Some of you may know that I recently went to Colorado in pursuit of elk.  I went with my father-in-law and some family friends.  There were five of us in all.  We packed all of our stuff on to a goose neck trailer and jumped in a double cab diesel and drove straight through to Montrose, CO and hunted in the Uncompagre National Forest.  It was bow season and we bought either sex tags so a cow or a bull was fair game.  I had done quite of bit of satellite imagery scouting but when boots hit the ground it was much bigger than I was expecting.  The forest was a mixture of aspen, spruce and fur trees with some pine and some scrawny oak trees.  The first day I dropped of a 200 ft. drop at such a steep grade that I was almost sliding down to the bottom.  Fortunately, the trees didn't care how steep the grade was because that grew straight up all the way down so I had something to hang on to during my decent.  If there had been on trees on the slope then you would be crazy to go down.  Anyway, in the spirit of elk hunting where pursuit is the name of the game I got underway and didn't let the steep slopes dissuade me.  The first day was the best for wildlife watching.  I saw all the game animals offered there.  I saw multiple mule deer including a monster buck, the blue grouse, the merriam turkey, and a cow elk.  Plus, a multitude of birds that I had never seen before.  This is a great place for bird watching.  So now, some of you are thinking "Cow elk? Why didn't you shoot it?"  Well, it goes like this.  I was easing down a trail in the middle of one the afore mentioned steep slope, though this one was considerably more manageable, with a favorable wind when the cow elk spooked from behind me.  I apparently walked passed it and then it smelled me.  So, during the next couple of seconds I was frantically trying to nock an arrow and get ready to shoot.  The elk ran in front of me almost on the trail I was walking and turned and looked at me with ears forward trying to figure out why it smelled something weird.  I was made so I decided to start the timer on getting in shooting position before she ran.  Those of you not familiar with hunting should know that animals don't like having to run around the forest from danger it uses up energy that they will have to replace sometime, so they investigate when one of their senses is alerted to danger and when it is confirmed by an additional sense it will run in self defense.  So, I was taking a chance that it would take longer to decide to run than it took me to draw my bow and release an arrow.  It didn't.  As soon as I got my bow drawn it bolted down the slope.  By the way, the resident elk and mule deer could care less how steep the slope were.  They could zoom up and down with ease.  So, my first and what turned out to be my only encounter with an elk was unfruitful.  The lesson I learned was perhaps keep an arrow nocked while stocking though this can be dangerous if you fall or something you can easily evaluate if this is a problem or not.  Also, if there is a remote chance that you may get a shot, go ahead and draw the bow.  If I had done these thing then I would have gotten the elk on the first day of hunting and the first kill with a bow.  Maybe next time.

Fortunately, my friend Tim and his dad was much more fortunate.  It was the last day of hunting and Tim was pretty disgusted by then.  He had earlier shot a bull elk that was unrecoverable and felt that was his chance for the season.  But his dad talked him into making one last round to look for it and on the way they could get their treestands down in preparation to go home.  Well, they never found the wounded elk but on the way to the tree stands they heard a commotion in front of them and upon further inspection saw what they thought was two bulls fighting one another.  As it turned out it was just one bull smacking a tree around probably getting ready for the upcoming encounters with other elk during the mating season.  So, Tim told his dad that he was going to attempt to sneak up on it and try to get a shot.  He also said something similar to "If you move I am going to beat you with this bow!".  I am sure he was just joking.  I am sure the excitement was pretty high.  So, Tim had to close the distance from about 120 yds to try and get a shot.  He puts a tree between him and the elk and moves as quietly as he can toward the elk.  He finally gets to his hiding tree which was approximately 15 yds away draws his bow and steps from behind the tree and looses his arrow perfectly broadside.  The elk apparently was so preoccupied with thrashing the tree to notice Tim sneaking up on it.  There was some report of Tim throwing his cap down on the ground and exclaiming "I smoked it!"  It trotted off and upon almost getting out of sight it began to stumble a sure sign that the hit was good and fatal.  The elk turned out to be a real trophy.  It was a big 6x6 typical.  Tim is getting it mounted.  He hasn't had it scored yet but we were all certain that it was a Pope & Young class elk.  The best part was Tim's dad got to watch the whole thing from his vantage point!  The stalk, the shot, everything!  I thought that was a great thing to get to experience watching your son be successful before your very eyes.  

