Story of my first Elk (CO 1st Rifle 2019)

[HermanFromGA]

Okay it is time to finally sit down and write this hunt story. It is long (over 6000 words), but I wrote this more for myself, than you guys. I want to remember all of the details when I come back and read this a decade from now. Hopefully you enjoy it as much as I did. Alright, lets go.


After years of listening to Steve Rinella and Randy Newberg for inspiration, I embarked on a solo, DIY elk hunt this year with the goal of returning home with some delicious elk meat and a great story to tell. This was to be a test of my hunting abilities and my fitness. I went on my first elk hunt two years ago and returned home empty handed, but I had a different approach this year and I felt a weird sense of confidence before leaving. I always feel confident before going on a hunting trip. If I didn’t I wouldn’t go. But this was a calm sense of confidence that I rarely experience.

I had done a year’s worth of cyber scouting the first time around so I already had this huge knowledge base of the unit I would be hunting. Add that to my on the ground experience from two years ago and I knew what the terrain looked like and what my capabilities and limitations were. I also made a bunch of phone calls to the local CPW offices to get their opinion on the best plan of action and what they had seen others do. This was something that I did for the first time last year in Georgia and it resulted in my first black bear. After that experience I swore to never go in blind on a hunt again without calling around for intel before. It is just too valuable of a resource to pass up.

First Rifle season is a five day hunt in Colorado in mid October, running Saturday to Wednesday. I started driving west three days before the hunt would begin and arrived at the place that I had rented Thursday evening. It was a very cool off-grid, solar-powered, well-fed house that was central to the area I would be hunting. The unit is defined by some very steep mountains that roll out into a wide, flat valley floor full of sand and sagebrush. Someone from Georgia might even call it a desert. Two years ago when I hunted First Rifle season in this unit and tried doing it backcountry style, going up into the mountains, but they were so steep that I was unable to get up to many of the places that I had scouted online. As usually happens, the mountains were much bigger in real life than from a computer thousands of miles away. Living in Georgia my whole life had not prepared me for that experience.

This season the plan would be very different. In the valley floor there is a large tract of public land and that is where I planned to hunt. No more mountains for this flat lander. Hunting on this specific piece of property is very tightly regulated with tons of rules, like no camping over night and no vehicle access anywhere on the property. A large part of it is designated wilderness so access is only by foot or horseback. To be successful requires walking or riding a horse over 15 miles a day, and it can get pretty crowded at times.

The property is basically divided into three areas: An area where hunting is prohibited, An archery only area, and a firearms area. To access the property you must park in one of the designated parking areas scattered around the boundary. I took both a rifle and a bow out there with the plan to hunt whichever area of the property gave me the best opportunity and it looked like archery was going to be up first. The archery area is close to a nearby town and this where I would get my first look at a few herds of elk on the evening before opening day. I could see a large herd of elk grazing about ¾ of a mile from a road and I sat and watched them from the archery parking spot until dark.

 

[HermanFromGA]

The next morning I was back at the parking lot watching roughly 100 elk feeding, bugling, and rutting around. With the elk bugling and coyotes howling, I was star struck and sat there for two hours before an officer stopped by and asked why I was not hunting yet. He checked my license and told me to get in there and get after them, so away I went. I made a big loop and got about a half mile south of them, but it was flat and there was no way I could approach without being seen. The tallest thing to hide behind was thigh high sagebrush. While I was out in the sagebrush contemplating how to make this work, 1/3 of the elk picked up and started moving south. I don’t know if they were spooked or just thought it was time to move, but they passed about 500 yards from me. It was exciting, but far from an opportunity.

I headed that direction just out of curiosity. I got to about where I thought the elk came by and a second group was headed my way. This was a group of about 8 small bulls and they took a similar path, passing within 135 yards of me. Close, and exciting, but still not archery range. Now I knew there was one stud bull in the group from watching them earlier, and he had not come by yet. I figured he would bring his herd along a similar path as the first two groups. I could clearly see the paths the elk had taken through the dry desert sand so I set up and waited.

