A few miles back and a lot more to come

A few shots taken during an "off the beat and path" elk hunt. Location: Striker Basin. Bow hunting is never easy and finding elk can be a frustrating, fruitless experience. Experiencing sights like this, miles from the nearest person make suffering through rain, snow, cold, blisters and sweat worth every second. The only thing that could make days like this more perfect would be actually seeing elk. Elk have been terribly difficult to come by this year. I heard more wolves howling than this year than elk. I have also seen more wolf and bear sign on every excursion than I have elk. The balance seems to be off and perhaps its a good thing that I haven't found an elk this year.

An un-named lake. I am sure it has a name, but neither this one or the three others in this basin are labeled on maps. I wonder if the five miles of walking is worth coming in to look for fish?

Standing on the edge of an invisible cliff. I don't think my camouflage blends in with all this snow. The feet got a little cold as well. Now all I need to do is figure out how to get onto the other side of this mountain to where the big deer roam...

All that beautiful open, broken ground and not even a single mule deer in sight. This area used to produce some monster mule deer and I most certainly will be snow shoeing back in here later this year to see if I can find one.

Just below the summit of Striker peak looking east across a lot of nothing. It is certainly a very nice nothing. I love my backyard.

Switching gears. Bow season has ended and rifle season has begun. Most of the camo has been swapped out for orange and warm clothing. There is nothing like a hot cup of coffee on a cold day. There are few things better than crawling out of your sleeping bag at 10 degrees F, hunting and having a cup of coffee and a warm meal. I'll take sleeping on the ground in the cold over the Hilton any day. Horrible photos though...my camera battery froze and I was only able to take two photos during three day hunt before it died.

Doing the self photo thing, freezing my butt off, getting startled by a deer and lugging my food, bed and gear with me, every where I go. It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "mobile home" I saw a few elk, but no bulls. A doe stood up not 50 feet from me during this photo, but when you are miles from the nearest road, you get picky about what you want to carry out. It was a fun trip and thankfully it was warm. I spent a week in this area last year and I doubt the temperature got over 10 below zero, the entire time. The nastier the weather, the fewer the people I run into, so let it snow, rain and blow. Fun times...