What Brings You Up So High?

Jeremiah Johnson is one of my favorite movies from my childhood. There is a line in the movie that my brother, sister and I would play, rewind and repeat over and over. It is a simple line, but for some reason we thought it was the funniest thing. Jeremiah meets up with his old mountain man friend and while chewing on some type of game meat (rabbit I think) cooked over the campfire, the question is asked, "What brings you up so high?" The old man promptly responds with "Griz!" It must have been the way it was said, but we were in stitches. So over and over we would watch it.

If you've followed my blog then you are probably aware of my somewhat irrational fear of bears. So, I am definitely not motivated to wander into the high country to chase after bears. Thankfully we don't have "Griz" here in Colorado (and if you know otherwise, please don't burst my bubble). But one thing I do know... the mountains are filled with the echo of bugles as the daylight dims each late September evening. And every time I hear their call I am overcome with awe. The sound chills you to the core. THAT is what brings me up so high each year.

Last week during one of our evening hunts, I had the privilege of getting really close to one of these mountain bulls. We hiked several miles into what we call the "lower beaver ponds." As we approached the area we hoped the bulls were hiding out, Alan let out a locater bugle. A bull answered back immediately. Like flies we quickly dispersed and sent two shooters down below. My husband backed up into the thick alders to call while Alan and I were left on the trail. I thought there might be time to make my way through the 30 yards of thick alders in order to have a clear shooting range into the meadow; however, I opted to stay put after hearing the bull narrowing the distance fast. So, I made my way back up the trail we had just come down on with the hope of getting in front of the bull before being pinned down. I got pinned down.

For 30 minutes I sat crouched down on the path with the screaming bull 15 yards on the opposite side of the pine tree and brush. I kept thinking he was making his way through the thick brush and was surely going to give me a top pin shot either directly below or above me. So I sat on the trail, pivoting back and forth guessing which side he would come out. Finally it dawned on me... he isn't coming. Duh. He is simply causing a bunch of ruckus by raking the branches in order to prove how "BAD" he is. So, I strained to get a glimpse of my friend. I had a perfect view of antlers. That is all I could see. It was magnificent. In and out of view they would go. A moment of loud branch breaking display of toughness followed by silence. Huge ivory tipped antler beams pivoting back and forth while the bull strained to listen to the sweet cow calls below. Then a hair raising bugle followed by a chuckle. Proceeded by a burp. (Yes, I'm pretty sure that's what I heard.) Then the whole sequence would repeat. What seemed like an eternity wrapped in an instant caused me to wonder what just happened when this ghost of the Rockies quietly slipped 100 yards away and let out a bugle once again from the top of the ridge.

We walked back to camp via the light of our headlamps that night - tags safely unpunched in our pockets. And just for fun cow calls were let out along the way. We sounded like a elk circus going down the path, but my bull didn't seem to care. He followed us in the darkness for about a mile, keeping his distance and all the while letting out love sick bugles. Or was it a warning? I'm not sure. Either way, I was glad for his companionship and reminder of what brought me up so high that evening.

Cairn You Find Your Way?

If you've done some hiking in the back country, you most likely have noticed some interesting rock pile structures. In order to achieve this balancing act, the rocks obviously had some human intervention to achieve their current configuration.

I honestly never thought much about these tidy rock pikes, until last week during our Mule Deer hunt. For some reason the light bulb turned on. As we reached the end of a trail and began to traverse further into the back country, I began to notice little rock piles every so often. Duh. These are trail markers.

The formal name for these balancing rock markers: Cairns. Some hikers also call them "trail ducks" if the top rock is larger and indicates which direction to head. I also noticed a nice arrow on the ground made of rocks - not sure if that has an official name?? Ahh... Rock Arrow.

Anyway, after realizing the rock's purpose, we began using them to guide our way. It is a great method to mark your trail when there aren't obvious landmarks to go by. I'm always amazed at how easy it is to get lost in the mountains. You think, I'll recognize that ridge even if I traverse through this draw and up that side of the slope. However, it always amazes me how your perspective changes when you reach the next summit. On the way back to camp, our mantra quickly became, "Follow the Rocks!"

So, what about you?

What other methods have you used to find your way back to camp?

High Expectations

Hunting high alpine mule deer is not for the faint of heart. 2011 marks our second attempt to outsmart these critters and come home with a backpack full of velvet antlers. So far the deer that exist in our unit (which seems to be few and far between) are still safely roaming the high places.

Last week was a mixture of a few hard hunts speckled with moments of recuperation. I felt like we were doing hunting sprints instead of throwing down a good long hunt marathon. There were several reasons for the whiplash style of hunting... personal, business, sickness (yes, I think I drank bad water - you know what comes with that!), etc. I'm not trying to list excuses for why we didn't punch a tag. I know that if we would have been able to stay on top of the mountain our chances would have greatly increased. It is what it is. The saying is still true... a bad day of hunting is better than a good day elsewhere. Or however it goes.

I recently read a blog post by Mark over at Sole Adventure where he dissected the importance of staying mentally in the hunt. I totally agree and have a feeling that is where our team wasn't as strong last week. If you haven't checked out this article, it is worth a read. Stay mentally strong out there while in the field! Good luck to everyone out there currently hunting. I can't wait to read your success stories!!

It is just over a week until we will be headed to the mountains again. This time we will be concentrating solely on elk and I'm hopeful that all distractions will be set aside.

I do have some great stories / pics from the last week. So, I'll try and get some posts up before picking up my bow and wandering off to the mountains. For example, the picture below shows the slope where we stalked 4 alpine Muleys. More to come!