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The Elk I Could Have Shot

Phillip Loughlin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:30:50 +0000

But I didn’t… my friend, Dave Allen, did it instead.

Due to the serious lack of work over the first six months of this year, I decided in June to cancel my CO elk hunt with my friend Rick at Dark Timber Outfitters this year. It was a hard choice, in large part because this is one of those things I have been looking forward to for well over a year.

The plan was for myself and my brother to go, and we were going to have a couple of friends, including Dave, along with us. By June, only Dave was left in the hunt… and he was damned if he’d cancel! I guess now he’s glad he went!

According to Dave, the first couple of days were pretty much blown out, with strong winds screaming through the mountains. On the third day, the weather gave them a break, and he and his guide headed down a creek bottom.

He spotted this bruiser running the ridgeline with a couple of cows, and in fairly short order his 30-06 put the bull down.

Here’s his bull, a really nice 280 class animal, and his first bull elk. Congrats, Dave! And yeah, I’m jealous!

Quickie Post – Elk Jones

Elk Hunt Preparation – for those lucky folks heading out for wapiti

Phillip Loughlin — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:43:19 +0000

Well, life and the economy conspired against me this year, and I’ve had to cancel my elk hunt for this coming fall. I know, shed no tears for me… I’ve shed enough already. Wah wah wah and all that…

But for those of you heading out for elk, particularly those who may be horsepacking for the first time this season, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has release a simple list of tips to keep your trip safe and enjoyable. Take a look at this list, and if you feel like it, share some of your own tips and recommendations for neophyte and experienced wapiti hunters alike!

Horse Riding, Packing Tips for Greenhorn Elk Hunters

MISSOULA, Mont.—If you’re a tenderfoot looking to use horses for your elk hunt this fall, do yourself—and your horse—a favor. Follow these 10 tips from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and longtime supporter Smoke Elser, who’s been guiding and outfitting in Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness for more than 50 years.

Consider taking a riding lesson before your hunt. Learn the basics of mounting and dismounting, reins, leg cues, proper balance and body position. A horse is not an easy chair—a little preparation and skill are required.

Be realistic. Even though your horse can carry you over difficult terrain, it cannot carry you over impossible terrain. You’ll need to hike across the steepest, roughest areas. Hopefully, you’re in shape.

Stirrup length should be adjusted at the trailhead. Don’t be bashful about insisting on a comfortable fit that allows you to stand up slightly in the stirrups. Having your knees hunched up can be miserable for you and your horse.

Horses are a means of transportation from point A to point B, not to the elk. Don’t expect to shoot from atop your pony like Buffalo Bill. In fact, firing a rifle anywhere near horses can be disastrous. Your actual hunt will need to be on foot.

Think about clothing. Bring boots that fit easily into stirrups and wear clothing that allows you to mount and dismount easily. For example, coveralls constrict motion and should be avoided. Keeping quiet and warm are factors, too, and wool clothing is both even when wet. Also bring a broad-brimmed hat to help ward off branches to the face and snow down the neck.

Let your guide do the saddling and unsaddling. Often hunters want to help but end up improperly cinching, dragging saddles through mud, disassembling bridles down to the last buckle, etc., causing extra work for the guide. Don’t pretend knowledge of horses and tack if you have none.

Always let your guide tie up your horse for you. Improper tying can result in a dead or injured horse if they get choked or tangled. More commonly, hunters return to find only the guide’s horse still there. That could mean a long hike back for one of you.

Bring a rifle that fits easily into a scabbard. Oversized scopes or bipods will require disassembly and are impractical. If in doubt, ask your outfitter to recommend appropriate rifles and other gear.

Bring what you need, but you don’t need the kitchen sink. Nearly every elk outfitter has funny stories about hunters who insisted on packing things like ice skates, bowling balls, bathrobes, business suits and other nonessentials. But it’s really not funny—overloading is hard on a horse’s loins and kidneys.

Wallets in pants pockets tend to work themselves out when you’re riding a horse. Keep your elk tags and personal identification inside your shirt pocket.

Information and tips about elk hunting are regular features inside the Elk Foundation’s bi-monthly member magazine, Bugle. An annual membership, which includes a subscription and base-level support for RMEF habitat conservation efforts, is $35. To join, call 800-CALL ELK or visit www.rmef.org.

