On my way...

Heading to CO tonight. VERY excited for my first archery elk hunt, especially since my buddy has reported at least one 5x5 and two cows in the area we're hunting. Stay tuned, this is going to be FUN!

2010 Season is Almost Here!

What a difference a year makes... last year I was so fed up with rifle hunting that I started down the path of black powder. Just before drop the dime on a whole new setup I "saw the light" and decided that bow hunting would be a better choice. I'm so happy I figured that out.

Now I'm the proud owner of a compound bow, multiple cases, arrows, optics, etc. So much for saving a few bucks. The best part is that I have a home on 2 acres that gives me the freedom to 'shoot' whenever I want. I could never do that with a rifle. Whenever I get a twitch I walk out to the back yard and fire off a dozen or three and satisfy the jones. Going into the 2010 season opener I'm resolute in my determination to shoot a few dozen every day, twice a day if I can jump out of bed fast enough.

I've always been really excited for hunting season. This year, knowing that the likelihood of snow if pretty low in August (I pray that is true), I more excited than ever. As always, even if I don't bag the big one, I'm looking forward to getting out and having some fun with my buddies for a few days.

2009 Wrap-Up

No news is not good news. While I drew a (cow) tag for the 2009 muzzle loader season, I was so busy with work that I did not get away to use it. The only good news is that I didn't spend any money on a black powder rifle; instead I bought a compound bow! Now all I can think about is the 2010 draw for archery season and how I'm going to get in shape, once and for all, to bow hunt.

I've been to the archery range once since I got the bow last week. It is amazing how accurate the bow shoots with field points. Until I get a target of my own I'll forego buying any broad heads to practice with. Now I'm looking for a case that will protect my bow on the airplane and ensure that the sights don't get furbar during the trip.

Stay tuned, this is a whole new chapter for the Rookie Elk Hunter...

2008 Elk Hunting Wrap-Up

Snap, crackle, pop. They’re not just the sounds you hear in your bowl of cereal every morning. They are the sounds you want to hear, very loudly, when you’re sitting in the dark timber at oh-dark-thirty waiting patiently for a 600+ pound elk to walk up on your position. Crash, bang, boom - as the sounds gets closer and closer the hair on the back of your neck begins to rise and your pulse quickens. Suddenly you’re aware that you’re breathing faster and faster despite your best effort to remain perfectly calm. You double-check the chamber on your rifle to make sure you’ve already got a bullet loaded. It would really be embarrassing to pull the trigger and hear “click” instead of “BOOM!” You double-check the safety on your rifle to make sure you haven’t forgotten which side it’s on. You look down at your scope, making sure the lens covers are off and the variable zoom is set no higher than 6x. It would be darn frustrating to look through the eye piece and see nothing but the knot on a tree 100 yards away instead of the elk you’re targeting.

You say a little prayer to the hunting spirits asking for their blessings because you’re not sure if the last time you bumped your scope against a tree while you were stumbling through the early morning darkness you didn’t knock it loose and mess it up. From directly behind the tree you’re sitting against you hear what can only be a herd of elk slowly trotting through the woods. You check your watch to confirm that shooting hours have started; there’s no sun in the sky yet to confirm what you’re pretty sure you know. You take a deep breath and slowly exhale. The sounds of snapping twigs and disturbed earth only grow louder. You decide that the time has come to take a look behind the tree and possibly take your first shot in three years. You slowly lift your rifle, putting one eye in the scope and the other wide open to take in the whole scene. As you ever so slowly swing around the tree you can feel your heart pounding in your chest as your walk down the mental checklist you’ve reviewed over and over for the last 11 months – where to aim, confirm a good backstop, safety off before you pull the trigger, squeeze the trigger slowly, keep breathing… OH CRAP!

There, sitting upright, perfectly in your scope’s sights is the fattest squirrel I’ve ever seen. So fat, that it just might be worth shooting it to make up for the fact that I was convinced it was an elk. Grrr. There is no elk anywhere in sight. I put the safety back on, drew a deep breadth, and wondered how any squirrel, no matter how fat, can make that much noise in the woods. Dang squirrels. It is amazing how a few days away from the television, radio, computer, and cellphone (and all the other noisy distractions like the wife and kids) lets your hearing become more sensitive to even the smallest sounds. When I talk to other elk hunters, particularly those that have actually seen and shot elk, they tell me that an elk walking through the woods is a fairly noisy animal. I guess it would be hard to be “light on your feet” if you weighed over 500 pounds. Now I know that elk make more noise than squirrels. How much more, I’m not exactly sure, but I’m betting it’s a fair bit more. Dang squirrels.

This year I was fortunate to get out hunting twice – once during the first rifle season with a bull tag and once during the second rifle season with a leftover cow tab. Despite hunting two seasons I came up completely empty. Grrr. My best guess is that the weather has been so good going into October that the bulls went their separate ways after the rut and haven’t been pushed lower to look for better sources of food and water. Without a big snowstorm in September to kill off the grasses in the high meadows, bulls and cows are pretty content to stay put and only move when absolutely necessary. In between hunting seasons I had to work at a tradeshow in Dallas. That’s a long time to be away from home. Needless to say, my kids missed me and my wife (probably) didn’t.

Now don’t get me wrong – despite not filling either tag I still had a great time. All the BS you hear from men about “its just great to get out (of the house) and spend time in the woods (playing poker and drinking beer) is honestly true. For me the best part is getting out of the usual routine (wake-up, feed the kids, make coffee for the wife, send everyone off to school) and having some time to commune with nature. While I was out during the second rifle season, hunting up near Walden, I saw more moose than you could shake a stick at. This is the same area where moose were reintroduced a number of years ago. From what I saw, the reintroduction is working just fine. Over three days hiking around the woods I counted three bulls, four cows, and at least one calf. One of the bulls must have been at least 4-5 years old. He had a gorgeous rack and looked like he weighed around 1,200 pounds or more. Even though elk hunting is still my greatest pursuit, I’m starting to think it might be worth the effort to start accumulating preference points for a moose hunt. I hear they taste just as good as elk, if not better.

For me elk hunting is done until 2009. I don’t have the cash or the time to pull another leftover tag. My three year running score is: Elk 3, Drew 0. No matter, I’ll be the first one to call all my hunting buddies when the 2009 big game brochure comes out so we can get together for a beer at Roy’s and start planning for next year’s hunt. Hopefully NEXT year I’ll finally fill a tag instead of running into any more giant squirrels. Grrr.

2008 Elk Hunting Season(s) Wrap-Up

Coming soon - watch this space...

Got (Elk) Meat?

Thanks to the Colorado Department of Agriculture, here is the 2008 List of Meat Processors.

Elk in My Back Yard!

Around 10pm last night 2-3 bull elk made their way through my yard, headed for higher ground and probably chasing a mob of cows. As far as I can tell, the rut is getting started and these boys were looking for some ungulate companionship.

Hearing these guys bugle so loudly, so close to the house made my day! (night?) I've lived in the high country, in what I would consider prime elk territory, for almost 10 years. In that time I've never had any elk in my yard, let alone heard them bugle so loud and so strongly.

I should have known something was about to happen when I saw a cow elk swimming in the lake earlier in the evening. I have no idea why she was there or where she was going, but it was another first for me as well.