| 8 images  2. Solomon's plume at the junction of the Gore Range Trail and Pebble Creek  3. Pebble Creek. There were considerable numbers of elk hunters on the trail - all of them bow hunters, all of them empty-handed. This is my idea of fair chase. Later (below) was a somewhat different scenario.  4. These handsome horses and riders arrived at the Rock Creek trailhead just as I did. They were riding the loop from Pebble Creek Ranch  5. Also just arrived at the trailhead: this guide had gone in on Tuesday with his client (from Mexico). He had scouted the valley (Slate Creek) during the summer multiple times -12 days total. It paid off last evening when his client shot a trophy bighorn ram. One shot. Five-hundreds yards. He counted the 'rings' on the horns - about 9 years old. The client took the horns and the cape (for mounting). The guide and his helper (who hiked in today to help pack out the meat) shared the meat. 
 7. I could not lift the pack, which contained the mutton - it must have weighted nearly 100 pounds. The guide had packed it out 8 miles today, and looked like he had just walked out into the gym, so fit he was.  8. The client  |