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| © 2001 McClung |
Welcome to the tall, snow covered peaks and the long, steep, wind-drifted slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Since 1980 these frosty slopes have been my world for at least a few months out of each year. The overall hunting philosophy in this book is to learn to control all the hunting variables that are controllable. Controlling such variables as scent, cover, shooting skill, weapons, calls, and clothing became the basis for Hunter’s Choices. It is the many uncontrollable factors involved in the hunt that make hunting the addict-able challenge we experience. Although a majority of this book deals with encounters of the elk kind, most of the skills, techniques, and hunting choices apply to a wide variety of different big game species, especially whitetail and mule deer.
I think I fell in love with archery when I was six or seven years old, that’s when Dad brought home a recurve-bow, the newest thing to archery at the time. It was ten years later before I could draw that bow, but Dad made sure that for several Christmases I received a bow I could draw.
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| © 1997 Chaundra McNutt-Higginson |
| Colton and Rich the author, with Colton's first big game harvest. |
Dad set up an archery target in front of a wood plank fence so that if I missed the hay bales, the fence would stop the arrow before it hit the neighbor’s house. Dad eventually moved the target to the other side of the yard. The fence was not high enough but the neighbors’ house was. I never really took archery very seriously until I acquired my first compound bow ten years later. Then archery became an addiction and bow hunting my obsession.
At first, I used indoor target archery with hunting equipment as a means of stress relief from the daily grind. I watched in awe, as archers would consistently hit a three-inch bulls eye at 20 yards, while I considered hitting the 16-inch paper target a feat of personal accomplishment.
It is my parent’s fault that I became addicted to the hunt. As a little tyke, my parent’s late night card games with friends, and relatives were filled with wonder as hunting stories with close calls, and laughter over mistakes, and near misses flamed the candle of the hunter within me. My parents may have thought that we children were asleep in bed, but we were drawn to the crack under the door as the stories and companionship drew us quietly near. More powerful was the need for camaraderie than for the fear of punishment if found out. The longing to share such adventures with our own friends became a flame never to be put out even to this day. One part of my hunting dreams came true while whispering into Colton’s ear, my 16-year-old son as he took his first big game animal with a bow.
My dad raised us hunting small game, and whitetail deer in Wisconsin, but in 1980 I transplanted myself to Colorado, and several years later took a job with an Aerospace firm. I didn’t realize until after hiring on that the greatest job benefits were the private acreage for bow-hunters and an active Archery Club.
My second year at the company found me as the club president. Two years later Jim Gilmore became vice-president until the end of my nine-year term. Jim and I had many things in common including hunting styles, shooting equipment, and the same disease, “Elkoholism.” |
| © 2006 Julie Woods |
| Kansas whitetail. |
To the distress of our wives Elkoholism is a very common condition found among hunters in the western states. This disease is closely related to one found in the eastern United States sometimes called Buck Fever. Studies indicate that Elkoholism and Buck Fever are not gender nor geographically restricted. Many eastern hunters suffer from both diseases simultaneously, resulting in stressed budgets and separate spousal vacations. However, a family where the husband and wife are both stricken by these diseases may find uncommon unity, and a common marital bond seldom shared in today’s fast paced and technical world. Jim and I were among hundreds of western states hunters who were stricken by Elkoholism, Buck Fever and several other outdoor related diseases like Quack Attacks and such.
Soon after becoming president of the bow-hunting club I was asked by a newly elk stricken member, “How was it you became so addicted to archery elk hunting?” This turned out to be a difficult question to answer. It is not as though someone waved a magic wand over your head and poof, you are an elkoholic. Rather, I think it is something that you grow into. Like a small slow burning fire, even a candle will bring a pot to a boil if left burning long enough.
Continued...
Finding an Expert