 THE ELK TRAIN
Photography by Bill Buckley
(From Gray's Sporting Journal, pre-2007)
 |
It
is, they say, the quintessential Western adventure, taking that
pack train up to snowy plateaus and little valleys where the
wind howls like an imprisoned soul and where big bulls gather
harems as man and horse plug ahead against the cold.
|
| |
|
|
 |
The
horses plod steadily upward, hooves finding purchase on trails
that hug mean cliffs in a fashion you find tenuous. But they know
this duty, these horses do, and to the campsite they climb. Once
there, they are tethered, as tents are rigged and camp cooking
fills the hills with warmth and portent of fellowship. |
|
But
horses and guides and sumptuous camp food, none of these can do
what you must do for yourself - tread afoot on these short winter
days, carrying only patience and skill and luck to find a bull,
then come in close, lay cross hairs on quarter, hear the sound
of the big mag echoing across the range. |
|
|
|
If
you are lucky and the signs point your way, if you have hunted
hard every cold, crisp day, if you have climbed until you think
you could never climb again & and did it anyway, then the
big bull will make his mistake. |
Additional Articles
|
|
Click
on the Magazine cover to read
"Bliss
Creek Outfitters, Cody, Wyoming"
by
M.R. James, Founder of Bowhunter Magazine & Editor
Emeritus
|
|
|
Click
on the Magazine cover to read
"Wilderness
Memories"
by
M.R. James, Founder of Bowhunter Magazine & Editor
Emeritus
|
|
|
Click
on magazine cover to read
"Bragging
Rights" by Mark Kayser
|
|
|
Click
on magazine cover to read
"When
Bliss Creek Calls" by Brett Link
|
|
|
Click
on magazine cover to read
"Outlaw
Bull" by Durwood Hollis
|
|
|
Click
on magazine cover to read
"Bliss
Creek Bulls" by M.R. James, Founder/Editor
|
|
|
Click
on magazine cover to read
"Wapiti
in the Washakie" by Bill Shellenbarger
|
|
|
Click
on magazine cover to read
"The
Elk Train"
by
Bill Buckley
|
Archery
Elk Gallery
 
 
 
Rifle
Elk Gallery
 
 
|
