I am getting the itch too. We leave early enough to be on site for at least a week, then stay around for a week after. My youngest, 5, is already asking questions....even my wife is getting anxious. She and my oldest boy each drew buck tags.

Can't wait to pack up and finally leave....hunting is the only real vacation I have taken in about 20 years. I have taken time off to visit family and things like that, but, that stuff doesn't matter nearly as much as my elk season. I must be ill.

Anymore I don't really care so much that I tag an animal, even though I find myself working harder and smarter as the years go by. I enjoy: the idea that my wife and boys like to be with me during the hunt.....the campfires, the weather, the smells, the sounds (or lack of), the solitude, the memories....I have hunted the same area since I was 14...., the idea that all the cares of my job go away the minute I walk out the door headed home for elk season.