Many of you know my dad is a retired Houston Police Sergeant, after he retired from HPD he went back to work down in Tampa for the Sheriff's dept there and retired again this past January.
He and my stepmother then built a beautiful house outside of Durango Colorado in Bayfield.
He is now a full time Elk guide with his partner up there, Dan Newman who is a character out of an old Western himself.
They have been guiding Elk hunters all season, living up on the mountain and only coming down every few days for more supplies or to usher hunters out and bring the next group in. I think he told me he had slept in his own bed something like 6 days since the beginning of October.
Their guided season is now over and he and Dan are getting a chance to go and hunt and today was the first day.
He sent me this email this evening... If any of you have been in the woods or out on the water with me and ever wondered where I get my tremendous good luck from, now you know !
Well the day finally came I could go on my very own personal elk hunt. As I walked out the front door around 5am it was 19 degrees with a full moon glitzening off the snow. (A beautiful sight) I also noticed fresh bear tracks around our front deck. I could only think this is going to be a great day!
We loaded the horses and arrived at the private property Dan & I were to hunt. In the pasture next to where we were to hunt I saw EIGHT (8) large bulls heading onto the pasture we were going to hunt. I picked out a beautiful 6x6 and at that time we made a plan. We would walk our horses thru the gate (making some noise to keep the elk moving in the right direction) and head them off, then ambush the big boy.... That is when the crap hit the fan!! Before Dan could get in the saddle Something spooked his horse, my horse and 3 other horses in the pasture. As Dan laid on his backside he hollered for me to catch his horse which was at a full run thru the snow with the other 3.
After mine quit bucking, I tried to catch up. The first thing I noticed was Dan's rifle fly out of the scabbard into a snow bank. Well this rodeo (chase) ran north then south thru the pasture which is 8 tenths of a mile each way. I passed Dan at least 3 time as he keep yelling to catch that sonnabitch.
On the 4 th pass Dan yelled STOP! he then said give him my rifle as he was going to shoot the rotten sonnabitch!! I was able to hold onto to my rifle and caught his horse after 35 minutes. My horse and me were soaked with sweat by now(still 19 degrees) The next bump in the road came when we tried to cross the creek, my horse got tangled in some wire which I quickly removed, but now the horses refused to cross.
Finally after some words of encouragement-we were on our way. Where the hell the elk were--who knows. At this point we found tracks of a 4 wheeler going thru our hunting area. Well Dan had given permisson to an 75-78 yoa man to hunt on the property, but not with a 4 wheeler.
I pointed out to Dan the tracks were at least a day old and could not be that of the old man. Well he settled down and we continued on our journey. Now Dan was concerned that we had not seen the old man after about 2 hours, so we go looking for him instead of elk. Well I spotted a 4 wheeler about 1/4 mile away at the creek, then fresh foot prints in the snow. We were hot on his trail, when all of a sudden our horses spooked and began to buck..Only to find out they saw the old man before we did. He was sitting on a rock cald in his camo and black coat (very hard to see) as you know one must wear orange vest & hat while hunting-he had neither. When Dan asked "where is your orange?" the old man replied "I don't have an orange, but I do have an apple if you would like it" After we quit laughing, the old man told us he had stuck his 4 wheeler in the creek. No problem! We will help him get it out, only to find when the
front tires did not turn then he told us it's only a 2 wheel drive. Well we rode back to the truck (2 miles away) and came an winched he out. As we were leaving Dan asked where the horses were that had been in the pasture when all of this crap started. I noticed the were in the pasture next door. We went to get them and noticed they had run thru the fence and had cut themselves to pieces. Well load the horses take them to get treated and then it was lunch time. (found what we beleive spooked them-fresh tacks of a mountain lion)Really it was time for some stiff drinks, but being the true hunters we are we did not partake. Back in the saddle now and after 2 long hard hours we forget why were were there in the first place. Now it's drinking time-hope tomorrow will be more productive--will keep ypu updated- bedtime now..can't wait to see what tomorrow holds, love Dad
Good luck Dad !