About the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation:
Snowy peaks, dark timber basins and grassy meadows. RMEF is leading an elk country initiative that has conserved or enhanced habitat on over 5.6 million acres—a land area equivalent to a swath three miles wide and stretching along the entire Continental Divide from Canada to Mexico. RMEF also works to open, secure and improve public access for hunting, fishing and other recreation. Get involved at http://www.rmef.orgor 800-CALL ELK.

Good stuff, I think. Horses are wonderful animals, and I don’t think anything compares to the experience of riding horseback through elk country. However, lack of preparation can make a horsepacking trip into pure, physical torture. It’s not quite as simple as it looks on TV. Physical and mental preparation are requisite, or you’ll be aching in places you didn’t even know you had.

It can also be dangerous. They seem sweet and gentle, but horses are still 1000 pounds of bone and muscle, driven by a prey animal’s brain. Stuff happens fast, and a little prep time in a local arena can help prepare you for those sudden, trailside rodeos. Your guide or wrangler can help avoid the worst problems, but it’s also up to you to pay attention and do what they tell you.

A key point is to ask your outfitter BEFORE you go, and then pay attention to what he/she tells you! NEVER GUIDE THE GUIDE! They are the experts, and that’s what you’re paying your hard-earned money for… their expertise.

Good luck to all you wapiti hunters this year. I look forward to reading your stories and seeing your pictures, so please don’t be shy… send them to me here at the Hog Blog, and maybe I’ll even make you famous.

Quickie Post – Elk Jones

Phillip Loughlin — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:30:22 +0000

Yeah, this is a real short one, but I’ve absolutely gotta spout off…

I have got a SERIOUS elk jones right now. I’ve been reading the reports on Jesse’s Hunting and Outdoors from the guys coming in, as archery season passes and rifle seasons are getting underway. I’ve also been glued to MyOutdoorTV a lot lately, whenever I can get a break from work.

I didn’t get my elk last year, and didn’t get a chance to elk hunt this year with everything else going on. What makes it even worse is that I now have this Mathews Drenalin, and I’ve totally changed my attitude toward bowhunting… the memory of that bull bugling in my face last year has me totally flashing back to that Colorado scrub oak last September.

Anyway, I have no choice but wait until next fall. At this time next year, I should be wrapping up a CO rifle hunt with my brother and a couple of friends back at Dark Timber Outfitters in Montrose. But man… that sure seems an awful long ways off!

A Tip for Guides – How NOT to Get a Tip

Phillip Loughlin — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 15:36:14 +0000

I probably mentioned, at least in passing, that I had some issues during my recent archery elk hunt in Colorado. The outfitter, Rick Webb of Dark Timber Outfitters is a great guy, and runs a top notch operation. But even the best companies sometimes hire bad help.

During the first three days of the seven day hunt, my brother, Scott, and I hunted with guide, Chad Kleebes (I probably slaughtered the spelling of that). Chad is a relatively young fella, in his early 20′s, but I think he’s got what it takes to be a successful big game guide. He’s quiet and unassuming, but there’s a competence there that belies his youth. He did a great job with my brother and me, and with a couple more years’ experience I can see him being a real champion elk guide.

Unfortunately, on the fourth day of the hunt, on the way out of the field, Chad stepped off of a rock at a bad angle, and next thing we knew, he was rolling on the ground in agony. Turns out he did some significant damage to the ligaments in his ankle. Bottom line, though, he was out of the game. Scott and I had broken our guide!

Rick tries to keep all of his hunts to a two-on-one hunter to guide ratio, and his other guide, Chad’s brother Grant, was occupied with the other archery hunters in camp. Rick’s other top guide was unavailable for the hunt. Rick, himself, would be spending the next day helping a successful hunter pack out his bull. Rick had to call in the reserves, a new guide on his team who we’ll call, “Wild William”.

Wild William is an experienced fishing and rafting guide, and has spent a lot of time in the field hunting elk, but he was brand new to guiding elk hunters. As we were all about to find out, putting weekend tourists on a raft and sending them downriver is not quite the same as trying to put a pair of bowhunters within archery range of an elk.

