If it wasn’t for my? I’d be ?

[Indian Summer]

Ok I’m losing my mind waiting to leave on Friday. I’m an insane planner so since all my stuff is ready to go I have time to stare at topos and satellite images and think. It’s a terrible thing.

So I got to thinking about my weak links. I could ramble on about determination but it goes without saying that if you are hunting where the elk are at the times you need to be there you’re not going to be very successful.

And you can kill one wearing red plaid wool pants and a flannel shirt if you know what you’re doing so I won’t lean toward gear as a deal breaker even though I am a gear nut.

I’m going to have to say that if it wasn’t for my area and my knowledge of it after about 5 years I might suck. Lol To determine this I have to ask myself if I strolled up some other drainage would I do as well? Well logically speaking no because I’m technically a newbie elk hunter there since I don’t know squat other than some ideas from looking at maps. Would I be as confident? Heck no. For the same reason. I’d be thinking about all the things I don’t know. Without confidence I’m probably not hunting with the same spring in my step.

Yeah I love my spot. There are other hunters there. I’ve seen where they go and how long it takes them to give up. I love hunting public land because I know I can hunt it forever and other than a few natural variables not much will change.

What’s the one thing that you think you really have going for you that you’d be lost without?

[>>>---WW---->]

Don't forget your tire chains and a shovel. Maybe a good tow strap as well. Things are starting to get wintery out this way in the next several days. Good luck on your hunt!

[Lefty]

I have the ability of being able to find game if it’s there. In places others seldom go

No: I like to bring game home and as a long ago fur trapper bringing game home paid the bills . I find a lot of joy being in the woods, prairie and deserts and dont need to kill all the time

But
If it wasn’t for my wife! I would be living on a lake in North Dakota with a fish house as my 2nd home on the lake in the winter


And if it wasn't for my tracking skills,.. Id be dead

[saddlesore]

First would be experience, then confidence. Most importantly though are my two mules. No way could I ever hunt elk without them due to my physical limitations and ever increasing crowd of hunters.

On the country side,I'd rather hunt country with fewer elk and I know it very well than country with more elk and I don't know so well.I guess that is why I keep going back to old hunting areas

[2MANY]

Determination.
It's all in your head.

[Swede]

If it wasn't for my passion for hunting, I could be filthy, stinking rich.

[Lefty]

How may brands are on the far side of that stock?

Joe says
If it wasnt for my running iron
Id be horseless


I bought three, 400 lb steers years back . It was quick to see way they were sold together, each had three brands, unloaded them and through three different fences before we rounded them up. Two spent days in other pastures

[Indian Summer]

Just 2 Lefty. JP is their main brand. When you have 2,000 of them need a number to tell who’s who!