Backcountry Bucks

    Brian took a picture of this bull yesterday, so he decided we should go there today. Although we got a late start, we still made it in plenty of time to cover some ground and do some exploring. We rode the motorcycles up the main road for a few miles then headed up a forest road that brought us to an area loaded with alder brush.    After parking the bikes and making our way through the brush, we spotted a few nice mule deer bucks on the ridge in front of us. Making our way to the top of the ridge and criss-crossing it looking for sign, I wasn't overly impressed. However, we did find two runways and three wallows that were lights out for sitting. After finding them, I was sure you could sit on them and successfully fill your tag.   In the evening, we went up a drainage a few miles up the road from where we were camped. There was an unbelievable amount of sign, and as we continued a long a stream that was encompassed with alder brush, I spotted a cow moose....

    Dad and I hopped on a plane in Albany, N.Y., this morning around 5:30 a.m. and headed for Denver. In all the years of going West, I've only flown one other time, and that was the first time we ever went bow hunting for elk in 1992.    After killing my best bull to date that year, we never flew again due to the issues we ran into with getting everything home, including the antlers and meat. However, this year Brian and Dave are driving Brian's truck with all of the gear. They set the tent up a few days after they arrived.    After touching down in Denver and getting our rental vehicle, a Jeep Rubicon, we headed south. We would travel over a few passes and stop in Gunnison before finishing our journey just outside of Lake City, Colo.    As we headed into the mountains, I began gaining elevation and realized we should probably fill the gas tank before going too far. When we pulled into a small-town mountain-top convenience store, I got a hap...

   Please feel free to follow along as I recount my journey to Colorado this year and share the ups, downs and everything in between that happened during the trip. To give everyone a little history on the trip, I must share a few things before I begin transcribing my journal onto this online platform from my leather journal.    In the fall of 1991, I packed my bags, boarded a plane by myself and made my way to Denver, where I would pick up a shuttle flight to a little town called Alamosa, which is located just a little bit to the north of the New Mexico border.    I had no expectations and didn't know if I would ever return to elk hunt again in my life. After being stranded due to a massive, record-breaking snowfall that left hundreds of hunters in the woods, we were finally able to venture into elk country. The snowfall put the migration in full force, and we saw the results. The snow looked like a bloodbath and hundreds upon hundreds of elk were on the mo...