The Season of Stupid (& elk)

[Deleted member 52098]

Now I know we hauled 140 lbs of meat out of there (as its been dropped at the processor) and I think we evenly split it - @Dsnow9 can correct me if am I wrong. But that would put our packs at roughly 90-100lbs each, with mine having a rifle, I think it weighed a little more. And this next part will make more sense as the story goes on, but that puts @Dsnow9 at about 260-270 on foot and me at about 360-370 on foot. Remember also that I snapped my good trekking pole at the very start of the day.

So again, we have to try to ascend 300 vertical feet in 450 horizontal feet. D goes first and for about 150 of those horizontal feet, I am fine and am able to follow along. But 1/3 of that way up, I am not able to ascend. I try to follow where D went and I just slip backwards. I come back to where I was before I slipped. I walk right and try to ascend, I end up slipping backwards. I walk left and repeat. Over and over and over again. No joke I am on this same elevation band for no less than 45 mins. Profanities flying. Stress elevating. I literally cannot ascend. If you have ever been on skis and trying to walk up a slope on skis and then slid backwards... then you know how I felt, as both my legs would step up and then slide backwards and out. It was terrible and terribly frustrating. I even tried grabbing sage branches and pulling myself up and just like that Farley clip, the bushes just come right out of the ground and I stumble backwards. F^&*ing A!

I was further left and I think I find a spot. I start to ascend, I start to slip and this time it feels like I am falling backwards, so it grab a sage brush and hold on with all my might... but it doesn't work. I hear the roots coming out of the ground and before I know it, I am on my back between a sage brush and a pine and I cannot roll over

I chuckled at my predicament and then swore. I had to get out of my pack and that was the last thing I wanted. I unclip and get out of my pack. I am covered in mud. My pack is covered in mud. The meat is luckily safely inside a Stone Glacier Load Cell bag. Buy one, you can thank Deacon later for that suggestion. I stand up, get my pack upright and start shuttling it, one lift at a time to my left to an open hillside where there is a semi flat bench of approximately 3x3 feet. The only place where I can my pack back on. As I am doing this, I guess D has started descending with no pack to see what was happening and he starts cracking up at me attempting to keep on my feet and shuttle my pack to this safe spot to reload.

I am a very honest person, but also proud... so it is embarrassing to say that Deacon took my pack from me then and started ascending. It was maddening. For whatever reason the tipping point of ascending or slipping was apparently this formula:

Deacon's weight + 100 lb pack = safe
Bryce's weight + 100 lb pack = nice try, idiot

We made it to the ridge, and dropped my pack. I chugged a ton of water. It was maddening that in the time I was sitting there struggling, D was able to boil 4 liters of water, have a snack and rest. Not only did I feel stupid that I couldn't stop sliding, I also cost us about an hour. My look after falling in the all the bushes




We are now on the ridge and have exactly 3 miles and about 1000 feet of ascent and descent ahead of us. I am throughly exhausted from my futile efforts to ascend that hill, but we have about 3 hours until sunset and I know this can be done. We start hiking and after about a 1/4 mile of flat space, we have the vast majority of the ascent. Immediately it's clear that I am going to be covered in mud and sliding for the rest of the day. About a 1/4 of the way up the steepest ascent, I slip, jam my lone trekking pole into the ground to keep me from falling backwards and hear "crack" as I self arrest but snap my one lone trekking pole. This is going to be fun

I get a text on my Zoleo from Deacon that says he is going to go on ahead, drop his load at the truck and come back. I make it through all the shitty deadfall, and am about a mile away from the truck when D finds me somehow covered in more mud, with a broken trekking pole and a tired smile on my face. For whatever reason, even though we just carried loads this heavy the week before - my body is way more wrecked than I was after doing 5x the distance. He offers to take the meat and I let go of my ego and let him; One day I am sure I will return the favor. I think he is relieved that I made through the deadfall. I make a comment that besides being healthier in general, I need to lose weight as it was clear that this was strictly a total weight on foot issues in terms of slipping. I move through the mountains pretty well, but my combined weight was just not working in my favor today. More motivation indeed.