To cut to the chase…

I learned a lot of things during those last couple of days with Wild William that I will definitely take to heart in my own guiding practice. I don’t know how many readers here are hunting guides, but these lessons might be helpful to you as well… especially if you value that tip after a long week of hard hunting. I wrote a long article on this topic for the JHO Journal, so I won’t reprint it or rehash it here, but it comes down to a couple of key things.

First of all, treat the clients with the utmost respect. They are paying a lot of money to be there. Some of that money goes into your paycheck. You are working for the client, not the other way around. You don’t have to like them, or even be particularly social, but you have to show respect.

If the client makes an error, contain yourself. Manage your criticism, and more importantly, control your tone. Never speak down to a paying client, and never, ever raise your voice at a customer (unless there is an immediate safety issue).

Wild William made that mistake twice during our hunt. Once wasn’t so bad, the second time was unforgiveable… especially when it turns out that he was the one at fault.

Secondly, remember that you are working FOR the client (mentioned this a second ago). It is the client’s hunt, NOT YOUR’S. If the client doesn’t want to run headlong through the oakbrush in pursuit of ghost elk, then you don’t go running headlong through the oakbrush in pursuit of ghost elk. You may suggest that your experience shows that running through the oakbrush is the best plan of attack, but it’s the client’s call about whether to go or not.

Likewise, if your client tells you that he’s not trophy hunting, and will be very happy with any legal animal, then don’t try to second-guess the client and go blowing through “raghorns” in order to pursue a “toad”.

My brother and I were both meat hunting on this trip, both carrying either-sex tags, and both very clear about our goals for the hunt… elk on the ground. Imagine our surprise, and disappointment, when Wild William charged right through prime hunting ground, spooking elk along the way, in his single-minded quest for the trophy animal we’d spotted previously. We practically ran over one bull, and pushed out countless others simply trying to keep up as he raced down into a canyon and up the other side.

This all ended in a fairly tense conversation as I explained “the facts of life” to our guide. It boiled over in the bottom of a steep draw, after he pretty much ignored my suggestion that we stop the mad chase and make an attempt on a bull that was bugling less than 100 yards away, as opposed to climbing another 2000 vertical feet in hopes of setting up on HIS trophy. This bull was bugling. The other wasn’t. This bull was close. The other had disappeared into the timber over two hours earlier.

His final mistake was telling ME what a shame it would be to shoot this “raghorn” and miss the chance to kill the “toad” up in the timber. He had forgotten whose hunt this was.

Properly chastened, he set up and called the smaller bull. It came close, but we never got a shot. It was still exciting, and what I had come for… but at that point the hunt was pretty much ruined. I had lost all confidence in the guide, and worse, the remainder of the hunt became a matter of going through the actions as my enthusiasm was totally shot.

We went out the morning of our last hunt in pretty low spirits. I should have told Rick about the experience the previous night, and ask about switching guides. Grant’s hunters were leaving early, as it turns out, so he was going to join us anyway. We could have left Wild William behind. But at that point, I really didn’t even care any more. We called the hunt at about 10 in the morning on our last day and returned to the lodge to prepare for the homeward trip.

This is not a totally sad ending, though. After returning to camp, we had the opportunity to speak, at length, with Rick. My brother and I both related our experiences and our feelings about this guide. Rick felt responsible, and offered to make it good with a discounted hunt in the future. I couldn’t have asked for more, and since I don’t think our experience is typical for his operation we made arrangements then and there for a return hunt in 2009… as soon as Scott has time to acquire a preference point.

So I’ll definitely be returning to Dark Timber Outfitters. I’m not so sure Wild William will, though.

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Elk Hunt Video – The latest installment

Phillip Loughlin — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 01:58:31 +0000

Wow, these videos take a lot more time and effort than still photos… but it’s fun.

Thanks for bearing with me as I learn my way around video creation and editing… and I did promise to complete the elk hunt series, so, here goes… Part 3 is now available.

One thing I’ve learned so far… you gotta either hunt or film. You can’t do both well, especially when you’re bowhunting.

The other thing I’ve learned that kinda goes with that first lesson is that you can’t get good footage if the camcorder is stowed in your pack.

Anyway, here’s part 3. As soon as I can, I’ll try to get the next part online.

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Video Part II – Colorado Elk Hunt

Phillip Loughlin — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 03:48:56 +0000

Well, the first part was fun, so may as well add part deux.

