Big Game, Game On

                  After I got settled in Montana I quickly became passionate about the outdoors. The fishing experiences were life changing to me, and the inspiration quickly began pouring in. I exploited the outdoors to the maximum in Iowa. Sometimes I would drive to the nearest green space on the map, park the jeep and set out into the woods. Taking with me into the great Iowa wilderness a can of soup and a tarp, spending the day next to a fire, perhaps overlooking the local reservoir, enjoying the solitude. This was fun for a while, but the eye sores of homeless shelters, telephone lines, fences, the occasional domestic peacock, and garbage scattered across the landscape eventually turned me off from this sort of activity. I was really looking for an escape and my home state just didn't have the public land mass to support such adventures or secluded excursions. Little did I know that in a few years, I would be walking trails that are shared with grizzly bears and wolves, in the forests and mountains of Yellowstone Country.

                      In Montana, things are very different. There's a lot to learn and do before you really get out there on your own. The phrase "mind your P's and Q's " is said and heard often. It took me a couple of years before I looked up the meaning, but within the context its used, one can assume it means something along the lines of 'having respect for the wild places and things, animals and people'. Simple things like knowing your destination, what time it gets dark, to tell a friend where you're going, having with you a GPS, bear spray etc, are absolutely necessary before trekking into the wilderness for a full or half day trip. It is simple failures to do these that cause many folks trouble each year. Once I had my bearings down, with the practice of short over-night camps and fairly long hikes, I began to feel more and more comfortable in mountains around Bozeman. Directly south of town, the Gallatin and Madison mountain ranges span west to east on both sides of the valley. Continue into these mountains further south, and you will end up in Yellowstone without ever crossing a paved road or telephone line. Every year a few folks go missing, get injured and need to be retrieved from the depths of these mountains, and each news story that is produced is a reminder to mind your P's and Q's out here.
               
                   My first big game hunt was for mule deer in the fall of 2013. I had never hunted deer before.  I took off a few days off from work to try and fill my tag in the Tobacco Root Mountains. I joined my dad and his friend at elk camp in Petosi Canyon. I was just happy to get some time off work and be there. They were out to hunt elk, but since I was so new to hunting, I was focused on merely putting some meat in my freezer. I certainly wasnt trophy hunting and I would embrace the "if its brown, its down" principle. Sure, I had an idea of how fulfilling an elk hunt might be but I also knew how much dedication and effort goes into it. I just didn't have the experience, resources, or time to put in to be successful, or so I thought. I did get lucky and tagged out on my first big game animal that trip, a  handsome four point mule deer. The whole experience was new to me and I cherished every moment we had in those Tobacco Root Mountains. Little did I know this would be the first of many amazing experiences and the spark

Back strap from my 2017 bull

            I was very fortunate to draw a damage tag for a cow elk back in 2016, which allowed me a great opportunity to try and harvest my first elk. It would end up being a full days hunt. You go about a damage hunt a little differently than a public lands, over the counter tag. I naively thought it would be easy. Little did I know, there is no easy elk hunt. With the damage hunt, you get access to a ranchers land with more elk than you can shake a stick at. We saw thousands of elk between shooting light and the last hour of our hunt. I learned many things on this outing, that hunting elk was extremely difficult, even on flat terrain and with thousands of head in view. Thanks to great effort from my mom and dad, I eventually stood before a heard of three-hundred elk, my rifle drawn. "Three-hundred and eighty eighty yards", my dad whispered to me. It wasn't but a few seconds later, we had a cow elk down! This was one of the most fulfilling experiences I ever felt. I said a prayer to thank God, thanked my mom and dad for being a part of such an experience. There on the ground was my elk. Sure, there were no horns on her but as they like to say around here, you cant eat horns. The hunt was not over yet. I really wanted to get the elk home so I could begin processing it myself, something I never have done before. Those fresh back strap steaks  were some of the best I ever had.

             I learned two things on that damage hunt, well I learned an immense amount of knowledge, but two things that really stuck with ; the intelligence of these animals and their size. Its nearly impossible to load an adult elk into the back of a pickup truck, let alone quarter and haul one out of the mountains by yourself. The idea of completing a solo elk hunt is one that really intrigues me, but I've quickly learned that it's no easy feat. Ive since put in over two-hundred and fifty miles on foot chasing elk, and have had success since the damage hunt. Its having the courage to get out of bed in the early morning hours, just to hike up mountains for miles, knowing that you may not see an animal. Having a hunting partner with similar abilities is key to being successful out here, and sharing that bond with a friend of family member is truly special.  There are no guarantees at the end of the day, or the season for that matter, that you will down an animal be it cow elk, bull, doe or buck. I am nothing short of blessed and lucky, with a small amount of dedication thrown in there. Its all too common these days to hear how the guy next to you at the brewery has chased elk for twelve consecutive years with little to no success, or the neighbor down the street has been at it for ten years without a harvest. There's so much satisfaction that comes from a hunt, the process, the time spent outside, the wildlife, the encounters, all of it that makes a big game hunt the most enjoyable activity I could find myself participating in, and where else but in the great state of Montana.