We reach the truck about 5 mins after dark and we both audibly breathe a sigh of relief. One cow, one trip, day one of the season. We are done.

Back at camp, we had that fire roaring so hot the pipe and stove were blazing hot and red. D snapped this photo of me right before we passed out and it was the second happiest I had been all day.



It was an amazing hunt and an amazing day I will never forget. I am bummed about the bull, but I can't eat antlers and I'll take 140 pounds of the best meat on the planet any day. We each got home Sunday night and rather than work today, decided to do all the clean up work.

I am exhausted but my heart is happy as can be. Can't wait to do it all again in a month.


Season of Elk Scorecard:

Tag Count: 3/5 punched
Tags to go: 2 (3rd season Bryce, 4th season Deacon)

 

[Dsnow9]

Now I know we hauled 140 lbs of meat out of there (as its been dropped at the processor) and I think we evenly split it - @Dsnow9 can correct me if am I wrong. But that would put our packs at roughly 90-100lbs each, with mine having a rifle, I think it weighed a little more. And this next part will make more sense as the story goes on, but that puts @Dsnow9 at about 260-270 on foot and me at about 360-370 on foot. Remember also that I snapped my good trekking pole at the very start of the day.

So again, we have to try to ascend 300 vertical feet in 450 horizontal feet. D goes first and for about 150 of those horizontal feet, I am fine and am able to follow along. But 1/3 of that way up, I am not able to ascend. I try to follow where D went and I just slip backwards. I come back to where I was before I slipped. I walk right and try to ascend, I end up slipping backwards. I walk left and repeat. Over and over and over again. No joke I am on this same elevation band for no less than 45 mins. Profanities flying. Stress elevating. I literally cannot ascend. If you have ever been on skis and trying to walk up a slope on skis and then slid backwards... then you know how I felt, as both my legs would step up and then slide backwards and out. It was terrible and terribly frustrating. I even tried grabbing sage branches and pulling myself up and just like that Farley clip, the bushes just come right out of the ground and I stumble backwards. F^&*ing A!

I was further left and I think I find a spot. I start to ascend, I start to slip and this time it feels like I am falling backwards, so it grab a sage brush and hold on with all my might... but it doesn't work. I hear the roots coming out of the ground and before I know it, I am on my back between a sage brush and a pine and I cannot roll over

I chuckled at my predicament and then swore. I had to get out of my pack and that was the last thing I wanted. I unclip and get out of my pack. I am covered in mud. My pack is covered in mud. The meat is luckily safely inside a Stone Glacier Load Cell bag. Buy one, you can thank Deacon later for that suggestion. I stand up, get my pack upright and start shuttling it, one lift at a time to my left to an open hillside where there is a semi flat bench of approximately 3x3 feet. The only place where I can my pack back on. As I am doing this, I guess D has started descending with no pack to see what was happening and he starts cracking up at me attempting to keep on my feet and shuttle my pack to this safe spot to reload.

I am a very honest person, but also proud... so it is embarrassing to say that Deacon took my pack from me then and started ascending. It was maddening. For whatever reason the tipping point of ascending or slipping was apparently this formula:

Deacon's weight + 100 lb pack = safe
Bryce's weight + 100 lb pack = nice try, idiot

We made it to the ridge, and dropped my pack. I chugged a ton of water. It was maddening that in the time I was sitting there struggling, D was able to boil 4 liters of water, have a snack and rest. Not only did I feel stupid that I couldn't stop sliding, I also cost us about an hour. My look after falling in the all the bushes