If anyone missed it earlier, the hunt was with Rick Webb’s Dark Timber Outfitters, out of Montrose, CO. It was a Unit 62 archery hunt. Rick runs a great outfit, and the lodge is a wonderful, comfortable place to come back to in the evening.

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Just for fun – Part 1 video of CO elk hunting trip

Phillip Loughlin — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 15:55:41 +0000

OK, so I’m no Realtree Roadtrips or anything like that, and you won’t likely see my work on MyOutdoorTV, but I have a good time doing it.

Here’s part 1 of my Colorado elk hunting trip. Remember, getting there is half the fun!

The other parts will come soon.

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A New Poll – Trophy Hunter or Meat Hunter

Phillip Loughlin — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:24:30 +0000

As you may have noticed, I put up a new poll this morning.

The old poll definitely generated some interesting responses. Seems like opinions were pretty evenly split, with about half of you agreeing that it’s OK to take a kid on a “guaranteed” hunt for a taste of success, versus the other half who thought a kid should have a “real” hunting experience and learn that killing something is a rare reward. The final tally, for those who like numbers, was 23 in favor vs 22 against.

As I said before, I am still a little ambivalent. I’d hoped for some overwhelmingly convincing argument one way or another, but there ya go… that’s what makes it fun.

I don’t think the new question is quite as tricky… more of a personal preference. Do you “hunt horns”, or are you just out to fill the freezer? Shoot the little ones or let them grow? I’d love to hear if someone has an ethics aspect to their argument, one way or the other, though. That should be interesting.

As usual, I’ll let the poll run a while before I chime in with my own opinions. Thanks, in advance, to all who participate!

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CO Elk hunt – a wrap-up

Phillip Loughlin — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:14:35 +0000

Sorry for the little teaser in the last blog entry. I couldn’t help myself. Besides, the trip was fun.

It wasn’t real productive as far as providing venison for my freezer, though. Nope, those of us in the HogBlog household won’t be eating fresh elk tenderloin this year. So here’s a quick summary of the most memorable parts of the trip. A more detailed account will be available on the JHO Journal later this month. I’ve also got a lot of video to wade through to see if I can put some kind of comprehensive production together. Unfortunately, I left my external hard drive (containing the first three days of video) at the lodge, so Rick, the outfitter, is mailing it to me tomorrow. Should be a week or so to get it in and get the footage edited.

So anyway, here’s the skinny…

My brother and I met up in Montrose, CO to hunt with Rick Webb’s Dark Timber Outfitters. We’d hunted with Rick’s organization during the first period rifle season in 2005, and had great success, with my brother taking a 320″ bull on the first morning and me taking a raghorn bull the next day.

Of course, never content with success, we decided to go back with archery tackle this time and up the challenge a touch. As it turns out, it wasn’t a bad plan, but sometimes things just don’t quite work out as you’d like them to.

First of all, the weather had been very consistent for almost a full week. Rick ensured us that this was a good thing, as the elk would be moving, feeding, and watering on a consistent schedule. It had been warm and dry, which wasn’t exactly what I think of when I think of elk hunting in the Rockies, but at least the elk had had time to get into a sort of pattern.

Of course, we arrived on Friday, and by the time we went to bed on Friday night, a thunderstorm swept down over the mountains. For anyone who’s never experienced a thunderstorm at 9200 feet, it can be quite spectacular. Unfortunately, for the elk that had been settled into a calm weather pattern, it was the first monkeywrench in our plans.

Saturday, the first day of our hunt was fairly uneventful. We spotted elk in the morning, but nothing was close enough to offer a reasonable stalk. Scott set up in a blind on a waterhole/wallow, and I took off with our guide, Chad, to search the countryside. We didn’t go far before the mid-day sun began to bake the mountains, so we found a shady spot near a good meadow and set up to wait out the heat. As the day wore down, Chad and I moved on and found some very recently used wallows, but no elk.

Just before dark, the bulls began to bugle. This was a good sign, because it suggested that they’d still be at it in the morning, which would allow us to locate them and possibly even call one in for a shot. That’s not quite how Sunday morning worked out, though.

