Sunset in the mountains

[Hummer]

This evening we drove to Lefthand Reservoir (10,682 ft. elevation) above Brainard Lake. I did a little fishing and Mrs. Hummer collected flower seeds. We waited for the sun to set behind the divide and had a picnic dinner by the water. I took the scope and scanned the area for elk and moose, and spotted a small group of elk on the tundra.

Muzzleloader elk and archery moose season begins there tomorrow. I talked with an elk hunter and mentioned I'd be hunting moose there in two weeks. He said that his wife had taken two cow moose in the unit. It turns out that I had met them on opening day of the 2018 moose hunt when I was watching a bull with a cow and calf. I decided to pass on the bull but the lady came in behind me and set up to take the cow. I heard her shot as I drove away. A while later I called in the same bull moose about a mile up the drainage. It was kind of a touchy situation but I made it out alive without shooting the moose.

Some hours later I drove by as the couple finished their packout. They mentioned that they'd left the heart, so I hiked in to retrieve it. I ended up with two moose hearts that year. It's a fun coincidence that we met again five years later, having recalled clearly the events of that unforgettable day. I'll bet he takes a bull elk in the next few days.

Tomorrow, our friend Irving from this forum begins his muzzleloader cow moose hunt. Good hunting!

Here's a photo of the bull I passed on that day in 2018, and one at Lefthand after sunset this evening. The Indian Peaks along the Continental Divide are in the background, with Mt. Audubon on the right.