Hunting Camp

October in Wyoming is hunting season. Not that I get out as much as other guys do, but I'm no stranger to beating the brush for big game. This year, my oldest brother, Matt, drew an elk tag in the southern Bighorns. Getting permission to hunt on some old family land, last Friday we headed to the hills. 

Grandpa bought this ground in the late 60s. As kids, we spent a lot of our summers up here. I'm super thankful for those years and I'm thankful to come back and hunt it.

My Great-grandfather Adam built this gate that leads into the family land.

These corrals are where my earliest childhood memories of branding over the 4th of July come from. So cool.

Beings I had the horses with me, I decided to take Chief down memory lane. 

This is the Cabin. The little one was here when they bought this first piece of ground in 51. During the 60s, Grandpa and the boys built the big one that sits in the background. Good times.

This was the overnight corral for the horses. Looks like those days are gone. 

These rocks sit right behind the cabin. Was a natural jumping gym for us kids. 

This meadow leads into the land that we were hunting on. We always rode across it instead of taking the road, seeing if we could spot Uncle Vance's wallet that he lost in 78. Still no traces. 

Perched on the hill is the TD-18 International dozer that built all the roads on this land. Until some one can free cylinder #5, this is where she'll stay. 

This is the Lost Creek drainage where we would hunt the next day. Chief and I went on to take a looksee. 

Dad built this road going down in here in 76. Still standing. 

It's a dry year, but the creek still runs. Back in 94, the snow stayed until June and the runoff was fast and furious. Grandpa and I spent one whole day with the dozer fixing this crossing that washed out. Still holding strong.

This was a new road heading out of Lost Creek that the guys built around 2000. 

It leads to Ruth's Cabin that never really got used. Solid structure, though. On this flat, I spotted an elk. So I turned around and headed home before she saw me. 

I parked the horses in the branding corrals over night. 

And hunkered down in the trailer for the night. 

Great star gazing up here. You can almost reach out and touch the Big Dipper. 

The next morning, Matt picked me up before daylight and we headed south to where I saw that cow elk. No signs of them there, but we kept going that morning to this timber patch. Flushing the trees, a bull jumped out.

And Matt shot it!

Beyond beautiful.

There's more glory in this story than meat in the freezer. For us to get an elk on old family ground is redemptive. Jesus says, "Behold, I make all things new" (Revelation 21:5). There was a sting in not coming back here for years. But through gratitude in God's grace and mercy, we can see the gift that this land was and is. Thank you Lord for the wonders of your creation and the gift to play in it. We ranch on.