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It is that belief which made the 2005 Elk trip very alluring.

It is that belief which made the 2005 Elk trip very alluring.  The men I would be hunting with were a bit of a hunting "dream team". Two words come to mind concerning the guys in the group:

1. Safety Conscious.  I would never have any doubt as to the high level of hunter safety and ethics   these men hunted at and lived by.
2. Tenacious.  These guys are pit bulls in the field. First up, last down, and focused all day long.

I would be hunting with two friends, Bucksmack Hines and Caveman Carder. Both are good rifle and bow hunters as well as educators and mentors to boys on these topics.  Caveman Carder is the current Commander of my oldest son's group. Bucksmack was Commander of my middle child's group and outpost Sr. Commander at one time.

The other two men are on another plane. In many ways larger than life. "Hawkeye" Hawkins is the epitome of a hunter. He has helped and enabled more folks to have a safe and successful hunt than anyone I know on the planet.  Mr. Johns, affectionately dubbed "The Colonel" is probably most tenacious of all.  He is a now retired carrer Marine with decades of service to this country.  He retired at the rank of Colonel and therefore the reason for his nickname.

The 2005 season was tough.  Hawkeye's hunting groups have taken 68 elk, including some excellent bulls,  over the last 30 years.  He said it is the first time he remembers there being no snow this late in the year

The Rockies trip is a gorgeous site, as all who make the trip can testify.  The sheer beauty of the mountains, the stark white of an antelope belly against the olive green sage, the blue sky and red rock, the bubbling streams - gorgeous.

I spent the rest of the week walking with only a camera trying to push a bull past one of the other guys.  But bulls were scarce this year. I saw only one more. No snow to concentrate the herds or track individual animals. The tactic was to walk heavy timber and bedding areas trying to jump a bedded one and move it past someone else who had not yet filled a tag.

We also saw numbers of sheep, pronghorn, weasels, and chipmunks by the truckload.  The birds known affectionately as "camp robbers" always made an appearance at lunch time expecting a handout. Although in lesser numbers, I also saw fox, coyote, and a very interesting thing with owls. As we drove across Kansas at night we noticed a lot of jackrabbits feeding along the road edge. Five times we saw owls swoop in on them in the headlights.  I don't know if the headlights triggered some type of response or there were just a huge number of owls out hunting jacks and we were fortunate enough to see a few move in for the kill.

The week ended with my bull being the only one taken.  Everyone hunted hard every day but the circumstances just didn't change.  We did spot a few more bulls but a clear shot never presented itself.

We were understandably a little disappointed, the leanest result in over 30 years for Hawkeye Hawkins but we found other hunters has similar results.  In fact we saw only two other elk taken at all, 1 bull and 1 cow. Our success rate was at 20% but in checking around 100 other hunters we found only the 1 other bull taken meaning a 1% success rate. Hard pickins' for the late season this year.

I was understandably thrilled with the 5X5. But much more important was this; in a very lean hunt overall  I walked away with this great sense of satisfaction. I spent a week in beautiful country with two friends. There were also two men I hunted with that have a "bigger than life" persona about them. More than any other single factor I think of this hunt as successful because of the time spent with them.  Who knows what the next year will bring?

I am just thankful to enjoy an elk steak with my family as I savor the memories of the 2005 hunt. It was I fine bull I was able to harvest, but the satisfaction of friendships deepened and memories of a hunting camp shared with outstanding individuals are the things that will draw me back to the Rockies.....that and the shrill bugle of a bull elk looking for his harem on a frosty mountain morning.

A Successful Hunt To All,
 
Jason "The Fisher" Pence