whew, i never did know how physically exhausting elk hunting was. tom, preston (their adopted son) and i headed down to alder montana, where toms son tell lives, for a four day elk slaying adventure. one of toms friends drove us down in his camper toting rig*, and he taught us the thrilling game of car wars. as youre driving down the road, you go in order and each person gets a car going down the road. if the car is in bad shape or is just plain ugly you get a hit. first one to 5 hits loses. good stuff.

rig*- this term, in montana, refers to any motorized vehicle on four wheels pretty much, no matter if its driveable or not (apparently). wether it be a pickup, anexplorer, a 95' metro, a minivan, semi, moving truck, 2008 vet or what have you, it is to be referred to as a "rig"

anyhoo, we arrived at tells, we got unloaded, and we headed straight for the the ranch to see tell. there were all of your stereotypical cowboys (and a cowgirl) separating cattle and whatnot. it was very awe-inspiring to see these buckaroos who are legit- who ride horses all day around the ranch and up into the hills, are in the full garb all the way down to the spurs, who get to be immersed in some of the most beautiful country in the states, and while in that beautiful scenery get so see a plethora of incredible game including but not limited to muleys, whitetail, moose, elk, antelope, bear, wolves, and the ever elusive mountain lion. now obviously, cowpoke life sure isnt as glamerous as all that but to an ohioan that has never seen "real mountains" before, it sure looks appealing. so after my few moments of pondering the ways of the montana cattle wranglers tom, carl (the guy with the camper), and i ventured forth into the hills for an evening of hunting. i was very excited to carry a gun but i was only going to be allowed to shoot coyotes**, or wolves that were inside the ranchers fences. tom and i headed up a formidable mountain and i was huffing and puffing pretty much the whole way. to make it worse, the expansive view from atop the mountain was "breath taking" as well, so i was pretty much on the verge of hyperventilation. my obsessive compulsive photography nature kicked in and i began snapping photos by the dozens. tom and i covered a few miles i think and then eventually, after not seeing any elk, headed back to the rig, and then home (tells), for the evening. when we got back i got to meet tells family; his wife heather, his son connor and his dog mater. he is the coolest dog ever, and i almost stole him:).

**coyotes- the correct enunciation for this word, in montanan, is ky-oh-ts not ky-oh-tees

so the next morning, bright and early, we headed back up the mountains, this time in a different location. tom and i went up one side and carl and his son (steffon) went up another. tom and i made it to the top of one very large hill by the time the sun started peaking up from behind its mountain cover. it was beautiful. tom went around one side of the mountain to glass for elk and i stayed right there and took some pictures ("some" being a relative term here). i then joined him and we spotted a mother moose and her calf, a nice muely buck and some does. we then hiked across the world looking for this really nice muely buck tom had seen but managed to evade us, and then headed back to the rig to meet up with carl, grab a bite to eat, and take a nap in the grass. we then returned to tell's and i took a four hour nap. tell then took us deer hunting in the evening after he got off work. him, tom and i were walking through foot high sage bushes when all of a sudden these pheasants just start exploding up inot the air. every like ten seconds they would take off and they made so much noise. it was amazing that that nice eight point white tail was still standing in an open field when we got there. he got spooked and ran, and tom, high on adrenaline, ran after him. the buck stopped at somewhere around 250 yards and tom blazed. he gut shot the buck and tell finished it off later. we then took the buck to tell's friends house to hang and the guy, clint, showed us some of the mounts he had done in his taxidermy business. we then headed home and i crashed for the night.

the morning of the third, we went to the most back woods place of the whole trip. i was amazed that carl even attempted to get his truck in there. 4wd was our saviour and we got there intact, minus some paint from the rig and there was quite a bit of snow on the ground and that made me happy. once again tom and i split up from carl and his son and we headed, you guessed it, up a mountain. on the way up an old logging trail, i found a tree that had been partially shredded by a bear! i was really hoping to see one but never did. this hunt turned out to be unsuccessful in the venison department but fruitful in the asthetic and exercise categories. we were headed home by lunch time, but we were back hunting in the evening, this time with tells friend ryan as our guide. i considered this evening hunt to be the most enjoyable and beautiful of all the hunts we did that weekend. with 4 wheelers in the back of both rigs, we headed out for spot that tell had guaranteed us would be holding some elk. i would have asked for my money back had there not been the view. when carls rig couldnt go any farther up the incline, we hopped on the four wheelers and continued. for some reason, the mental picture that my mind took as i was sitting on the back of ryans four wheeler looking behind me at carls ATV following us up the mountain, will always be imprinted in my mind. it was something about the mountains in the background, the snow and tall pines in the foreground and the oncoming sunset that just BAM stood out all of a sudden. and also the fact of how blessed i was to be able to be in that moment on top of the world, and how blessed i was to know these people that would give me this opportunity. i should have taken a tangible picture at that point but i was too busy holding on and not falling to my death. so we arrived and carl, steffon, and i hopped off and walked the nearest ridge and tom and ryan headed around to the other side. there couldnt have been a more perfect spot to watch the sunset. i told carl and steffon not to wait up for me and i started taking pictures. when it was nearly dark we all met up again and headed home. when we got home i realized how spectacular the stars were there in alder montana. i mean, there were so many stars out that you could even see them on the horizon, it was that clear. so, mater and i layed out in the grass for a while and i saw four shooting stars.

sunday morning. our last chance for an elk. this was the first time that tell had time off so he went along with us. we went to a location near where we had gone the first morning, only farther down the mountain range. tell tom and i went along one ridge for a while (thats where the photo for this entry was taken) and then i drove the rig around the mountainside and walked towards them. we didnt see anything so we went back and they all got ready to leave but i was able to sneak off and do a little fishing. i only caught one trout (a brown) but it was still a lot of fun. we then headed home to brady, camper, buck, and four wheeler in tow...exhausted