First thing on Sunday, we ran into a pair of spike bulls and a cow elk, right in the trail. The first spike had his head down when we approached, and I didn’t see antler. My bow was up and ready (I had an either-sex tag which would allow me to take a cow elk, or a branched bull with at least four points on a side), but when he raised his head and I saw the slender, unbranched antlers I was a little disappointed. Here I was, less than 10 yards away, and couldn’t shoot. Finally, he got tired of us interlopers and crashed off into the brush. That’s when we spotted the cow with the group. My brother tried to get in range for a shot with his compound bow, but she disappeared up the mountain before he could.

The rain set in Sunday evening, turned into a full-fledged storm on Sunday night, and raged until sometime around noon on Monday. We did some glassing from an overlook Monday morning, but in that weather we saw no future in going out to hunt. With the lightning flashing and popping, it simply wasn’t safe.

Monday night is when things first got really interesting. We hiked out on a long ridge in a new area. At first, things looked pretty bleak. It seemed as though the storm had driven the elk clean off of the mountain. We found a few fresh tracks, but nothing to get very excited about. After a few hours of tramping through oak thickets and getting deeper and deeper into a big canyon, we started hiking back out.

As the day got darker Chad decided to try one more bugle. As the echoes died across the canyon, I spotted a bull elk bursting out of the brush below, about a quarter of a mile away. It bellowed back, and started coming fast in our direction. Chad directed me and my brother to spread out about 40 yards and drop down the trails toward the bull. He’d stay back and call, in hopes of bringing the animal past one of us.

My heart was already pounding on seeing the bull coming our way, and scrambling down the steep hillside got it going even faster (and louder). I went down until I found a nice little clearing with two heavily used trails emptying into it. I stepped off into the brush on one side, and used my Bushnell range-finding binoculars to get ranges on landmarks in the clearing. The far side of the clearing was 31 yards away, with two small bushes in the clearing at 19 yards and 12 yards from my position. 31 yards is typically a stretch with my recurve, but I’d been hitting pretty good on the 28 yard target at the range, and an elk offers a huge kill zone. This looked good.

I hunkered down to wait, but as I did I felt the wind on the back of my neck. This was no good, so I moved across the trail and set up behind a screen of oak brush. This turned out to be a mistake.

After only a couple of minutes, I heard something coming up one of the trails. Then I spotted antler tips moving through the brush. My heartbeat went crazy, my breathing turned shallow then deep then totally erratic as the beast came into view in the meadow. I can honestly say I can’t recall ever being this excited during a hunting experience. It was almost overwhelming. My heart pounded against my eardrums, and I swear I could hear the blood coursing through my brain at a speed somewhere near Mach 3!

I managed to get my breathing under control, and tried to get focus as the animal kept coming, finally holding up at the 19 yard bush. He looked around as I looked for a shot opportunity. Unfortunately, he was facing me directly. No shot there. This is where I realized that, had I stayed in the first spot I was in, I would have had a textbook broadside shot on the bull.

No time for hindsight now, though, as the bull took a few more steps toward me. Then he lowered his head and puffed his chest and started to bugle. If I’d died right then and there (and for a moment I thought my heart might burst), I think I could have gone happy, knowing I had just experienced one of the purest hunting moments. He was practically so close as to blow spit on me when he bugled. I could see every detail of his massive body.

The problem was, between us was now this screen of oak brush. I could see through it just fine, but the tangle of tiny branches made any hope of slipping an arrow through without deflection a pipe dream. I could only watch the show and wait, hoping he would come up the trail beside me…offering an even closer shot!

After looking around for a moment, he started to turn. I think he was disappointed to find neither a cow elk nor a challenger to fight in the little clearing. I hoped Chad would call again and bring him closer, but no call was forthcoming and the bull finally turned and headed back for the trail he’d come in on.

At this point, things may have become somewhat comical… at least to anyone who would have been observing. First, I tried to call or stop the bull with a cow call. Note here, that I had only bought my very first diaphragm cow call two days earlier on my way to this hunt. I practiced with it all the way to Colorado, though, and found it pretty easy to master… much easier than a turkey call. So I moved the call around in my mouth and made a sound.

What that sound was, I’m not sure. Chad said he’d never heard anything quite like it either. For certain, it wasn’t the sound of a cow elk (or any other creature that lives in nature either). But the bull hesitated and looked back. Unfortunately, he didn’t turn, offering only a shot at his big, white butt. That’s a bad shot even with a rifle, much less with a recurve, so of course I passed on it.

