We arrived in Walden around 5:30 pm Friday night after running out for a quick scouting trip to the ranch. With daylight savings time, it gets dark up there a few minutes after 5. We checked into the Ritz, or Antlers Inn as it’s known in Walden, and then headed down for some dinner. If you don’t know the place I’m talking about, the Old Stockman’s Bar burned down probably 10 years or more ago. One of Walden’s wealthy residents (there’s about 3 of them) built the River Rock Cafe with the Antlers Inn above it, where the old bar stood. It’s right on Main Street and is the nicest place within 75 miles. I always joke that it’s like the Hotel Jerome in Aspen (which is like a Ritz Carlton) as the rooms are that nice but cost around $70 per night. Anyhow we sat down for dinner that included  steak and salad, real mashed potato’s, green beans and gravy followed by cherry cobbler ala mode for dessert. Jag of course had some hot chocolate.
We headed up to bed by about 8:30 as 5am would come early. I’ve had this cold for a week where I cannot sleep as I’m hacking stuff up or needing to blow my nose all night (sorry) and I get a massive headache whenever I lay down. (I started taking some leftover antibiotics of the misses last night) It must be some sort of sinus infection as once I’m upright I feel a little better.
The oldest and I shared a king bed and fell asleep pretty quick although as I said, I was up on and off all night. We woke at 4:30 to about 4 inches of snow and more coming down. The ladies at the Inn were kind enough to put some coffee down the hall by the fireplace for me as the restaurant wasn’t open yet. By 5:15 we were loaded up and driving through the storm towards the Wyoming border. We arrived just before sun up and layered up and off we went. It wasn’t long before we crossed some tracks of what looked like a cow elk. This was the first storm of the year so we were worried that we wouldn’t see any animals yet as they’d all be bedded down still high in the timber. Finding some tracks was a good sign. After an hour or so they led to nowhere so we turned our attention up the mountain. We split up, the oldest and I going one way and Matt the other. I came across some more tracks, pretty big, but again looked like a cow elk but the gate or distance between them had me wondering as the tracks were really far apart. Jag and I followed them for a good hour up and down at least 3 draws. I think we actually made it into Wyoming we went so far. Finally I figured out that we were not tracking a cow elk but a cow moose! Now I don’t know if you know but you don’t want to mess with a moose, especially if you can’t shoot it! They’re unpredictable and will charge you and can really injure or even kill you. So with the oldest in tow, I decided to abandon the tracks and work our way back. We finally made it back to the truck and met up with Matt. He saw nothing the whole time we were thrashing about on the mountain side as he positioned himself to see anything that we would spook out. Matt is a 35 year old kid who grew up on the western slope and spent 10 years in the military, mostly overseas. He’s a good kid that looks up to me kind of as an older brother. I Â must be getting old to call a 35 year old a “kid”. We shoot and hunt a lot together, big game, birds, whatever. There’s about 5 of us in our group that stick together and always are doing something. He’s also the guy that has the big smoker and bbq’s for us all the time.
We decided to unload our weapons and jump in the truck and head down the highway to the State Line Ranch. I have a good relationship with them as they’re our neighbors up there for all my life. In the past 15 years I really developed a good relationship with the owners here in Denver and the ranch manager up there. Their place is over 250,000 acres with most of it in Wyoming. I had talked with Mark  (the ranch manager) the night before who told me to have free run of the place and go wherever I needed to, and also offered up what he knew about where the animals might be. So we headed up a draw by Watson’s Pass towards Park Draw. These names don’t mean anything to you but they’re close to where we were. I’m sure my dad spent countless hours running up and down these same hills when he was a kid. After another hour or so, we didn’t see a lick of sign so we decided to pack it in. Of course with the season ending today, all the animals will show up tomorrow! 3 and 1/2 hours later we made it home. The oldest fell asleep for about half the ride. Although we didn’t get any meat for the freezer this year, the hunting part of it is always more rewarding anyhow. Just being out there, especially this year with Jag, was priceless. Matt and I always joke that any day we can walk around in the mountains with loaded guns is a good day. We almost popped 6 or so coyotes but they recognized us and ran away to quickly. I can tell you that from looking at them through binoculars and seeing how thick their fur and winter coat already is, we’re in for a hard winter. This is one of those things nature does in the animal kingdom and if you know to recognize that, you can predict the weather better than the most respected weatherman. So, get ready if you live around here.
I almost was going to go back up today for one last try as my tags are good through tonight, but my freakin sinuses and head hurt too much. Lucky we have the luxury of having refrigerators with food in them or I’d have no choice but to be back out there. I wonder how well we’d all eat every day if we actually had to farm and hunt for our own food. It’s amazing what our grandparents and in some cases, our parents (Grandma Dixie) went through when they were kids. We all take running down to the grocery store for granted, hope that’s always there! What would you be having for dinner tonight if you couldn’t buy it at the store? Hmmm.
The rest of the afternoon was spent washing our clothes and lounging around. The misses whipped me up some english muffins and eggs for dinner and something else for the boys. I fell asleep a little after 8 only to wake up 3 or 4 times during the night with a stuffed nose and headache. It’s getting old and the misses says I need to stay in bed all day. Football is on so that might not be such a bad idea but I’m too restless to lay around all day.
Now to Veterans Day, first off, thank you for your service to all of those that served. There’s no greater sacrifice than to give your life or put it on the line for your country. Thanks to all of you!
The Bronco’s play at 11am and we’re hoping for another win. Keep you fingers crossed. There’s a light dusting of new snow outside and it’s cool but actually clears my head up when I breath the cold air. I just grabbed the morning paper which helped a bit.
Take care and have a great day and God Bless. We’re already planning next years hunt as the younger guy wants to come along!