After about 30 minutes, here they come. I was hunkered behind a small sage bush about 20 yards from the trail the previous elk had come down and the big bull’s herd was closing fast, but there was a problem. Well two problems. When elk travel, the herd bull is always at the back like a king, with all of his cows leading the way in front of him. So I had to somehow dodge the cows and wait on the bull. The other, and much bigger problem was that the wind was backwards. The elk got to about 200 yards and slammed on the breaks. They knew I was there. Over the next 30 minutes they shuffled to the side and eventually around me at a very safe distance. I blew it, but there was never really a good chance with the way the wind was blowing. I do not think it was a coincidence that the elk had bedded in that spot or that they chose to head into the wind when it was time to move. This was not going to be easy. It was super exciting for the first 4 hours of my hunt, but I knew now that trying to get one with a bow was not going to be the best way.

I went back to base and regrouped. I decided to drive around and glass that afternoon and try to find some elk where I could use my rifle. Getting to within bow range out on those desert flats would be nearly impossible. I found a great spot at the base of the mountains that gave me a few hundred yards of elevation and I could see 20 miles out across the valley. Using binos mounted on a tripod, I could pick up elk over 10 miles away on the valley floor. I quickly learned that the trick was to look for the dust clouds they kicked up when moving. Sitting up there and picking out elk from over 10 miles away was so fun, and by the time the sun went down I had a plan for the next morning.



The new plan was to hike into the firearms area and head to where I saw the dust clouds the night before. There is water source about 6.5 miles from the parking area that I planned to target. Upon arriving at that parking area just before we were allowed on the property, I noticed that there was a half dozen other trucks and some of the guys there had bicycles and horses. This was a very different experience than the day before when I had been the only one at the parking spot to the archery area and I was not equipped to compete with these guys. Long story short, I hiked in, and around for 16 miles and the only elk I saw were two that were killed by the guys on the bikes. They were able to ride in half way to where the designated wilderness area began and where bikes are not allowed, and that gave them about a half hour head start on me. A little demoralized, I headed home to make a new plan.

On the way out I met a man on horseback. He had been in that area the day before with a couple buddies who both got elk, but he had missed his and today he was having as much luck as I was. After a brief chat we parted ways for the day as I could not keep up with his horse. I did not know it yet, but this would not be the last time I met that man. I returned to my glassing spot that evening and repeated the process from the afternoon before. Just before dark, I noticed a herd of elk heading to a different area that was only a 3 mile hike in. I decided that would be where I would head Monday morning.

The next morning I was first at the parking area to access the new spot and made good time getting in. After about 2 miles I bumped a group of elk in the dark. All I could hear was hooves running away, but I could not see anything and only could guess at the direction they went. This encounter caused me to alter my original plan and head in a slightly different direction, where I thought the elk went. As the sun rose, I could see two hunters out ahead of me, set up along a creek bed. I soon realized that they were bugling to a herd of elk somewhere further along the creekbed, but off of the property. The guys were set up right on the boundary of where we could legally hunt hoping to call the elk across.

I came up with the brilliant plan to loop around and see if I could get on the other side of the elk. Worst case scenario I bump them right to those two guys and they get a shot. Best case scenario, I gently push them onto the property where I can get a shot. It was a stupid idea. I soon found the elk hunkered down in the trees along the creek bed, about ¾ of a mile off of the property. For some reason that I still do not understand, I called my dad to make a plan. I am standing in the open, talking on the phone, and my wind was blowing right to them. Unsurprisingly, they did not stick around long. Instead of running onto the huntable area like I had hoped, they pushed south, parallel to the boundary. I took off, hoping to keep them from leaving the area. Elk are much faster than I am and they eventually skirted around me to the safety of a neighboring property which we are not allowed to hunt. I am sure those two guys hated me and I felt like a huge idiot. I was not patient and I blew it for everyone.

After that, I went back to take a nap, and then returned to my glassing spot after lunch. I could see the herd I bumped, way out in the valley, and another herd a few miles away. Both groups were about 10 miles away from the property where I could hunt. I could see that the new group was heading in the general direction of the water source from the day before and I figured they would be in that area in the morning. But that area is 8 miles from the parking area and the same area that I watched the guys on bicycles kill the elk the day before. So I came up with a brilliant plan. I drove an hour to town and bought a cheap bike at Walmart. I was not going to lose the race this time.

While I had been up on the hill glassing, the man with the horse from the day before drove by with his two buddies who already had their elk on ice. We chatted for about 30 minutes on what each other’s game plan was for the next morning and a little about life. They were good dudes and seemed to take amusement at competing with the Software Consultant from Georgia who had driven out here all by himself.

