In the middle of October Zach, his brothers, and his dad made their annual elk hunting trip to Horsecreek. From all the stories Zach's told me of elk hunting in October, it's always amounted to we froze to death, but we shot some nice elk and had an awesome time. In my personal opinion, freezing to death does not sound like the most fun in the world that I'd come back every year to experience it. Hence, I was a little hesitant to go. But, to my surprise, it was lovely up there. I think it averaged in the 50's or 60's for most of the time we were there.
Campsite
The first morning we were there, Josh shot and tagged a 6-point. I stayed in camp that morning because, as Brand would say, I was a pansy and didn't want to venture out in the cold. They came back around noon and recanted their amazing hunting skills. The next morning they went up, Brand shot and tagged a 5-point. After they shot his elk, they planned on packing them both out. However, Mouse, Zach's midget white horse beast, had other plans. They packed on Josh's elk on Boogers and Cinnamon and went to put Brand's on Mouse. But, as soon as they got the front shoulders on her, she freaked. She put on a little rodeo for them all while Zach tried to contain her. But, Mouse won out and threw the elk off of her and ended up breaking the ribs so they couldn't pack it off that day. Needless to say, Zach's beast of a horse became the unmentioniable word and he's talked about getting rid of her since then.
Brandon's and Josh's Antlers
Gutting Brandon's Elk
I didn't go with the guys that morning either. I figured I'd clean up camp, do some dishes, and read my book and they'd be back around noon. Well, noon came and went as well as one o'clock, two, three, and four. I began to get a little worried and found it hard to fill in the time all by myself. Around four thirty, I started to think about all the worst case scenarios that would have played out, and I started to freak myself out. In all the times I've been hunting with them, they'd never been gone that long. So, I decided I'd better say a little prayer and hope things were ok. Not even two seconds after I finished, I saw Zach and Josh riding out of the trees dressed in their orange. I was relieved and thankful my prayer had been answered so quickly.
Packing off Josh's Elk
Boogs and Zach with the back half
After spending almost an entire day by myself, I decided to go up with the guys the next morning. I needed to see some action, even if I had to freeze a little bit to get it. After we got to the top of the ridge, Zach told me to follow his dad and he'd meet up with us in a minute. He also told me to have a tighter grip on the reins so if he shot, I could stop Rocky. That freaked me out a little bit. (If you haven't noticed, I am sort of a pansy.) Not even a minute later, I heard a shot and Rocky just jumped a little. No need to control a crazy horse, whew. We didn't realize it was Zach that shot until a couple hours later when he showed up in a bloody mess. He wanted to know why we hadn't gone and helped him gut it out, but all of us figured if he had shot something, he'd come and get us to help him.
We packed out Brand's and Zach's elk that day. I rode down with Zach and his dad with Josh's elk. On the way, re came across a creek and I let Rocky get a drink. BIG MISTAKE!! When he was finished, he stepped in a hole and freaked out a bit. He swung around and banged my knee against a tree, but he wasn't done. He couldn't fit between the trees he hit my knee against so he kept pushing against the tree to rub in the pain a little more. I finally got him to back up and go around, but not before the damage was done. Later on down the trail, we were going through some thick dead trees. A bunch of branches were in the way, and so I pulled on the reins to slow him down so I could push them out of the way. But, he wouldn't stop and I got bushwacked in the face. I think I should have stayed up on the mountain and helped Josh and Brand. When we got back up the mountain, I told Brand he could ride Rocky down and I'd just lead Cinnamon down with Zach's elk. I don't know what the deal is, but none of Zach's animals slash pets seem to like me. Herbie has a vehemet hatred for me since the moment we met, Boogers doesn't mind me, and Rocky drives recklessly.
As we were putting the back quarters on Boogers, Brand thought it was only fitting that Boogs return to his desert roots, so he branded him with his hands. Not only did Boogs get it, but Cinnamon as well.
This is probably one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip. I think Brand looks like Elmer Fudd hunting waskaly wabbits. And he's being assisted by his hesitant partner Josh.
Zach and I at the top of Prospect Peak
Left: Josh Middle: Brand Right: Zach
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