Hardware Ranch - 2.16.13

Took a drive up to Hardware Ranch this morning with the posse. I'll be honest, driving up the canyon I was really concerned that there would even be elk up there... the whole south side of the canyon is bare hillside. I was relieved to get up to the meadow and find a couple hundred head still there. There aren't any big bulls to be seen, likely due to the amount of feed still available so the big boys have no need to come down. Here's a handful of pics...
This is my posse, we rigged up the ol' Town & Country with the video screens and made the drive in style (that's right, 2 car seats & 2 boosters, and the straps I used to "mount" the video screens are from my trail cameras). Then there's the traditional family pic in front of the draft horses... those are some amazing animals.
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Anyway, enough of my bragging, here's the elk. They were pretty skittish & right as our sleigh pulled out into the meadow half the herd ran out the east end and up into the hills. The largest bull went with them. Our "guide" could do nothing but laugh and said, "Well, I hope they come back." They didn't for us but it was still cool.
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