 

[HermanFromGA]

The next morning found me at the parking area well before sunrise. We are allowed on the property one hour prior to official sunrise and at that point it is essentially a race over to the area you want to hunt. For most people, myself included, this is the water source that I mentioned earlier. I saw about 6 other guys in the parking lot and a couple bicycles. I was chatting with the officer who was stationed there to make sure everyone followed the rules and just prior to go time a horse trailer pulled into the parking area and my horseman friend was out of the truck and on his way onto the property hardly before I could blink. It all happened so fast I was kind of in shock. The officer just laughed and said we were good to go. The race was on.

The firearms area of the property is divided roughly in half with the far side being a Wilderness only area, where only walking and horse riding is allowed. No bikes. No game carts. Nothing. I could ride my bike about 4 miles on a sandy gravel road before we got to the designated Wilderness area. During that 4 mile ride I was peddling as hard as I could go, constantly checking over my shoulder for the other riders, but none ever appeared. I eventually caught up to the horseman, who told me his name was Bill and that he would be willing to ferry my elk up to the place where I parked my bike if I was lucky enough to get one. What great luck! I thanked him and sped on ahead. Almost immediately I realized that I did not have his number or anyway to contact him so that gesture would probably be in vain.

We went in separate directions, with Bill opting to turn south and make a big loop, while I continued on straight to a hill where I had seen the guys take the two elk from on Sunday. This point is the highest piece of ground for miles, so you can see very, very far, being that everything else is so flat. I got there and immediately noticed two dead cow elk from earlier in the week. Not sure if this was a good sign or a bad sign, I continued on up. When I got to the top of the hill I pulled out my binos and tripod and got to glassing. I was still in a hurry at this point, knowing there were 5 guys somewhere behind me, headed this way. I scanned all around me and thought I saw a cow elk about 500 yards away poke her head up from the sage brush, but she was not what I was after and appeared to be heading away from me. Nothing to make the hike out there worth it so far. That is, until I turned my attention to way off in the distance. Initially I had scanned the immediate area, within 1000 yards or so. But when I looked at the horizon I could see elk! It looked to be about 6 – 10 elk about 8 miles away (total guess) but heading south, towards the water source.

I was currently about 6 miles in from the truck, with the water source about another mile, and then one more mile to the boundary of the property where I was allowed to hunt. I guessed the elk were about 6 miles off the boundary, but they looked to be headed this way. I made a plan to book it over to the boundary and then park myself between the water and the elk and just wait. I knew that no one could legally get between me and the elk that way. But there was always the risk of me misjudging where they were heading and just sitting over there for nothing. Still, I had to go for it.

I started hiking again, with the same sense of urgency that I had had all morning, and made it over to the edge of the property. I could not see the elk from where I was standing and I had no idea if they were still coming this way or not. I could not shoot an elk on the neighboring property, but I was allowed to access it on foot or horseback. This was good news, because the last piece of high ground was about a mile behind me, near the water source. Looking around at the horizons, and using OnX Maps, I found a small hill a few hundred yards over the edge of the property line where I would be able to glass and made my way over there. I got my tripod set up and began looking for the elk. I was trying to be very careful not to skyline myself, but I still could not see the elk from earlier. Had I misjudged it? I was getting worried. Finally I got just near the top of the hill and slowly stood up with binos to my eyes. There they were!

The elk were still very far away but one thing gave me hope. Elk have brown hair on their necks, and golden, light brown hair on their bodies. All of these elk looked very dark, which told me they were facing me. They still looked to be many miles away, but now all I had to do was wait. They were coming my way. I knew that I would eventually need to get back on the property where I could legally shoot, but if I did that I would not be able to see the elk. I was too curious and nervous to just walk away and trust that they would keep coming to me. While thinking of what to do I looked back to where I had come and I see Bill! He is back on the last high point, about a mile away, looking out towards me. I took this to mean that he too saw the elk and went to make a move on them, but I beat him to it. He was now just watching the elk slowly get closer to me. This was a great development! I envisioned him riding up to help as soon as I knocked one down.

 

[HermanFromGA]

I went back to waiting and standing up to peak every 5 minutes. I was so antsy. It felt like they were taking forever. All of the sudden I hear shooting behind me where Bill had been. I turned around and through the binos I can make out 5 or 6 guys spread out, shooting at something, and none of them is Bill. This is so confusing to me. One minute Bill had been there. Now there are 5 new guys and they are shooting at something, but it is over the hill where I cannot see. I had just been there an hour before and not seen any elk so I could not make sense of it. It was so rattling that I was even listening for bullets flying past me!