He and my stepmother then built a beautiful house outside of Durango Colorado in Bayfield.
He is now a full time Elk guide with his partner up there, Dan Newman who is a character out of an old Western himself.
They have been guiding Elk hunters all season, living up on the mountain and only coming down every few days for more supplies or to usher hunters out and bring the next group in. I think he told me he had slept in his own bed something like 6 days since the beginning of October.
Their guided season is now over and he and Dan are getting a chance to go and hunt and today was the first day.
He sent me this email this evening... If any of you have been in the woods or out on the water with me and ever wondered where I get my tremendous good luck from, now you know !
Well the day finally came I could go on my very own personal elk hunt. As I walked out the front door around 5am it was 19 degrees with a full moon glitzening off the snow. (A beautiful sight) I also noticed fresh bear tracks around our front deck. I could only think this is going to be a great day!
We loaded the horses and arrived at the private property Dan & I were to hunt. In the pasture next to where we were to hunt I saw EIGHT (8) large bulls heading onto the pasture we were going to hunt. I picked out a beautiful 6x6 and at that time we made a plan. We would walk our horses thru the gate (making some noise to keep the elk moving in the right direction) and head them off, then ambush the big boy.... That is when the crap hit the fan!! Before Dan could get in the saddle Something spooked his horse, my horse and 3 other horses in the pasture. As Dan laid on his backside he hollered for me to catch his horse which was at a full run thru the snow with the other 3.
After mine quit bucking, I tried to catch up. The first thing I noticed was Dan's rifle fly out of the scabbard into a snow bank. Well this rodeo (chase) ran north then south thru the pasture which is 8 tenths of a mile each way. I passed Dan at least 3 time as he keep yelling to catch that sonnabitch.
On the 4 th pass Dan yelled STOP! he then said give him my rifle as he was going to shoot the rotten sonnabitch!! I was able to hold onto to my rifle and caught his horse after 35 minutes. My horse and me were soaked with sweat by now(still 19 degrees) The next bump in the road came when we tried to cross the creek, my horse got tangled in some wire which I quickly removed, but now the horses refused to cross.
Finally after some words of encouragement-we were on our way. Where the hell the elk were--who knows. At this point we found tracks of a 4 wheeler going thru our hunting area. Well Dan had given permisson to an 75-78 yoa man to hunt on the property, but not with a 4 wheeler.
I pointed out to Dan the tracks were at least a day old and could not be that of the old man. Well he settled down and we continued on our journey. Now Dan was concerned that we had not seen the old man after about 2 hours, so we go looking for him instead of elk. Well I spotted a 4 wheeler about 1/4 mile away at the creek, then fresh foot prints in the snow. We were hot on his trail, when all of a sudden our horses spooked and began to buck..Only to find out they saw the old man before we did. He was sitting on a rock cald in his camo and black coat (very hard to see) as you know one must wear orange vest & hat while hunting-he had neither. When Dan asked "where is your orange?" the old man replied "I don't have an orange, but I do have an apple if you would like it" After we quit laughing, the old man told us he had stuck his 4 wheeler in the creek. No problem! We will help him get it out, only to find when the
front tires did not turn then he told us it's only a 2 wheel drive. Well we rode back to the truck (2 miles away) and came an winched he out. As we were leaving Dan asked where the horses were that had been in the pasture when all of this crap started. I noticed the were in the pasture next door. We went to get them and noticed they had run thru the fence and had cut themselves to pieces. Well load the horses take them to get treated and then it was lunch time. (found what we beleive spooked them-fresh tacks of a mountain lion)Really it was time for some stiff drinks, but being the true hunters we are we did not partake. Back in the saddle now and after 2 long hard hours we forget why were were there in the first place. Now it's drinking time-hope tomorrow will be more productive--will keep ypu updated- bedtime now..can't wait to see what tomorrow holds, love Dad
Good luck Dad !
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