View attachment 297296

We are now on the ridge and have exactly 3 miles and about 1000 feet of ascent and descent ahead of us. I am throughly exhausted from my futile efforts to ascend that hill, but we have about 3 hours until sunset and I know this can be done. We start hiking and after about a 1/4 mile of flat space, we have the vast majority of the ascent. Immediately it's clear that I am going to be covered in mud and sliding for the rest of the day. About a 1/4 of the way up the steepest ascent, I slip, jam my lone trekking pole into the ground to keep me from falling backwards and hear "crack" as I self arrest but snap my one lone trekking pole. This is going to be fun

I get a text on my Zoleo from Deacon that says he is going to go on ahead, drop his load at the truck and come back. I make it through all the shitty deadfall, and am about a mile away from the truck when D finds me somehow covered in more mud, with a broken trekking pole and a tired smile on my face. For whatever reason, even though we just carried loads this heavy the week before - my body is way more wrecked than I was after doing 5x the distance. He offers to take the meat and I let go of my ego and let him; One day I am sure I will return the favor. I think he is relieved that I made through the deadfall. I make a comment that besides being healthier in general, I need to lose weight as it was clear that this was strictly a total weight on foot issues in terms of slipping. I move through the mountains pretty well, but my combined weight was just not working in my favor today. More motivation indeed.

We reach the truck about 5 mins after dark and we both audibly breathe a sigh of relief. One cow, one trip, day one of the season. We are done.

Back at camp, we had that fire roaring so hot the pipe and stove were blazing hot and red. D snapped this photo of me right before we passed out and it was the second happiest I had been all day.

View attachment 297298

It was an amazing hunt and an amazing day I will never forget. I am bummed about the bull, but I can't eat antlers and I'll take 140 pounds of the best meat on the planet any day. We each got home Sunday night and rather than work today, decided to do all the clean up work.

I am exhausted but my heart is happy as can be. Can't wait to do it all again in a month.


Season of Elk Scorecard:

Tag Count: 3/5 punched
Tags to go: 2 (3rd season Bryce, 4th season Deacon)

Only thing I will add is that I let you borrow my second pole for the initial ascent up the steep face so that you had one good pole and one wonky, didn’t seem to make a difference though.

I really wish I would have recorded the retelling of the slip fest on that face. I couldn’t breathe, I was laughing uncontrollably for 30 minutes straight.

 

[Khunter]

Congratulations on your first elk!

I will suggest a two tripper to pack meat instead of a one tripper is not a crime. And a lot less likely to yield injury in that slippery mess.


With apologies to no one and no loss of ego, I carried half the weight @YZF-88 carried when he helped me pack out my bull. Know your safe limits and stick to them absent a bonafide emergency. He tossed a boned out hind and shoulder in his pack and I carried a hind first trip.

What happened to the WV guy (injury) very well could have been your outcome.

Edit to add

Katoohla Microspikes would likely have prevented all that sliding backwards mess. And provided a much safer pack out less prone to injury.

Suggest investigating and buying same/similar for upcoming hunts. They work great in mud, snow and ice

 

[Dsnow9]

The guys from West Virginia did end up killing two bulls after about a box of rounds. They cut them all up and hung them. They were packing out the first lid when J slipped and fell on his hip. They eventually made it out with the first trip around midnight and headed straight to the hospital. Two pinched nerves in the hip, not able to lift the leg, and numb toes. They were able to find a packet to get the rest of their meat and gear out of the hell hole. And have an mri scheduled in wv tomorrow afternoon. Scary situation but the plan concocted Friday night all came together. 3 tags, 3 elk, and then one hell of a day.

 

[p_ham]

Now I know we hauled 140 lbs of meat out of there (as its been dropped at the processor) and I think we evenly split it - @Dsnow9 can correct me if am I wrong. But that would put our packs at roughly 90-100lbs each, with mine having a rifle, I think it weighed a little more. And this next part will make more sense as the story goes on, but that puts @Dsnow9 at about 260-270 on foot and me at about 360-370 on foot. Remember also that I snapped my good trekking pole at the very start of the day.

