Snowed Out

I'm sitting in a hotel in Chama, New Mexico. The "Branding Iron Inn" - how 'bout that??? Sounds all out cowboy don't it?

Why am I not in elk camp??? Because we got a ton of snow that forced us out of there - and dude - it's mid-September!! I cannot believe it. We didn't even get to hunt today.

Our guide, the great Patrick Archuletta, let us sleep in his RV last night. Praise Jesus ... because our sleeping bags and entire outfitter tent was soaked from all the heavy snow pack on the tent roof. We'd have risked hypothermia. Seriously. You can't sleep in wet sleeping bags in 18 degree weather with 50 mph winds, and expect to do well!

Patrick is a cool guy. Knows the Lord. He's a great elk guide. Hard core. He's a copper headed Mexican who can flat "whup a man" if he needs to!!! Even though we've discussed it all week, I don't think he could take me in a brawl, because he knows that when the chips are down, I'll cut a man. I will. I'll cut a man and sleep well when I get home. We've had a ton of fun together. And he's gone above and beyond what most guides would ever do for a hunter.

Get this ... no joke either ... we've walked a total of 60 miles the first 5 days of hunting. Now think it through: that's 60 miles in the high country of the New Mexico Rockies, Sangre De Christo Mountains, which stands for "blood of Christ." With packs, camera gear, bows, food, clothing on our backs. Hey man, that's gettin' it done!

And bro, I've not fallen over dead yet!! Hey, seriously, I've been working my hindquarters off to get in shape for this hunt, and it's worked. Even the other guides can't believe we've put in that much foot traffic.

Tomorrow I've got one more hunt left. Man, I really, really want to kill a bull. And I want my buddy David Moss to kill one, too. So I'll be cookin' up some different prayer signals tonight for sure.

This is a picture of a bull that Kevin Cordell, a Oklahoman planted in Texas, shot but didn't kill. Another fella took this brute 4 days later in the same canyon ... at least Kevin got to sling an arrow!