Needles in Haystacks

Archery elk season has been open for awhile now. It is our first resident big game season (for which we have long waited!). Geoff and I have been out several times, mostly with a friend from town. We have also had to schedule outings around school and home improvement projects. It has been a learning season...elk are a completely different animal than a whitetail. They are so big and their habitat, and their range within it are so big! To say "It's wild!" is a gross understatement!

Yesterday we were determined to make a full day of it. We had located a large herd the evening before, and so were confident of their general whereabouts for the next morning.
They are about 3 miles away in these pictures.

I just want to give you some idea of the vastness out here. We covered between 6 and 7 miles, and were within 200 yards of the herd once or twice. But we eventually blew them out...the wind being contrary. I counted 9 bulls in this group...

But this is archery season!

We last saw the elk refreshing themselves at this beautiful lake...

Which was about a mile away from our location!
We called it a day, around 1:30, and made it back to the truck by 3:30.
Here is our "loop".