C
Cowboy
Guest
The stove door creaked and I peaked out from my sleeping bag. Daddy knelt there and the flames lit his face with orange as he poked a stick of firewood through the door. He must have heard me rustle, because he turned and caught my eye. ?Hey sunshine...time to shake a leg.?
This was our elk camp. I could claim it through blood-right only, but it was our camp. It was at the head end of a tiny meadow near a trickle that sprang from the ground. It was enough water for our stock and us. Although I had been here before, this was my first time elk hunting.
With breakfast eaten, we shuffled around in the glow of the lantern light as the horses munched their grain. Daddy always put his hand on the horses rump as he eased alongside and said ?ho budger? in a quiet tone. When the animal turned his head with big eye gleaming at him he would set the blanket and saddle.
As he caught the hook from a lash cinch under the horses belly, he said ?A horse and elk are alike... they both need food, water and security. That's basically what you need to know to get what you need from them.?
It was at least 2 hours before the sun would come up and I shivered in the saddle. The horses breath rose in steam as they stood by and Daddy tied off the pack animal?s lead ropes with a piece of baling twine to the harness of the horse in front. He shut down the lantern and hung it on a broken branch, swung into the saddle, then turned to look at me. I gave him a little wave with my gloved hand. I could not see his expression. We started on up the trail.
It amazed me at how well the horses knew this trail and how they could see deadfalls and boulders that I would have walked plumb into. We broke out of the black timber we had been climbing through for the better part of an hour. We were on a hog back ridge with timbered slopes down to our left and an open meadow extending down to our right. We kept climbing until we came to a notch in the ridge.
Daddy dropped off his mount and tied him to a limb of a pine. I swung stiffly out of the saddle and did the same. Something about being on a horse...it was just cold from the waste up. I puffed warm breath into my gloves as he brought the others up and tied them off too.
?We can't speak out loud from here out boy. If you have business you best do it now. Lets make sure you got everything you need?
We went through a list of items. When he was sure I indeed was equipped, he pushed my shoulder and I had to pull my hands from my pockets to get my balance and keep from falling. He chuckled. ?OK, we are going to climb this ridge a bit more. We will come to a saddle where we will wait till shooting light and see what happens. You ready??
I nodded. We labored our way up the ridge and the cold mountain air hurt our lungs.
We sat in a rock pile and slowly the morning light brought out the details of our surroundings. Somewhere from a long ways down below a rifle shot sounded. With a rush of feathers and air a jay swooped overhead and lit on a rock, cocking its head this way and that before he sprang off and went down into the timber.
Daddy nudged my side and lifted his hand slowly to point at a small band of animal shapes that slowly moved up the sage brush meadow toward us along the edge of a quakie patch. My breath came more rapidly as I recognized them to be elk. The little ones romped a bit as they stopped to feed now that cover was close at hand and the light came on. I anxiously studied each animal and my heart caught in my throat as I saw the last one had antlers. I looked at my Dad and his eyes shone with intensity as he too recognized the bull. He shot his glance to me and pulled off his gloves and placed them on the rock in front of me, then motioned me to rest my rifle there.
The elk jumped around in my scope as I tried to settle into position. Somehow I was able to steady the gun and settle the cross hairs on the bull?s chest. He obediently stood broadside looking back down the meadow and I pulled the trigger.
All my friends tried to hide their envy when I showed them the pictures, and I said nothing to let them know I had taken this bull with anything less then by my own skill. They never asked anyway. When their time came, they would know like I did that the elk was our elk...it belonged to Daddy and me, and I claimed it now only partly by blood-right.
This was our elk camp. I could claim it through blood-right only, but it was our camp. It was at the head end of a tiny meadow near a trickle that sprang from the ground. It was enough water for our stock and us. Although I had been here before, this was my first time elk hunting.
With breakfast eaten, we shuffled around in the glow of the lantern light as the horses munched their grain. Daddy always put his hand on the horses rump as he eased alongside and said ?ho budger? in a quiet tone. When the animal turned his head with big eye gleaming at him he would set the blanket and saddle.
As he caught the hook from a lash cinch under the horses belly, he said ?A horse and elk are alike... they both need food, water and security. That's basically what you need to know to get what you need from them.?
It was at least 2 hours before the sun would come up and I shivered in the saddle. The horses breath rose in steam as they stood by and Daddy tied off the pack animal?s lead ropes with a piece of baling twine to the harness of the horse in front. He shut down the lantern and hung it on a broken branch, swung into the saddle, then turned to look at me. I gave him a little wave with my gloved hand. I could not see his expression. We started on up the trail.
It amazed me at how well the horses knew this trail and how they could see deadfalls and boulders that I would have walked plumb into. We broke out of the black timber we had been climbing through for the better part of an hour. We were on a hog back ridge with timbered slopes down to our left and an open meadow extending down to our right. We kept climbing until we came to a notch in the ridge.
Daddy dropped off his mount and tied him to a limb of a pine. I swung stiffly out of the saddle and did the same. Something about being on a horse...it was just cold from the waste up. I puffed warm breath into my gloves as he brought the others up and tied them off too.
?We can't speak out loud from here out boy. If you have business you best do it now. Lets make sure you got everything you need?
We went through a list of items. When he was sure I indeed was equipped, he pushed my shoulder and I had to pull my hands from my pockets to get my balance and keep from falling. He chuckled. ?OK, we are going to climb this ridge a bit more. We will come to a saddle where we will wait till shooting light and see what happens. You ready??
I nodded. We labored our way up the ridge and the cold mountain air hurt our lungs.
We sat in a rock pile and slowly the morning light brought out the details of our surroundings. Somewhere from a long ways down below a rifle shot sounded. With a rush of feathers and air a jay swooped overhead and lit on a rock, cocking its head this way and that before he sprang off and went down into the timber.
Daddy nudged my side and lifted his hand slowly to point at a small band of animal shapes that slowly moved up the sage brush meadow toward us along the edge of a quakie patch. My breath came more rapidly as I recognized them to be elk. The little ones romped a bit as they stopped to feed now that cover was close at hand and the light came on. I anxiously studied each animal and my heart caught in my throat as I saw the last one had antlers. I looked at my Dad and his eyes shone with intensity as he too recognized the bull. He shot his glance to me and pulled off his gloves and placed them on the rock in front of me, then motioned me to rest my rifle there.
The elk jumped around in my scope as I tried to settle into position. Somehow I was able to steady the gun and settle the cross hairs on the bull?s chest. He obediently stood broadside looking back down the meadow and I pulled the trigger.
All my friends tried to hide their envy when I showed them the pictures, and I said nothing to let them know I had taken this bull with anything less then by my own skill. They never asked anyway. When their time came, they would know like I did that the elk was our elk...it belonged to Daddy and me, and I claimed it now only partly by blood-right.
