One thing I've noticed today.... I'm sore!!!  Crawling around out in the high desert of eastern Colorado hunting antelope isn't as easy on me as it might have been 20 years ago.  It's funny, though.  I didn't feel too bad yesterday.  Well, that's not exactly true either.  All day yesterday I was dealing with a particularly bad move that I'd made just after sunrise.  As I had all my attention focused on chasing a Boone and Crockett class antelope we'd spotted, I managed to sit right in the middle of a prickly pear cactus patch.  You'll only do that once. 

It happened early in the day and there was no time to stop, drop my pants and deal with the object of my irritation right then.  Besides that, there were a couple of guys with me that I just knew would offer absolutely no sympathy, let alone assistance.  You know how hunters are.  They live for these little moments.  And as far as I was concerned we had bigger things to concentrate on.  Besides that, it wasn't too bad as long as I didn't sit down... ever again.

But the soreness I'm dealing with now came upon me a bit more subtly.  All morning I probably spent an equal amount of time doing one of several things that I don't normally do on a regular basis.  OK, let's face it.  I haven't done them since going through air base ground defense in the military.  

We ran uphill.  We ran downhill.  We crossed fences, skirted ridge lines, crossed soft bottom sandy washes the consistency of quicksand... that seemed to take forever to traverse, sprinted up drainages, scooted along on our butts (a little more carefully after the first incident) and we crawled on our bellies for what seemed like the length of a football field... full of things that will bite you, stick you or sting you.  And all this time I'm carrying a rifle equipped with a scope and bipod, a pair of binoculars.... and a load a prickly pear spears in my butt.  By themselves, the rifle and binoculars weren't too bad but coupled with the spears.... well, let's just say after a while they were all irritating as a whole.

So today I'm dealing with my body revolting against me a little bit.  It's almost like it's saying "What the heck were you thinking?"  At the time, I'll tell you what I was thinking.  I was thinking "Hot Dang!  This is fun!!!"  The whole morning was a series of exciting events. 

The morning started out cool and crisp.  Just exactly as I imagined the arid high desert should be.  The air was clean and full of the aroma of sage, enhanced by the brief thunderstorm we’d had during the night.  There was a slight wind out of the west just before dawn.  The coffee was hot and strong and the doughnuts were fresh.  Just what we needed first thing in the morning.  The drive over to the canyons where we would be hunting was short and sweet as well.  After parking the truck in a little depression, we loaded our gear onto our backs and headed down to a water tank where we would hang out until legal light.  No matter how many times I do it, there's something special about the time spent waiting for the sun to rise.  I was glad we were walking in a sage pasture and didn't need artificial light.  The crunch of gravel and the swish of prairie grasses brushing against a pants leg is music to my ears.  Off in a not too far away coulee, we could hear a pack of coyotes singing the songs of the night. 

As we waited for the sunrise, we sat in a blind next to an old windmill and stock tank.  The peace and quiet was only broken by the ancient spinning of the tin fan, which in turn pumped out a small but steady stream of water drawn from the well.  I wondered how long this old dinosaur had kept up it's constant service.  Perhaps since before I was born?  Maybe even the turn of the century.  The old well looked like it had been there at least that long.

Once the sun came up enough to see, we began our hunt.  Within just a few minutes we had walked further down into the canyon.   Just about the time we had reached the bottom, we spotted a herd of antelope standing majestically silhouetted high above us on a ridge.  With the sun rising in the east behind them, we couldn't make out color, but when the herd stag stepped up to the ridge, we all knew we'd been had.  He looked down on us like a king surveying his domain and issued his silent challenge to the mere mortals below..... "BRING IT!!!"

 

 

 

What a great day that was!  I remember waiting for the sun to come up, you could feel the anticipation in the air.  There is nothing like a Colorado morning, cool and crisp with a hint of sage in the air.  As the sky lights up in a fiery red and orange, it's hard to believe how lucky we are to live in a state with the highest mountains in the Rocky Mountain range as well as high deserts that can produce such unforgettable sunrises.