After the shooting stopped I turned my attention back to the elk. The landscape on the valley floor looks extremely flat, but actually contains long low hills, or ridges, that make seeing long distances from ground level impossible. The elk would periodically appear and disappear as they dipped behind the ridges. All of the sudden, after what was roughly 2 hours since I first saw the elk, they popped up over the last hill and they were close and coming fast! And there was not 6-8 elk, there was 60-70 elk! I would guess them to be less than 1000 yards out when they started pouring over that last hill and my heart started racing. It was happening! I ducked down and got a sagebrush between myself and the elk and scurried off of the backside of the hill. I beelined it back onto the huntable property and continued about 150 yards over the boundary. I gave myself this much room because I wanted to make sure that the elk were legal when I shot.

There was one very obvious elk trail through the sand where a previous herd had taken a similar route toward the water source. I checked the wind and it was going north. So I got about 50 yards north of the trail and a little over 100 yards onto the property and set up. The elk were now about 600 yards out. I checked the wind again and it was going south. What?? Oh no. The wind was switching back and forth from north to south. I was crouched down behind the largest sagebrush I could find so that they elk would not see me, but that swirling wind was terrifying. I kept thinking back to getting busted on Saturday in a similar situation, but in that scenario the wind was going straight at the elk. At least now it was to the side so I had more time. I just needed to shoot one before they got into my scent stream.

Earlier while I was waiting on the elk had switched my tripod’s bino adapter to a ‘V’ so that it now doubled as a shooting rest. I peaked through the bush over my scope at the elk and realized they were not going to follow the trail as I had hoped. They were actually coming straight at me! From 10 miles away, they just happened to pick a course that would lead them directly to me. Just like on Saturday, the biggest bull was in the back, following safely behind a whole herd of cows and spikes. Right as the lead cows were about to run me over and I thought the jig would be up, the front cows hit the brakes at about 20 yards. They had noticed something was weird with the bush I was hiding behind. Oh no. They jumped up and started heading back the way they came, into the oncoming herd. All of the elk were confused. They knew something was not right, but the wind was somehow still in my favor. The whole herd started milling about only 75 yards away. I just knew they were going to bolt.

I could clearly see the rack of the bull I wanted to shoot, but I could not determine which elk body it belonged too. The elk were all stacked together and walking in circles. I eased around the edge of the bush trying to get a better look. It was chaos in slow motion. The elk were right there, 75 yards away, but I could not take a shot yet. It was intense. All of the sudden the cows in front of the bull took a few steps forward and there he was. Totally unobstructed. It was perfect. I was rock steady on my tripod rest and had my scope dialed all the way down to 100 yards. At the shot he leapt in the air and I could immediately tell he was hit good. He was favoring his backside shoulder as he stumbled a few yards and spun. The rest of the heard took off in the opposite direction, but only went a hundred yards or so. After racking the bolt, my elk was still standing. I have heard Randy Newberg say to to keep shooting if he is still standing so I shot twice more before he collapsed in a heap.

 

[HermanFromGA]

I cannot put into words how I felt in that moment. Anyone that has hunted knows the feeling of success, but this one was so much more for me. After 4 long days, and almost 50 miles of hiking to get to this point I was overcome with emotion. I had worked so hard, and done it all by myself, and was just so proud and relieved and happy all at once. It was unreal. I called my wife and my dad before I even walked up to the elk and it took everything in me to not breakdown over the phone. It was a feeling I will never forget. I still get goosebumps when I think back about it.

Walking up and touching that elk was just incredible. It was so big. And the rack was actually bigger than I had thought too. He was a 6x6, but with a broken G2 on the left and G4 on the right, so when I had first seen him as they approached, I just assumed he was a big raghorn. It was an awesome surprise to experience the rare “ground growth” and I enjoyed the moment for a while, but now it was time to get serious. I had shot him 50 yards inside the boundary, 8 miles from my truck. But then something crazy happened. I had barely gotten to the elk and was still taking it all in when I realized that a guy was walking up to me. He was about my age and introduced himself as Zac. I could immediately tell he was a super nice guy. He explained that this was his first hunt ever and that he would love to help as he just wanted to learn how to butcher an animal and experience this part of the hunt. What?! Your first hunt ever and you are 8 miles from the truck and offering help to a complete stranger? This was too good to be true.

