Saturday, October 3, 2009

Good News/Bad News


Quick update on Elk Hunt 2009. First the good news. Dad talked to Ray who spoke with a couple of boys from Kentucky who were hunting around Black Mountain during the muzzle load season. They said the found a ton of elk back in Roaring Fork and said we shouldn't have any problem bagging an elk this season if we head back in there. Roaring Fork is a little harder hunting and more remote than than our "Honey Hole" under Bear's Ears but I'll take it if there's wapati to be found.

The bad news also came from Ray who called Dad from the road on his way out to Utah. His route took him right by Craig and said it was "butt cold" out there and it looked as though the mountains were getting hammered with snow. Not good at all. If the snow gets too deep up in those mountains, the elk will high-tail it out of there and head for lower elevations. Which means we'll be S.O.L.

Over the last couple of days, I've become obsessed with monitoring the weather on weather.com. Right now the forecast for Opening Day keeps changing. One minute it's 60% chance of rain and snow, an hour later it says Clear and Sunny. I'm hoping Mother Nature decides to cooperate with us and the white stuff holds off at least for a few more days.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

9 Days To Go


In just a few days I board a jet plane headed for Colorado. Elk season is just around the corner and I absolutely can not wait. This year's hunting season down here in Georgia has been pretty much a bust so far. I lost my hunting property down in Coweta County. (The owner of the land is letting a buddy of his bow hunt the property this season, which translated to: TOUGH LUCK RICK) I found some other property up near Madison, GA that I could hunt, but the weekend I was heading up there, the GREAT FLOOD OF '09 hit. After that I came down with the head cold from Hell and was laid up in the house for several days coughing my head off. I'm hoping the Georgia rifle season goes a little better.

But none of that matters now-elk season is upon us and right now nothing else matter in the world than preparing to hunt the elusive wapati in the Colorado high country.

This season however is already looking like it's going to have a few speed bumps. First off Dad recently had a really bad kidney stone attack and has been in and out of the hospital over the last couple of weeks. The bad news is that he still hasn't passed the stone and is having random pain attacks. I'm praying he gets all of it out of his system before opening morning. Secondly, we've had reports from friends who went out the Bear's Ears' to bow hunt a few weeks ago and said there was NO ELK. Apparently the sheep herders were still in the mountains with over 8,000 head of sheep which have spooked the elk elk herds. Not good at all. So the fact Dad not 100% this year means that if I'm going to kill a big one, I'm going to have to hunt hard by myself.

But at the end of the day, elk season is really all about enjoying the beauty and majesty of the Rockies and spending time with my Dad. Even if I never set eyes on Booner, it's still worth the price of admission.

There simply is nothing quite like Opening Day of Elk Season.