Grazing the Tomichi

Grazing the Tomichi
Huntin’
By Polly Oberosler

As a youngin’ I could not wait for huntin’ season. I dreamt of it for weeks before, planning out exactly what was to happen between myself and the deer I sought. Over and over in my mind I stalked the buck, creeping through the woods like I was sure Daniel Boone did. I imagined in my mind’s eye that I had rifle in hand and I knew just where the buck would appear and how I would gather my wits to contribute to my family’s winter store of meat.

I would not sleep much of the night before opening day and would spring to life when shaken awake by my father at 4 a.m. Getting to hunt with my father made me proud, and I could not wait for the opportunity to follow in his footsteps. My dad was a hunting guide for well over thirty years in the Gunnison area, so aside from putting meat on the table, hunting also contributed to our yearly income. A top guide brings top money and my dad, among others, was one of the best, hosting hunters from all over the nation.

In that day and age the Colorado Fish and Game, as they were then called, took great care to insure that the elk and deer were allowed to mature normally and survival of the fittest was the name of the game. Because of the fact that the hunt was open to random harvest with no point restrictions and not the current policy of killing certain numbers for state dollars, this area produced animals that can only be found now in special limited draw areas. Some of my father’s clients from back then are still listed in Boone and Crockett, the rifle big game record book. Sportsmen worldwide coveted the Gunnison area for it produced large bull elk and huge mule deer bucks.

Big bucks were everywhere back then and the first one that ever landed in my sights was so close to me that my rifle went up and down with every bound he made and when I shot I missed him clean. The buck was truly the winner as were many others for most of my younger deer-hunting career.

In the days of my father, the deer and elk were smarter it seems. They grew to maturity, and along with size came shear brainpower. Not that the herds are stupid now, but deer and elk left to survive naturally to the age of six to ten years old instead of the common three years old today will no doubt be smarter, bigger and healthier as the weak are culled and their gene pools are allowed to cultivate.

Even though the elk and deer have been dealt quite a blow by the recent politics of the state, they are still one of the most formidable of quarry and I have had many unfilled tags to prove it. My dad always said that he rarely could hit an animal standing still; I sometimes have a hard time hitting an animal period. I have hunted the same area for nearly thirty years and have only been consistently successful in the last fifteen, and that is the result of learning their habits in that given area. Knowing the animals’ nature in general is hard enough but without studying the elk and deer as to their behavior a hunter is unlikely to fill their tag.

I have always been told of the brilliance of the whitetail species of deer in the Midwest and southern U.S. but never gave the mule deer we have here much credit in that regard until a few years ago. I was tagging along with a friend who had a buck tag and we happened on a buck running through the tall grass. All we could see was his head and back and I whispered that it was a three-point buck but she did not quite understand the point restrictions so we let him go. The interesting thing about that buck was the way he was running, kind of crippled like. I began to ponder that and walked through the area he had passed. When I was on his trail I realized the grass was not tall at all, it was no more than six to twelve inches in height. That buck had been crouching at a purposeful trot traveling by us hoping that we would not see him! I can tell you the mule deer are smarter than I ever gave them credit for.

As for the elk, they are simply an animal of brute strength and they are all heart. They will elude you, out climb you and take you to the top of the peaks in their flight. The elk are hard to get because, unlike the deer, they have an expanded territory among the high mountains and they can cruise up things that I cannot even claw up on all fours.

The huntin seasons are here and there are huge numbers of hunters that will be out there chasing their dreams of bagging an elk or deer but in reality few will. Most will cherish the good times and camaraderie, the views from the peaks and the memories of the hunt. Even now, the huntin’ is good but the findin’ is hard.

Polly Oberosler moved up valley in 1977 to Mt. CB from her Almont roots. After nearly 30 years in the CB area she is now settled into semi-retirement with her husband on their small ranch in Doyleville. She writes Grazing the Tomichi and contributes to the Crested Butte Magazine, Gunnison Country Times Summer Guide and The Gunnison Country Magazine, as well as nationally in Rangelands Magazine and Range Magazine.