Elk Narrative

Humans often find bliss in nature, as it can be a place of comfort for many. On the other hand, nature is also a place where we go to test our strength, and learn life lessons. By getting out there and letting the trials of mother nature challenge us, valuable encounters and experiences build our character in a positive way. Humans crave adventure. With nature’s resources, the glorified idea of adventure becomes a reality.

The Omaha Chief Big Elk commented on the effect of the white migration to the West across the Overland Trails while visiting Washington D.C. He stated eloquently, “there is a coming flood which will soon reach us, and I advise you to prepare for it.” An estimated 500,000 people made the journey West to California and the Willamette Valley between the years 1840 – 1870. However, much like the first rains in a wet season, benefits were found in the first storm of white emigrants heading west. Native people were able to cooperate with white emigrants and benefit from trading with them. But the storms continued, emigrants as plentiful as rain drops came through the Indian lands and eventually, the prophecy of a great flood Chief Big Elk spoke of came true. Overtime, whites used up the limited resources of the plains tribes, depended on one another instead of Indians for help, and used force rather than compromise to clear the way for the expansion of the West.

It was the middle of October, and it was finally time for my long awaited moose hunt. I have waited ever since I was a little girl for this opportunity, and it was finally here. So, my father and I packed up our stuff and left the warmth of Phoenix. We were leaving the "Valley of the Sun" and headed for a place called Wyoming. After two days and fourteen long hours of driving, we made it to our hunting unit.

Throughout history, the US federal government and governmental entities have been prominently positioned in overseeing the management of public lands. However, with its ever-evolving role and its continued progression, the proposal to transfer federal lands to states has re-emerged. With much debate and conflict on this subject, audiences seeking information on this controversy will come across an array of sources with varying viewpoints, dubious credibility and validity, and questionable objectivity, as observed in the articles from the National Public Radio, the American Legislative Exchange Council, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

With the hopes that it wouldn't snow, I traveled to Silverton Colorado with my dad in October. My dad and I had six elk tags for the very first rifle season. We pulled our camp trailer down to a nice wooded area about five miles before you get into town. The camp sight was about a quarter mile off of the highway. There were trees all around the camping spot; the only break in the trees was where the road came through.

The elk (Cervus canadensis) is one of the largest species of the Cervidae family in the world, and one of the largest land mammals in North America. Early European explorers in North America, who were familiar with the smaller red deer of Europe, thought the larger North American animal resembled a moose, and consequently gave it the name elk, which is the common European name for moose (Wikipedia 2014).

I was sitting in the Livingroom staring out into the air waiting for the first snowflakes of the season to come down from the skies. I had waited all year for this so that I finally could go out and enjoy some real Norwegian pow. My dad had promised me that we would go out for our first ski tour together. Then finally it began to snow, it snowed more than 300mm the first five days. Then the day had come and we were sitting in the kitchen and planning our trip, I was so excited that I had everything packed in a few minutes. As we were driving up to the mountains my anticipation just rose. We were finally close enough so that I could see the peak shimmering in the distance. Arriving at the foot of the mountain we began to take on our skis. As I took the first steps in the cold and crisp snow, I knew that this day going to be one of the best days in my life. When we were circa halfway up the sun was shining through the thin skies and as it steady and slowly became lighter around us we could see the top of the mountain that was hiding behind the morning fog. At the time we reached the peak the sun was out glowing and there I turned around and look down the steep and majestic mountain, it looked like a big ocean of snow. I was prepared for the ride. Then the moment had come and we were ready to shred

It was a very cold and windy night, the wind was so loud it sounded like one of our members from our pack howling. The cold winter was slowly creeping up on us. The sky had never been darker than tonight it was a grey and black mix, kinda like our fur coats that everyone trembled over, but it was faintly streaked with purple. My two brothers, two sisters, and I have been our own pack since our parents died when they went out hunting following the rich smell of sickness and weakness towards town. We hadn’t eaten in days and our prey were finally outsmarting us as much as we hated to admit it and we were slowly starving to death. Usually on the prairie we could find dear or even bunny rabbits that were just waiting to be teared apart from our

Because of high population growth rates observed in the majority of elk herds and the relatively conservative population objectives contained within each of the associated elk sub-plans, the need to increase harvest on elk to reduce population growth, size, or both has demanded aggressive hunt structures (often six months in length) to maximize the harvest of elk (primarily cows) in these areas. These aggressive season structures are designed to meet the management requirements (i.e., population objectives) set forth in elk sub-plans, but alleviate conflicts with other users and resources simultaneously, while trying to reduce hunter densities in the field. Generally speaking, standardized season dates are superseded by the needs of meeting specific population objectives

It is the day I have been waiting for all year long, the yearly hunting trip in Wisconsin. Waking up Friday the day before opener I am making sure everything is packed and ready to go. Headed off on the three hour journey I finally arrive at the cabin. I am greeted by 16 people who are also staying in the cabin for the week. I got all my hellos done and start playing games and cards. Sitting around the wood fire, along with listening to the wildlife and river that flows behind the cabin. The night falls and the wind starts to die as we all fall into a deep sleep.

After we stopped and shut the truck off, we ever so slowly and quietly exited the truck, went around to the tailgate, grabbed the guns, the little camo backpack of gear, sprayed down, and we were on our way. Even walking out, I was filled with emotions and my mind raced. Excited, nervous, alert, noticing and picking out every little thing that moved or made a noise. The frost crunching under my boots, watching my breath crystalize right before my eyes, the tops of trees swaying back and forth in the gentle wind, as if waving to us. We get to the stand, an old, wooden box on stilts, and climb up. When we get situated, I pulled out my phone to check the time. Six forty-five. I mentally took note of this and knowing legal shooting hours started at seven twenty, I calculated how long before this day could become an amazing one. Thirty-five minutes. I sit there anxiously counting down the time. After a while, Dad taps the side of my leg three times, and instantly I know what he means before he points out in the darkness. I can hardly make out the outline of a deer slowly walking broadside from left to right at about eighty yards in an open area straight in front of us. This is the kind of darkness where you can see the outline of your hand in front of your face, but not the rest of it. I could see the deer out there only because of its relatively large size. I reached down and turned on my phone that sits on the ground next to my

Black Elk Speaks is a book written by John G. Neihardt as well as Black Elk the Lakota healer. This recounts the events in Black Elk’s life including: Ghost Dances, Battle of Little Bighorn, and Wounded Knee. The accounts of history in Black Elk Speaks reveals the late culture of the Plains Indians as they were being eliminated by the America soldiers as well as American settlers pushing into “untamed” territory. The Ghost Dance religion, tribal life, and reservation habitats were portrayed very close to accurate in this book. Black Elks first hand account contributed greatly to this.

Setting.We were heading home after 2 days of living in our cabin the size of a garage that include indoor plumbing electricity and a really small kitchen.We were living the high life!

It was August one year ago. My friends and I were out at the mall when we realized it was 9:00 p.m., and we had to go home. So we decided to take the route through the woods; not a very good idea, now that I think about it. It was very dark outside and the only light was the slight moonlight that we could see through branches of old trees, covering the sky like a blanket. There were sticks, twigs, and a lot of large rocks along the pathway, which made us even more cautious to not twist our

After that we sat in silence for about 20 minutes until the cold began to nip at my feet and the tips of my fingers which made me very restless but I tried to do my best so I would not scare away the deer. When we hit the 60 minute mark I was bored out of my mind, I thought I would go crazy, but suddenly my Father grabbed my coat and pointed out Words the west side of the field that we were watching. I