Driving home from my kid's soccer practice last night I spied a beautiful 5x5 bull and his small harem getting ready to bravely cross highway 119 into the big meadow with the three lakes. Locals know where I'm talking about - it's the place with the Elk statue at the gate. I assume they wanted to get a drink of water.

I swung the truck around to get a second look. Besides the Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park and Yellowstone, this is the first Elk I've seen in the wild this year. I usually see a few in my neighborhood over the summer. I live at 9,300 feet in the Rockies, for those in the audience (hi Mom) that don't know.

Needless to say, with 2nd rifle season only 23 days away, I'm in the throws of Elk fever. I know I still need to wax prolific on the merits of hunting. I will, in due time. Know that when I move up to Elk camp in a few weeks I'll bring a notebook and leave the laptop in the truck so I can run into town (Steamboat) and provide updates.

Hunt on!