Elk Hunting

I am not a good hunter, and especially a good elk hunter, but I am getting better.  I have never harvested an elk, but the adventure of the chase in the Rocky Mountains keeps calling me to try again.  There is so much more than just the kill, though hopefully I will harvest my elk someday.  I went to a college in western Colorado where I got to go Elk hunting for the first time.  I played college football so I was able to go exactly one day each year but it was exhilarating to me.  I was hooked.  I read Elk hunting books and scouted in the off season.  I was a subscriber to Bugle magazine starting in 1988. If I had stayed in Colorado, without a doubt I would have continued Elk hunting.

     I became a Marine Corps fighter pilot for twenty years.  I also got married and had kids.  I lived on the coasts of the United States and I was far away from the mountains and I was busy.  Elk hunting became a distant memory.  Over twenty years passed without learning, practicing, preparing and I forgot all I had learned about hunting.

     I retired in 2010 from the Marine Corps and moved to Virginia.  Two years later one of my best friends also retired from the Marines and invited me to go Elk hunting with him and his family up in Wyoming.  When I got up to the mountains I thought I was going to DIE!  I did not prepare at all.  My post retirement workout regime of some weightlifting and low intensity cardio at 15 feet above sea level was worthless.  That first hike up the mountain at 8,000 feet had my heart was beating out of my chest and I was sucking wind.  We saw some Elk and my buddy bagged a 6 x 6 the day after I left.  No doubt it was easier without me sucking in all the pine needles off the mountain and breaking every branch in sight.  Being up in the mountains and experiencing the chase, I was hooked again.

     I went back the next year.  I had changed my workouts to include hiking, some running, and the StairMaster.   It was not good enough.  I was still sucking wind and breaking branches.  My buddy harvested a spike on the first hour of the first day.  He uses the meat all year long.  We saw elk, but no more shots.  The three feet of snow also hindered us.

    I went back a third year.  This time I had added weighted hikes.  I found the one hill in all of tidewater and hiked it.  I added a lot of weight training for my legs and a ton of time on the StairMaster.  I was better prepared physically but I there was definitely more I could do.  I still was not a good hunter either. The season was hot and dry along with a ton of people (hunters and non hunters) in the woods.  We did not see a shooter elk, much less harvest one.  The out of state costs and human pressure in the area made me reevaluate hunting in Wyoming.  Someday I will go hunt Wyoming again.

    The next year I got into deer hunting in Virginia.  Hunting from a tree stand is not nearly as exciting as hunting for Elk and the physical requirements are not even close.  I did get a compound bow and bow hunting has become an addiction for me.  I love bow hunting even though I am not that good at it.  I have learned a ton about bow hunting over the last few years (What I have learned will be a future post).  I also learn every time I go into the woods.  Analyzing each day and hunt to try and become a better hunter. 

    A couple years ago I found out that an old friend of mine was an elk guide at an outfitter in Colorado.  I got all the information and surprisingly the cost was reasonable.   I signed up for a bow hunt during the rut in 2017.  I had over a year to prepare and I worked hard.  I got into High Intensity Interval training (HIIT).  I followed a couple of hunting training regimes.  I ran hills with 40 pounds in my backpack.  Countless hours with the pack and Training mask on the StairMaster.   I lifted and ran sprints.  I showed up and I was prepared.   I was able to hunt hard the entire 5 days of the hunt.  The hunt was epic.  I saw Elk everyday but was unable to get a good shot.  My lack of bow hunting experience also did not help.  I learned so much and I plan to apply the lessons as I prepare for my trip in 2019.