soberups
Pees in the brown Koolaid
Well I am back from the elk-hunting trip that I went on with 2 other drivers from my center. I am happy to say that we got one bull elk, a nice 5-pointer. I will post pics as soon as my friend emails them to me off of his digital camera.
I didnt shoot it, but I helped track it. Dont get your panties in a knot, Trickpony; the animal ran about 60 yards after being shot and was humanely harvested.
The fun part was getting it out. We were in a wilderness area where the roads were closed to motor vehicles. The elk died at the bottom of a canyon about 1/2 a mile below the road and 8 miles from the gate where we parked. We had to gut it, skin it, quarter it and pack it out on foot. It probably weighed 600 lbs on the hoof and was the size of a small horse. To get it out of the canyon, we had to load the quartered pieces onto packframes and climb up a hill on our hands and knees, in the dark. It was the most intense and exhausting experience I have ever been a part of; my friend shot it at 5:00 in the afternoon and we didnt get it back to camp until 2:30 AM....22 hours after getting out of bed and hiking in. Temps were in the low 20's and it was pitch black with no moon. We were too exhausted to hunt any more so we broke camp the next day and got it to the butcher yesterday. It weighed almost 300 lbs hanging and will make some exquisite steaks and burgers. We agreed to divide it equally since we all shared in the work of packing it out.
I have gained a new respect for the natives who hunted and harvested these animals for subsistence, using only hand made primitive bows and arrows.
During my own hunt, I saw at least 12 cow elk and calves, two of which got to within 10 yards of me. I could smell them, hear their breathing, and feel the vibration of their hooves hitting the ground as they ran. I passed up a shot at a spike bull because it was moving away and it would not have been ethical to take the shot for fear of only wounding it. I also saw numerous deer, grouse and other wildlife. We lived in a canvas wall tent for 6 days with no running water or modern ameneties; we went to bed at sunset, got up at 4:30 AM and hiked in 7 or 8 mles to the area we hunted in. It was an intense, primal experience that helped me appreciate what our ancestors had to do to survive, and what life is like without phones, internet, TV or all the phony, superficial trappings of modern society.
I didnt shoot it, but I helped track it. Dont get your panties in a knot, Trickpony; the animal ran about 60 yards after being shot and was humanely harvested.
The fun part was getting it out. We were in a wilderness area where the roads were closed to motor vehicles. The elk died at the bottom of a canyon about 1/2 a mile below the road and 8 miles from the gate where we parked. We had to gut it, skin it, quarter it and pack it out on foot. It probably weighed 600 lbs on the hoof and was the size of a small horse. To get it out of the canyon, we had to load the quartered pieces onto packframes and climb up a hill on our hands and knees, in the dark. It was the most intense and exhausting experience I have ever been a part of; my friend shot it at 5:00 in the afternoon and we didnt get it back to camp until 2:30 AM....22 hours after getting out of bed and hiking in. Temps were in the low 20's and it was pitch black with no moon. We were too exhausted to hunt any more so we broke camp the next day and got it to the butcher yesterday. It weighed almost 300 lbs hanging and will make some exquisite steaks and burgers. We agreed to divide it equally since we all shared in the work of packing it out.
I have gained a new respect for the natives who hunted and harvested these animals for subsistence, using only hand made primitive bows and arrows.
During my own hunt, I saw at least 12 cow elk and calves, two of which got to within 10 yards of me. I could smell them, hear their breathing, and feel the vibration of their hooves hitting the ground as they ran. I passed up a shot at a spike bull because it was moving away and it would not have been ethical to take the shot for fear of only wounding it. I also saw numerous deer, grouse and other wildlife. We lived in a canvas wall tent for 6 days with no running water or modern ameneties; we went to bed at sunset, got up at 4:30 AM and hiked in 7 or 8 mles to the area we hunted in. It was an intense, primal experience that helped me appreciate what our ancestors had to do to survive, and what life is like without phones, internet, TV or all the phony, superficial trappings of modern society.
The politics of the world seem rather superficial when you hike 8 miles into a wilderness area at 430 AM and get to watch he sun come up over a hillside of pine and golden tamarack trees.
