Sorry . . jus a test

[Starvin' Hillbilly]

The only elk hunt i've been on, October 2010, got snowed in and turned into survival.

[Sandman]

Nice picture~!

[xcaliber]

X3! Glad you made it out of there OK.

[Starvin' Hillbilly]

Guess i might as well tell the story . . . a man by the name of Kenton Treat, who i looked at as a second father asked me if i wanted to go on a poor boy elk trip, i jumped and said heck yeah. He taught me how to reload and i'll never reach his montra, "Those who die w/ the most toys wins." It was great cause he either bought or experimented w/ something and could give advice "in the know". (the one thing that attracted me to the excal forums)

We got to colorado on a thursday, bought our food and collected our water from a lady at a gas station who told us take all we want. On south we went, 2 -4x4's pulling Atv's and the rest of our gear. we pulled into a little outfitter place which had everything and anything under the sun in there. This was our last stop, civilization, if you will. We fueled everything up, trucks , Atv's, spare gas cans, and 2- 20# propane bottles, then up the switchback we went.

well . . . we made it to our camp at dark'30 . . at which time it started freezing rain . . . the picture above is at 8400 feet. so decision time, do we sleep in the truck (and not sleep) or get out in this and pitch camp . . . the tent went up . . . soaked to the bone but done . . .fired up the propane heater and it never took the chill out of tent. we didn't eat, everyone was tired so a snickers bar was for supper and off to bed.

But to back up a bit, colorado isn't arkansas . . . terrain might be the same here where me and Vixenmaster lives, but not having any oxygen to breath is another

The morning (friday) was met with scalding coffee, cajun hashbrowns, deer sausage, and biscuits and gravy. So we took off scouting . . .Kenton took us to where he had killed elk before along w/ some intel from his cousin who arrowed a bull 2 wks before. the ice wasn't bad . . .we laughed at it w/ grins on our face knowing we were "amongst'm". I found some fresh scat and kenton said let's go up on top and find where they're at. On top we was, 10200 ft (my avatar pic) here we could see the storm boiling to the west and it just kept down drafting the west side of the mountain, not coming over it in full force. we started back down, then there like ghosts there was the herd, standing in the quarter sized snow flakes. then once everyone was staring at them they just disappeared . . . like smoke in a high wind, leaving us thinking did we even see them?

Back to camp and supper, (now for all intents and purposes the wife thinks we had lunch meat and cheese for 4 days, didn't happen) Kenton broke out the ribeye steaks, cajun hash browns and green beans seasoned w/ hickory smoked ham, and coffee. Later, Kenton drug out a quart jar of "shine" and after a spoon full or 2, or 3-6 in our coffee the thought of the propane heater not heating the tent well went away.

bout midnight you could hear it start raining and at 5 am when everyone woke you could see your breath . . . i can remember grabbing the bottle water and crushing the film of ice on top. i slid on my boots to go find a tree and when i came back i said there's 8 inches on the ground, being told i was a liar i threw back the door and let the "HAWK" in. breakfast was coffee, pancakes and pork sausage w/ syrup or blackberry jelly. everyone packed their own lunch and out the door we went.

I stayed on stand all day, all i seen was a martin, i checked my watch for the sunset time and walked the three miles back. As i got close to camp i saw a pickup pulling away. Kenton said it was game and fish checking our camp location and ploting it for gps cause a storm was moving in, if'n we needed rescued. that night we scaled it back some, chilli dogs and chips and a big slab of caramel apple pie. The "jar" came out and soon bed seemed like a good idea.

guess it was bout 11 when the wind was so hard it sounded like 8 year olds slapping the tent w/ boat paddles, guess we stayed awake for hours and somewhere in it all we fell asleep. five came and i jumped awake and as i looked up i asked does the tent look closer to us? my head would barely rub the top as i sat on the cot. i layed back down and got dressed, and since i'm 6'6" i stood up and started working the snow off the tent. Kenton started breakfast and we tuned in the radio (colorado has a station just for hunters giving all the weather 24/7) we were in a whiteout, one of the guys wanted to go out after breakfast but was jumped right away cause not knowing where your footing was kenton said we'd end up down a slide and it would be a case of taking idiots out of the gene pool.

i guess at noon it broke, saw a big patch of blue the size of a dutchman's britches so we set back out. I drove my atv back to the top through the slop, god it was cold, miserable but i was going to get my monies worth of elk tag. 30 minutes prior to my trek back kenton buzzed me, say'n a real one is heading this way and we needed to make a decision. i told him i'm on my way but the gumbo mud that got hung up under my atv in its suspension froze, couldn't steer and the 4 miles back to camp wasn't a walking adventure w/ snow starting to sting my face. I then pulled my emergency tarp out of my backpack draped it over my atv and built a fire and after bout 2 hours i had the mud dug out and back at camp.

While there the looks were stern, kinda like the ones you give to the kids when they eat the crispies off your fried chicken. We had just used up a tank and a half of propane for heating and cooking, the heating part wasn't working cause no one was truly warm and we were eating like crazy to put the cal's in to keep our energy up. So it was decided we'd sleep some get up at 4 and tear down. About midnight the weather radio went off advising that the storm wasn't waiting and the pass to the south of us already closed. so everyone was up, first things first rifles and personal gear in the truck first, clothes and the tear down of everything would be just thrown in . . . nothing fancy. we started off the mountain and at about 5000 feet it was mixed rain but the animals were moving like crazy. 9 am we pulled into an ihop, what a ragged bunch, the waitress seemed to pity us as we gorged on food like we never seen it . . . when i left the table i left her a 20 on my behalf cause as i was warming up i could smell myself (smelled like a pissed off boar hog) and i know she could.

All the way home Kenton apologized for the hunt, the weather, i kept reassuring him it was ok and i got to spend time with a friend and brought back some memories. But as we were camped i noticed kenton eating demerol, i thought and he also that his chornes disease was acting up and it would soon pass. In early 2012 he was diagnosed w/ pancreatic cancer and w/ his other medical problems he knew he wouldn't make it off the table w/ any procedure. So, he set out to do what he wanted to do till April 2013 and while in the hospital in all that pain he still apologized for that hunt for something he had no control over. In all if there is anything to add . . . cherish the memories of hunters, friends and this sport we hold so close.

[paulaboutform]

Wow! That's quite the adventure! So glad you made it out.and glad you got to spend some time out with a cherished friend.

[mr meat]

Great read!! that picture should go on the calander thread

[rockyhollowhunter]

awesome story there SH thanks for sharing

[Michiganhunter]

Greats story thanks,

[Yotewacker]

Great story
Good memories and quite an adventure.

[diesel]

So sorry to hear of the loss of your friend .