With cow tag in my pocket, I had a few days to try and find a cooperative cow. The area of the Bighorns that I was hunting is so dry that it is virtually impossible to walk quietly, so my plan was to find a spot and stick with it. For two days, I sat on an elk trail intersection, watching the pine squirrels with little else moving in the forest.
Yesterday, while sitting quietly on another heavily used trail, I was treated to the sight of a big 6 point bull calmly walking down the path to within 25 yards of where I sat. He stopped there, testing the wind, which must have given him an idea that all was not well; I guess he didn't know that I only had a cow tag. Anyway, he stood stationary and let me admire him for about 30 seconds before he turned and walked away the same way he came, and out of my life.
I was going to hunt today, which was to be my last day to have a chance this year, but on my way back to camp last night, the smoke and orange glow from a fire just to the west of my camp made me decide that I didn't want to tempt fate; with the tinder box conditions in the forest, if the wind came up, the fire could jump the ridge between us and I would be in serious trouble, so I packed up and left. By the time I hit the main road from my camp, the western sky was filled with smoke from the fire. I learned when I got to town that this fire was supposedly a 'controlled burn'; who is nutty enough to have a controlled burn in an extremely dry time in the forest? I suppose it was just another sign to me that elk steaks aren't destined to be in my freezer for yet another year.
I had 8 days to hunt elk this year; in those 8 days I saw 4 bulls, three of which were 6 points and definitely wall hangers. Of those, I could have had shots at two of the 6 points, so I guess lots of folks would say I had a good year. But, the jinx continues for me; many years now of seeing either no elk, seeing cows when I had a tag for a bull, or now having a cow tag and seeing only bulls.
A line in one of Mark Baker's songs says, "but I'll keep on trying", and I guess I'm pigheaded enough to be back after these elusive ghosts come elk season of 2012. They drive me nuts, but there is nothing like being around them in the great places that they live. Just wait 'til next year!