Aaron and Josh's 2011 Elk

Aaron and Josh's 2010 Mule Deer

Aaron's 2009 Elk

I got this Elk in November of 2009. He was a lot bigger than the spike I got last year. His antlers are thicker than the 5 point Josh & I got in 2007. He may not be a record elk, but I have a freezer that is twice as full as normal. Michelle made Chili last night with the Elk Burger and I didn't even know until she mentioned it when getting ready for bed. The Elk salami is the best.

I have never seen the elk herded up as much as I did this year. On the last day, we saw about 100 head, but only one bull (a small spike). I hunted 4 days and saw elk (cows and bulls) every day.

Aaron's 2009 Mule Deer

Aaron blew it this year.  Right as they were arriving at camp, they saw a large 3x4 deer.  Aaron wasn't able to make the shot.  The next day Aaron got this deer.

Ren and Josh's 2009 Mule Deer

What a fun trip this was.  Aaron's brother-in-law, Ren, came on the trip with them. Early in the day, Ren passed up this buck, but after hours of running around the mountains, Ren didn't hold back on his second chance.  Not bad for his first day ever hunting deer.

As we were packing out Ren's Deer, this deer hoped out of some bushes and Josh took it.  It was a change since he had to use Aaron's Gun and was unfamiliar with it.  Aaron was half a mile ahead packing out Josh's gun, Ren's gun, and their packs while there were working on getting the deer out of the thick brush and steep hills.  Never thought we'd see another deer so quickly.

It was a lot of work getting two deer out on the same day.  Back at camp we decided to have some fun. Earlier in the day, Ren and Aaron both found sheds from a 6x6 Elk.  We tied one shed to each deers head.  We sat around the campfire relaxing and busting up as car after car slammed on their brakes to take a look, even Fish and Game had to stop to check on us.  We called them "Delk", half Deer and half Elk.  Aaron didn't get a deer this trip, he'd have to try later.

Aaron's 2008 Elk

Here's my second elk ever. The rack is just a 1x2. I hunted 7 days in a row before coming across this little guy. I couldn't resist and had to take him. It's really hard to get a good picture when you are hunting alone, so sorry about that. I had to quarter this Elk in order to get it up the hill. I took 181 lbs of meat and bone to the butcher. I should be getting the meat back soon. I kept the tenderloin at home and made some up on Sunday .... mmmm yummy!

I about killed myself getting the elk up the hill. I lost 4.5 lbs that day.

Josh's 2008 Mule Deer

Talk about persistence here.  Josh got this buck on the last day of the hunt and there was just about 30 minutes of light left.