Emma and I spent last Saturday fly fishing on the lake. We picked up some small ones on the fly. I was using my 4 wt rod but had my 8 wt with me just in case we saw some schooling stripers. We didn't see any, but we did have a great time together and enjoy a beautiful sunset!
I left for Colorado on October 11 to join my Great Uncle Dick for the first elk rifle season. I've never hunted elk, so having the chance to join him was quite an adventure. We set up camp on Friday in time to take the horses up the mountain for a quick scouting trip. We came to a large clearing and immediately saw a herd of elk. Game on! I couldn't wait for the next morning (opening day) to come. Saturday, we got up around 4am, ate breakfast, drank our coffee, and fed the horses before heading up the mountain. We weren't sitting at "Uncle Dick's Meadow" for very long when I looked over, pulled up the bines, and saw an elk. I pointed the cow I saw out to my uncle, and he immediately saw several more. My heart started to beat faster and I was ready to plan a stalk to get closer. My uncle, being the wiser and more experienced elk hunter suggested we take the horses around to where he thought they would come out. That was a good plan! We saw the elk still up near the top of a peak, and when they hid themselves in some thick pines, we found a good place in a bed of aspens to sit and wait. It wasn't too much longer before we saw the herd cross an open section and head into some more pines (hopefully to come out to a larger open section or a meadow right in front of us). This is when I got a good look at a nice bull. I thought my uncle was going to wait for a really good shot on the bull, so I was suprised to hear "BOOM" and then to see a large cow dropping and falling down the mountain. We celebrated together, still not believing how everything worked out just right. Then, the work began. We climbed the mountain to find the elk, taken at 360 yards, and i had to stop and rest several times because of the altitude and steepness of the terrain. We estimated the weight of the cow to be 500-600 pounds, field dressed her, and began the long drag down the mountain to the place we'd leave her overnight. The next morning, it was raining at our campsite, but as we climbed the mountain, the rain turned to snow and it continued to snow on us all day. We cut the elk in 5 pieces, packed the meat on my uncle's horse, and then headed back to camp where we hung and skinned the meat. the next morning, we headed home, tired and sore from some really hard work. I will never forget this amazing experience with my uncle in the beautiful mountains of Colorado.
