Special time to spend with my son.

Regards, PG

I hope to get the bull I saw yesterday, with my bow! How quickly expectations, and hopes, change.

I came across a nice bull, not an ancient monarch, but a 6x6 just the same, though the tines in the top end weren't all that long. I watched him feed and walk from green patch to green patch for about 45 minutes, standing knee-deep in snow. By the time he retreated I was ready to go get the bow and give him a try. Of course yesterday was a Sunday, which means no hunting in that particular zone...

Frans

I've only been on a couple of elk hunts in my life. One being a couple of years ago. One of the main things I enjoy is just the mountains. Living here in Texas, the mountain country is quite beautiful and awesome to me.

My son just returned from elk hunting in Colorado with a bow with a friend and his father. He didn't bring an elk home but really didn't expect to his first time but he was really excited. He loves to hunt turkey but said elk hunting is turkey hunting times ten. He also had stories about the trout in the stream, bear etc. They all had a great time.

Maybe I will go elk hunting with a good friend of mine at work next year. His family has a cabin in Colorado. He's a heckuva cook, great big guy, helluva fishin guide, knows how to cut up an elk because he used to do that for a living in Col. and one heck of a nice guy and great father, but has never hunted elk. He's been questioning me about elk rifles etc. I'd like to be there when he shoots one. And if he shoots one that would be like ice cream on apple pie.

An ELK!

Great topic allen. As I think back about 40+ years of elk hunting, I find that several things have changed. As a young kid, I hunted with family and it was a huge camp that involved about 20 family members all camping together but going in differant directions each morning.
Those were the good ol' days.
Then came my lone hunting days as a young family man, this was nothing more than a meat hunt and very serious as I had four growing kids at home to feed, not a whole lot of fun but still enjoying the outdoors.
Then came the good ol' hunting that I enjoy the most. Hunting on my terms and enjoying the people I hunt with. Kids are gone, no pressure, just pure enjoyment of whats around me.
The last 10-15 years have seen many guided trophy hunts as I now only hunt for horns. I learned along time ago, that a good hunt does not have to involve taking the game hunted.

I've only been able to go elk hunting five times, always with family, and always with a bow. One of the last hunts I went on with my father was an elk hunt, and the hardest I ever did was an elk hunt two weeks after we buried him.

What do I look for out of an elk hunt? Hunting time with people I've grown up with, mountains, golden aspen leaves and that blue, blue sky. I live here in the flat lands, so I train hard all year round so I can run around at 9000' trying to set up a shot 20 yds away. I think I love the physical challenge of it as much as anything. I look forward to hearing them scream at each other-- and me, if I sound right.

I agree with what others have said: I feel more alive, more "connected" to the rest of the world when I'm in the field with a gun or a bow than at any other time. (Lord help me, but that even includes when I'm at home or in church.) I am blessed in that I have a non-hunting wife who seems to understand how important it is for me to be out there, even if she doesn't really understand why.

All I want is some simple peace and quite. I get it pretty much from elk hunting. I like antlers as much as the next fellow, but I come to like tenderloin a whole lot better on Christmas Day, or if I'm sill looking for one, then Russian Christmas. As I get older, I find it all so funny that we go on and on about stuff that is really meaningless in the great scheme of things. Yep, I get more out of elk hunt that what ever I put into it. With retirement comming this year, I am going to pay more attention to something useful, Cooking Game a whole lot better than I do. Yep, I discovered that I really like to cook, heck of a thing for an old has been such as myself.