After I drew the tag for Nevada and Matthew got his tag I called my buddy in Arizona and told him I didn't want to draw another tag because it would be a big disruption to my schedule. He told me, 'Put in for this one. Your odds are so remote you'll never draw it. A total of 9,400 people applied for 50 tags last year.' Well I drew that one too. |
As much as I appreciate private land, it is nice to know that you're in a spot where if you see elk you can go get them and not have to wonder how many orange signs there are between you and that animal. It allows for a real pursuit. |
I feel like I won the lottery. This is just unbelievable good fortune to get to do this all in one year. |
My friend told us, 'It's a good thing there are good cigars and fine whiskey because that's all you've got to look forward to now. |
Some people think there have always been elk in the Missouri Breaks. Well there were at one time and then they were wiped out. Hunters have taken it upon themselves over the past 50 or 60 years to restore animals to the area. |
The father-son hunting part of it is the real trophy for me. It is kind of simple stuff to build a fire and sleep out under the stars. There is a lot of fun to it. No TV. No faxes. It is true freedom. |
Where Matthew got his tag there was a zoo of hunters in the motorized areas. Where we were, we saw over 200 elk a day and almost no other hunters. It was almost like we had our own private ranch. |