- Joined
- Mar 11, 2001
- Messages
- 70,011
- Reaction score
- 1,007
After much preparation, we are now set to go
By Tim Renken, St. Louis Psot Dispatch
09/22/2002
This is the 14th in a series that will appear every other Sunday about a once-in-a-lifetime elk hunt my son and I will make, our Big Deal Hunt.
This adventure started the last day of deer season last fall as we came out of the woods after a long day of hunting. We had talked for years about making a mountain elk hunt and my son, noticing how slowly I was moving, remarked that we'd better do it while I still could.
We decided we'd do it and do it right, going to a great place and hiring a guide. We would have to splurge financially, but then we were only going to do it once. It was to be our celebration of several things, including 30 years of hunting, fishing and camping together.
We agreed that shooting something was secondary, that having a unique experience in a spectacular setting was paramount. From that premise the decisions on many other choices followed.
We found an adventure travel agent, Outdoor Wilderness Adventures, in the Bass Pro Shops catalogue and with that help eyed the many places we could go. We considered Alaska and the Rocky Mountain provinces in Canada. We considered Colorado, where most Midwesterners like us go. Eventually, for several reasons, we settled on northwestern Montana. The big attraction there was the Bob Marshall Wilderness.
At 1.5 million acres, "The Bob" is the country's largest legal wilderness and, many say, its most beautiful and interesting. With the agent's help we settled on Spotted Bear Ranch, Kalispell, as our outfitter. The firm has a lodge just outside of the Bob Marshall and has a permit for a temporary tent camp at a reasonable altitude in the wilderness.
Reservations were made, with deposits, and permits purchased. We bought reserved elk licenses through the outfitter to avoid trusting our luck to a draw.
We each began to exercise to get in shape for mountain elk hunting, which is much more demanding physically than Missouri deer hunting. For me that consisted of two miles a day of vigorous dog walking, plus tennis and riding an exercise bike. We both re-targeted our 30-06 deer rifles and practiced shooting at mountain ranges.
We've both been packing. The most difficult what-to-take decisions involve clothing. We are told that weather in the northern Rockies in mid-autumn can be anything from the 70s with sunshine to the 20s with snow.
When we get back, we hope, we'll have pictures to show, tales to tell and memories to share. And maybe even elk meat to eat.
Reporter Tim Renken\ E-mail: trenken@post-dispatch.com\ Phone: 314-849-4239
By Tim Renken, St. Louis Psot Dispatch
09/22/2002
This is the 14th in a series that will appear every other Sunday about a once-in-a-lifetime elk hunt my son and I will make, our Big Deal Hunt.
This adventure started the last day of deer season last fall as we came out of the woods after a long day of hunting. We had talked for years about making a mountain elk hunt and my son, noticing how slowly I was moving, remarked that we'd better do it while I still could.
We decided we'd do it and do it right, going to a great place and hiring a guide. We would have to splurge financially, but then we were only going to do it once. It was to be our celebration of several things, including 30 years of hunting, fishing and camping together.
We agreed that shooting something was secondary, that having a unique experience in a spectacular setting was paramount. From that premise the decisions on many other choices followed.
We found an adventure travel agent, Outdoor Wilderness Adventures, in the Bass Pro Shops catalogue and with that help eyed the many places we could go. We considered Alaska and the Rocky Mountain provinces in Canada. We considered Colorado, where most Midwesterners like us go. Eventually, for several reasons, we settled on northwestern Montana. The big attraction there was the Bob Marshall Wilderness.
At 1.5 million acres, "The Bob" is the country's largest legal wilderness and, many say, its most beautiful and interesting. With the agent's help we settled on Spotted Bear Ranch, Kalispell, as our outfitter. The firm has a lodge just outside of the Bob Marshall and has a permit for a temporary tent camp at a reasonable altitude in the wilderness.
Reservations were made, with deposits, and permits purchased. We bought reserved elk licenses through the outfitter to avoid trusting our luck to a draw.
We each began to exercise to get in shape for mountain elk hunting, which is much more demanding physically than Missouri deer hunting. For me that consisted of two miles a day of vigorous dog walking, plus tennis and riding an exercise bike. We both re-targeted our 30-06 deer rifles and practiced shooting at mountain ranges.
We've both been packing. The most difficult what-to-take decisions involve clothing. We are told that weather in the northern Rockies in mid-autumn can be anything from the 70s with sunshine to the 20s with snow.
When we get back, we hope, we'll have pictures to show, tales to tell and memories to share. And maybe even elk meat to eat.
Reporter Tim Renken\ E-mail: trenken@post-dispatch.com\ Phone: 314-849-4239
