September 19, 2019

Today was our last day, and I wanted to hunt with Dad. As age has become a factor in our hunting together, I wanted to take advantage of an opportunity I haven’t had in the last few years. Since I began hunting with Brian in Colorado, I haven’t spent nearly enough time with Dad. He and I made a great elk hunting team, and I’m seeing the lack of results now that I don’t hunt with him on a regular basis. This year is the first year that Brian and I seemed to be on the same page. We got some good opportunities but missed out on capitalizing on them.

The elk began singing again this morning, and we decided to try to get in the middle of them. Once again, we couldn’t cut them off. Later in the morning, we made plans to hunt our way back to camp. Dad and I both had an idea about where the bulls might be hiding. I took the low side, he took the middle and Brian took the high side.

As I was still-hunting through a mix of aspen and timber, a big bull cut loose directly in front of me. He was no more than 100 yards, and I was certain I was going to get a look at him. He bugled a few times, and I bugled back. It was too thick to get a good look, but I could hear his diaphragm before each bugle.

After a five to 10 minute exchange, he gathered his cows and headed up the mountain toward Brian. Somehow the bull got between me and Dad without either one of us seeing it. Brian did get a look at him, and it was a big herd bull.

That basically put a wrap on my 2019 elk season. It was full of adventure, excitement and disappointment. If I get to go again in the future, I can only hope that I get a few more opportunities. Killing elk used to seem so incredibly easy, but luck has not been on my side in many years. I can remember killing elk every year or every other year with ease. I’m on quite the dry spell right now, and I’d like to rectify that. Only time will tell if I can turn things around.

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