Wandering Aimlessly
Colorado Elk Hunt I
by Phil Burkhouse
In a previous century I taught high school math to kids in nearby Ridgway. I, also, sponsored an archery club that constructed an archery range in the basement of the school, and we shot daily throughout the school year. Few academic students have stayed in contact with me, but an amazing number of kids from that archery club still stop by for a visit. Some of those “kids” are now in their 60s.
Several of these archery kids joined the military and traveled the world. Several of these returned and encouraged me to begin accumulating bonus points in Colorado for an elk hunt. I had always wanted to hunt elk, and I knew chances were not good of getting drawn in Pennsylvania, so I followed their advice. They figured I would be drawn in five years, which would put me in my fifties. Unfortunately, it took sixteen years to get drawn, and I had attained the age of 70. I was soon to find out that camping and hunting elk at 13,000 feet elevation in the Rocky Mountains was going to involve a lot of gasping for air.