There is a running joke in my friend group that I am extremely lucky, or watched over by a guardian angel. Whatever you want to call it, this was a classic instance of that. Zac had to have been sent my angel. I got to work skinning the Elk while Zac wandered off to try and catch up to the herd of elk. They had lingered only a few hundred yards away, just off the boundary the whole time I had inspected the bull and talked to Zac. Not long after he left I heard a shot. While I wanted him to get his first elk, I was secretly hoping he did not, as having one elk down out here was trouble enough, two would be a nightmare. He was gone for what seemed like hours and I was beginning to worry about him, as he had dropped his pack and water with me and taken only his gun. It was about 12:30 PM at this point and there was no cover from the sun out there.

Eventually Zac shows up and explains that he had caught up to the elk as they were crossing back into the property and had taken a shot at one. He said he thought he missed, but wanted to follow the heard to make sure. After a mile or so he deemed all the elk unharmed and came back to help. We set to work deboning all of the quarters and eventually got everything into the game bags and ready to pack out. Each game back weighed 30-40 pounds. And the head and rack was about the same. While cleaning the elk I realized that my second two follow up shots were unnecessary and just destroyed a lot of good meat. Both front shoulders were shot up pretty good. Better safe than sorry, but lesson learned for next time.

It was around 1 PM by the time we got our packs loaded up and I was low on water by this time. With all of our gear and guns, we were each able to take two game bags full of meat. This meant we had to leave the rack and 2 other game bags of meat behind, but we were both close to 100 pounds on the packs. On the hike out we passed by the water source, which was basically a very large cattle tank that was being fed by a 2 inch pipe from well water. I stopped and filtered a Nalgene’s worth of water. It was like Florida water times 100. Disgustingly smelly, but this was part of the adventure I told myself. I just knew I was going to get sick and Zac and I even joked about it. “It’s probably fine” is what everyone says before they get sick. With my new stinky water, we pressed on.

We had gone about a mile, and I was telling Zac about the mysterious horseman Bill and his offer earlier to help me pack out my elk. Somewhere out there, a man on a horse had promised to help. As we are hiking along, I look up from the ground and cannot believe what I am seeing. Two men on horses are 100 yards away and headed towards us. As if appearing out of thin air, Bill is being followed by his buddy on a second horse and they have a mule loaded down with a stud bull elk. If I thought Zac was sent from my guardian angel, then what I was seeing now was my angel manifested in real life.

When we got to him he asked if we needed water and pulled out two gallons of fresh water from his saddle bags. I quickly poured out my stink water and refilled with his clean, delicious water. Then there was a Gatorade being passed around. And he even offered up a homemade burrito! Un real. I inquired about the big 6x7 rack on the back of the mule and he told me that he had found a couple cows and was about to shoot one when a big bull came jogging by. He tells me that he shot that bull, on the move, at 400 yards, and hit it right behind the head. DRT. While cleaning it, Bill noticed a second bullet wound in the back ham. We would later piece together that all of the shooting I had heard that morning was 5 guys ripping shots at a running bull and one had connected in the back legs. The bull would then run past Bill who killed it.

Bill got off of his horse and loaded our packs across his saddle. He hiked out with us the remaining 3 miles to where my bike was and we unloaded the meat. When Zac and I said we were going back in to get the rest, Bill would not let us go alone. He sent his buddy on to the truck with the mule and his elk, and took Zac and I back to my elk with the other two horses. Zac and I took turns riding the second horse, while marveling at how lucky were to have found Bill. It was surreal. We got the horse loaded up and started heading back to the truck right at the Golden Hour of the day, resulting in a sunset that was one of the most beautiful I have ever witnessed. Everything was too perfect.

 

[HermanFromGA]

We finally got all of the meat back to the halfway mark where my bicycle was around 9 PM and eventually the three of us made it out to the trucks just after 10. It had been a long day but the adventure was not over yet. I had left most of meat and the rack 4 miles out in the desert. It had been dipping below 30 degrees each night, so I was not worried about spoilage, but there were coyotes everywhere. Bill told me to take off one of my shirts and leave it on the bags to protect from scavengers. It was tough to sleep that night knowing how much was still out there, and even thought I was exhausted, daylight could not come soon enough. The next morning Zac and I returned with our bicycles and went in to bring out the meat and rack. I had originally planned to do it all myself, but Zac decided to scrap the last day of his hunt and help me out instead. He is a true gentleman in every sense of the word and a tough *** to boot. He whooped me on the ride out with full packs. I had to tape my ground pad around my seat to protect my rear end, but I was still bruised for a week. That heavy bike ride out was one of the toughest things I have ever done.