So again, we have to try to ascend 300 vertical feet in 450 horizontal feet. D goes first and for about 150 of those horizontal feet, I am fine and am able to follow along. But 1/3 of that way up, I am not able to ascend. I try to follow where D went and I just slip backwards. I come back to where I was before I slipped. I walk right and try to ascend, I end up slipping backwards. I walk left and repeat. Over and over and over again. No joke I am on this same elevation band for no less than 45 mins. Profanities flying. Stress elevating. I literally cannot ascend. If you have ever been on skis and trying to walk up a slope on skis and then slid backwards... then you know how I felt, as both my legs would step up and then slide backwards and out. It was terrible and terribly frustrating. I even tried grabbing sage branches and pulling myself up and just like that Farley clip, the bushes just come right out of the ground and I stumble backwards. F^&*ing A!

I was further left and I think I find a spot. I start to ascend, I start to slip and this time it feels like I am falling backwards, so it grab a sage brush and hold on with all my might... but it doesn't work. I hear the roots coming out of the ground and before I know it, I am on my back between a sage brush and a pine and I cannot roll over

I chuckled at my predicament and then swore. I had to get out of my pack and that was the last thing I wanted. I unclip and get out of my pack. I am covered in mud. My pack is covered in mud. The meat is luckily safely inside a Stone Glacier Load Cell bag. Buy one, you can thank Deacon later for that suggestion. I stand up, get my pack upright and start shuttling it, one lift at a time to my left to an open hillside where there is a semi flat bench of approximately 3x3 feet. The only place where I can my pack back on. As I am doing this, I guess D has started descending with no pack to see what was happening and he starts cracking up at me attempting to keep on my feet and shuttle my pack to this safe spot to reload.

I am a very honest person, but also proud... so it is embarrassing to say that Deacon took my pack from me then and started ascending. It was maddening. For whatever reason the tipping point of ascending or slipping was apparently this formula:

Deacon's weight + 100 lb pack = safe
Bryce's weight + 100 lb pack = nice try, idiot

We made it to the ridge, and dropped my pack. I chugged a ton of water. It was maddening that in the time I was sitting there struggling, D was able to boil 4 liters of water, have a snack and rest. Not only did I feel stupid that I couldn't stop sliding, I also cost us about an hour. My look after falling in the all the bushes


View attachment 297296

We are now on the ridge and have exactly 3 miles and about 1000 feet of ascent and descent ahead of us. I am throughly exhausted from my futile efforts to ascend that hill, but we have about 3 hours until sunset and I know this can be done. We start hiking and after about a 1/4 mile of flat space, we have the vast majority of the ascent. Immediately it's clear that I am going to be covered in mud and sliding for the rest of the day. About a 1/4 of the way up the steepest ascent, I slip, jam my lone trekking pole into the ground to keep me from falling backwards and hear "crack" as I self arrest but snap my one lone trekking pole. This is going to be fun

I get a text on my Zoleo from Deacon that says he is going to go on ahead, drop his load at the truck and come back. I make it through all the shitty deadfall, and am about a mile away from the truck when D finds me somehow covered in more mud, with a broken trekking pole and a tired smile on my face. For whatever reason, even though we just carried loads this heavy the week before - my body is way more wrecked than I was after doing 5x the distance. He offers to take the meat and I let go of my ego and let him; One day I am sure I will return the favor. I think he is relieved that I made through the deadfall. I make a comment that besides being healthier in general, I need to lose weight as it was clear that this was strictly a total weight on foot issues in terms of slipping. I move through the mountains pretty well, but my combined weight was just not working in my favor today. More motivation indeed.

We reach the truck about 5 mins after dark and we both audibly breathe a sigh of relief. One cow, one trip, day one of the season. We are done.

Back at camp, we had that fire roaring so hot the pipe and stove were blazing hot and red. D snapped this photo of me right before we passed out and it was the second happiest I had been all day.

