Today was a rare day for me. My son and I went grouse hunting. Regular readers will know that finding and getting the grouse is the smallest part of days like this. It's the excuse to leave the house and head for the National Forest.
The joy is in a beautiful Autumn day, valuable time with my oldest son, and the chance to step away from my paycheck job and writing.
The grouse were almost absent. We saw one, and my son harvested him for his supper. This was at the very end of the day. (He has to clean his shotgun, I don't. Joke's on him.)
The morning arrived cold and crisp, as it should. We saw a few deer at the lower elevations. Then we spotted a herd of about 40 elk. I keep a small pair of binoculars in my truck, so we checked them out. The old herd bull gathered quite a harem, and he was working awfully hard to keep them happy. You know he was a big one when you can see antlers from three quarters of a mile in the pre-dawn.
Four small satellite bulls stalked the outer fringes of his harem. Whenever the herd bull chose a particular cow to get amorous with, the satellite bulls slipped in and tried to romance the remaining cows. This pissed the old boy off and he ran them into the sagebrush, circled the cows, and it all started over again.
We watched them for a long time. Idaho has a lot of elk, but you don't see a display like that every day. We eventually pulled up to the hunting area and parked. Old What's her Face made us a baggie of Scotch Eggs for breakfast. Our forest is a pine forest, but the underbrush was a riot of Fall colors.
There were elk at every bend in the road. We saw cow/calf pairs, groups of three and four, almost all day long. Grouse were completely absent. Turkeys were everywhere though. We only saw one other guy, and his tent was completely surrounded by turkeys. We laughed at the idea of some Fall turkey hunter, deep in the woods and hunting hard, while the turkeys invaded his camp.
There were more deer too, and one was a small buck. He would normally draw attention, but the elk outclassed him.
Our mule deer will usually stand for a picture. Elk don't. I'd love to post a picture for you, but they were either too far, or disappeared into the forest too fast.
We had some great father/son time too. He's looking forward to the next job site, but today we were both available. We visited my favorite apple tree, but they were all too far to reach. This usually means the deer and bears ate all the ones I could reach. I decided I'm too old and fat to go climbing in trees.
I have a post up over at Story Empire today. I wrote it a week ago and used the scheduler. This one is about working your blog tour. It's aimed toward authors, and some of you may want to check it out.
In a way, this day was provided to me because the scheduler lets me keep fresh content out there. That's a scary thought.
Anyway, today is my grandson's eighth birthday. We're all getting together tonight for some cake and ice cream. Hope all of you had a wonderful day too.
That’s how the universe works. Go grouse hunting and you only find elk. Go elk hunting and you’d have only found grouse. Try for both and you’ll only find a very irritated rabbit living in a cave surrounded by bones.
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But look at all the bones. I love it. The elk were awesome to see though.
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Not a hunter myself So I’d be enjoying that view since I’ve never seen elk outside of a zoo.
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They were everywhere today.
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Mmmm…cake and ice cream! Happy birthday to your grandson!
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Thank you.
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I am sad I missed those elk. That would have been a sight to see.
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It was pretty cool. The old bull was working pretty hard to keep everything together.
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Sounds like the perfect day. (No clean is always good)
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Old age and treachery win every time.
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Ha ha ha . Good one
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Well, I’m down for Scotch eggs and cake and ice cream. I like elk, both the living and the cooked, but I don’t enjoy hunting anything more animated than berries.
Still, it sounds like a great day for sire and spawn đŸ™‚
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Thanks, it was pretty fun. We did see some elderberries, but passed them by.
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Happy anniversary to your grandson! May his life be a good, healthy and successful one!
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He’s such a cute kid too. Thank you for your well wishes.
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We couldn’t hope to have a day to equal yours, Craig. Your forest sounds amazing. Didn’t you take ANY photos?
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We never took a single photo. I could have taken some scenery shots, I suppose. I tried to get the elk we saw up close, but they’re fast.
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Reblogged this on Anita Dawes & Jaye Marie.
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Nothing compares to seeing animals in their natural habitat – they do tend to shift quickly if they know they’re on the hunting menu though! đŸ˜‰
Lovely way to end the day with ice cream and cake as well đŸ™‚
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It isn’t even elk season yet. They’re just so big that one of their steps moves them yards into the brush. I’d have liked a photo to include, but it wasn’t meant to be.
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Photos are over-rated at times I think – it’s much more magical to remember the moment unadulterated. I once saw a cheetah bring down a gazelle – it was impossible to catch the action on a non-digital SLR (this was in the late 80s) but to see it in real time… I nearly fainted because I was holding my breath so hard – slo-mo video footage on wildlife films just done do a scene like that justice, even though they capture every move! I can still ‘see’ that cheetah moving like the clappers across the long grass every time I recall it!
Such moments are golden – like with your territorial bull đŸ˜€
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I absolutely agree. I only wanted one for proof to the masses. I’m an author and could have made the whole thing up. (I didn’t.)
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Ah – but a photo(shopper) can fib as well these days! đŸ˜‰ I loved your evocative description of the distant antlers in the twilight. đŸ˜€
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I suppose that’s true too. It was pretty cool. They were so big I could see the antlers with my naked eye. Binoculars brought everything into crisp detail, but it was a great wilderness experience.
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Wow! Sounds like a fabulous day! You were blessed with gifts from nature.
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It was wonderful. I could have watched the big herd all day, but my son probably isn’t that patient.
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Sounds a like a beautiful day. I miss the fall colors where I am, but your writing brings it to life for me. What a spectacular sight that heard must have been. I can only dream.
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or herd
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The woods and nature sound like a wonderful day out, especially with family. I’m not a hunter myself (at least of animals), but I do love a day spent in the wilderness đŸ™‚ And to finish it with a birthday party sounds ideal!
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I was a great day. All the wild apples were a bit too high for me, so we passed them up. There is a wild pear tree too, but it doesn’t grow good pears.
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Shame about the apples and pears (here it’s rhyming slang for stairs – maybe in the woods it could be for bears?) Sounds like a great day, though đŸ™‚
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It was wonderful. Sounds like you’re in rare form today. Hope you have a great one.
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Yes, sorry about that đŸ˜€ I’m currently having to read through a whole lot of boring paperwork and my mind is wandering, as usual… Hope you have a great one too đŸ™‚
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Don’t be sorry, be awesome. Also, thanks for the well wishes.
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Did someone say CAKE?! Happy Birthday to your grandson, and hope you both enjoyed the scotch eggs too. Can picture the tent surrounded by chuckling turkeys!
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It was a great day all around. Cake, scotch eggs, grandson opening presents. I kind of needed a day like that too.
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That must’ve been so cool to watch. We don’t have elk here, so they fascinate me. Hope you had an amazing time at the b’day party!
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It was quite the day. It isn’t unusual to see elk, but they were everywhere that day. The party was fun with one happy boy. Leggos everywhere.
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Great reason to carry an over/under!
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All my shotguns are side by side, so I’m close.
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Hey great article, nicely written! I wish we got Elk in England
Also check out my blog about my first season as a beater! check it out at tootinghustle.wordpress.com
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I will, and glad you enjoyed the post. You would call our elk a deer, and our moose and elk. Our elk are much larger than your deer though.
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Yeah exactly!
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