Zac told me that his distance counter totaled 26 miles from the day I shot the elk. That brought my total hiking distance to around 60 miles for the week with another 16 on the bikes. It was all worth it. I ended up giving Zac both front shoulders of my elk as a thank you, but Bill refused to take any form of payment. He claimed that seeing me have a positive experience was all he needed. Those men truly are two of the nicest people I have ever met and I will remember them and their kindness for the rest of my life.



With the meat and rack in the back of the truck I could finally relax. I did have to drive to town to pick up a second cooler as the elk meat would not all fit in my Yeti 105 and this resulted in another instance of me being comically lucky, but that is a story for another time. The rest of the day is a blur as I floated around, lost in my thoughts. I had been going nonstop for 5 straight days and a strong sense of relief and success and pure happiness was washing over me as I drove around the area. I had done it. I had driven to Colorado by myself. Figured out how to find the elk in an area that I had never hunted before. Figured out how to get close enough to shoot one. And made the shot count when given the opportunity. I had also gotten the whole elk out without losing any meat to spoilage or scavengers, but I cannot take credit for that. It would have been a completely different experience if not for the incredible kindness and generosity of Zac and Bill.

I had a lot of time to reflect on that week as I left Colorado and drove home to Atlanta. It had been a grueling week of hiking and hunting and I had lost about 10 pounds by the end of it. But there is something to be said for pushing yourself to the limit and coming out the other side. Steve Rinella calls this Type 2 Fun. The kind of experiences that are brutal and painful while you are living them, but become favorite memories weeks, months, or years later. An experience like that makes you into a better hunter, but it also makes you into a better man. I felt like I could accomplish anything now and I overflowing with positivity and happiness.

On Cinco de Mayo of 2018, I got married to an amazing woman. That day was the best day of my life, but this was a close a second. The feelings of happiness and pride that you experience in times like those are very similar. The world just seems to appear more beautiful to me, as if the colors are deeper and pop brighter than they usually do, and the sunlight hits everything just right so that it all has a faint glow, like you see in touched up photos. I believe this is the visualization of the feeling of success. An outward manifestation of what is going on inside of your brain, reflected off of your surroundings so that you may enjoy it with all of your senses. Both of those moments highlighted the attainment of very difficult goals. Two things that took a lifetime of practice and preparation to achieve and two moments that are so special that I will remember forever.

-Herman

 

[elkduds]

What an adventure! Wish I could see the photos. Congratulations.

 

[CUElk]

nice job. congrats. I couldn't get the pics to open. may have to load again. sounds like you met some true gentlemen and good outdoorsman. appreciate the write up

 

[Outlaw99]

Amazing write up, congrats, and thanks for sharing

 

[FlatlandHunter]

Great story and congrats on your success.

 

[morley.tyler]

If that story doesn't make you smile as you read along...Well, you're probably just dead inside. Well done, brother. I think Bill and Zac set a great example for us all on how to interact with our fellow hunters in the field

 

[passinthru]

Wow great story.

Nice to hear there are still people like Bill and Zac out there paying it forward.

Congratulations you earned it!

 

[Khunter]

great writeup but for crying out loud go back and edit each post to load the photos!!!

 

[Nebraska E->W]

Congrats on your hunt

 

[Threedognight]

Congrats! Love to see the photos.

 

[npaden]

Enjoyed the detailed write up. The pictures are working for me either.

 

[HermanFromGA]

great writeup but for crying out loud go back and edit each post to load the photos!!!

Sorry. Didn't mean to make you cry. I could see the photos just fine in my post. Can you see them now?

 

[HermanFromGA]

What an adventure! Wish I could see the photos. Congratulations.

Can y'all see the photos now?

 

[HermanFromGA]

Enjoyed the detailed write up. The pictures are working for me either.

I edited them and tried again. Can you see them now?

 

[elkduds]

I edited them and tried again. Can you see them now?

Yes, and they are well worth the wait. Congratulations again.