Elk Hunting

I've just returned to the office after a week of Elk Hunting with good friends Eastern Oregon. We had a great time, although the Elk seemed more inclined to bug out & hide rather than hang around with targets painted on their vitals. Stingy buggars! Truth be told, we were right on top of them a couple of times - so close we could not only hear them, but could smell them. That's pretty close. But as close as we got, I never did see hide nor hair. Both my hunting partners did however, which provided verification that what I was smelling was indeed Cervus Canadensis, and not a stinking bipedal Sasquach who had been bathing in the most rancid bog in the land, which is what it smelled like. No, there are no horns on the wall. Nor is there a freezer full of elk meat. Some may count this as a terrible failure, but I do not. As a first time hunter, I was in a classroom. I learned a ton, and had I the time, I could write a list 100 items long of things to/not to do, to/not to bring, etc. etc. etc. I'd start with DO's, and that list would start with Conditioning. Elk are mountain critters. Sure, they come down on the flat, but not usually in a place or at a time that you can get to them (i.e. private feilds at dark-o-clock in the morning). To get into Elk, you have to give up the home-feild advantage and go to their house - and that means climbing. So, conditioning! Don't go trecking into Elk country cold turkey, turkey! I could add more, but I'm afraid I've neglected my duties at work too much already. TIme to make up for some lost time. In closing, however, I will say this: I'm not discouraged to come home empty handed. I'll continue to learn and apply what I have learned to the next hunt, and the next, and so on. Now I've hunted, but this process will make me a hunter. And maybne I'll even find success eventually. Happy hunting to all those who will be heading to the high country after game this year, and Tight Lines!