XDA

To say the first part of the elk hunt, up in the deep woods of the Roosevelt Forest west of Fort Collins, was a disaster would be too kind. First, although it's pretty country, ambush hunting in the deep woods without snow to show fresh prints is a model for frustration. But I get ahead of myself. Gary, my hunting bud, and brilliant biochemist, eschewed bringing water from the taps of Denver and filled the 5 gallon jerry can with water from a ditch, no, to be fair, from the East Fork of Sheep Creek (where it flowed into a ditch) with his magic pump/filter. Apparently the filter malfunctioned and we were deathly ill the first day of the hunt. Gary stayed in his tent and puked. I walked around the beautiful deep woods, puking, but not seeing anything but a moose, and that for about a quarter second. That's the only living large game animal I saw. I had lost my valuable watch the day before reconnoitring, so the trip started with a bad omen. And then got worse.


That night, in the VW Eurovan, I had a sort of anxiety attack. It's hard to explain, maybe a little claustrophobia too, but I couldn't get to sleep, a recurring weird thought would cause me to open my eyes in near panic. It was too cold to go outside for a refreshing walk. So, about 4 am, I got to sleep sitting up with the sleeping bag over my head. Not the best night ever.


The next day hunting was more fortunate. Gary saw and shot dead the last deer in the area, a beautiful young four pointer. He did all the gutting and carrying by himself as I had my radio off by mistake. Sorry, man. That night, I pulled the dead deer out of the back of his Toyota pickup, wiped up the blood, and slept there, a lot better, I might add.

We were entirely bummed by the lack of fresh sign and sightings (Gary too saw a moose and cows--but that's it) so we decided to leave but our enthusiasm took a big turn for the better when it started to snow. Unfortunately, the snow stopped after a useless quarter inch and we fled. I plan to work today and then we'll go to Antonito and try our luck in the deep woods there. Most of our success has been in the unlovely sage country north of Craig, where you can actually see the game. I'm trying to work on the reason we abandoned Craig. I have no idea at present.

UPDATE: I have sprinkled in some photos--the deep woods, the medusa trees, the successful hunter, the peaks and the frozen elk wallow. Foothills of the San Juans just north of New Mexico starting tomorrow early. Could be fun.