View attachment 297298

It was an amazing hunt and an amazing day I will never forget. I am bummed about the bull, but I can't eat antlers and I'll take 140 pounds of the best meat on the planet any day. We each got home Sunday night and rather than work today, decided to do all the clean up work.

I am exhausted but my heart is happy as can be. Can't wait to do it all again in a month.


Season of Elk Scorecard:

Tag Count: 3/5 punched
Tags to go: 2 (3rd season Bryce, 4th season Deacon)

Congrats on the elk! Every elk you ever get is a trophy. It doesn't matter what is or isn't on top of its head. I've never had an easy one.

It's amazing how much more miserable a packout gets when you add an incline. Sometimes it's worth making that 2nd trip so you don't wind up with your knees on backwards at the bottom of the mountain.

 

[Dsnow9]

Congratulations on your first elk!

I will suggest a two tripper to pack meat instead of a one tripper is not a crime. And a lot less likely to yield injury in that slippery mess.

What happened to the WV guy very well could have been your outcome.

Congrats on the elk! Every elk you ever get is a trophy. It doesn't matter what is or isn't on top of its head. I've never had an easy one.

It's amazing how much more miserable a packout gets when you add an incline. Sometimes it's worth making that 2nd trip so you don't wind up with your knees on backwards at the bottom of the mountain.

for the record, I did tell him he could hang as much meat as needed and we could make a second trip. But I don’t think he wanted to be outdone by ol chicken legs initially.

 

[Deleted member 52098]

Just a quick note.

I've never read the manual, but chains fit and work just fine on my 2012 tundra, with both stock and oversized tires. If I was in @MtnElk shoes I wouldn't give a flying frick what Toyota says I should or shouldn't be doing, I'd get where I needed to go.

for the record, this was just one of those situations where I didn't want to temp fate again on the off chance there was a completely logical and functional reason for not putting chains on there. And without service to research, I didn't want to risk that I would F myself even harder and need an ever harder rescue ha

 

[Dsnow9]

for the record, I did tell him he could hang as much meat as needed and we could make a second trip. But I don’t think he wanted to be outdone by ol chicken legs initially.

I also think the boots made a difference. The altra hiking boots MtnElk was wearing have a real soft sole and low ankle. I was wearing my schnees beartooth 2s with sturdy soles, a solid toe box, and lace up to mid calf. I could jam a toe or side of the boot in the soft stuff and have a stable platform to stand on.

The altras were definitely the best boot for Wyoming but did not hack it in the steep slippery slopes of Colorado.

 

[kansasdad]

Its a shame that only one emoji per post is allowed. Multiple posts on this thread warrant a "love", "thumbs up", "laughing" and even a few "wow" responses. Perhaps slightly even a BuzzH "laffin" thrown in for good measure.

America's Funniest Video $10k worthy, and no video to show for it. Sad even (last emoji mention)

 

[trb]

I also think the boots made a difference. The altra hiking boots MtnElk was wearing have a real soft sole and low ankle. I was wearing my schnees beartooth 2s with sturdy soles, a solid toe box, and lace up to mid calf. I could jam a toe or side of the boot in the soft stuff and have a stable platform to stand on.

The altras were definitely the best boot for Wyoming but did not hack it in the steep slippery slopes of Colorado.

Altras are great as a lightweight on-trail option for covering miles fast, but they are terrible for almost any off-trail stuff, especially side hilling, and they are stashed in the closet for anything hunting related after September for me. The whole point of them is that wide toe box to "engage your toes", but that makes them absolutely terrible for gripping unstable ground or surfaces. Their waterproofing is also highly questionable after a soaking or two.

 

[Dsnow9]

Its a shame that only one emoji per post is allowed. Multiple posts on this thread warrant a "love", "thumbs up", "laughing" and even a few "wow" responses. Perhaps slightly even a BuzzH "laffin" thrown in for good measure.