As it turned out that was the only elk taken during our expedition.  That made our success rate 20% which is similar to the overall success rate of 16%.  At least we didn't get skunked as a hunting party. 

In retrospect hunting elk with a bow pre-rut is very challenging.  The elk are not grouping and calling is largely ineffective which means you have to be pretty lucky to find an elk that you can get close to before it runs.  Not to mention the terrain is hard traveling.  The woods were fairly easy to navigate but there were several places that you just couldn't go that way.  That was strange to me for there to be impossible routes.  I got to see all sorts of wildlife including a mamma bear and two cubs feeding on a carcass which was a little scary but I managed to get away.  I was in danger of falling off a rock cliff once.  So, I had two near death experiences.  I thought about Lacey and Luke a lot. 

To be successful in hunting you have to follow what I call Dan's Rules of Hunting.  They are number one: To be successful hunting you must go hunting.  I estimate that this puts your chances up to 50% by just going hunting. And the second and final rule is "You must hunt where the animal is located."  I estimate that this will put your chances up to about 85%.  This could be more or less depending on how specific you are able to achieve this.  Yes, elk live in Colorado, but if you know the trail, tree and time of day he'll be there then your chances are above 85%.  The rest is a mixture of skill and luck.  On this elk hunt being specific about rule number 2 was very difficult.

Would I go again?  I think so but it would depend on a few things.

P.S.  Now that I think about it a little more following rule number 1 probable only gets you to a 20% chance of success and depending on how specific you are able to follow rule number 2 your chances would vary from 0% to 90% with the remaining being skill and luck.  So, if you are hunting an animal where none have ever been seen then rule number 2 would subtract from rule number 1.  But if you have spotted the animal you are pursuing at a certain time of day and you go there then you are up to about 85%-90%.  Some may ask why is skill and luck such a small percentage?  Well, it has been my observation that a small child up to the elderly can learn to be very proficient with a weapon.  It is actually much easier than a lot of everyday tasks that we take for granted such as driving a car or operating a back hoe or something.  As a matter of fact it seems like my dad said when he was in the army it they spent 2 weeks at the shoot range and they were "ready" for combat!  That would imply that most hunters and shooters are many times more proficient with there weapons than a soldier or mastering weapons is an easy task.  So, that pretty much leaves learning how to put the wind in your favor and perhaps hiding which both are simple things to learn. Therefore, skill and luck does not contribute very much compared to rule number 1 and rule number 2.  I suppose you could argue that luck plays a part in rule number 2 and that may be true however there are many things that you are able to control in your attempt to follow rule number 2, so I leave luck out.

Dan

I enjoyed looking at everyone's sites so much, I decided Dan and I should have one too. It's been so long since I've seen or talked to so many people, I had no idea how many marriages, babies, and other great stuff has happened. To catch anyone up: Dan and I are back "home" now. We were able to move back to SE Oklahoma in Oct. of 2005, right after the birth of our one and only baby boy in Sept. Luke was a bit of a surprise for us, but we wouldn't change having him for anything. We had no idea how much joy we were missing. He keeps us laughing and we are constantly amazed at each new thing he learns to do. I guess every parent feels that way!

Dan is an engineer at the local power plant and I am a super busy stay-at-home mom. I am so blessed to get to stay at home with Luke. I really don't know how moms do it when they have to work full time and be a mom (which is a more than full time job). Since he's a little bigger now, I've been subbing at our local school, writing some grants, and have started a small business with my dad. My grandma keeps Luke, so I don't feel bad about leaving him. 

We are in the process of remodeling a house and I LOVE having a yard. This year, I had my first real sized garden and have been busy putting in new flower beds and mowing the yard.

Dan is getting ready to go to Colorado on an elk hunt, so I'm sure we'll have fun things to report later. I hope to see lots of people in Ruston this weekend.

Lacey