Friday Classic: Drunk On Elk

Sweat was beading on my brow. I was gasping for breath. Running up hill, I needed my iPhone. Fifty yards away I had the spotting scope set up. Binos were around my neck, so was the camera.

A few hundred yards below were 300-400 head of elk. Cows and calves were mewing, the herd bull was grazing, bachelor bulls were cast to the side. It was a mess of elk. The sound and the smell was intoxicating. I was drunk.

I was scouting for deer, with no elk tag for the area, but at the end of the day I love elk. It didn’t matter that there was no chance I could hunt these animals. Being in their presence was enough to make me crazy.

The herd bull’s full grandeur came into focus through the spotting scope. A 7×6 mainframe with extra junk all over. A kicker stuck straight up from the base of each first brow tine. Mass extended through the entire main beams. He was simply huge.

I was attempting to look everything over through the scope and binos, while shooting photos. My lens wasn’t long enough to do the scene justice. I didn’t have an adapter to put the camera on the scope. My brain could barely focus.

I thought maybe I could take an iPhone photo through the scope. Thus the sprint uphill, back to the truck. It didn’t work. It didn’t matter. The whole scene was breathtaking. Taking a deep breath would have been well advised.

Instead I ran in circles like a crazy person with optics hanging off of me like Christmas ornaments. In hindsight I don’t think I’d change a thing. Fall is near!