America's Funniest Video $10k worthy, and no video to show for it. Sad even (last emoji mention)

Oh man, I so wish I would have crested that ridge after melting 3 L of water instead of four. I would have videod a while before letting him know I was there. Just to have better memories of the day lmao

 

[BackofBeyond]

Atta Boy B!

 

[Deleted member 52098]

Altras are great as a lightweight on-trail option for covering miles fast, but they are terrible for almost any off-trail stuff, especially side hilling, and they are stashed in the closet for anything hunting related after September for me. The whole point of them is that wide toe box to "engage your toes", but that makes them absolutely terrible for gripping unstable ground or surfaces. Their waterproofing is also highly questionable after a soaking or two.

its funny, because I have covered a ton of miles and sketchy surfaces in them and been just fine. THAT said, the forecast let on for about 2 inches of total moisture, not 12-18, so that changed everything and made the Altras a questionable shoe.

but Deacon + 100lb pack was about what I weigh unloaded. and when I was unloaded for that ascent, I was fine, and not slipping at all. Still wish I would have had my stiff soled boots, but I really do think it came down total weight on foot rather than the shoe. But I could be very wrong

 

[Deleted member 52098]

Its a shame that only one emoji per post is allowed. Multiple posts on this thread warrant a "love", "thumbs up", "laughing" and even a few "wow" responses. Perhaps slightly even a BuzzH "laffin" thrown in for good measure.

America's Funniest Video $10k worthy, and no video to show for it. Sad even (last emoji mention)

you are not wrong. that video would be sponsored by Depends, because I guarantee at least one person would piss themselves.

I told Deacon that if anyone was on the glassing ridge across the way looking for elk and bear and saw me, I guarantee they had the time of their life watching me struggle to move up at all. I know if I saw that I would be cracking up

 

[Khunter]

I also think the boots made a difference. The altra hiking boots MtnElk was wearing have a real soft sole and low ankle. I was wearing my schnees beartooth 2s with sturdy soles, a solid toe box, and lace up to mid calf. I could jam a toe or side of the boot in the soft stuff and have a stable platform to stand on.

The altras were definitely the best boot for Wyoming but did not hack it in the steep slippery slopes of Colorado.

Yup. Stiff boot and high ankle support is “everything” in mountain hunting.

 

[LuketheDog]

yeah, just stock rims. There's a metric shitton more space that trying to put chains on a passenger car.

Isn't the clearance issue to the control arms though, not the fender?

 

[Khunter]

, but I really do think it came down total weight on foot rather than the shoe. But I could be very wrong

my bet, respectfully, is you are not correct. A 400 pound load of human and meat could make it up the hill with proper boots and the traction they would allow.

 

[Dsnow9]

Isn't the clearance issue to the control arms though, not the fender?

Yes.

 

[Dsnow9]

Now I know we hauled 140 lbs of meat out of there (as its been dropped at the processor) and I think we evenly split it - @Dsnow9 can correct me if am I wrong. But that would put our packs at roughly 90-100lbs each, with mine having a rifle, I think it weighed a little more. And this next part will make more sense as the story goes on, but that puts @Dsnow9 at about 260-270 on foot and me at about 360-370 on foot. Remember also that I snapped my good trekking pole at the very start of the day.

So again, we have to try to ascend 300 vertical feet in 450 horizontal feet. D goes first and for about 150 of those horizontal feet, I am fine and am able to follow along. But 1/3 of that way up, I am not able to ascend. I try to follow where D went and I just slip backwards. I come back to where I was before I slipped. I walk right and try to ascend, I end up slipping backwards. I walk left and repeat. Over and over and over again. No joke I am on this same elevation band for no less than 45 mins. Profanities flying. Stress elevating. I literally cannot ascend. If you have ever been on skis and trying to walk up a slope on skis and then slid backwards... then you know how I felt, as both my legs would step up and then slide backwards and out. It was terrible and terribly frustrating. I even tried grabbing sage branches and pulling myself up and just like that Farley clip, the bushes just come right out of the ground and I stumble backwards. F^&*ing A!

