The wind rips across the lake,
and down the ridges like a locomotive
rolling through the plains.
It hits you hard,
making you question your decisions.
Making you wonder why you dreamt of this for 8 years
As the fingers of never-ending Coulees
Drag the miles out of you,
Regardless of your plans.
The elk are here.
They are hiding in the deep fingers
Avoiding your glass eyes
Mocking your fat ass
As you lumber up and down the ridges,
Flushing grouse and rabbits
But not elk.
Elk are jerks.
Taking glee in showing themselves to guy without a tag,
but the legs to take them on.
Hiding in plain sight from the one with the tag,
laughing in the scarred hellholes they find security in.
@Schaaf & I spent a week running around a piece of ground in eastern MT. As long as I've lived in MT, I've wanted to do a boat in hunt on the Missouri. It's the stuff of dreams, and it's the stuff that makes a fella get humbled quickly. They don't just call them the Breaks because of their topography, but because they'll break you quickly if you're not ready for it. Everything is sore, and even though I didn't connect on an elk, I couldn't be happier with the trip. I'll get back out after a couple of weeks to a different part of the unit. Schaaf is a great host, and hunting partner. He's easily 10 times the hunter I am, and that's not much of an exaggeration. Everything is sore, muddy and smells like hard work. We had brutal winds and temps, along with some nice days and a day of rain that kept me in the tent resting, while Justin had to take care of business back in town for a day.
While I didn't find a bull, Justin did connect on a great buck. I'll let him post the glory shots, but we did get a cool pic of him taking the head off after butchering.
Some poetic photos:
I got in the night before, and managed to get a room at the Fort Peck Hotel. Good accommodations w/ a keen eye for art.
Heading in:
Loaded for comfort:
Home Sweet Home was a 12x12 Cabela's Alaknak with a vestibule. It was a tremendously comfortable camp to have for a week. Coming down the ridges to it in the evenings, knowing you'd have a warm fire and plenty of room to pick your toes was a welcome end to long, windy days.
Filtering water from the Lake. Nobody got the trots. The system works.
The weapon of choice. Mid-90's vintage Ruger 30-06 that has the stock work done by Roger Renner of Sparks Nevada. The rifle is appropriately scarred for spending a week in the Breaks. Feels good to get those first war trophies on it. For a Ruger, it's fairly light & nice to carry. Accurate and loaded with 165 TTSX's, none of which were used.
@Schaaf connected on a helluva nice buck on the last day we hunted. Weather dictated that discretion was warranted if we wanted to get out before the big water came on. I'll let him tell the tale of the kill, but watching it through the spotter, it was textbook perfect. If only I had chosen a better path to get to him after the shot.
and down the ridges like a locomotive
rolling through the plains.
It hits you hard,
making you question your decisions.
Making you wonder why you dreamt of this for 8 years
As the fingers of never-ending Coulees
Drag the miles out of you,
Regardless of your plans.
The elk are here.
They are hiding in the deep fingers
Avoiding your glass eyes
Mocking your fat ass
As you lumber up and down the ridges,
Flushing grouse and rabbits
But not elk.
Elk are jerks.
Taking glee in showing themselves to guy without a tag,
but the legs to take them on.
Hiding in plain sight from the one with the tag,
laughing in the scarred hellholes they find security in.
@Schaaf & I spent a week running around a piece of ground in eastern MT. As long as I've lived in MT, I've wanted to do a boat in hunt on the Missouri. It's the stuff of dreams, and it's the stuff that makes a fella get humbled quickly. They don't just call them the Breaks because of their topography, but because they'll break you quickly if you're not ready for it. Everything is sore, and even though I didn't connect on an elk, I couldn't be happier with the trip. I'll get back out after a couple of weeks to a different part of the unit. Schaaf is a great host, and hunting partner. He's easily 10 times the hunter I am, and that's not much of an exaggeration. Everything is sore, muddy and smells like hard work. We had brutal winds and temps, along with some nice days and a day of rain that kept me in the tent resting, while Justin had to take care of business back in town for a day.
While I didn't find a bull, Justin did connect on a great buck. I'll let him post the glory shots, but we did get a cool pic of him taking the head off after butchering.
Some poetic photos:
I got in the night before, and managed to get a room at the Fort Peck Hotel. Good accommodations w/ a keen eye for art.
Heading in:
Loaded for comfort:
Home Sweet Home was a 12x12 Cabela's Alaknak with a vestibule. It was a tremendously comfortable camp to have for a week. Coming down the ridges to it in the evenings, knowing you'd have a warm fire and plenty of room to pick your toes was a welcome end to long, windy days.
Filtering water from the Lake. Nobody got the trots. The system works.
The weapon of choice. Mid-90's vintage Ruger 30-06 that has the stock work done by Roger Renner of Sparks Nevada. The rifle is appropriately scarred for spending a week in the Breaks. Feels good to get those first war trophies on it. For a Ruger, it's fairly light & nice to carry. Accurate and loaded with 165 TTSX's, none of which were used.
@Schaaf connected on a helluva nice buck on the last day we hunted. Weather dictated that discretion was warranted if we wanted to get out before the big water came on. I'll let him tell the tale of the kill, but watching it through the spotter, it was textbook perfect. If only I had chosen a better path to get to him after the shot.
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Might want to take that filter along with you. Where about in Mexico and what are the targeted fish on this trip?
