As successful elk hunters we are an extraordinary breed who prepare ourselves physically and mentally year-round.  Whether hunting agonizingly long days in razor thin air above timberline, or navigating dark timber jam-packed with chest high dead falls that can snap a leg without warning, or hanging on for dear life to a bat-crap crazy mule while she tries to use you as a stepping stone to get out of a bog, all are part and parcel in the day of the elk hunter. But elk hunters are no different than the rest of our brethren who take to wild places each fall. If there is an easier way out, i.e. a silver bullet, we are always looking for it.
So…is there a silver bullet for elk hunters…absolutely.  Look for more in our upcoming book: Elk Hunter, The Silver Bullet.

Some work cannot be improved upon, nor should it be. If anything is true about 21st century man it is that he seems driven to continually strive to improve upon someone else's work, idea, or invention.  I know this because I have done this more times than I can count.  However as I sit here contemplating the peace that comes from the silence brought on by six inches of fresh snow outside of my window, I find myself in one of those contemplative reflective moods. Thinking back over the past 40 years of my life, much of which has been spent in one wilderness or another in pursuit of game, I have to ask, where did this desire to hunt come from. From my father and his father before him? Or does this passion within me to chase wild game across wild places come from a far more distant source.  The three quotes (above) are notes the author Zane Grey penned around 1919 either during or following an extended hunt for bear in Arizona.  I just cannot improve one word....if these strike a chord in your heart too...welcome to the brotherhood of the hunter.

“Sad is the day for any man when he becomes absolutely satisfied with the life he is living, the thoughts he is thinking, and the things he is doing; when there ceases to be forever beating at the doors of his soul a desire to do something larger which he seeks and knows he was meant and intended to do.”  Phillips Brooks

For the past few months I have been reading my way through most of Zane Grey's western novels. Most of the stories were set sometime in the late 19th century. If such characters as Lassiter, Venters, Bess, Fay Larkin or Jane Witherstein do not ring a bell, you are missing something. If you are not a fan of Zane Grey's you will not know how much effort he puts into the detail of describing each scene or locale. Honestly, sometimes even I think he goes a bit long, but that is just Grey's style.

This morning however I came across a narrative Grey had written that wasn't a story of fiction at all. It was more like a written documentary of some of his travels throughout Utah and Colorado. What caught my attention at about 5:30 AM was his description of a few days spent in Colorado's Flat Top mountains, a range that I am quite familiar with extending from Yampa on the East nearly to Meeker on the West. Again, due to the level of detail that Grey always uses, I felt as if I was actually there at places like Big Fish, Wall Lake or standing on the shore of Little Trappers Lake. Well, actually I had been. What made this read so welcoming was that in a few instances, I could tell that Grey and I both had stood in nearly the same spot separated only by 90 years or so, he in the late 1920s, me in the early 2000's. Truthfully, very little seemed to have changed in almost 100 years. That is what made it so special.

The Kentucky elk herd established in Eastern Kentucky in 1997 is flourishing. It is estimated by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife personnel that the herd has grown to 10,000. The population growth is well ahead of the original model. The elk releases were halted in 2002 and future releases will not be necessary.

If you are a die hard elk hunter, you don't care where you find 'em. I lived in Colorado and hunted elk all over the Rockies most of my adult life. In 2010, we relocated to Central Kentucky which puts me about a two-hour drive from the largest elk herd east of the Mississippi River. Elk have thrived in the mountains of Eastern KY as evidenced by the numbers stated above. Winters are relatively mild, there is little to no predation by carnivores and hunting so far has not had a significant adverse impact on the herds. The result is as of 2014 KY hosts some really nice bulls in the 350++ class. Success rates are high. Tags are very limited compared to western elk states but they are not impossible to obtain. For 2014 the number of available tags will increase from 900 to 1000. That leaves 999 for the rest of you because I plan on drawing one of them.
The drawing period for 2014 is January 1 through April 30 (midnight Eastern time).

The cost to put your name in the lottery is a mere $10 per tag. $10 bucks, can you believe that! If you are drawn, then you have to purchase a resident or non-resident tag. For $10, every self respecting elk hunter should give Kentucky a shot.

For more information: http://fw.ky.gov/Hunt/Pages/Elk-Hunting.aspx

Kentucky holds a lottery each year. One can apply for up to 4 tags (2014). You can only draw one.

• Antler-less Archery

• Antler-less Rifle

• Antlered Archery

• Antlered Rifle
  
  

New for 2014, ElkCamp.com now has an official Face Book page. Yep, we are now doing social media just like everyone else in the 21st century.
If you want to stay in touch or share on a regular basis, consider using our FB page. Easy to access...easy to use.

Just go to: https://www.facebook.com/elkcamp