He took a few more steps toward the brush, and I tried again. This time, the call somehow shifted in the roof of my mouth and tried to crawl down my throat. If the first sound had been an unnatural squawk, the gagging, hacking, squeak I made next was even further off the mark. Even so, the bull stopped and turned to look for the source of this oddity. I don’t know what he was thinking, but part of me believes he actually felt pity for my calling, and wanted to offer me an opportunity.

It wasn’t an optimal shot, steeply quartering away at 31 yards, but I felt like I could make it. I drew and released, completely unconscious of the small oak brush that was tangled in the lower limb of my bow. I ignored the sensation that something was pulling my bow away from me as I drew, but I could not ignore the effect on my shot. The arrow fluttered away on the release, travelling at less than half speed and sailing wide of the bull by every bit of seven feet.

The bull, giggling hysterically inside, trotted off…headlong into an oak tree. He backed up, sheepishly, and turned to disappear down the trail he’d initially come in on. I could only watch in shame and dismay.

Despite the miss I was thoroughly charged up by the encounter. It was an experience I’ll never forget, and one that trumps pretty much anything else I’ve ever done in more than 35 years as a hunter. It was that cool.

The remainder of the hunt had more ups, then a lot more downs. On Tuesday afternoon, Chad stepped off of a rock at a bad angle, and tore the ligaments in his ankle. He hiked out the three and a half miles to the trailhead, despite our entreaties to sit still and let us go get the horses or the four-wheelers. The additional damage caused by the walk is probably going to come back to haunt him for a long time to come, but I must admit I was impressed by his determination and sheer fortitude.

Chad was replaced by a guide I’ll just refer to as “Wild Bill.” From this point on, the hunting experience went downhill. Wild Bill was inexperienced at big game guiding, and the lack of experience came through loud and clear over the last two and a half days of our trip. I know Rick was in a tight spot for a guide to replace Chad, since his other guide was busy with two other clients. Still, it did us no favors.

I won’t elaborate on the number of things Wild Bill did wrong, but in at least one case he almost certainly cost us (my brother anyway) a clean kill on a nice bull elk. There are no certainties in bowhunting, but in this case it should have been as close to a “gimme” as it gets. It was purely the guide’s actions that caused the opportunity to slip away.

At the end of the hunt, we talked to Rick and told him how we felt about the hunt’s outcome and Wild Bill’s behavior. He felt terrible about it, and after profuse apologies offered to set it right with a big price break on a future elk hunt… if we were willing to hunt with him again. I felt that the experience was an anomaly, and certainly was willing to come back and hunt with Dark Timber again.

If nothing major happens, my brother and I will be back there in 2009 for a rifle hunt… self-guided this time, but with the use and support of Rick’s lodge and equipment.

Outside of the hunt, by the way, one of the things I love about going to Colorado in elk season is the road trip to get there. Driving across all of Nevada and Utah offers some beautiful scenery that, to me, never gets old. The desert, canyons, and forests along the way keep me energized so that the 14 hour drive never gets monotonous (well…except for a portion of the Great Basin, between Elko, NV and the Great Salt Lake). Here are a couple of scenic shots from the trip.

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Checking in from the road

Phillip Loughlin — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 15:41:17 +0000

Wow, thanks to all for the many comments while I’ve been gone! I’ll try to go through and catch up with everyone when I get home. Looks like a couple of new readers have popped in, and I appreciate your feedback for sure!

I also got a glimpse at the poll results. Very interesting indeed! As of this morning (9/22), the voting is dead-even. …Thought provoking, to say the least. I’ve some minor ambivalence on the topic (which is why I put it up), so it’s great to read what you all think.

Oh… my elk hunt?

It was a lot of fun.

Hunting Blog Links » elk hunting

The Elk I Could Have Shot

Related Articles:

Elk Hunt Preparation – for those lucky folks heading out for wapiti

Horse Riding, Packing Tips for Greenhorn Elk Hunters

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Quickie Post – Elk Jones

Related Articles:

A Tip for Guides – How NOT to Get a Tip

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Elk Hunt Video – The latest installment

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Video Part II – Colorado Elk Hunt

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Just for fun – Part 1 video of CO elk hunting trip

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A New Poll – Trophy Hunter or Meat Hunter

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CO Elk hunt – a wrap-up

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Checking in from the road

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