Hunt

I don't consider myself a hunter. I don't want the latest and greatest hunting stuff. I don't get excited about Opening Day. I don't feel a burning desire to shoot my bow every day. But, after our friends brought us some elk meat a couple years ago I've been obsessed with getting an elk. The meat is by far the best I've ever had and I want a freezer full of it! Last year I got 4 shots at elk....and missed every one. This year when I drew my tag I was determined to get an elk. I practiced shooting my bow for hours and was so excited for our hunt that I literally did not get more than 1 1/2 hours of sleep in 36 hours.
The first day, rather the first HOUR, we were in my hunting area Rob and I saw close to a hundred elk I'm sure. At one point I went up a mountain, in hopes of cutting off a herd as they went to bed down for the day. Unfortunately the only elk I got close to got wind of me and ran off. Later that day we decided to try our blind from last year. We had checked it out and there was some elk sign there. We got there early so someone else wouldn't claim it. Rob and I were laying there talking when we heard, "BAAAAAAA!" About 500 sheep came, at a fast speed mind you, up the canyon and toward our blind. We grabbed our stuff as fast as possible and got out of there before we got their smell on us and before the sheep dogs attacked us. We decided we were better off going close to where we had seen the elk earlier in the day.
Although we didn't see a cow during that evening hunt, Rob called in a cute little bull elk. He came within 10 feet of us, grazing all around us. I would've been happy just to see that bull but the next morning we saw 3 HUGE bulls walking along a stream. I couldn't do anything except stare in awe at these majestic beasts. On top of seeing the elk we saw a lot of deer. At one point we had a mama and her 2 fawns close to us. Because they're mule deer, their ears are enormous! The fawns looked so cute with their scrawny bodies and big ears.

Rob teases me that he wants to make a video of me hunting. He can't believe some of the stuff I come up with. I consider myself to be a smart lady but, with most things, I will learn until the day I die. At one point I asked Rob if it was ok to shoot an elk standing in front of a tree. He said yes and asked why. I told him I didn't want to take a chance on the arrow going through the elk and pinning it to the tree. I was being serious but he laughed so hard I thought he'd wet his pants. Another story that is contrary to what Rob is telling is that I had a face mask on and couldn't hear. I asked what a noise was that I kept hearing because I thought it was a quad full of hunters coming back to hunt by us. He informed me, however, that it was simply a plane going over head. I played games with ants that Rob found humorous. But I'm told I can't move, talk or make any noise for that matter. If you know me you know that's about impossible. So I created a game with ants that kept me-and Rob for that matter-entertained.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to even get close enough to any elk this year. I was going to call it good and just hope Rob got one on his hunt next month. But my parents graciously offered to watch P again this upcoming weekend so Rob and I will make one more attempt at bringing home some elk meat. If I don't get one, that's ok. I got to spend time with my husband and got to see animals I had only seen on TV up until last weekend. So I'd say it was a memorable experience regardless of the outcome!