Colorado Elk & Mule Deer Hunting Trip
1992
Destination.....South Fork, Colorado (elev. 7,000')
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My Dad & Brother in tow....
1978 Jimmy 4x4 Loaded, 4-Wheeler and ready for Our Colorado Hunt! and a 22 hour trip.......
We swaped out driving on the trip it was kinda cramped with all the gear.
Seen alot of Antelope along the side of the road from Panhandle,New Mexico and up thru Colorado.
We had a break down in Texas the Pan-handle most of the day trying to find a Radiator shop open, we Had a guy come open up for us, I sure do thank him for that, but I paid for it!
I had to give my Feet a rest on the way to "South Fork",
We arrived in South Fork 10:00 P.M. 3 days before opening morning of the Hunt.
Here is a view from our Lodge. some very beautiful country, I would love to go back just to take pictures. I wished I had a digital camera back then...these pics are scaned and does not do them justice.
Leslie my Brother at the Hunting Lodge, We had a very nice 2 story lodge we rented for a week. Warm and cozey with fire wood alreaday chopped for us. we even had a Jacuzzi up at the office. The Lodge was Located about 150' from the the Rio Grande River. Leslie caught alot of Nice Trout!
Dad at Lodge, getting back from Scouting out the area around camp.
Say Pop! Them Trout you Cooked were sure good!
We seen Elk the day before the Hunt,a Cow & a Calf coming down from the frost line, but no others. Their were plenty on sign, we did not know at the time, most had already came down the mountain and were holding up in the thick forests in the valley's.
"Leslie Installing another Master Cylinder"
It was not long before we had to work on the "Jimmy" again, Would you believe...Opening Day! after a morning Hunt! The 4x4 worked great going up 42 road miles to Del Norte's Summit 14,000'. We seen a dozen nice "Mule Deer" in a meadow (much like the Pic below), but were to far off to get a shot. We tried to "Stalk" but with no luck! they were at least 3/4 to a mile away and seen our every move, even in the tree-line. Man! They have some eye sight!
About 9:30 am we decided to try another spot further down, Got in the "Jimmy" cranked up,put it in gearThe Master cylinder went out on Del Nort'e, took us 3 hrs to come down the mountain with No Brakes! Dirt roads with no guard rails in curves and to Top it off ...Shear drop offs down canyons. Scary as hell! Leslie had his hand on the door handle all the way down, he was ready to "Bail out" at any moment. (funny)
I Had an automatic transmission, no emergency Brake, so I had to come down with trany in reverse, but going forward... when I reached to high a speed...I would give it a little gas to slow us back down to a crawl...Pretty weird but it worked great! If I would have had a manual transmission, Life would have been Better! You have Gears to do the work for you and you CAN PUSH a vehical with a manual transmission.
We had to drive over a 150 miles to find another Master Cylinder and some Brake fluid.... a chore! I did not know Junk yards in Colorado were so far from town and in the desert
We made to the top of a mountain peak it was all most a vertical climb to the Top,and just as I made this crest I smelt wiring Burning...Not a good sign being in a remote area with no one in site and 50 miles from any town. I had a C.B. but would have done no good if the battery were DEAD!
My Battery had flipped upside down and shorted & melted the positive post off the battey. I shut the truck off, not knowing what happened, but when I seen the damage, I wished I had not. With a little southeren ingenuity, we made a get-by repair, and there was still enough juice in the Battery to get it cranked,Thank God ! It was cold at that elevation and no gear to spend the night..another lesson learned,Take the extra gear. Now remember That Manual Transmission? at least if the battery were dead, we could have pushed cranked it....
My Dad waving, with a beautiful back-drop veiw! Note: No houses or civilization in site!
On our way again, some very rugged country, yet so beautiful!
Entrance to Wagon Wheel Gap!
Fishing for Trout on the Rio Grande at "Wagon Wheel Gap"
We searched for Mule Deer for Several Hundred Miles, South Fork is on the other side of the furthest moutain range in the Picture above. We seen Hundreds of Antelope & Sheep!
If I want to go on a Antelope Hunt, I know where to go! I seen some Trophey Prong Horns at least 15"
I will be adding more pics and info to this Hunt as Time goes on.....There is alot more to the story!
Larry
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