My hunting partner and I were hunting elk and deer again in the great Colorado Mountains. The weather for the first day of the hunting season was nice. There were no clouds and the air was crisp but not too cold. There was a lot of snow on the ground from a snow storm the week before but it wasn't very deep so walking through it wasn't a huge chore. It looked like a good day for hunting ahead of us.
We heard several rifle shots off in the distance and we were hoping those other hunters would drive the elk or deer our way. I drew a cow elk tag again and Ray, my hunting partner, drew a bull elk tag and we both had deer tags. So we were ready for whatever came our way.
We were walking along an old dirt trail and all of a sudden, we heard some elk running just inside of the woods along the trail. They were running fast but we didn't see them. So we hiked into the woods and found their tracks but no elk. A great opportunity missed. We didn't see any elk the rest of the day.
The next morning, we went into the woods on the opposite side of the trail and picked up elk tracks. We must have hiked a mile looking for the elk but nothing. There was a huge rock in front of me and I creped around it to the other side hoping to find an elk resting in the snow. Once on the other side, there was a deep impression in the snow. I knelt down to feel the elk bed and noticed that the snow was melting and it was still a bit warm. We just missed another one.
The third morning, we started out early to hike to and area we thought would be a better place to see elk or deer. We walked along a rocky stream and somehow, my partner and I got separated. I walked into the woods and hoping we would meet up on the trail that went through the woods but I didn't see Ray.
I walked alone for about an hour and a half and heard something in front of me. I took my rifle off my shoulder and got ready for a shot if it turned out to be a cow elk. I slowed my pace and rounded this big bush ready and cautious. As I rounded the bush, there was a bull elk about 10 feet in front of me just standing and looking at me. I was tempted to take him down but I just had a cow elk tag. Had Ray been there with me, we would have had that bull elk.
We had to go back to work the next morning so we broke camp and headed for home. It was a long trip home but we were both looking forward to our own beds and a hot shower. While on the way home we planned to return the next weekend to finish the season and we were hoping that our luck was better.
We returned to the same camp site we had the week before and set up camp. We turned in early so we could get up early and head out to the bush where I saw the bull elk the week before.
It was a long hike along the trail. We were maybe a half mile from the spot where that elk stood there and looked at me and I said to Ray, "Do you smell that?" He said, "No" and then in a few more steps he said, "Yes, it smells like a decaying animal." I told him that we should investigate it. We walked about 100 feet off the trail and there lying on its side was the elk that I saw the week before. Someone poached the antlers off the animal and left him there to decay. I was sick that anyone could do that.
We left that trail and headed back to camp to call it a day. On the way back to camp, we saw a white pickup truck coming toward us. When it got closer we recognized that it was a state ranger. We flagged him down and told him the story and he thanked us for reporting it and that he would check it out.
We got back to camp and decided it was time to head back home. Another season we went home empty handed and thought about what we could have had if we hadn't got separated the week before.
Nobody should every kill an animal and just to take the antlers and leave the meat to just decay. Hunt with respect and integrity for nature not for monitory gain. That poacher spoiled our hunting trip.
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