I was further left and I think I find a spot. I start to ascend, I start to slip and this time it feels like I am falling backwards, so it grab a sage brush and hold on with all my might... but it doesn't work. I hear the roots coming out of the ground and before I know it, I am on my back between a sage brush and a pine and I cannot roll over

I chuckled at my predicament and then swore. I had to get out of my pack and that was the last thing I wanted. I unclip and get out of my pack. I am covered in mud. My pack is covered in mud. The meat is luckily safely inside a Stone Glacier Load Cell bag. Buy one, you can thank Deacon later for that suggestion. I stand up, get my pack upright and start shuttling it, one lift at a time to my left to an open hillside where there is a semi flat bench of approximately 3x3 feet. The only place where I can my pack back on. As I am doing this, I guess D has started descending with no pack to see what was happening and he starts cracking up at me attempting to keep on my feet and shuttle my pack to this safe spot to reload.

I am a very honest person, but also proud... so it is embarrassing to say that Deacon took my pack from me then and started ascending. It was maddening. For whatever reason the tipping point of ascending or slipping was apparently this formula:

Deacon's weight + 100 lb pack = safe
Bryce's weight + 100 lb pack = nice try, idiot

We made it to the ridge, and dropped my pack. I chugged a ton of water. It was maddening that in the time I was sitting there struggling, D was able to boil 4 liters of water, have a snack and rest. Not only did I feel stupid that I couldn't stop sliding, I also cost us about an hour. My look after falling in the all the bushes


View attachment 297296

We are now on the ridge and have exactly 3 miles and about 1000 feet of ascent and descent ahead of us. I am throughly exhausted from my futile efforts to ascend that hill, but we have about 3 hours until sunset and I know this can be done. We start hiking and after about a 1/4 mile of flat space, we have the vast majority of the ascent. Immediately it's clear that I am going to be covered in mud and sliding for the rest of the day. About a 1/4 of the way up the steepest ascent, I slip, jam my lone trekking pole into the ground to keep me from falling backwards and hear "crack" as I self arrest but snap my one lone trekking pole. This is going to be fun

I get a text on my Zoleo from Deacon that says he is going to go on ahead, drop his load at the truck and come back. I make it through all the shitty deadfall, and am about a mile away from the truck when D finds me somehow covered in more mud, with a broken trekking pole and a tired smile on my face. For whatever reason, even though we just carried loads this heavy the week before - my body is way more wrecked than I was after doing 5x the distance. He offers to take the meat and I let go of my ego and let him; One day I am sure I will return the favor. I think he is relieved that I made through the deadfall. I make a comment that besides being healthier in general, I need to lose weight as it was clear that this was strictly a total weight on foot issues in terms of slipping. I move through the mountains pretty well, but my combined weight was just not working in my favor today. More motivation indeed.

We reach the truck about 5 mins after dark and we both audibly breathe a sigh of relief. One cow, one trip, day one of the season. We are done.

Back at camp, we had that fire roaring so hot the pipe and stove were blazing hot and red. D snapped this photo of me right before we passed out and it was the second happiest I had been all day.

View attachment 297298

It was an amazing hunt and an amazing day I will never forget. I am bummed about the bull, but I can't eat antlers and I'll take 140 pounds of the best meat on the planet any day. We each got home Sunday night and rather than work today, decided to do all the clean up work.

I am exhausted but my heart is happy as can be. Can't wait to do it all again in a month.


Season of Elk Scorecard:

Tag Count: 3/5 punched
Tags to go: 2 (3rd season Bryce, 4th season Deacon)

I also snuck a 3rd season buck tag off the reissue so not fully the season of elk anymore. Definitely the season of stupid though

 

[MNElkNut]

One word comes to mind: epic!