Lodgepole Pine

[Bill Gaiche]

Rode the train in Chama NM last friday to Antinito Co. Aspens were beautiful to say the least. Beautiful place to visit. Thursday night they had there first snow in the mountains. I had noticed all the pines were looking real good through all that area from Chama all the way past Wolf Creek Pass. This made me feel good that the pine bettle hasnt made it there yet. Hope that never happens. bg

[Magicman]

That is some beautiful country.  That little burger joint across from the Chama train station serves a mean hamburger.

I know that there is beetle damage as far South as Colorado Springs.  I'll be looking at some of that country a week from tomorrow.   ;)     I'm packing now.  I got my whiskers grown and found my HAT.   smiley_horserider

[CX3]

That is pretty country.  Were you all hunting or just visiting?

[Magicman]

I've been there for both reasons.  Bill will have to answer for himself.

[Bill Gaiche]

CX3, we were just on vacation. Hunted for Elk and Deer in the Meeker and Rifle area years ago. Dont hunt anymore, cant seem to have the spirit of killing them. But I sure love to watch them.
M/M that little Saloon is still there and we ate there Friday night. We stayed in the upstairs about 9 yrs. ago. I believe it was about $30.00 a night. A fellow from Florida that rode the train with us had just hunted the day before went out with a guide and killed a 5X5 in the first 15 min. Have a good safe trip and enjoy the experience. That type of hunting is special and its hard to describe the thrill. bg

[Magicman]

Back in my guiding days in the early 90's, that would be the case many times.  We would get there a week before the season opened and spend our time glassing for elk.  Opening day, it was just a matter of getting our hunters to the right spot.

We'll be West of Gunnison, Co. next week.  I surely hope that those beetles don't destroy that country.  There has been some evidence in the past few years.  They log what they can, but it can cause a real mess.

[Bill Gaiche]

MM, theres no doubt that the prep work for a Elk hunt nearly always pays off. We have a cousin that has a real nice cabin west and south of Gunnison. We were up there after a ski trip to Crested Butte last year. We had to park in a large parking lot then snowmobile back to the cabin. Very beautiful country. No bug problem that i could see at that time. Have you seen the worlds largest Elk killed in north america in Crested Buttes city hall? Really neat mount. bg

[Magicman]

I haven't seen it Bill.  Crested Butte is one of the very few towns in Colorado that I have not visited.

[Bill Gaiche]

MM, you should make a point to put that town on your list. Its not far up from Gunison. That Elk was killed i believe in the 30's near Crested Butte. They told me that it is on loan to other cities sometime. bg

[beenthere]

It is said too that a recent elk killed in AZ outs this one as the world record by 0.25 point.

Killed in late 1800's according to the Chamber of Commerce story here.

http://www.cbchamber.com/elk-story.html

[Bill Gaiche]

beenthere , thanks for the post to correct my poor memory. I knew that it was way back there that it was killed. I have some photos on a cd somewhere of the Elk at C/B. I will have to dig it out and post it. Have you seen or heard of any documentation or photos of the new record. bg

[Magicman]

There have been several truly monsters killed this year in a couple of different states, but they have all been ranched/high fenced animals such as this one:

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/hunting/2010/10/hunter-texas-game-ranch-bags-possible-world-record-elk?cmpid=enews100710

[rbhunter]

I wonder what he had to pay for that one?

[Bill Gaiche]

I just imagine back when the record bull was shot in Co. there wasnt such a thing as pen raised or ranch raised elk. I bet it was taken the old fashion way. bg

[iffy]

After years of reading about the record bull in Crested Butte, but never being close enough on our trips to visit it, finally made it there a few years back. The stories I read about it pretty much touted it as the only claim to fame of a very poor mining town. I was greatly surprised and somewhat saddened when I finally made it there. The skiers had discovered it. Every storefront in town was now some kind of artsy fartsy tourist trap. Many of the houses with attics were sporting new roofs with dormers, as the attics were being converted to apartments for rent. I inquired several places about the record elk, and nobody seemed to know much about it. Finally found someone who told me it was down in the new city center.
Elk was still impressive, but the town sucked. Saw one empty lot and they wanted several hundred $k for it. Even sadder, when they ran out of lots in town they started a new town called something like Crested Butte east a couple of miles east of the original town. When that got too expensive and esclusive, they started yet another town south of that one.
We have been going to Colorado for 50 years, and it just sickens me to see houses hanging off of cliffs and subdivisions where there used to be beatiful forests and trout streams. Guess that's the cost of progress, but in my mind the cost was way too steep.