” to do it.  How could I not fill that tag?

Remember, I sat on waterholes nearly every evening of the archery hunt.  I hunted during rain and snow storms.  I hunted when others were not even getting out of bed.  I hunted high.  I hunted low.  I hunted where the “cartel” told me to hunt and I hunted where my gut said there was a slight chance.

Well, this is the last day and Tracker and I are headed to where we saw some elk the last outing.

Yesterday I talked to Hunter, who has hunted this same area two mornings in a row.  The first morning he had the mountain to himself.  He saw elk, he even got a shot, but because he over thought the shot and over estimated the distance his bullet went high over the mark and the elk just stood there wondering what the noise was.  Yesterday, his mountain was crowded with people and some of those people were not thinking clearly and filled the crisp morning air with the sounds of rut crazed bull elk to the point of obnoxicity (not really a word, but a guy standing on the side of a hill, no elk in sight, and bugling ( in his best interpretation)  his guts out for no apparent reason, when in reality the rut has long been over).  Hunter again saw elk, but way out of range.

This morning, Tracker and I will take the mile or so hike into the same mountain and hope the others will stay at home.  It is going to be a beautiful crisp, cold but clear day, with a full moon.  I have been outside here in good old Willard, and the moon is shining brightly in a cloudless sky.  We shouldn’t even need our headlamps to guide our way up the long trail to the mountain valley where we saw elk sign on our last outing.

In reality, it doesn’t really matter whether we get a shot at an elk, or even see an elk for that matter.  The fact is, you can’t fill an elk tag while laying in bed, or sitting on the couch.  Is there a better place to be than on the mountain on such a beautiful fall day.  High temps are expected to be in the 50’s today with lows in the low 30’s.  Tracker and I should have a great day and hopefully he will fill his camera with good footage of what the Rocky Mountains has to offer.

Wish us luck!

October 20, 2016

Bears Butt